Topical Bible: Disease: As Judgments

◄ Disease: As Judgments ►

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In the biblical narrative, disease is often depicted as a form of divine judgment, a consequence of disobedience to God's commandments. This theme is prevalent throughout both the Old and New Testaments, where physical ailments and plagues serve as instruments of God's justice and a call to repentance.

Old Testament Context

The Old Testament frequently associates disease with God's judgment upon individuals and nations. In Deuteronomy 28, God outlines the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience to His covenant. Among the curses, diseases are prominently mentioned: "The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish" (Deuteronomy 28:22). This passage underscores the belief that health and disease are directly linked to one's faithfulness to God.

The plagues of Egypt, as recorded in the book of Exodus, further illustrate this concept. God sends a series of plagues, including boils and pestilence, as judgments against Pharaoh and the Egyptians for their refusal to release the Israelites (Exodus 9:8-12). These plagues serve as both punishment and a demonstration of God's power and sovereignty.

In the historical books, King Uzziah's leprosy is another example of disease as divine judgment. Uzziah, who initially did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, later became prideful and unlawfully entered the temple to burn incense. As a result, God struck him with leprosy, and he remained a leper until his death (2 Chronicles 26:16-21).

Prophetic Writings

The prophets also speak of disease as a form of judgment. In Amos 4:10, God declares, "I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to Me," declares the LORD . Here, disease is a tool used by God to prompt repentance and return to Him.

New Testament Context

In the New Testament, while the emphasis shifts towards spiritual healing and salvation through Jesus Christ, the concept of disease as judgment is not entirely absent. In John 5:14, after healing a man at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus warns him, "See, you have been made well. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you" . This implies a connection between sin and physical ailment, suggesting that continued disobedience could result in further judgment.

The book of Revelation also contains references to disease as part of God's end-time judgments. The seven bowls of God's wrath include plagues that afflict those who bear the mark of the beast (Revelation 16:2). These plagues serve as a final call to repentance before the ultimate judgment.

Theological Implications

From a theological perspective, the depiction of disease as judgment underscores the holiness and justice of God. It serves as a reminder of the consequences of sin and the importance of obedience to God's commandments. While not all instances of disease are portrayed as direct judgments, the biblical narrative consistently links physical afflictions with spiritual realities, calling believers to examine their lives and seek God's mercy and forgiveness.

Nave's Topical Index

Psalm 107:17
Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
Nave's Topical Index

Isaiah 3:17
Therefore the LORD will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.
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Library

Treats of the Same.
... We are all sick of the Disease of self love, and our own judgment; we are ... to use
the means of Recovery; which is, not to believe our own judgments and distemper ...
/.../the spiritual guide which disentangles the soul/chap xii treats of the.htm

Salvation: Grace: Faith
... 'Thy judgments are a great deep,' and deeper than the judgments is the depth of
Thy salvation. ... we are all in deadly peril; we are all sick of a fatal disease. ...
/.../expositions of holy scripture ephesians peter/salvation grace faith.htm

Answer to the Egyptians.
... And with diverse judgments, one reverences one and another of the limbs of the same ...
has prevailed to such an extent as to constitute a great disease of the ...
/.../unknown/the clementine homilies/chapter xviii answer to the egyptians.htm

The Holy Nation
... and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do ... They
diagnose the disease superficially, and therefore do not know how to cure it. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture a/the holy nation.htm

Mathew xi. 10
... We have God's will in our hands, yet our judgments are not formed upon it ... are sound
are the great majority, and the exceptions are no better than disease; so if ...
//christianbookshelf.org/arnold/the christian life/lecture xvi mathew xi 10.htm

The Utility of Fear. Objections Answered.
... bad things"adultery, uncleanness, p??derasty, ignorance, wickedness, soul-disease,
death (not ... commands, that we may rejoice in His judgments." [2235] Whence ...
/.../clement/the stromata or miscellanies/chapter vii the utility of fear.htm

Not Now, but Hereafter!
... Their idea that an calamities are judgments, is so inveterate a prejudice, and so ...
evil days shall come upon me, if poverty, desertion, and disease should place ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 7 1861/not now but hereafter.htm

Blessing and Cursing
... be stricken with disease, or whether I say, You are stricken with disease, whether
you ... or in the case of rare and peculiar visitations and judgments in this ...
/.../kingsley/town and country sermons/sermon xi blessing and cursing.htm

Meditations against Despair, or Doubting of God's Mercy.
... without his errand;"if mercy he asked, mercy he found, were his sin never so great,
were his disease never so ... [117] If he deferred the judgments all Ahab's ...
/.../bayly/the practice of piety/meditations against despair or doubting.htm

National Apostasy
... by him had brought upon the guilty offenders the retributive judgments of Heaven ...
of his reign," Asa was "diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding ...
/.../white/the story of prophets and kings/chapter 8 national apostasy.htm