What other scriptures affirm God's control over illness and healing? God’s sovereign word in 2 Kings 8:10 “Elisha replied, ‘Go and tell him, “You will surely recover.” But the LORD has shown me that he will surely die.’ ” The prophet can promise recovery only because God rules every outcome. Life, death, sickness, and healing are all subject to the Lord’s decree. The rest of Scripture echoes that truth repeatedly. Foundational statements of God’s control • Deuteronomy 32:39 — “I kill and I bring to life, I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.” • 1 Samuel 2:6 — “The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.” • Exodus 15:26 — “I am the LORD who heals you.” • 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 — The Lord sends or withholds plague, and He also promises to heal the land when His people repent. Old-Testament snapshots of divine healing • Numbers 12:13-15 — God alone reverses Miriam’s leprosy after Moses prays. • 2 Kings 5 — Naaman is cleansed only when he submits to the word of the Lord through Elisha. • Isaiah 38:16-17 — Hezekiah’s recovery is explicitly credited to God’s intervention. • Psalm 103:2-3 — “He…heals all your diseases.” • Psalm 147:3 — “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Messianic promises that tie healing to the cross • Isaiah 53:4-5 — “Surely He took on our infirmities…by His stripes we are healed.” • Malachi 4:2 — “The sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.” Jesus, the Father’s healing authority made flesh • Matthew 4:23 — He heals “every disease and sickness among the people.” • Matthew 8:16-17 — “He Himself took our infirmities and carried our diseases,” fulfilling Isaiah. • Mark 2:5-12 — Jesus heals the paralytic to prove He has authority to forgive sins. • Luke 4:38-40 — A word from Jesus lifts fever instantly. • John 9:1-7 — A man is born blind “so that the works of God would be displayed in him.” • John 11:4 — Lazarus’s sickness “is for the glory of God.” The risen Christ healing through His church • Acts 3:6, 16 — “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk!”; faith in His name makes the lame man strong. • Acts 9:34 — “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you!” • Acts 28:8-9 — Paul prays; Publius’s father and many others on Malta are cured. New-Testament teaching on sickness, suffering, and grace • 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 — God allows Paul’s “thorn” but overrules it with sustaining grace. • Philippians 2:27 — Epaphroditus is spared; Paul calls it “mercy.” • James 5:14-16 — The Lord raises up the sick in response to prayer and anointing. • 1 Peter 2:24 — Christ bore our sins, “by His stripes you are healed.” • Hebrews 13:8 — “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Living in confidence Scripture paints one consistent picture: illness never slips past God’s sovereignty, and healing—whether immediate, gradual, or ultimate in resurrection—always flows from His hand. Our role is to trust His word, seek His face, and rest in the certainty that the Lord who wounds is the Lord who heals. |
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