In the biblical narrative, individuals afflicted with diseases often find themselves recipients of divine support and intervention. This theme is woven throughout both the Old and New Testaments, illustrating God's compassion and power in the lives of the suffering.

Old Testament Examples

1. Job: The account of Job is a profound example of divine support amidst affliction. Job, a righteous man, is struck with severe boils and other calamities. Despite his suffering, Job remains faithful, and God ultimately restores his health and fortunes. Job 42:10 states, "After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD restored his prosperity and doubled his former possessions."

2. Hezekiah: King Hezekiah fell ill with a life-threatening disease. In response to his fervent prayer, God extended his life by fifteen years. 2 Kings 20:5 records God's message to Hezekiah: "I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you."

3. Miriam: Miriam, the sister of Moses, was struck with leprosy as a consequence of her rebellion. However, after Moses interceded on her behalf, God healed her. Numbers 12:13-14 shows Moses' plea and God's response, indicating divine mercy and restoration.

New Testament Examples

1. The Woman with the Issue of Blood: In the Gospels, a woman suffering from a bleeding disorder for twelve years is healed by her faith in Jesus. Mark 5:34 quotes Jesus saying, "Daughter, your faith has healed you; go in peace and be free of your affliction."

2. Blind Bartimaeus: Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, receives his sight through his faith in Jesus. Mark 10:52 records Jesus' words, "Go, your faith has healed you." This healing underscores the divine support available to those who seek it.

3. The Paralytic: In Capernaum, a paralytic is brought to Jesus, who not only heals him but also forgives his sins. This dual act of healing and forgiveness is found in Mark 2:5 : "Son, your sins are forgiven."

General Principles

The Bible consistently portrays God as a source of comfort and healing for those afflicted with diseases. This divine support is often contingent upon faith, prayer, and repentance. The afflicted are encouraged to seek God, as seen in James 5:14-15 : "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick."

Throughout Scripture, the afflicted are not abandoned but are often met with divine compassion and intervention, reflecting God's enduring love and mercy.Psalm 41:3
The LORD will strengthen him on the bed of languishing: you will make all his bed in his sickness.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.
... who were not only diseased and afflicted with terrible ... entered into the heart of
men those things which ... iniquities, who healeth all our diseases, who redeemeth ...
/.../pamphilius/church history/chapter iv panegyric on the splendor.htm

Lives of Faith and Trust
... he rewards faith, how he cares for those who trust ... For nineteen years I have been
afflicted with neuralgia ... of late years a combination of diseases has rendered ...
/.../various/the wonders of prayer/lives of faith and trust.htm

Of Prayer --A Perpetual Exercise of Faith. The Daily Benefits ...
... the groans of those who unjustly afflicted implore his ... feel into what an abyss of
evils those are plunged ... very cures they use, bring new diseases upon themselves ...
/.../the institutes of the christian religion/chapter 20 of prayera perpetual.htm

The General Conference of 1804, and of the Annual Conferences of ...
... A complication of painful diseases arrested his career of ... and compelled him to remit
those public labors in ... with which his body was afflicted, expressing, in ...
/.../chapter 6 the general conference.htm

part i
... in heart." [44] True it is that often our evil ... Those who hate others torture and
tyrannise over themselves ... be afflicted, and mourn, and weep." [50] Tears have ...
//christianbookshelf.org/calvin/my life in christ/part i.htm

Augustin's Part in the Controversy.
... Take away diseases, take away wounds, and there is no ... The truth then designates as
dead those whom this ... name, whose pious soul had been afflicted with grievous ...
/.../augustine/anti-pelagian writings/iii augustins part in the.htm

part ii
... Where is the reading of the divinely-inspired Psalms, which ... yet you remain in them,
are often bound by ... Be then indulgent, patient, and loving to those who live ...
//christianbookshelf.org/calvin/my life in christ/part ii.htm

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