Deuteronomy 7:15 And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them all on those who hate you.
Rarely do I open a Morning Message with a question, but today will be the exception. Does sin cause sickness and disease in our physical bodies? Let us look at what the Word of God says on this subject.
In the Old Testament there are many accounts of the correlation between sin and sickness. In the 7th Chapter of Deuteronomy, we read of the Voice of God speaking to this very subject. While the Law of the Old Testament does not apply to New Covenant believers, I believe the lesson here does apply to our lives today.
In the first five Verses, God instructs His people to take the land they have been given to possess and to not cohabitate with the evil people who lived there before. Also, the Lord God instructed them to destroy by fire their altars, statues and pillars. (Deuteronomy 7:1-5)
In the New Testament, the Word instructs believers to Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. (1 Corinthians 6:17)
Moving on, Deuteronomy 7:6-8, the Word refers to God’s people as a holy, chosen group, set apart for Himself. We read something very similar in the New Testament: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained Mercy but now have obtained Mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10) As saved, born again believers in Jesus Christ, we are grafted into the family of God. We are among God’s chosen people just as the Israelites were in Old Testament times.
Deuteronomy 7:9 reads: Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God Who keeps Covenant and Mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His Commandments; Many New Testament believers do not believe anything in the Old Testament pertains to them, but a thousand generations is a very long time and in addition, Jesus said, If you love Me, you will keep My Commandments. (John 14:15)
Reading on in the 7th Chapter of Deuteronomy, in Verses 12-15 we read of the Blessings of obedience and Verse 15 speaks directly to sickness and disease. And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and will afflict you with none of the diseases of Egypt which you have known, but will lay them all on those who hate you.
Okay, but is this pertinent to us today? In the 5th Chapter of John, we read where Jesus healed a man who had been crippled for 38 years. This man had sat every day of his life by the pool of Bethesda waiting for someone to help him into the water so he could be healed. One day Jesus came by and saw him sitting there and this is what happened: Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. (John 5:8-9)
What does Jesus healing the man have to do with the correlation between sickness and sin? The answer is found in what Jesus spoke to this man later that day. Afterward Jesus found him in the Temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” (John 5:14)
Life as a born again Christian is all about obedience. It always has been and it always will be. Never allow anyone to tell you differently. Is all sickness the result of sin? I don’t know but we do know that Jesus said, Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you. (John 5:14) He also said, If you love Me you will keep My Commandments. (John 14:15) I don’t know about you, but in my mind, this speaks to our obedience.
Obedience to the Word of God will……….turn the tide……..in your life.
Trust and obey, for there's no other way, Doreen
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