Does Obedience Protect a Person From Sickness and Affliction?

 
“If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statues, I will put none of the disease on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer.”
(Ex 15:26)

“Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them…The LORD will remove from you all sickness; and He will not put on you any of the harmful disease of Egypt which you have known, but He will lay them on all who hate you.”  (Deut 7:12-15)

“If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God, then the LORD will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses.  He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid and the will cling to you.” (Deut 28:58-60)
 
Does a life of obedience to the word of God offer a level of protection against sickness and affliction?  If not, to what does scripture refer when it told the Israelites that such protection was afforded those who kept the commandments contained in the Law?  I think this is a provocative question and one worth discussing.  Those who argue against this interpretation will be quick to point out the story of Job’s suffering and the New Testament story of the man born blind who had not sinned, but “that the works of God might be displayed in him” through the healing hand of Jesus, (John 9:1-34).  The scripture passages above also suggest that the diseases and afflictions referenced are those in excess of what might be considered common illnesses since these “lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses” are connected to the LORD’s judgment against Egypt.
  
Although modern believers perceive viruses and bacteria as the source of sickness and disease, the New Testament text portrays spiritual forces as the underlying cause of illness and affliction.  For example, the woman who could not straighten up for 18 years was said to have a “sickness caused by a spirit,” (Luke 13:10).  Jesus referred to the woman as a daughter of Abraham “whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years,” (Luke 13:16).  At another time, Jesus is approached by a Gentile Syrophoenician woman whose daughter had an illness caused by an “unclean spirit,” (Mark 7:25).  Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to leave and the girl was healed.  Mark records a man who was made deaf and mute by an “unclean spirit,” (Mark 9:25).  Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out and then raised the man up by his hand.
 
When Jesus “rebuked the fever” of Peter’s mother-in law (Luke 4:39), the reader is to recognize that the fever originated from an unclean spirit.  In scripture, the act of “rebuking” is most often directed toward unclean spirits (Matt 17:18, Mark 1:25, Luke 4:35, 9:42), but also toward Satan (Mark 8:33, Jude 1:9, Zech 2:3) and even sinful acts, (1 Tim 5:1, 2 Pet 2:16).  While scripture does not take a position that all illness and disease are caused by unclean spirits, scripture certainly connects many sicknesses and afflictions to spiritual forces.  If spiritual in origin, what steps can the believer take to protect himself/herself from these afflictions?  Fortunately scripture has provided the answer, keep the commandments as displayed through the life of Jesus.  So how does obedience help protect the believer?
    
Scripture commands us “to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean,” (Lev 10:10).  Not only were the Israelites commanded to eat clean animals, they were commanded to maintain a clean condition, a “holy” condition.  Peter said it this way, “Be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy for I am holy,” (1 Pet 1:15-16).  Maintaining a state of “holiness” is synonymous with maintaining a “clean” condition.  In a “clean” condition, the believer can approach the LORD.  In a “clean” condition, the believer may also be afforded a level of protection against an “unclean” spirit, and therefore, against sickness and affliction. 

 As another example, recall the story of the man possessed by numerous unclean spirits “Legion,” (Luke 8:30).  At the request of Legion, Jesus permitted the unclean spirits to move from the man into two thousand unclean swine.  If the animals had been sheep, I doubt this transfer would have been possible since sheep are clean animals.  However, pigs are not clean animals and unclean spirits can apparently move from one unclean vessel to another unclean vessel, whether that be an animal or a person.  (As a side note, it’s also interesting to recognize that some diseases transmittable to mankind originate from unclean animals such as “swine flu”.)

 When people became unclean through natural acts or sin, the commandments prescribed a way to be restored to a state of cleanliness, which includes baptism.  Water can make clean that which is unclean.  Maybe for this reason “the unclean spirit…passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it,” (Matt 12:43).  While the unclean spirit desires “waterless places”, the unclean spirit does not find rest because even unclean people and animals need water to survive. 
    
In our day, believers are quick to acknowledge the work of “angels watching over me.”  These same believers are less likely to recognize that suffering, illness, and disease potentially originate as the work of Satan or from unclean spirits.  Up to the present day, our nation may have received some protection through the merit of the witnesses who lived before us, the salt who kept the nation clean.  Maybe the righteous who lived before helps explain why some of the more deadly diseases like “Ebola” seem to originate in places that have less salt. 

 As I get older, I am more inclined to consider that illnesses, diseases, and even the senseless acts of violence may increase in a society that moves toward a greater level of uncleanness.  An unclean people will open the door to a higher activity of unclean spirits, which can result in greater stress for the individual and the nation.  The solution for the individual and the nation can be found in obedience to the commandments as demonstrated through the atoning life of Jesus Christ.  A clean condition increases the protection an individual has against disease and sickness.  The righteous still suffer, but their suffering does not result from their sin.  Through the suffering of the righteous, the world is preserved and the righteous accrue merit.  This is my simple understanding of the potential protection afforded through obedience.  The reader may have a different and better understanding so I always remain open as a new wineskins.

Believers must always acknowledge that the Bible frequently teaches the benefit and blessing for a walk of obedience,

“My son, do not forget my teaching (Torah), But let your heart keep my commandments; For length of days and years of life And peace they will add to you,” (Prov 3:1-2).  

Even Paul, whose words are often used to argue against the continuing relevance of the Law, said, “Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth,” (Eph 6:2). 

Scott