His perfect will is not to heal you

In His Word, YHVH promised that we would not have the sickness of Egypt in our midst.

Deuteronomy 7:15
“YHVH will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you.

Why are believers and unbelievers having the same medical issues? We all know that these promised blessings from YHVH started off with a specific condition.

Deuteronomy 7:12
“Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that YHVH your Elohim will keep with you the covenant and the lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers.

As a nation, we decided that we do not need to keep this condition any longer. We have made the decision that we do not need to do His commandments. We should rather focus on the rights of the individual and make it possible for people to do whatever they feel like doing. Now we have the result in our lives. We see the sickness all around us. Believers and unbelievers alike suffer from the same fatal diseases. But then we take it one step further.

Because we cannot find healing for our spiritual diseases from the current medical establishment, we turn ourselves to other pagan forms of healing. This is why we see so many people now turning themselves towards all sorts of Eastern philosophies of healing. It is not because our medical system cannot cure disease, it is because we are asking them to cure diseases they are not qualified to cure. We are looking at medical practitioners to heal us from the spiritual impact on our lives. They are not qualified to do this. We are looking for treatment in the wrong place because we do not understand the source of the diseases we are dealing with.

So why do we get sick? In some cases, but not all, it is due to sin. We are not stating that all sickness is a result of sin. Y’Shua was also clear on this topic. However, we will see that a lot of the sickness we experience today, is a curse upon us. The curses come upon us only because we do not do YHVH’s will. We, individually and/or as a nation, are not obedient to Him, and we suffer the consequences. Thus, His will is that we obey Him and as a result, we do not have these illnesses in our lives. That is His perfect will. He does not want to heal us, He rather wants us never to become sick in the first place. But in order to get there, we need to choose His way. It is a choice we need to take as an individual, but also as a nation.

Deuteronomy 30:19–20
¹⁹ “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, ²⁰ by loving YHVH your Elohim, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which YHVH swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

It sounds simple, but there is a lot to this. Let us investigate how our sin impacts on our health. We do this in order to find out how we can get cured from these illnesses. This is not a simple and straight- forward topic to discuss. It will most likely require more than one article to address all the material. Please subscribe to our mailing list to receive the other material on this topic. Today, we will only do a very high level introduction of the topic.

What are we dealing with here

In order for us to discuss healing, we need to know what exactly are we dealing with. We need to understand what sickness is before we can start to discuss healing. Do not worry, this will not become a medical lecture. However, it is important to know that not all sickness has the same origin. We need to make a clear distinction between the source of the sickness if we would like to have a holistic approach to healing.

Sickness can be divided into three primary sources. These are:

• Spiritual e.g. fear
• Psychological e.g. depression
• Biological e.g. bacterial infection

The medical establishment already has a clear separation between biological and psychological medicine. These two are seen as separate medical specializations. You will need to see different doctors for curing depression and bronchitis. More and more people, including the medical community, are coming to the realization that the third source, spiritual is missing.

In the Scripture, we will find that there is a clear separation between soul (mind, thoughts) and spirit.

Hebrews 4:12
¹² For the word of YHVH is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

1 Thessalonians 5:21–23
²¹ But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; ²² abstain from every form of evil. ²³ Now may the Elohim of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Master Y’Shua the Messiah.

If the Scripture makes a clear distinction, we can know that there is wisdom behind this separation. We need to pay attention to this when we discuss healing. The medical establishment is trying their best to make the existing treatment model also fit the spiritual causes of disease.

Current medicine

The modern medical and pharmacological establishments are not without their own problems. It is recorded by the US Centers for disease control (CDC) that prescription drugs now cost more lives than heroin and cocaine combined¹. The other problem is the amount of misinformation that the big pharmaceutical companies use to market and sell their products.

This does not imply that all medicine is bad. Medicine has saved many lives. This is a fact that cannot be denied. We need to understand that the industry also has problems and we should be careful to simply swallow everything they sell (pun intended!)

Whenever you start using any pharmacological product, it is also important for you to understand the side-effects of the drug. All pharmaceutical products have side-effects. Some side-effects are a lot more pronounced than others, depending on dosage and duration of usage. The side-effects of prescribed drugs are also sending many people to the hospital. In an April 2011 study, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality report, revealed a couple of shocking statistics about the side-effects of prescribed medicine.

Thus, it seems that we also need to educate ourselves and look after our health in order to minimize our need for these drugs.

Healthy lifestyle

The best way of ensuring that we stay out of the doctor’s rooms and hospital is to ensure that we lead a healthy lifestyle. Good nutrition, water and sufficient sleep are important. If we incorporate these good habits into our lives, we can ensure a good immune system that will protect us when needed. Good nutrition also means that we should maintain a healthy balance of vitamins, minerals and hormones in our bodies, further reducing our need for pharmacological intervention.

Good nutrition starts with eating the foods that our Creator intended for us to consume. This is the health plan that YHVH had for us. You can read more about this in our previous article on To eat or not to eat, what is the Scriptural standard?

The other key habit we need to have in place is self-control. By making sure we do not overeat or abuse alcohol, we also contribute towards a healthier life. We now quite often hear this problem being referred to as the “obesity epidemic.” This also means that diseases like heart disease and diabetes are on the rise.

Please, do not understand this wrong. We need doctors, allopathic medicine and people that understand the human body. Y’Shua also mentioned specifically that sick people need to be treated by a physician. In the parables He also mentioned the treatment of wounds with oil, wine and bandages.

Matthew 9:11–12
¹¹ When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” ¹² But when Y’Shua heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.

Luke 10:33–34
³³ “But a Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, ³⁴ and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

But it seems that we need more than this. Maybe we also need people who can fix the spirit and cure us from the diseases that the medical establishment cannot fix.

What causes our sickness?

If good health is a blessing from YHVH, what causes His blessing to be removed from us? Here is where the distinction of the different sources of sickness starts to play a role. We have mentioned that there is a biological source that causes things like bacterial infections in our bodies. There infections can do serious damage to our bodies when our immune system is not able to deal with these attacks. Basic preventative actions like washing hands before eating, boosting your immune system by living a healthy life, help us to reduce the impact of these diseases.

What is more interesting is the other two sources of disease, psychological and spiritual. We do believe that there exists a very strong connection between these two. What transpires in the spirit for example, quickly manifests itself in the soul, for example anxiety that is caused by fear. There is medication on the market that gets prescribed to deal with psychological conditions like anxiety. However, these only treat the symptoms, they do not cure. In almost all cases the cure for psychological sickness can be found in the spiritual realm. The medical profession is not trained to work in this space and this means they can only treat symptomatically. We need to find the source if we want to cure rather than treat.

In order for us to understand exactly how this works, it is good to look at a specific example of disease impacting the nation on their way to the promised land. The story of the prophet Balaam and his advice to Balak, king of Moab, give us a clear view of the spiritual impact. When Balaam was unable to curse the Israelites, he gave Balak some advice on how he could defeat the Israelites. It is fascinating to go and read this again in Numbers 22:3 – 25:3. Also pay attention to the eventual outcome of this series of events.

Numbers 31:16
¹⁶ “Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against YHVH in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of YHVH.

This is known as the doctrine or teaching of Balaam. It basically states that you must get them to sin and they will lose their blessing. The sin also caused a separation between the nation and their Creator. This specific incident caused YHVH to be angry with His people.

Numbers 25:1–3
¹ While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. ² For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. ³ So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and YHVH was angry against Israel.

We see in the Book of Revelation, that the assembly in Pergamum, also still had the same issue many centuries later.

Revelation 2:14
‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.

This stumbling block leads to sin and the sin, then creates a separation with YHVH. Spiritually rooted disease is the result of separation. In the case of the Israelites at Shittim, we see that their sin caused a plague among the congregation. In other cases the sin can also create other forms of separation that manifests itself as a disease in our lives.

The separation caused by sin can occur at three different levels:

• Separation from YHVH, His Word and His love
• Separation from yourself
• Separation from others

Each of these three will cause different reactions in our spirit and soul. Separation from YHVH could easily manifest itself as fear (explained above what happens if we have to rely on ourselves) and separation from ourselves leads to problems such as low self esteem. Separation from others can be correlated with behavior such as jealousy and revenge. Feelings of jealousy and thoughts of revenge towards others are some of the diseases that are currently being treated by psychologists on a regular basis.

This implies that the cure may lie in the restoration of our relationships. We need to bring ourselves back to a good standing with YHVH, ourselves and the people around us.

How to deal with disease

We have a Scripture in the Book of James that tells us how to deal with disease. We see that the confession of sin as a key component of this process. We also see that the prayer is the other crucial element. Thus, once we have repaired our relationship with YHVH, then we can ask for His intervention.

James 5:14–16
¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of YHVH; ¹⁵ and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and YHVH will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. ¹⁶ Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

Before we can be cured, we must also address the issue of separation. We should ensure that our relationship with YHVH is in good standing. This does not only mean that we should have repented of all our sins. It also means that we should believe that YHVH loves us. If we do not believe in, and rely on, His love, we will have fear (anxiety) for Him. We will live with the guilt of all the sins that we have committed in the past. Fear and guilt are two of the spiritual roots for numerous diseases in our lives.

In the same way we need to ensure that we are in good standing with ourselves. If YHVH can love you, why do you think that you have the right not to love yourself? Get rid of the self-doubt, low self-esteem and self-hatred. How can you love your neighbor as yourself if you do not love yourself?

Matthew 22:37–40
³⁷ And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love YHVH your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ “This is the great and foremost commandment. ³⁹ “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

The last step is the separation of others. This is normally manifested in our lives via things such as envy, jealousy, competition and bitterness. We need to look for events in our past that keep us separated from others. If you cannot make restoration with the other party, due to death or physical separation, then turn to YHVH. Speak to Him and lay it before Him. He will help you heal.

Matthew 18:21–22
²¹ Then Peter came and said to Him, “Master, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” ²² Y’Shua said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Matthew 18:35

“My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

We need to do this because not all our health issues are from a biological source. We know from Paul that we need to be aware that our struggle is a spiritual battle. We can be sure that one of the things the adversary will attack is our health.

Ephesians 6:12
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

We need to keep the house clean as well. We need to make sure that we remain aware of the temptations that come our way, either physically or spiritually. We should never become so confident that we think we can never be tempted. We need to avoid the temptation when possible. Scientific experiments have shown that our willpower is a limited resource. We need to discern and then make good choices. We have the power to choose between life and death.

Proverbs 25:28
Like a city that is broken into and without walls Is a man who has no control over his spirit.

How do we keep control over our spirit? We need to choose His ways. Whenever we are tempted, we need to use the Word of YHVH to divide between good and evil. If we train ourselves to always choose life, we will start to have control over the thoughts that enter our mind. This is what sanctification is all about. It is about actively choosing His path.

Conclusion

The ultimate purpose that YHVH has for us does not focus on healing us. Rather, He wants us to be blessed all the time. This means that we will not know the diseases of Egypt. We receive this blessing if we do what He wants us to do. Unfortunately, we all still do sin. This sin creates separation in our lives. This separation leads to all sorts of different problems for us on a spiritual and psychological level. These problems in turn causes medical conditions in us that cannot be healed by the current medical establishment.

For healing from these diseases we need to attend to the root cause. The root cause of these types of problems can in a lot of cases be associated with sin. If we restore our relationships by repenting of our sins, we can start to see a cure for all types of diseases in our lives.

As I have mentioned at the start, this is the first step on a journey of investigation. Join us as we go deeper and deeper into this fascinating topic.

References

1. http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/rxbrief/

2. http://projects.propublica.org/graphics/bigpharma

3. http://www.amednews.com/article/20110502/profession/305029945/2/>