Paper, pt2

Here it is, as promised! Please, PLEASE read the first half first!!!

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Psalms and Proverbs are highly vocal regarding this subject. David cries out in anguish over his spiritual state, declaring that his body is also suffering from his iniquity: “There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, nor any health in my bones because of my sin.” In the second portion of Deuteronomy 28, God specifies the consequences to His People when they did “not obey the voice of the Lord [their] God.” The curses of Egypt (including plague, boils, tumors, and rashes) are named, along with fevers, blindness, insanity, general frailty, and hallucinations. His declaration illustrates Augustine’s point: the body is open to disease’s effects when the soul is out of line.

Might one take this a step further, and suggest that the source of the illnesses is none other than the “corrupting influences of the most vicious demons”? For, considering God’s promises, when else can a believer be subject to sickness other than when he is out from under the Lord’s Divine protection? From the time Satan was cast out of heaven, he and his minions have been waiting for opportunities to attack God’s children. There is only one barrier between them and us: God. In the Garden, Satan could only tempt Eve; he had no power of force. As long as Adam and Eve remained faithful to God, He preserved them from the effects of rebellion – effects Satan knew all too well. Satan cannot undergo physical death, having no body, but his separation from the Lord is a type of death. He has eternal existence, but that hardly constitutes life in the sense of John 17:3. Therefore, he attempts to deprive as much of humanity as he can of the blessings associated with obedience to God.

“Have you considered My servant Job…a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” Often, Job is used as an example of the righteous man who undergoes seemingly arbitrary testing, with God’s consent, just to prove his allegiance to Him. However, one detail is often overlooked. After disaster befell him, Job lamented “…the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me.” Faith is defined in Hebrews as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Fear, on the other hand, is associated with terror, worry, and “what-ifs.” It may be said that fear is the substance of things not hoped for, the evidence of things seen. This type of fear is not from God.

We are commanded to trust God. Job was “upright,” yet he feared – he did not trust God to maintain him and his family. He dreaded God’s judgment on his children, and his wealth was no doubt a source of worry. By fearing, Job sinned, thus opening the door for Satan to attack. Job’s soul refused to release its burden to his Father; therefore, not only was his own person vulnerable, but his entire household was at risk. As the spiritual head, he had power to allow the rest of his “body” to be subject to demonic antics. For the greater part of the book, Job insists he did nothing wrong. Yet in chapters 38 through 41, when God reveals His omnipotence to Job, one could hear Him saying, “I created and control the entire universe, but you didn’t trust Me to handle your problems.” To which Job replies: “I know that You can do everything…” and repents for his lack of understanding and lack of confidence. Only after Job realigns himself with God’s order is he restored to wholeness. Once again, Augustine’s theory rings true.

As shown in Psalm 103, it is God “Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction…” He is our Father, our Hiding Place, our All in All. He created mankind to have relationship with Him. When we reject that relationship, even as Christians, we are subject to devastating consequences. It is only when we repent, renew our minds by the washing of the water of the Word, and return to His protection, that the hierarchy in ourselves can be restored: God is over the soul, the soul is over the body, and the body is kept in perfect health. It is then that we can appropriate His promise: “I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

God calls us to be His servants. This is not the order of a cruel taskmaster, but an honor bestowed by the Lord Most High. He wants us; we bless Him when we seek His will and obey it out of love for Him. He loves us, and desires to give us abundant Life. Our souls form the link between God and our bodies; maintaining that connection is important, and, as Augustine suggests, could be the very difference between life and death.