Strong in Soul

Lesson 14

In case you missed last week’s blog, let’s review a bit. I was proving to you that some people are dying outside of God’s will or timing for them. We were discussing Lazarus and the fact that Jesus resurrected him, so he had evidently died before God’s appointed time for his death. We were looking at John 11:1-4 (KJV) “Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, ‘Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.’ When Jesus heard that, he said, ‘This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.’”

That word “sick” in the Greek means, weak, feeble, to be without strength, and to be powerless, but the root of the word “sick” is the Greek word “astheneo” which means strong in soul. Lazarus was sick and died because the strength of his soul was weak, feeble and powerless. He needed to be made strong in soul. It was his soul that allowed him to get sick and die. Now the word “sick” is used many other places in the New Testament, but it doesn’t always translate into the same Greek word. There are other places where it translates into words that just mean miserable and ill, but they have nothing to do with the soul. This means that sometimes when you see the word “sick”, it’s a person just being ill and has nothing to do with their soul. They just have some sort of an illness, either from a spirit or whatever situation, in Lazarus’ case, the word “sick” has in its etymology to be strong in soul, meaning that’s what he needed. He needed to be strong in soul. I believe that was why he passed away, he had a wound in his soul that allowed him to get sick and die.

The greatest confirmation that Lazarus died of a wound in his soul comes from Jesus himself. John 11:4 (KJV) says this, “When Jesus heard that, he said, ‘This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified.'” The direct translation of that word “sickness” there is the exact same word as the word “infirmity” which means weakness, infirmity of the body and of the soul. Peeps are dying out of their appointed time. Why? Many times it’s because they have a wound in their soul that’s allowed them to get sick and die.

Let’s look at the story of Dorcas together. Acts 9:36-37 9 (KJV) “Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and alms deeds which she did. And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died…” The word “sick” in this scripture is the same word used to describe Lazarus. She too died before her time because she had a wound in her soul. She was “sick”. She needed to be made what the root of that word means, strong in soul, and what happened? Peter resurrected her. If it was her time to die, she would not have been raised to life because that would be going against the will of God. So it wasn’t her time to pass.

Do you know people that are sick and dying right now of some terminal disease? Remember Job 21:23 (KJV) says, “One dies in full strength being wholly at ease and quiet, his breasts are filled with milk, and his bones are moistened with marrow.” That is the way we are supposed to die, so if you’ve got a friend that’s dying of a disease, then it is not God’s will.

People pass away from cancer or other terminal diseases and those around them say, “Well, it must have been their time.” No, if someone is dying of a disease, then that is proof it is not their time to die. They are supposed to die in full strength. They are supposed to die with their bones filled with marrow and moistening. That’s your indicator. Fight! Heal their soul! That’s your indicator! This is not God’s will. If they’re sick and dying, it’s not the will of God.

Whew! Out of time and space again! Next week I will give you an example of someone I know that should by medical standards be dead right now. But, we didn’t believe that a chronic disease was God’s perfect will for them! We decided to fight!

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