Does the devil make people sick?

Our last blog touched on the fact that in the Old Testament and in the New Testament God sent forms of punishment on people, which included sicknesses, diseases and death. The point in that blog was that God commands His people to live a certain way, and if His people obey Him, He promises to bless them. However, if His people disobey Him, God in turn promises to punish them or curse them in some way. All throughout the Bible we see that one of the ways that God punishes and disciplines His people is through sickness and disease. A lot of people had a problem with this blog because they don’t understand how God can do something so bad, but yet we always call Him good. Christians are used to blaming everything that is bad and negative on the devil and not on God. In all reality, if you disobey God and He sends repercussions on you, it is not God’s fault. Even though He sent the repercussion, it is your fault for being disobedient to your creator and master.

This time I want to shed some light on who the devil is and who he isn’t according to scripture. We’re going to talk about whether or not the devil makes people sick. Most Christians I know blame anything bad on the devil and not on themselves or on God. I want to look at scriptures both in the Old and New Testament, so we can see the truth about the devil and sicknesses. It is very important that we get everything we believe from the Bible and that we renew our minds according to its truth, instructions, examples, commandments, warnings, judgments, and wisdom.

First, let’s look at the beginning in Genesis, where mankind fell by disobedience to God. I want us to see how the devil was involved and how he wasn’t.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:1-6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The devil never forced the human to disobey God by eating off the wrong tree. The devil tempted the human by asking questions and leading her to think about disobeying God. Eve disobeyed God on her own, the devil didn’t make her do it. That is why she will be held responsible by God once He speaks to them about this act of sin.

Let’s see how God responds to Adam and Eve’s disobedience against His commandment:

“The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.””
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:14-19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We just read the curses that God set on the serpent, humankind, and the earth itself. This is God doing what we would call “bad” or “evil”. However, God calls the trickery of the devil evil and the disobedience of humans evil. That is why He judges and sends punishments for sin, because He should be obeyed, not rebelled against. God gave Adam and Eve so much, everything. But instead of remaining faithful to Him, they betrayed Him for some fruit. Worse yet, they listened to the voice of a stranger rather than their own creator. God really hates that, Jesus our Savior does too (read the gospels). Did God increase the “pain” of childbearing for women? Yes, He did. God sent pain as a form of repercussion for sin, we cannot ignore this.

Now let’s look at the story of Job and let’s see what part God played in that story, what part the devil played in that story, and of course what part Job himself played in that story.

“His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually. Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.”
‭‭Job‬ ‭1:4-12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

After reading these verses we can see a few things:

1) Job made sure to consecrate his children out of fear of God. It seems like Job knew that sinning against God or cursing Him in their hearts would turn out bad. A lot of people don’t fear sinning against God, because they think He will not judge them and send them any form of punishment. It looks like Job wanted to be right with God and wanted his children to be right too.

2) Job was the most righteous person on the earth, he was blameless, upright, turned away from evil, and he feared God.

3) Satan admitted that God put a hedge of protection around Job, his house, his possessions and all that he had. We can see here that when God is pleased with you by your righteousness, He will protect you and bless you.

4) Satan asked God to do Job harm. Satan obviously wasn’t able to harm Job. It is clear that he wanted to, but he couldn’t. Only God could do that. It seems like God gave the devil permission but it wasn’t out of judgment due to Job’s sin. This isn’t common in the scriptures. where God tests a righteous servant of His even though He doesn’t want to punish him for anything he has done. This actually reminds me of the story of Paul where He writes that God didn’t remove the thorn in the flesh that the devil sent to him. We know Paul was righteous and that He needed the thorn to remain humble because He did so much for the gospel and had received so many revelations from the Lord.

We must remember that in the stories of Job and Paul, they were both afflicted with something that God allowed, but that the devil had his hand in. In neither story, does God want to punish them for sin. These two stories cannot be used as teachings on how God judges someone for their sin, unlike the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis.

Let’s read a few more verses about Job and his hardships:

“Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”
‭‭Job‬ ‭2:1-10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

These few things are clear in those few verses of chapter 2:

1) Satan incited God against Job. The devil needed God to hurt Job, not the other way around.

2) Satan asked God to stretch out His hand (God’s own hand) in order to bring some form of illness on Job’s body. It says that God gave Satan permission to do it, but it came from God initially. This confirms many things we see angels doing in the book of revelation during the end times. In Revelation, the angels were bringing plagues on the earth (just like Satan did to job) but they were sent by God, so God sent those plagues to the earth, not those individual angels. We must remember that angels are mere servants of God. God is the boss, even over Satan.

3) Job had the wisdom and faith in God to know that His creation must not only be willing to receive good from Him, but also bad. It is clear that God approves evil things in some occasions.

Now let’s look at the ministry of Jesus in the New Testament, and see what we can learn from a few stories of healings and of deliverance from demons:

“Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12:22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭8:35-36‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭13:11-13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Lastly, I want us to look at this scripture:

“how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭10:38‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I hope that you notice that is says Jesus healed people who were oppressed by the devil. This tells us that the devil can be involved in things that Jesus healed people from during His ministry.

Now let’s look at those scriptures again and connect them to Acts 10:38:

“Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12:22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The demon made the man blind and mute.

“Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭8:35-36‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The demons made this man act insane and out of control.

“And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭13:11-13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The demon made this woman disabled in her back.

It is clear that some people who were healed from physical disabilities didn’t just have a sickness, but a demon that make them ill. That’s why Jesus cast out a demon to heal them. This is where the devil is involved in the bodies of those who have certain disabilities, not because the devil puts sicknesses on people, but because if somebody is possessed by a demon the demon they are possessed by may be causing them to be mute, deaf, mentally insane or to have a bent back. The devil wasn’t involved in the healings that Jesus did where people were not demon-possessed. The devil was only involved in the sicknesses that were caused by demons.

In the last blog, I showed you through scripture that God sent sicknesses and diseases on people as a form of punishment due to their sins and disobedience. In this blog I showed you that in order for Satan to be involved in somebody’s sickness or disability he had to either deceive the human to disobey God and to sin, which in turn led God to punish them with some form of curse, he (the devil) had to go and get permission from God first to oppress an individual, or actually possess a whole human being with a demon or multiple demons in order to make him or her ill with a physical disability.

If we compare both of these blogs and the amount of scripture in the Bible that tells us about people’s sicknesses and disabilities, we will find that God is way more involved in sickness than the devil. A lot of people believe that the Devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy and so they blame him for everything that is bad. They get the scripture from John chapter 10. Let’s read some verses from that passage in John chapter 10 so we can see who really comes to steal kill and destroy:

““Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”
‭‭John‬ ‭10:1-16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The Devil is not the thief in this story, if anybody is the devil in this story it is the wolf that comes to devour, not the thief. The thief that comes to steal, kill, and destroy is somebody who is a bad leader and shepherd over people, a hireling that does not care about the sheep. Jesus made this teaching as a rebuke and warning to evil teachers, such as the Pharisees. The devil is not responsible for every sickness or death that happens on the Earth. Because people fail to realize that it may be God disciplining them for their sin, they blame the devil for their sickness and never repent of their wickedness and disobedience to God. This is a big form of deceit through false doctrine that I am sure the devil enjoys watching in the church.

If you are going to blame the devil For a sickness in your body, then scripturally you should be either possessed by a demon, righteous like Job, or maybe a righteous Apostle of God who has so much revelation that you need a messenger of Satan to bother you so that you don’t fill yourself up with pride and boasting due to the amount of revelations and visions that Jesus Christ has given you. Read the scriptures that we looked at again and read about the thorn in the side of the Apostle Paul. If the word of God doesn’t convince you of what you should believe, then you are in big trouble due to stubbornness, pride, self-confidence, or just believing the preacher who taught you otherwise, instead of believing God and His word.

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