Leprosy And Cancer
Leprosy* is a physically obvious
disease that slowly kills the flesh and organs until a person dies from its
effects.
Before modern medical science
leprosy was commonly known as an unclean and contagious disease that slowly killed people, causing
those with leprosy to be rejected and exorcised from family and society. Few
who had it had the wealth and power to maintain their position in society and
generally became beggars, two Biblical examples of those with power to maintain
their life style were Naaman, the Commanding General of the Syrian army during
Elisha’s lifetime (2 Kings 5; Luke 4:27). The other is the Judean King Uzziah who
lived when Isaiah was Prophet of JEHOVAH (2 Chronicles 26:18-23).
Cancer** is primarily a physically
internal disease that slowly kills the body’s organs and flesh until a person
dies from its effects.
Cancer was not known worldwide for
many centuries because it did not manifest outwardly with few exceptions of
skin cancer, which most likely would have been considered leprosy. Cancer kills
secretly and silently, even in today’s modern medical environment, it goes
undetected many times until it is to late to save the person. Throughout
history many people died of cancer but no one knew what killed them, they just
got sick and died.
Both leprosy and cancer are
reflections of sin in the world, Israel and in the Church (The Body of CHRIST)!
JESUS who came to take away the sins of the world healed many lepers and many
who were sick of an unnamed disease. JESUS raised from the dead three people
who died of an unnamed disease (Matthew 9:18-26; Luke 7:11-17; John 11:1-44),
could they have died of some form of cancer, yes, but the Bible does not say.
It is easy to show that leprosy
and cancer are signs of sin in the world, Israel and in The Church. Sin is a
key cause of sickness, but you can get sick and not have sin in your life as a
Believer because there is sin in the world and we (Believers) are still in the
world and subject to it effects. All unbelievers are sinners and are therefore
subject to all sickness and disease but not all sinners get diseases and die
prematurely, this follows GOD’s Law of Love – GOD Loves every person who was
ever conceived (John 3:16; Proverbs 15:3; Ezekiel 18:31-32, 33:10-11; Matthew
5:43-45)!
This is where I’ll get the
argument – many Christians get cancer but they do not have sin in their life,
some recover and some do not. This is a circular argument that has no complete
or satisfactory answer for everyone. Sin like cancer can be hidden from view,
in our modern liberal church some may not know they even have sin in their
life, they are deceived by the immoral teachings that allow them to believe
they are saved when they are not saved. Some will argue that as a Christian you
cannot have sin in your life because GOD’s HOLY SPIRIT lives in Christians,
while it is True that The HOLY SPIRIT lives in those who are Born Again, it is
also true that Believes can have sin in their life and not all of them get sick
or die prematurely. Many Christians who do not have sin in their life get sick
and some die, this is also a fact! So there is no satisfactory answer to the
question, “Why do Christians get sick and die?” As The disciples asked JESUS if
the man born blind had sinned in the womb or if his parents had sinned was the
reason he was born blind; what was JESUS’ answer? “No, it was for The Glory of
GOD!” (John 9:1-3 [study the whole chapter].
JESUS said, “GO and sin no more!
He said it to two specific situations that cover every situation in our lives:
self-preservation and immorality (John 5:14 [study 5:1-15], 8:11 [study 8:1-12]).
In John 5 JESUS asks a man who had been lame for 38 year if he wants to be
healed and the man’s reply was to complain about how he could not get to the
pool in time because no one helped him. Many Christians do not get healed
because they complain about their situation rather than Believing (this is
going to get much push back but in JESUS’ example here and in my personal
experience I know this as a fact). At the end of the story JESUS tells the man,
“Go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you!” JESUS clearly equates
sin and sickness here and warns the man; who then goes and tells the religious
leaders that it was JESUS Who Healed him (this man was so bound up in religion
he could not just except what JESUS had done for him and restart his life).
In John 8 we have a story of the
religious leaders bringing a woman caught in the act of adultery to test JESUS
(they were sinning in this, not in that they were trying to trap JESUS but they
were in violation of The Torah that said the man and the woman both were to be
judged and stoned to death (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22). So JESUS after
convicting the religious leaders and others in the crowd who were ready to
stone the woman of their sins, He asked the woman, “Woman where are those
accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you? ” She said, “No one, LORD.” JESUS
said, “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more!” JESUS as The Son of GOD had the Right and The
Power to forgive her, but He warned her and therefore us to stop living in
(practicing) immorality!
If you want to know how to be a
Christian than you have to study The Bible, whatever you believe about The
Bible, It is The Word of JEHOVAH GOD that He gave to us so that we can know Him
and understand His Purpose for our creation and existence! The Bible is both
the First Covenant (Testament) and Second Covenant, they are The Complete Word
of GOD to humanity! JESUS and the apostles only had the First Covenant to teach
from, the apostles did not understand that they were living and writing the
Second Covenant. Everything in the Second Covenant, even Revelations, is found
in the first Covenant. There is nothing old about the First Covenant, it is
Eternal and as JESUS Himself said, “Not one jot or tittle of The Torah will
pass away – the earth will pass away but not GOD’s Word!” (my loose translation
of Matthew 5:17-20), also study Matthew 7:24-29 to understand the importance of
JESUS’ emphasis about GOD’s Word (JESUS is The Living Word of GOD, John 1:1-5,
14-18; Luke 24:27; Revelation 19:10).
In Matthew chapters 5-7 JESUS gave
the greatest sermon ever spoken, The Sermon On The Mount, if you want to know
how to live as a Christian than you have to study and live according to JESUS’
teachings. Especially Matthew 5-7 and John 13-17, this is during the Last
Supper, John is the only one who recorded all that JESUS told the disciples on
that night.
*Leprosy is a chronic infectious disease caused by a
type of bacteria, Mycobacterium leprae. The disease predominantly
affects the skin and peripheral nerves. Left untreated, the disease may cause
progressive and permanent disabilities. The bacteria are transmitted via
droplets from the nose and mouth during close and frequent contact with
untreated cases. Leprosy is curable with multidrug therapy (MDT).
**Cancer was first named around 400
BCE by the Greek physician Hippocrates, often considered the "father of
medicine". He used the Greek terms karkinos and carcinoma
(meaning "crab") to describe tumors, as the spreading, swollen veins
reminded him of a crab's legs. The Roman physician Celsus later translated this
to the Latin word cancer around 25 BCE–50 CE. Hippocrates described
several kinds of cancer, referring to them by the term καρκινος (carcinos),
the Greek word for 'crab' or 'crayfish', as well as carcinoma. This
comes from the appearance of the cut surface of a solid malignant tumour, with
"the veins stretched on all sides as the animal the crab has its feet,
whence it derives its name". Since it was against Greek tradition to
open the body, Hippocrates only described and made drawings of outwardly
visible tumours on the skin, nose, and breasts. Treatment was based on
the humour theory of four bodily fluids (black and yellow bile,
blood, and phlegm). According to the patient's humour, treatment consisted of
diet, blood-letting and/or laxatives.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, it
became more acceptable for doctors to dissect bodies to discover the
cause of death.
