Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Spiritual Sickness
(From Forerunner Commentary)
|
2 Kings 4:18-20
In these verses we see the child going out to the field to visit his father among the reapers. Suddenly, he cries out, "My head! My head!" (verse 19). His father, seeing the seriousness of the situation, instructs his servant to carry the child to his mother, but after a few hours sleeping on her lap, the little boy dies (verse 20; the Septuagint translates this as "he slept on her knees"). Though the details are scanty, most commentators suppose the child falls victim to sunstroke, a heatstroke caused by direct exposure to the sun. Out in a field of grain, the boy must not have had any protection from the intense rays of the Mediterranean sun. Being a child, he succumbs quickly, feeling the first symptom as a massive headache before fainting. Spiritually, this diagnosis makes sense. Paul writes in Ephesians 6:16 that a Christian can stand firm in God's way if he is properly equipped, "above all, taking the shield of faith with which [he] will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one." Satan throws multiple distractions, trials, and ideas at God's children, and without the strength of faith, these can quickly and easily engulf us and make our heads spin. Without protection, their intensity could take our eternal life! The Bible frequently speaks of spiritual lethargy and apostasy in terms of disease. He says of Judah, "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores" (Isaiah 1:5-6). David writes, "There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger, nor is there any health in my bones because of my sin" (Psalm 38:3). Jesus uses this metaphor as well: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance" (Mark 2:17). Most telling is Christ's instruction to the spiritually blind Laodicean church to "anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see" (Revelation 3:18). Applying this biblical metaphor to the events of II Kings 4, the boy, representing the individual Christian, falls prey to prolonged exposure to Satan's world. Since the tender, inexperienced child is unprepared for the onslaught of such a powerful and intense foe, the Devil easily overcomes his resistance, and his mother can only watch her child die in her arms. How many of our former brethren have we helplessly watched "die" in the arms of the church in recent years?
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Elisha and the Shunammite Woman, Part I: Reviving God's Children
|
|
2 Chronicles 36:16
Nothing more could be done. They were sick from the tops of their heads to the soles of their feet. There was no way even God could cure them at that point except by sending them away, and that is what He did.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
How to Survive Exile
|
|
Isaiah 1:4-6
Israel was sick, diseased from top to bottom. One might say, "Yes, this was the unconverted nation, not the converted children of God." But do not forget Romans 15:4 and I Corinthians 10:11: "All these things are written for our learning, for our admonition." These Old Testament books were written for the church, and these verses show us the pattern according to which God will act. When iniquity reaches a certain point, in order to save us, He will scatter us. We cannot escape His condemnation.
John W. Ritenbaugh
What Is the Work of God Now? (Part One)
|
|
Matthew 5:14
American liberty seems to be synonymous with American license. The common decency of the culture has devolved to the lowest common denominator. The ideals we espouse are overshadowed by the public example of how we live. For good or ill, John Winthrop's "city on a hill" imagery has come to pass in the United States—but the light it is emitting is feeble at best. As columnist Cal Thomas once observed: These [Muslim] fanatics believe the United States, Britain and the rest of the West are the ones in bondage. They note our promiscuity, our abortions, our obsession with homosexuality, our television, our provocative way of dressing and they wonder who is really free? The adage, "Charity begins at home," has never been more relevant. If our own house is not in order, we can never hope to lead by example. No institution—nation, business, school, church, family—can successfully promote its ideas if its core is sick. It can influence and coerce, but it cannot inspire. Other nations envy the wealth and power of the United States, but it is not out of respect for America's righteousness that they seek to emulate her. America has never recovered from the moral and cultural earthquakes of the 60s and 70s. As the Islamists painfully point out, we have plenty of problems at home. We have killed more of our children than any terrorist could dream of doing. We are draining our economy through deficit spending and credit card debt more effectively than any terrorist strike could. We are denigrating the family—the foundation of any society—at every turn. With such symptoms as these staring us in the face, it is only through hubris that we believe we can teach others a better way to live. Our first priority has to be putting our nation—our schools, churches, families, marriages, ourselves—back on track before we can hope to be effective in teaching the world a better way to live. Our Savior tells us that we have to correct our own vision before we can help anybody else: And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, "Let me remove the speck from your eye"; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:3-5) Whether the institution consists of one man or hundreds of millions, the principle remains the same: There will not be true public victory until there is first private victory. The moral and spiritual sickness must be rooted out first. The foundation must be solid. The message must be correct—and it must be practiced before it can be preached. In fact, practicing it will be preaching it.
David C. Grabbe
The Gospel of Freedom and Democracy
|
|
 |
The Berean: Daily Verse and Comment
Sign up for the Berean: Daily Verse and Comment, and have Biblical truth delivered to your inbox. This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. See what over 155,000 subscribers are already receiving each day.
Email Address:
|
We respect your privacy. Your email address will not be sold, distributed, rented, or in any way given out to a third party. We have nothing to sell. You may easily unsubscribe at any time. |
|
|
