Does Satan cause sickness?
All throughout the Bible there is mention that the devil can be the cause of our diseases. Please remember though that there are other causes as well. For more information on that subject please visit our site at:
Where does sickness come from? http://www.answers2prayer.org/sickness/sickness0.html
And
Does God want you to be healed? http://www.answers2prayer.org/healed/wanting_to_be_healed.html
Now let us turn to God’s Scriptures to discover one of the causes of our sicknesses: the devil himself.
* Job 2:4-7 “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.” NIV
Job is a book in the Old Testament, which deals about afflictions and sicknesses. It is clear in this book that the devil is the cause of all of Job’s afflictions and diseases. Satan is an accuser, and loves to afflict us with misery and diseases.
* Matt 12:22-28 “Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” NIV
Jesus makes it clear that a kingdom divided against itself will be ruined. The devil is not in the healing business. He is in the accusing business, like here accusing Jesus to heal for the wrong reasons. He is in the sickness business, as anything that hurts God is a delight to him. Jesus is making it clear here that healing can only be performed through the power of God’s Spirit, not through the devil himself who causes sickness.
* Luke 8:2 “And also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out…” NIV
Evil spirits seems to be associated with diseases. Healing happens when these evil spirits are driven out by the power of God’s Spirit!
* Luke 13:11 “and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.” NIV
It is confirmed here that evil spirits causes sickness. This poor woman was crippled for 18 years, due to an evil spirit!
* Luke 13:16 “Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” NIV
Jesus proclaims deliverance from these diseases caused by the evil one. Nothing can stop him to do so. Neither the devil himself, nor human tradition!
* 2 Cor 12:7 “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” NIV
The apostle Paul was afflicted by some kind of disease as well. Notice to what he attributes this to: “a messenger of Satan”.
* Matt 10:1 “He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” NIV
The power of healing that Jesus handed out to his disciples is not only to drive out demons, but also to heal every disease and sickness. Again sickness is closely associated with evil spirits here.
* Acts 10:37-38 “You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached- how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” NIV
This text couldn’t be clearer at all: those who were healed from diseases by Jesus were under the power of the devil. In other words, the devil had caused these diseases in these people, just like those computer viruses being created by malevolent people. Please note though, there is hope for those who are ill! If you believe in the power of God’s Spirit, healing can be yours!
The Bible encourages us to trust in the Lord for our healing.
Ps 103:2-3 “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits — who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” NIV
This was confirmed when Jesus was visiting our neighbourhood, preaching the good news and healing the sick.
Matt 4:23-24 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” NIV
Your healing was paid for 2000 years ago, through the blood of our loving master Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:24 “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” NIV
The only one who wants your destruction is the devil. Come to Jesus and experience life to the fullest. He is the One who will heal you. He is the One who will set you free from addictions. John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” NIV
Come to Him and accept Him now in your life. Claim His victory! Do so by answering His call at http://www.answers2prayer.org/saviours_call.html .
You will experience freedom; because the One who is in you (God’s Holy Spirit) is greater than the one who is in the world (the devil).
1 John 4:4 “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” NIV
The devil has lost the battle. He was conquered on the cross, by no other than Jesus’ Himself!
1 John 3:8 “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” NIV
Claim Jesus’ victory! It was made possible 2000 years ago.
Rob Chaffart
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Acts 10: 38 says, “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him.” In this verse, we see God freeing those oppressed of the devil through the healing ministry of Jesus. Sickness IS an oppression indeed?
Psalm 107: 20 – “He sent His Word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions.” Sickness is the work of the evil one who comes ‘to steal, to kill and to destroy’ (John 10:10). Does not sickness pull you down? Sickness is indeed a destruction.
Luke 13:16 “And ought not this woman being a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound, lo, these eighteen years be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” When our precious Lord healed this crippled woman, he said he was loosing (freeing) her from the bondage of Satan. That can only mean that sickness is the binding of the devil. Bondage is sickness
Many people say sickness is a blessing. Well this is wrong. It is in no way a blessing. Many Christians have misconceptions about sickness. But nowhere in the Bible does God call sickness a blessing. He calls sickness ‘Oppression’ and ‘Bondage’ and ‘Destruction’ and ‘Curses’. If sickness is really a blessing and if it teaches us God’s ways, would the Bible not teach us to pray to be sick?
In Luke 4:18 our Lord said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” The Lord has come to save us from all this sickness brought about by the evil one.
DeeDee
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No particular verse comes to mind, but the Book of Job shows specifics of what the devil can do. In the discussion between God and Satan, God asks, “Have you considered my servant Job?” Satan tells God, “Why shouldn’t he serve you, you have given him an abundance of blessings?” God answers, “Do as you will with him, but do not touch his body.”
Next we read about the terrible things that begin to happen to Job. He loses his children, his animals, his storehouses, and just about every material thing he has. But Job still trusts in God.
Satan again in his conniving way tells God that even though he lost worldly possessions and family, he was still healthy and whole, and this is why he could still trust in God.
God then gives permission for Satan to attack Job himself, but commands Satan to spare Job’s life.
Next we see Job with sickness and sores on his entire body. He still trusts God. Now the Book does not specifically state that Satan made Job ill, but then if God had not given the freedom to Satan to make Job physically ill, would Job have been attacked with such terrible and loathsome boils and sores? It is obvious that Satan is the one who caused Job’s illnesses, as well as the other terrible things that happen to him.