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Does God chasten with sicknesses and deaths?
When the New Testament, which was written in Greek, speaks of chastening, for example, in Hebrews 12, it is referring literally to "child-training". The Greek word used for "chasten" in the New Testament is "paideuo", from which we get "pediatrics" and "pediatrician".
Biblical chastening or child-training is always done in love and for the good of the child (Hebrews 12:6,10,11). Also, when a father chastens his child, he is actually showing the child that he is his legitimate son, and not a ******* (Hebrews 12:7,8).
While it is clear that God does chasten His children (Hebrews 12:5-13), the question that has divided Christians is if He does it by inflicting physical pain, sicknesses, accidents, deaths and other tragedies.
In other words, does God put cancer on your body to teach you long-suffering and faithfulness? Does He cause you to get into a terrible car accident to teach you to drive with more patience?
Hebrew permissive tense
Many Christians believe that God does author and carry out such acts to chasten His people. To support their argument, the usually quote Old Testament verses such as:
Healings
How then, do we reconcile the earlier verses of Deuteronomy 28? Does God give sicknesses and kill in the Old Testament, but heal and give life in the New Testament? Here is the good news:
Sicknesses, accidents and deaths come from Satan (John 10:10), not God. God may lift His hand of protection and allow these things to come upon His children, but He is not the instigator of them. God is not the author of confusion but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33).
Neither is God a child-abuser. He does not chasten or child-train His children with such horrible things. He chastens them with His Word to their spirits.
Redeemed from every type of sickness
Under the Old Covenant system of law, God blesses His people if they obey His laws, but allows terrible curses to come upon them if they don't (Deuteronomy 28:1,15).
In Deuteronomy 28, there are 11 verses of blessings (verses 3 to 13) and 53 verses of curses (verses 16 to 68). Since there are more curses than blessings here, it behoves the Christian to study what these curses are, lest he calls something a blessing when it is a curse!
One of the curses is:
But praise God that because of Christ's work on the cross, we have been redeemed from the curses of the law, including Deuteronomy 28:61.
So, how can we say that God chastens His children with diseases? If that were true, God would be going against the work of His Son! Neither can we say that God chooses to heal some and not others because the fact is that healing is offered to all through the cross. If we say that God is willing to heal only some people, it is like saying that God is willing to save only some people.
Taken from: Does God chasten with sicknesses and deaths?
When the New Testament, which was written in Greek, speaks of chastening, for example, in Hebrews 12, it is referring literally to "child-training". The Greek word used for "chasten" in the New Testament is "paideuo", from which we get "pediatrics" and "pediatrician".
Biblical chastening or child-training is always done in love and for the good of the child (Hebrews 12:6,10,11). Also, when a father chastens his child, he is actually showing the child that he is his legitimate son, and not a ******* (Hebrews 12:7,8).
While it is clear that God does chasten His children (Hebrews 12:5-13), the question that has divided Christians is if He does it by inflicting physical pain, sicknesses, accidents, deaths and other tragedies.
In other words, does God put cancer on your body to teach you long-suffering and faithfulness? Does He cause you to get into a terrible car accident to teach you to drive with more patience?
Hebrew permissive tense
Many Christians believe that God does author and carry out such acts to chasten His people. To support their argument, the usually quote Old Testament verses such as:
Deuteronomy 28:27
27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
Deuteronomy 28:28
28 The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
Deuteronomy 28:35
35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
They usually quote from the Old Testament because the New Testament portrays God as a very willing healer and life giver.27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
Deuteronomy 28:28
28 The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
Deuteronomy 28:35
35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
Healings
Matthew 8:16
16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
Matthew 12:15
15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;
Mark 1:40,41
40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
Luke 6:19
19 And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.
John 10:10
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Acts 10:38
38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Raising the dead16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
Matthew 12:15
15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;
Mark 1:40,41
40 And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. 41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.
Luke 6:19
19 And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.
John 10:10
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Acts 10:38
38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Mark 5:41
41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
Luke 7:14,15
14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.
15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
John 11:43,44
43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
In fact, most of Jesus' miracles had to do with healing. Notice how many times "healed all" appears in the above verses. Also, in Acts 10:38, we see that 41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
Luke 7:14,15
14 And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise.
15 And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.
John 11:43,44
43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
1. sickness was an oppression of the devil,
2. Jesus was "doing good" by healing people, and
3. God was with Jesus, that is, God was pleased with Jesus healing the sick.
Anyone who has read all of Jesus' healing miracles with an open heart will know that it is God's will to heal the sick.2. Jesus was "doing good" by healing people, and
3. God was with Jesus, that is, God was pleased with Jesus healing the sick.
How then, do we reconcile the earlier verses of Deuteronomy 28? Does God give sicknesses and kill in the Old Testament, but heal and give life in the New Testament? Here is the good news:
Dr Robert Young, author of Young's Analytical Concordance and Hints To Bible Interpretation, points out that in the original Hebrew (the Old Testament was written in Hebrew), the verb is in the permissive rather than causative sense.
So, Deuteronomy 28:27 should have been translated something like, "The Lord will allow/permit these plagues to be brought upon you..."
The original Hebrew of these scriptures was in the permissive tense, but because the English language has no corresponding permissive tense, the verbs were translated in the causative tense.
There is thus no contradiction. The God of the Old Testament and New Testament is the same God that "healeth thee" -- Jehovah Rapha (Exodus 15:26). He does not change (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8).So, Deuteronomy 28:27 should have been translated something like, "The Lord will allow/permit these plagues to be brought upon you..."
The original Hebrew of these scriptures was in the permissive tense, but because the English language has no corresponding permissive tense, the verbs were translated in the causative tense.
Sicknesses, accidents and deaths come from Satan (John 10:10), not God. God may lift His hand of protection and allow these things to come upon His children, but He is not the instigator of them. God is not the author of confusion but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33).
Neither is God a child-abuser. He does not chasten or child-train His children with such horrible things. He chastens them with His Word to their spirits.
Redeemed from every type of sickness
Under the Old Covenant system of law, God blesses His people if they obey His laws, but allows terrible curses to come upon them if they don't (Deuteronomy 28:1,15).
In Deuteronomy 28, there are 11 verses of blessings (verses 3 to 13) and 53 verses of curses (verses 16 to 68). Since there are more curses than blessings here, it behoves the Christian to study what these curses are, lest he calls something a blessing when it is a curse!
One of the curses is:
Deuteronomy 28:61
61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
Notice it says "every sickness, and every plague". This means that any and every sickness or disease is a curse, never a blessing as some Christians believe. So, if you say that your sickness is a blessing from God, you are contradicting Deuteronomy 28:61, which implies that any sickness is a curse.61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
But praise God that because of Christ's work on the cross, we have been redeemed from the curses of the law, including Deuteronomy 28:61.
Galatians 3:13
13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
In other words, healing is part of Christ's redemptive work. Healing is part of the atonement (Isaiah 53:4, Matthew 8:17 and 1 Peter 2:24)13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
So, how can we say that God chastens His children with diseases? If that were true, God would be going against the work of His Son! Neither can we say that God chooses to heal some and not others because the fact is that healing is offered to all through the cross. If we say that God is willing to heal only some people, it is like saying that God is willing to save only some people.
Taken from: Does God chasten with sicknesses and deaths?