................by the way, after that ye were come forth out of Egypt." (Dt. 24:9) So, it becomes plain who put the disease on her! After she was properly disciplined, the Lord restored her to her health seven days later! This follows right in harmony with His recorded inspired word when He said, "See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no God with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand." (Dt. 32:39) Then, the Lord stated, "and the Lord said unto him (Moses), who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord?" (Exodus 4:11)
Therefore, in light of the above scriptures, it is perfectly reasonable to understand that the Lord can choose to either put sickness on anyone, or heal them, according to His sovereign will! When His use of sickness for chastening or whatever purpose is fulfilled, then He can choose to heal, also for His own purpose and glory! "I am the Lord that healeth thee." (Exodus 15:26) "I will take sickness away from thee. The number of thy days I will fulfill." (Exodus 23:25,26) The main point that the Lord wants to get across to us, is that He does the deciding of whether we are to be sick or well! "I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things." (Isaiah 45:5,6,7). The word "evil" is taken from the Hebrew word "Ra" and means just that: evil, but it does not mean sin! That is one of the things which God is unable to do, and that is sin! He also is unable to lie, as we are seeing by examining His word.
God makes it plain, all through the Bible, He loves His children, but He is the boss and "calls the shots". He loves and disciplines as well! "And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the Lord." (Jeremiah 31:28). To those who persist in their wickedness, without responding to chastisement, God even utterly destroys. The Bible is loaded with the various incidents!
ARE CHRISTIANS PROMISED HEALING IN THE ATONEMENT?
The favorite "proof texts" of healing being promised in the atonement of Christ is taken from Isaiah 53:4,5. Faith healers love "Surely he bath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4,5) Isaiah prophesied this prophecy about Jesus 700 years before it came to pass. Faith teachers use these texts to claim healings for the present age. What makes it even more inviting is the fact that the word "griefs", in vs.4, is translated from the Hebrew word "gholee", meaning "sicknesses or diseases", and the word "sorrows" is taken from the Hebrew word "Machohv" which means "pains". So, faith healers tell those seeking healing "Jesus already bore your sicknesses and diseases and carried all of your pains on the cross, so if you will believe He did it for you, you do not need to bare any sickness or carry any pain! By his stripes which He took with the Roman whip, you are healed!
When I used to preach that sermon, I really believed it, and couldn't understand why all would not "believe and receive" their healings! However, with diligent study, I finally came to the correct exegeses of these verses. I found, as many others have, that the actual fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy was actually fulfilled in the actual, literal healing ministry of Jesus Christ when He was on earth! Since it was fulfilled in Jesus, we are in error to claim those scriptures out of context to claim healing for ourselves in this present age! The fulfillment to Isaiah 53: 4,5 is recorded in Matthew 8:16,17. "When the evening was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with demons: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying Himself took our infirmities, and bore our sicknesses."
So, in light of those two verses, it is plain to see, the fulfillment to Jesus baring any sickness and diseases were fulfilled right there when He personally ministered on earth in the flesh! So, we, as believers, cannot claim any unfulfilled promises from the atonement! The prophecy has already been fulfilled! However, we can claim something else from the atonement, which was done right there, once and for all, for all of the elect of all ages, past, present and future, and that is the fact that Jesus bore our SIN on the cross! The apostle Peter brought that to the attention of the redeemed when he reminded them, "who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripe ye were healed."4 (1 Peter 2:24) So, Isaiah was looking ahead to the cross, and Peter was looking back to the cross, both realizing that the healing which came by the stripes Jesus took was the once and for all healing of the sins of the elect!
Therefore, we are promised healing from sin for our souls from the atonement, but the physical healings part of the prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus' earthly 3-1/2 year ministry! However, it is a known fact that when the soul is healed from the burden of sin, the body also starts to function better, because most diseases are due to some inbalance of the bodily system due to an unhealthy soul!
In other words, a sin infested soul. That is why the Greek words for "salvation" and "save", mean "deliverance, perservation, healing, health, soundness, and salvation. The Greek word for "salvation" is "soteria". Since salvation is a progressive process finally leading to absolute glory in Heaven with a glorified body, naturally there is both spiritual and physical healing involved in the process. In systematic, or dogmatic theology systems, there is part of the system which includes the study of "Soteriology", or salvation.
The word "save", in Greek, is "Sozo", and has the same meaning as salvation. In the New Testament, the word is used interchangably for heal, make whole, or save. The word from the original Greek word, which is "Sozo" is the original word used in all of the following passages. The word "Sozo" is used wherever quotation marks are located: Matthew 1:21 - for he "shall save" his people from their sins; Matthew 8:25 saying, Lord, "Save" us: we perish; Matthew 9:21 - but touch his garment, I "shall be whole"; Matthew 9:22 - thy faith "bath made" the "whole"; and the woman "was made whole" from that hour; Matthew 10:22 - he that endureth to the end "shall be saved"; Matthew 14:30 - he cried, saying, Lord "save" me; Matthew 16:25 - whosoever will "save" his life shall loose it; Matthew 18:11 - is come "to save" that which was lost; Matthew 19:25 - saying, who then can "be saved";
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