. . . they shall mount up with wings as eagles . . . Isaiah 40:31

Sickness is Demonic

Psalm 107:17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

Scriptures like this seem to indicate that there is a connection between sin and physical sickness. There is certainly a connection between sin and demonic activity. Except for sin there would be no devil in the earth. Adam’s sin opened the door for the devil to enter this world. And except for the devil there would be no sickness.

Was there sickness in the earth before the devil came? There isn’t any scriptural evidence of sickness in the Garden of Eden. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. Death is a spiritual condition, a condition of separation from God, in which demonic activity thrives. Sin in the earth creates the spiritual atmosphere for sickness to thrive in the earth.

Well, you might say, what about a little baby who is innocent getting sick? The baby didn’t sin. But the spiritual atmosphere that generates sickness still exists in the earth. So if you’re sick it’s not necessarily your sin that caused it.

John 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

I personally believe that sickness has its root in demonic activity. Or, in other words, demonic activity is at the root of sickness and disease. You may disagree with that notion, but it seems that people in the time of Jesus’ ministry had an understanding, even a common knowledge, that sickness was connected to the work of devils. Let’s look at some scriptures that support this idea.

Mark 9:17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;

The man, who had brought his son for healing did not say, My son is deaf and dumb, as we might say. He said, He has a dumb spirit. Why did he say that? Who told him that? Did Jesus correct him and set him straight on the matter?

Mark 9:25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

So then Jesus Himself also addressed this condition as a spirit, a dumb and deaf spirit, a foul spirit. You’ll notice as you read the gospels that Jesus treated devils and sickness in a similar way. He rebuked them both.

What I’m suggesting is that we might get better results if we would deal with the demonic aspect of sickness and disease. Tend to the obvious physical condition, but deal with the spiritual root in the authority of Jesus’ name. I believe that If we take the more Biblical belief that sickness is demonic in origin, we will deal with it differently, and we’ll get better results when praying for the sick.

In Jesus ministry the distinction between demonic activity and sickness is somewhat vague. Let’s look at another example in Mark 7:25-30.

Mark 7:25 For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: 26 The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.

Her daughter had an unclean spirit. She didn’t say, My daughter is sick.

Mark 7:27 But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.

Have you ever heard the expression “Healing is the children’s’ bread?” That expression comes from this scripture. But this woman who came to Jesus was seeking help in casting out an unclean spirit. It doesn't say she was asking for healing.

Mark 7:28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.

Yes, Lord, I’m a dog, if you say so. But even the dogs get to eat something under the table.

Mark 7:29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. 30 And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

Jesus said “Go your way, the devil is gone out of your daughter.” He referred to the condition as the work of a devil. She went home and her daughter was well. So then getting rid of an unclean spirit seems to have solved her physical condition. She was cured. She was all better.

Luke 13:11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. 12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

The Bible tells us here that she had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years. But this spirit of infirmity manifested in her being bent over and unable to straighten up.

Who said that it was a spirit of infirmity? This is recorded in the gospel of Luke, so it was Doctor Luke, the physician. Did Jesus command the devil to leave? No, He said, Woman, you are loosed.

Luke 13:13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

He laid hands on her and the spirit of infirmity left her. And she straightened up, for the first time in eighteen years.

Matthew 8:16 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:

It seems to be evident that in the days of Jesus’ earthly ministry demonic activity and sickness ran together? Have things changed so much from Bible days to now? Or have we merely changed the way we view things?

I heard someone make a shocking statement some years ago. They said, all sickness and disease is spiritual. I had a hard time with that but now, just a few years later, it seems to make sense.

Well, brother, I just don’t believe that. That’s okay, you can believe whatever you want to. But did you know that it does make a difference what you believe? Do you recall that Jesus had some difficulty in His hometown of Nazareth.

Mark 6:5 And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. 6 And he marvelled because of their unbelief.

Unbelief is a form of belief. They believed the wrong thing, and it stopped the power of God. It didn’t say He wouldn’t do any mighty work. It said He couldn’t.

Let’s put some thought and meditation into the idea that sickness and disease are of the devil and that they originate in demonic activity, activity of the devil. Then we will approach praying for the sick in a different way. It will become an exercise of the divine authority that Jesus endowed all believers with.

Mark 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

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