Sure God heals, will He also cause sickness, do I have this wrong?

[Guest]

I was reading a thread where one person opined that God does not cause sickness, that things like heart attacks just happen with age. I did not interject a different opinion, as it might have diverted the threads actual topic, which was not a discussion of the theology of sickness or God's role in things we consider unpleasant. In any case, my mind jumped to the question, is it true that God does not cause sickness?

A number of passages came to my mind in vague terms, so I looked them up to see them anew. The first that came to my mind was Exodus 4:11:

The LORD said to him, "Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?

while on that same page I noticed this:

Exodus 4: 6 The LORD furthermore said to him, "Now put your hand into your bosom." So he put his hand into his bosom, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.

and thinking of Moses, I recalled Num 12: 9 :

So the anger of the LORD burned against them and He departed. 10 But when the cloud had withdrawn from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow.

Now, we might come up with the idea that these leprosy one are exceptions and I would agree, these were special cases for special purposes. Still, if this is not God causing them who is?

I know that some will say ( at least to themselves if not here on the forums) : "but that was the old testament God, He got angry a lot, but He mellowed out for the New Testament". So let's go there:

In the book of acts (you porbably know the story, if not, look it up) we see:

acts 5:4 Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God." 5 And as he heard these words, Ananias fell down and breathed his last . . .

... Then Peter said to her, "Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well." 10And immediately she fell at his feet and breathed her last, and the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

Now I know this is not sickness, it is only death after all, and it doesn't say that God did it, but I doubt Peter did it either, do we just suppose it was a coincidence that they died? Since they wern't sick, let's look elswhere:

1 cor 11

28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number have died.

Again, I know you sharp theological lawyers can point out it does not say God did it, moving on . . .

john 9:2 And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" 3Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

I don't know how you understand that, but that sounds to me like God had this man born blind, to serve His puropses, and why not, after all, Pauls points out in Romans 9:

The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?

21Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?

This last one is not an example of God making people ill, malformed, or killing them, it is about His sovereignty His absolute right to do with His creation, just as He pleases, and not have to answer to His creation for His actions. If God does these things, He does them for His reasons, His righteius reasons, and whether we like them or not, they are good.

You know, when a child does something wrong, really wrong, it is not uncommon for the mother to go into a state of denial. "Oh, my Johnny would never do anything like that, he is a good boy. A man commits some greivous sin, a serious crime, often those who know him do not believe it, they want for him to be innocent, but they have never really known him as he is sometimes, they just see one side of him. Sometimes a woman willk marry a man, all her friends warned her about him, that he is not right for her, there is something about him that they can see, that is not good, but she is blinded by her love for him, often to regret it once she gets to know him in marriage.

If these cases are true in human relationships, how much more true is it when we want to come to God's defense when He is accused of wrongdoing? The problem is not in us wanting to defend Him, it is that we refuse to see Him as He is, and we remake Him into a God of how we think he ought to be. It is not that we are wrong to defend Him, it is that we are wrong to think of what he does, as wrong, not matter how it appears to us. God, is always right, in Him no evil exists.

Now, back to the original comment that got me going in the first place - That God does not do these thing, and illness can come about just becuase the body deteriorates with age . . .

if that is true, and I am not denying that, why is it the case in the first place. Is not the deterioration of aging, a part of the curse, that God placed on the creation in the first place? If so, how can we say, God did not do it? It is o.k. I think that we can say that some things that we do not like, are God's doing, but we mustn't accuse God of wrong doing, just because we do not like that outcome.

Thoughts and comments invited, agreement or contrary opinions, even valid correction would be awesome, so, do I have this all wrong?

[He giveth more grace]

...will he also cause sickness...?

If that is what you need, of course, he will lay you up in bed.

[NeedYouLord]

There has been so much teaching of The Bible that I have witnessed over the years that have led me to believe what I believe...I know we only know in part...but the part that I do know...I believe...and I stand on...and not wavering...keep in mind too...that I am no Bible Scholar...can't remember where all the verses are...Just an ol' girl saved by Grace...Whew...

I want to get a little more organized and have some time to type...plus pray, pray and pray...for what I'm to say...Meditating and incubating on this one for a while...just a little while...

Thank You Father...So Much...For Everything...And May Everything Be For Your Glory!!! In The Name of Jesus, I pray...