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I don't think it's a matter of opinion: a plague of boils for Egypt (Exodus 9:8-9) and at end times the unrepentant break out in painful sores (Revelation 16:2). Aside from causing disease supernaturally, I think his commands are suppose to keep people from getting diseased in the first place. If you don't touch reptiles, you've just reduced the risk of getting salmonella. If you don't have sex with animals or multiple people, you've also reduced the chance of getting a sexually transmitted infection. His commands have a hygienic quality (e.g. removing the mold from the home [Leviticus 13:47-59]) that people seem to gloss over. The only reason he isn't sending plagues right now is because he's allowing people to repent. But once this merciful period is over, he'll continue dealing with people as he always has until he destroys the wicked for good.


promise = to destroy the wicked

edit: In other words, sickness is a result of someone's disobedience / their decision to act in an unhealthy way. Can't all sickness be traced back to Adam and Eve? Had they not gotten themselves kicked out of the garden, mankind would be eating from the tree which kept them immortal and healthy (Genesis 3:22, Ezekiel 47:12, Revelation 22:2).

I think that God can and does make people sick as a form of punishment.
I believe that he can and will bring fourth plagues if need be.
However i also know that nature will take it's course on people, so try to not get the two confused.

But keep in mind that sickness isn't a Godly thing.

I do not believe that God would punish his children with sickness
I have heard of situations where God has called forth punishment of death....and yes those particlar instances are very funny indeed....but as far as sickness...no
Job I think it was, was the pinacle of faith and loyalty to God yet as a test he was plagued with the worst illnesses curses and pain. and he indured it maintaining his faith to God. his pain and suffering only increased until His constant faith was proven to satan and the test ended. then all he lost and more was returned to him. he was blessed beyond anything he could have ever wanted or needed.

I have known far too many people who repent and repent and repent...all in vain because they believe that they are being punished. Satan knows this belief and will use to to taint our faith if he can. do not believe that you are being punished by God just because you are getting sick.
remember the word of God...if you pray for salvation he will NOT forsake you
"if your child comes to you and asks for a piece of bread will you give him a snake?"
God does not punish the faithful....he may test the faithful, he may do what is needed weather you see what it is or not. but do not believe that you are being punished by God just because you caught the common cold

There was a lady that had cancer at my church. A guy told her that she would be healed if she just had faith. She died because he kept telling her that she would have a miracle and didn't need treatment. Six months later that same man was diagnosed with cancer. So yeah it happens but not every disease is punishment.

Actually, lifespans have been getting a good deal longer. Back in the Middle Ages, you were lucky to make it to 30 or 40, especially if you were lower class. With the gradual advancements in medical and nutritional knowledge that we've gained over the years, the life expectancy, at least in developed countries, has nearly tripled in the past 700 years or so.

Regarding the OP: This all really comes back to the age-old question of why bad things can happen to good people. I don't think illness is usually a punishment. Everything happens for a reason, but for better or worse, we can't always know what that reason is.

I'm not arguing with that, I'm just saying that life expectancy has risen significantly in the past few hundred years.

And that changes nothing, for several reasons:

(1) Scripture itself doesn't hide that the Israelites disobeyed (more often than not): they lived like the world, so they suffered like the world.

(2) I compared the Middle Ages to scripture, not Middle Eastern people/culture. Still, the phrase "Middle Ages" does refer to European history (Israel does not use that phrase to refer to its own history). Whatever term you want to use, that doesn't change the fact that Europeans weren't scriptural. Simply having God's word doesn't mean you're obeying his word and thus benefitting from it (their Hygiene was horrible compared to Moses' time which is whom I'm making comparisons to, a generation that did obey at least more than the generation you're referring to; that's like 3,000 years apart).

(3) When people aren't living according to scripture, of course they won't reach their full lifespan of 120. But you won't find anyone living up to 900 anymore. Hence the side note at the end of my post citing the instances where age is mentioned.

- Before the fall: immortal
- After the fall: death entered the species, lifespan is limited, though humans live for several hundred years (900+)
- After fallen angels mixed with humans: YHWH deliberately sets a limit of 120 years on humans; you won't find anyone living to 900 anymore after the surviving pre-flood generation dies out.
- Moses is quoted as saying men only live 70 years, 80 if they're lucky. However YHWH did not change the 120 limit because Moses himself lived to see 120; thus, YHWH didn't limit it to 40; so bringing up the middle ages is irrelevant because I wasn't insinuating that. The more society lives according to his hygenic rules (known or unbeknownst to them), the more likely they are to reach 120.

(4) Instead of obeying his rules, humans do try to find their own solutions to health. Moses is still climbing mountains at 120, his eyesight hasn't fogged or anything (Deuteronomy 34:7). You can't say that of pretty much anyone today. They weren't using medicines and technology. We, on otherhand, seem to be dependent on technology to deal with (or shall I say "hide") our decay.

Creation is decaying. That's something not even science argues with: it's called entropy. Yet scripture talks about the concept of entropy before science ever discovered that.

edited