Sickness from God only in the "Permissive Sense"

In the Old Testament there are passages that appear to state that God directly inflicted sickness upon people. However, when we learn to interpret the Bible with the Bible we begin to understand that sickness was inflicted by God's permission (the removal of His protection) rather than by His direct hand (Exodus 12:23; Job 1:9-12; 2:3; 42:11). In 1899, J. W. Byers was asked if sickness came from God. Note his responses and know that your Heavenly Father is not the inflictor of that which hurts His children as our Lord Jesus taught us (Matt. 7:7-11):

Ques. But does not sickness come from God as a blessing? .

Ans. No. It never comes from God only in a permissive sense, the same as a temptation comes to us; and sickness is never a blessing to us only as any other temptation or trial may be considered a blessing. The blessing is in the deliverance and healing. Every person who has ever experienced the healing touch of God knows what a blessing to the soul comes with it. Sickness is an abnormal condition of the body and can not be a blessing from God.

Ques. If it does not come from God, then where does it come from?

Ans. It comes from the Devil, and was always dealt with by Jesus in his earthly ministry as a work of the Devil. The word of God plainly teaches us that the Devil is the author of disease. Read Job 2:7; Luke 13:16; Acts 10:38.

Ques. But are there not some other scriptures that teach us that sickness comes from God?

Ans. Only in a permissive sense.

Reference: Byers, J. W The Grace of Healing (Moundsville, W. VA: Gospel Trumpet Publishing Co, 1899), pp. 271, 272