Topical Bible: Disease: Figurative

◄ Disease: Figurative ►

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In the Bible, disease is often used figuratively to describe spiritual and moral corruption, sin, and the consequences of turning away from God. This metaphorical use of disease serves to illustrate the pervasive and destructive nature of sin, as well as the need for divine intervention and healing.

1. Spiritual Corruption and Sin: The Bible frequently uses disease as a metaphor for sin and spiritual decay. Just as physical diseases can corrupt the body, sin corrupts the soul and separates individuals from God. In Isaiah 1:5-6 , the prophet Isaiah describes the nation of Israel's spiritual condition: "Why do you want more beatings? Why do you keep rebelling? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot to the top of the head, there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and festering sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil." Here, the imagery of a diseased body represents the nation's pervasive sinfulness and rebellion against God.

2. Moral Decay: Disease is also used to depict moral decay and the consequences of living in opposition to God's commandments. In Psalm 38:3-5 , David laments his condition, saying, "There is no soundness in my body because of Your anger; there is no rest in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds are foul and festering because of my foolishness." The physical ailments described are symbolic of the moral and spiritual consequences of sin.

3. Judgment and Consequences: Figurative language involving disease is often used to convey the idea of divine judgment. In Deuteronomy 28:58-61 , God warns the Israelites of the consequences of disobedience: "If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not fear this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God—He will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary disasters, severe and lasting plagues, and terrible and chronic sicknesses. He will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you." Here, disease symbolizes the judgment that comes from failing to adhere to God's covenant.

4. Need for Divine Healing: The metaphor of disease underscores humanity's need for divine healing and redemption. In Jeremiah 17:14 , the prophet cries out, "Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me, and I will be saved, for You are my praise." This plea for healing reflects the understanding that only God can restore spiritual health and wholeness.

5. Restoration and Redemption: The Bible also uses the imagery of healing from disease to illustrate God's power to restore and redeem. In Hosea 6:1 , the call to return to the Lord is accompanied by the promise of healing: "Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has injured us, but He will bind up our wounds." This passage highlights the hope of restoration and the transformative power of God's grace.

In summary, the figurative use of disease in the Bible serves as a powerful metaphor for sin, moral decay, divine judgment, and the need for spiritual healing. It emphasizes the destructive nature of sin and the necessity of turning to God for redemption and restoration.

Nave's Topical Index

Psalm 38:7
For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh.
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Isaiah 1:6
From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
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Jeremiah 30:12
For thus said the LORD, Your bruise is incurable, and your wound is grievous.
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Library

'Physicians of no Value'
... As Hosea puts it in figurative fashion, Ephraim's discovery of his 'sickness' sent
him ... of the way, we have become conscious of a symptom, not of the disease. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture a/physicians of no value.htm

An Unalterable Law
... EVERYWHERE under the old figurative dispensation, blood was sure to greet your eyes ...
moment that a sinner believes in Jesus; not as though a disease were healed ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 60 1914/an unalterable law.htm

Of the Section Where it is Recorded, that Being Moved with ...
... the kingdom of the gospel, [961] and healing every sickness and every disease. ... them
with a literal import, and others of them with a figurative, although the ...
/.../augustine/the harmony of the gospels/chapter xxx of the section where.htm

Since These Things are So, Because it were Too Long to Treat ...
... willeth one thing to be understood of another, which kind of figurative either sayings ...
a sick man in peril of his life with a grievous disease, whose strength ...
/.../augustine/against lying/section 35 since these things.htm

Paul's Reasons for Temperance
... is like the growths on a tree, which are not fruit, but products of disease. ... light
to which he had likened it, and is backing up his figurative statement as to ...
/.../expositions of holy scripture ephesians peter/pauls reasons for temperance.htm

Spiritual Epileptics.
... but about the passage before us, let us, adopting a figurative interpretation, consider ...
on account of this gave the name of lunacy to the disease epilepsy, you ...
/.../origen/origens commentary on the gospel of matthew/4 spiritual epileptics.htm

Accommodation of the Two Extreme Theories.
... On the one hand, we may ascribe the origin of the disease to natural ... doctrine (borrowed
from the circle of popular ideas) merely as a figurative covering for ...
/.../section 103 accommodation of the.htm

Whether Christ Suffered in a Suitable Place?
... Objection 3: Further, the medicine should correspond with the disease. ... for the offering
of sacrifices to Himself: and these figurative sacrifices foreshadowed ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether christ suffered in a.htm

Matt. v. 1, 2
... and fountain of all wickedness, He, preparing a remedy suitable to the disease,
laid this ... Some [601] say a figurative earth, but it is not this, for nowhere in ...
/.../chrysostom/homilies on the gospel of saint matthew/homily xv matt v 1.htm

The Death and the Raising of Lazarus - the Question of Miracles ...
... to abolish death, but in Whose Presence the continuance of disease and death ... seeking
to stone' Him, He replied by telling them, in figurative language, that we ...
/.../edersheim/the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter xxi the death and.htm