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Due to my recent, life-threatening health crisis -- I have been diagnosed with Bilateral Deep Vein Thrombosis, as well as Acute Bilateral Pulmonary Emboli -- and so many wonderful, caring and encouraging comments from quite a number of my dear Facebook friends, the topic of healing has been on my mind a lot lately. Thus, I wanted to take some time to share my heart and personal beliefs with everyone regarding this important issue, even though I have already mentioned these things before in a few of my other articles such as "Why Doesn't God Heal Me?", "Death: Final Battle, Final Victory" and "Are the Gifts of the Spirit for Today?". I hope that the following information will motivate some of you to stop and think, and to really analyze what you currently believe regarding this subject.

While this may surprise some of my readers, I view the issue of healing very differently from some of the comments which I have seen posted on my Facebook timeline. In a nutshell, I believe that there is a distinct difference between true Divine Healing, and medical healing. I know that there are some Christians -- in fact, perhaps many Christians -- who are firmly convinced that in this day and age of technology, God works His miracles of healing through doctors and modern medicine. This is in fact what the SDA -- or Seventh Day Adventists -- believe as well. But does this belief really pass the test when we compare it with the Scriptures? Let's find out.

Personally, I have a problem with this particular view, and have long questioned its veracity and Scriptural soundness. Quite frankly, in my view, to suggest that the all-powerful Creator of the Universe has to humble Himself, and needs to work incognito through human hands in order to heal people, is both offensive and actually quite ludicrous. I hold to the position that if God made us, then He certainly has the power to completely heal us as well -- if He wants to -- without any kind of human intervention whatsoever. After all, He is God, is He not? Furthermore, in the Book of Psalms, we are told that He knows our every part, as we see by the following set of verses:

"For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them."


Not only that, but the Scriptures also plainly inform us that He is a very jealous God, as we can determine by this group of Bible verses as well:

"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;"


"For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:"


"For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God."


"Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,"


"(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth."


That being the case, if He knows our every part better than anyone on this Earth, and if He is indeed a jealous God as the previous Scriptures state, why then should we hold to the misguided belief that the all-powerful Creator of the entire Universe has to stoop so low as to share His very glory with another, meaning with human doctors? It seems totally out of His nature and character to me. What do you think? Does it make any sense to you?

More to the point -- and this is very important -- I know of no Scripture which states that God operates in this fashion; that is, through human doctors and medicine. That being the case, where did this belief originate? When did it originate? If this popular belief cannot be validated by the Scriptures, does that not strongly suggest that it may be just another false doctrine of men which has somehow crept in amongst the Believers? Well, contrary to what this belief promotes, and as many of you will already know, several of the Gospels inform us that Jesus healed where human doctors were unable to heal. One glaring case concerns the woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years. We find the story in Mark chapter five, as we see here. Please take note of the words which I have placed in uppercase letters:

"And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, AND HAD SUFFERED MANY THINGS OF MANY PHYSICIANS, AND HAD SPENT ALL THAT SHE HAD, AND WAS NOTHING BETTERED, BUT RATHER GREW WORSE, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague."


So Jesus performed the impossible. He did what medicine was unable to do for that poor woman. Yet another clear-cut case concerns lepers. Tragically, no physician could heal these people. Thus, they were forced to live marginalized lives as outcasts, ostracized from society. It should be clear to you that when Jesus healed such plagued people, as well as the woman with the issue of blood, and many other people, this was true, direct Divine Healing. There was no need for any human intervention whatsoever, other than Jesus' loving touch, or merely a word of faith from the Master's mouth.

I was also just reminded of an incident which occurred to the Apostle Paul while he was on the island of Melita, which today is known as Malta. In the following verses, you will notice that after Paul had been bitten by the poisonous viper while collecting wood for the fire, he did not ask the island's medicine man if he had the antidote for the poison. He just shook off the snake into the fire, and that was the end of it. That was direct Divine Intervention and Healing. God didn't allow the poison to negatively affect Paul's body in any way. In fact, shortly after that, Paul went on to give even greater testimony of God's healing power when he healed some of the island's inhabitants, as we see by these verses:

"And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god. In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously. And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him. So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed: Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they laded us with such things as were necessary."


As I point out in some of the aforementioned articles, I am firmly convinced by the Scriptures that true Divine Healing is instantaneous, immediate and on the spot. It doesn't take hours, days, weeks, months or longer for God to heal anyone. That is why I have to wonder when I hear of people, or read about people, who say that they are waiting for God to heal them of some particular affliction. Some of them have been waiting for days, weeks, months or even years. My friends, I honestly do not wish to offend you, but if the prayers have already gone up, and if God wanted to heal you, then you would already be healed. There is simply no waiting around for His healing to occur, in my view. Consider the plain truth which is revealed in the following group of verses. Please notice how many times the words "immediately" and "straightway" are used:

"And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed."


"And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour."


"So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him."


"And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them."


"And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed."


"And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion."


"And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment."


"And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain."


"And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way."


"Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched . . . And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately."


"And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength."


"And Peter said unto him, Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately."


"And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand."


Now, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, we find the following interesting verse. As you read it, think about this topic of healing:

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."


My point is this: Regardless of whether or not Jesus is here in the flesh as He was two thousand years ago, God's creative Holy Spirit can still heal people of their afflictions today, just as it did so many centuries ago. That is, if it is God's Will. That is a key factor. Is it God's Will for you to be healed? As I already said, if you have already prayed, or if your Christian friends have already prayed for you, or if your church has prayed for you, and nothing has happened yet, you need to consider the possibility that maybe God has some reason for not wanting to heal you. I honestly can't tell you what that reason is. That is something which you alone must determine. However, you may possibly find some guidance in my article entitled "Why Doesn't God Heal Me?".

To reiterate a point I made earlier, my God is not so weak or powerless, that He requires human intervention in the form of doctors and modern medicine to do His healing work for Him. My understanding of the Scriptures does not lead me to believe in that fashion whatsoever, and I am not aware of any Scriptures which even begin to support such a doctrine. So again I ask, why do so many Christians believe that way? Perhaps it is time for a bit of honesty. I will tell you what I think. Maybe it applies to you, and maybe it doesn't. Only you can determine the truth in your particular situation. If the shoe fits, then wear it. If not, then don't worry about it.

As I have already made clear, I believe that there is a very distinct difference between direct Divine Healing, and what we can refer to as medical healing. When real Divine Healing occurs, we know it beyond a shadow of a doubt, because there is no medical explanation for such instantaneous healing, and even medical professionals are baffled by it, because it totally contradicts their medical data, medical knowledge, and medical expertise. In a word, God lets it happen in such a way, that everyone knows -- or at least everyone is forced to consider -- that it was Him, and not modern medicine that resulted in the person suddenly recovering from whatever is afflicting them.

As we have already seen, that is exactly what happened in the Scriptures. That woman had been afflicted with an issue of blood for twelve years. The physicians all knew who she was. They had gotten rich from her ailment. They knew that she was beyond their capabilities; and that is when God stepped in, via Jesus' healing touch, or in her case, by touching the hem of His garment.

Medical healing is something totally different. It involves human knowledge and human expertise in an array of medical disciplines. As occurred in my recent case, it also involves trial and error, until all of the symptoms and test results point in the same direction, thus leading to the discovery of the cause and nature of the particular illness, as well as the potential cure for the same. It is entirely a human experience. There is nothing divine about it, in my view.

Now, I already know that this is where some of my Christian friends will disagree with me. They will strongly insist that God gave said doctors the knowledge, experience and wisdom to understand the problem, and to find a solution for it. Thus, in their view, that is how God chooses to heal certain folks in our modern day. However, as I said earlier, if you happen to be one who believes in that fashion, I challenge you to support your claim with Scriptures from God's Word. Show me where God operated that way in the Bible, if you can. Show me where and at what point God suddenly decided that He was no longer able to heal on His own, and that He now requires the intervention of doctors and modern medicine to do His healing work for Him. You just won't find it. All of the Scriptural examples I am aware of show the exact opposite. He worked, and He healed, when human endeavors had given up.

So as I said, I think it is time for some honesty regarding this business of healing. I suspect that what is happening in a lot of cases amongst Christians is this: Either the parties involved don't really have the faith for true Divine Healing -- meaning without any human intervention whatsoever -- or else perhaps God has some reason for which He does not want the healing to occur. If it is the former reason, I suspect that what is happening is that because people don't want to admit their lack of faith for true Divine Healing, they are blurring the lines, and twisting the truth, and claiming that God now heals through doctors and modern medicine.

Honestly speaking, I view this belief as a deception. They're transferring their faith from God, to the doctors and modern medicine, and then claiming that it is God working through them. As I said, I am just not convinced of this, based on my knowledge of the Scriptures. I don't know of any verses where Jesus hung out with the local doctors, and instructed them on how to heal people, as we see in certain SDA posters. Jesus worked entirely separate from the physicians of His day, and I am of the view that He continues to do the same thing today as well. Remember again Hebrews 13:8. He doesn't need them to perform a miracle of healing. He is quite capable on His own, if it be His Father's Will.

Now, no doubt, some of my readers are probably wondering to themselves, "So, are you saying that even though so many of us have been praying for you, you don't believe that God is healing you of your Bilateral Deep Vein Thrombosis and your Acute Bilateral Pulmonary Emboli?" I have basically already given my answer to this question. I believe that if God wanted to heal me of my afflictions, He would have already done so. In fact, He would have done it instantaneously -- as occurred in the Scriptures -- at some point; perhaps on the day I had my last serious incident right before I was admitted to the local hospital. He would have reached down and touched me so that I would have been made whole, and I would have had no need to even go to the hospital that day.

That, in my opinion, is what it truly means to be Divinely Healed, according to the Scriptures. He wouldn't have had me go through five days of medical therapy at the hospital, or now have me be on medications for the rest of my life. God does NOT need drugs to heal a person. If you truly believe that He does, then I am sorry, but I think that you are deceived. Again, my God is not that powerless, and certainly not that limited to where He has to use manmade chemicals to perform His healing. Are you starting to see the light?

In fact, the more I think about this issue, the more I come to realize that while I am definitely getting better day by day, to even call what is happening to me a medical healing is a misnomer. Why? Well, because true healing -- whether it is Divine or medical -- would mean restoring my body to its natural state, so that I would require no medications of any kind. But that is definitely not what is happening in my case. What is happening, is that I am taking a powerful drug -- Warfarin -- which is altering my blood chemistry, so that its viscosity is such, that it will be more difficult for blood clots to form. While this will allow my body to absorb the current blood clots over time, these drugs are really not fixing anything, or restoring anything to their natural state. They are in fact doing the exact opposite. They are keeping my blood in an unnatural state -- that is, much thinner than it should be -- so that I can stay alive.

You see, that is another reason in itself why this should not be viewed as any kind of Divine Healing. If it were such, God would simply instantaneously fix my blood, so that it does not clot the way that it has been doing, and causing me all of these serious problems. Or do you honestly believe that God's way of healing me is for me to take a drug which alters the natural state of the blood which He created? The God of the Bible does not operate this way. Now do you see my point? In short, what is actually happening here, is that modern medicine has found a way around the problem. It isn't fixing the basic problem in the least. It has simply found a detour around it. In my view, that is not real healing of any kind. It is a stop gap measure to keep me alive, while not actually repairing my body.

In short, the way that I view my situation is that while God may have allowed the various doctors to properly diagnose my problem through their human medical knowledge and experience, and likewise provide a medical solution for it as well, this did not involve a miraculous, instantaneous Divine Healing in any way. As I have stated all along in this article, in my opinion, and based on the Scriptural evidence, the mere fact that human intervention, human knowledge and human experience have been involved in my getting better, nullifies this experience being a true, Bible-based Divine Healing, where God acts completely alone, so that He alone receives all of the glory. Do you understand?

Now, I realize that no matter what I say here, some of you are not going to be swerved from your current views. You are going to continue to insist that God heals through doctors and modern medicine. If you want to believe that way, that is entirely up to you. As for myself, I have made it clear that I believe otherwise, and I stand my ground, based on my knowledge of the Scriptures, and how God has operated in the pages of the Bible. After all, it is the foundation of our faith, is it not?

On the other hand, I do hope that at least some of you will come to recognize this modern deception for what it is, and be honest with yourselves. You cannot run to the doctor, run to the hospital, have all kinds of tests and scans conducted on your body, have some operation done, take the prescribed medications, and then claim that God healed you. You cannot take the human route, and then claim Divine Healing. As I've already said, if you truly had faith for Divine Healing, you wouldn't have had a need to do any of that. So just admit to yourself where your faith really lies. Admit that either you simply do not have enough faith for actual Divine Healing -- meaning instantaneous and without human intervention -- or acknowledge that for some reason -- whether it is known or unknown to you -- God has chosen to not heal you. Again, please refer to the article listed below for some guidance.

Please remember that whether God heals you or not, it should not affect your decision to serve Him. That is where real faith and trust enter the picture. We need to serve Him even if we are physically or medically challenged in some way. I have been doing it for many years now, as have many other Christians as well. As I have mentioned before, sometimes this is an even greater testimony of our faith, because we serve Him despite the fact that we are not in perfect health. A lot of secular people do not understand this. It confounds them.

With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

Are the Gifts of the Spirit for Today?
Death: Final Battle, Final Victory
Demonic Possession and Sickness
Why Doesn't God Heal Me?

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Please avail yourself of other areas of the Bill's Bible Basics website. There are many treasures for you to discover.