Sickness is Demonic

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.

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.

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?

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.