Scripture for Madi's Question

Here are some categories of information regarding Madi's question yesterday. I am not saying I am 100% correct, but I have used the scriptures I found to formulate an idea below...thus, I cannot take credit for anything I say, but give the Word of God all the glory.

Deuteronomy 28: Blindness sent as a judgment (read the whole chapter for context, but here are some key verses):
1 If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
4 The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
9 The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in his ways. 10 Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. 11 The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your forefathers to give you.
15 However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country.
17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed.
18 The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
19 You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.
20 The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. 21 The LORD will plague you with diseases until he has destroyed you from the land you are entering to possess. 22 The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, with blight and mildew, which will plague you until you perish.
27 The LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. 28 The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. 29 At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you.

However, Jesus claims in the John passage that this man's blindness was not a form of judgment:
John 9: 1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life..."

Thus, this man's blindness was created purposefully so that God's work could be shown through it. Jesus says so himself! But, other illnesses and sicknesses that people possess are based on judgment of their ancestors, parents, or the shortcomings of their own lives (Deuteronomy). However, since Deuteronomy is ancient law, which does not discount it necessarily, I feel the need to continue to search.

God's Hand Over All:

John 1:3 - Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Romans 11:33-36 -
33Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34"Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" 35"Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?"[c] 36For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.


Satan's Power over the World:
Job 2:3-7
3 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason."
4 "Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life. 5 But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face."
6 The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life."
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.


God's Purposeful Blinding Of Men: (I tried to keep these in context, but please go read the passages for better understanding)

Saul of Tarsus (becoming Paul) Acts 9- 8Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. 10In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered.
11The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."
13"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
15But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."
17Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Acts 13: 8But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10"You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind, and for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun."
Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. (Paul causing this sorcerer to be blind turned somebody to GOD!= purposeful blindness!)

Genesis 27: Isaac's blindness causes him to be tricked into giving Jacob his blessing, which is in God's plan...
Jacob Gets Isaac's Blessing 1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called for Esau his older son and said to him, "My son." "Here I am," he answered.
......most of you know this story, and here is what God tells Jacob afterwards:
13 There above it [e] stood the LORD, and he said: "I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."




THUS....after reading all of these....I believe that blindness/sickness/etc. is something that is in God's sovereign hands. As hard as it is to believe, ALL THINGS are to and from and for God. He would never create anything that wouldn't be used for His glory (i.e., the man blind from birth; Saul's blindness; Isaac's blindness; etc). As far as sickness and disease go, things that people may not be born with but may receive during their life, these afflictions I believe to be from Satan. God does not strike us down...He does NOT punish us, because the ultimate punishment of this world already occurred with Jesus being crucified on a cross. We are yet sinners but He does not point His finger and cause someone to be blind. All imperfection, sickness, sadness, fear, calamity-- all of that is seen by God and His hand is over it, but it is not caused by God. Rather, it is an outpouring of our sinful nature as humans, and the fact that Satan is roaming this earth and ruling it with the powers of evil and darkness. Satan has a strong foothold on this earth and its inhabitants. In Job, it says that Satan afflicted Job with the boils on his head...not God. However, God is not absent in these afflictions. He does not turn His face...He continues to be our God, worthy of praise, our rescuer and redeemer. He uses these sicknesses and afflictions for His glory, to cause people to turn to Him, to be a refuge or strong tower for someone...the list could go on. God does not forsake us!-- He is with us always, He is mighty to save.