Cotton Mather on The Destroyer in the
Wilderness
Troy J. Edwards
And Aaron took as Moses
commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the
plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an
atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; and
the plague was stayed. (Num. 16:47-48)
There
are some passages of Scripture that leave us with no doubt that Satan and his
demonic entities are involved in the sickness and diseases suffered in our
fallen world (Job 2:7; Matt. 12:22-29; Luke 13:10-17; Acts 10:38; 1 Cor. 5:5).
However,
there are some passages that are not as clear on this matter such as our
opening passage. On the contrary, the context of the passage implies that God
is the source of this plague. Verse 46 says, “for there is wrath gone out
from the LORD; the plague is begun.”
An
often-neglected principle for understanding the Bible is that it is a
progressive revelation. Because all that was to be known about God and the invisible
spiritual world was not revealed in the early days when Scripture was being
written, God often took responsibility for things He did not have a direct hand
in (compare 2 Samuel 24:1 with the later written 1 Chronicles 21:1). An Hebrew idiom
that should always guide our interpretation is that God is often said to do
that which He permitted or did not prevent.
Centuries
later Paul taught that there was another agent outside of God Himself who was
responsible for the plague in Numbers 16: “Neither murmur ye, as some of
them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer” (1 Cor.
10:10). Nonetheless, this passage still appears obscure to some.
There
are those who believe that the passage is in reference to an agent (possibly an
angel) who is under God’s employ, who brings about the plague. This may seem
plausible to some, but it is inconsistent with how Jesus, who is the express
image of God’s character and nature (2 Cor. 4:4), revealed about Satan and his
works. Therefore, in consistency with Scripture’s revelation that Satan is the
author of sickness and disease, we believe that the “destroyer” referenced by
Paul in 1 Cor. 10:10 is the devil.
Cotton
Mather, probably more famous for his involvement in the Salem witch trials that
occurred during his day, was a Puritan minister, author and scientist, born on
February 12, 1663 and lived to February 13, 1728.
Mather
gave a sermon titled, “A Discourse on the Wonders of the Invisible World”.
In this sermon, Mather believed that that Satan is the destroyer mentioned in 1
Corinthians 10:10 and that he was the culprit behind sickness and disease:
Indeed, as the Devil does
begrutch us all manner of Good, so he does annoy us with all manner of
Wo, as often as he finds himself capable of doing it. But shall we mention some
of the special woes with which the Devil does usually infest the World! Briefly
then; Plagues are some of those woes with which the Devil troubles us.
It is said of the Israelites, in 1 Cor. 10.10. They were destroyed of
the destroyer. That is, they had the Plague among them. ‘Tis the Destroyer,
or the Devil, that scatters Plagues about the World. Pestilential
and Contagious Diseases, 'tis the Devil who does oftentimes invade us with
them.[1]
Mather,
who also promoted inoculation for disease prevention, believe that Satan was
completely responsible for the sickness and disease that had spread during his
time:
‘Tis no uneasy thing for
the Devil to impregnate the Air about us, with such Malignant Salts as
meeting with the Salt, of our Microcosm, shall immediately cast
us into that Fermentation and Putrefaction, which will utterly dissolve all the
Vital Tyes within us; Ev'n as an Aqua-Fortis, made with a conjunction of Nitre
and Vitriol, Corrodes what it Seizes upon. And when the Devil has raised
those Arsenical Fumes, which become Venomous Quivers full of Terrible
Arrows, how easily can he shoot the deleterious Miasmas into those
Juices or Bowels of Mens Bodies, which will soon Enflame them with a Mortal
Fire! Hence come such Plagues, as that Beesom of Destruction,
which within our memory swept away such a Throng of People from one English
City in one Visitation; And hence those Infectious Fevers, which are but so
many Disguised Plagues among us, causing Epidemical Desolations.[2]
Whatever
issues one might have with Mather’s involvement in the Salem witch trials, it
is nice to know that the understanding that Satan is the destroyer referred to
in 1 Cor. 10:10 and that he is the actual propagator of sickness and disease in
the Old Testament (as well as that of today) is not a modern day teaching.
Sickness
does not originate with God but with the enemy of God and mankind. It should never
be accepted as coming from God nor should we ever consider that it is His will
that we are sick. Sickness and disease must be resisted by faith in the
promises of divine healing found in His Word (Exodus 23:25-26; Psalm 103:1-5; Mark
16:15-20; James 5:14-16).
Learn more truth about how to interpret
difficult passages of Scripture that appear to cast God in a bad light. Get our
upcoming new and revised books:
Visit www.vindicatinggod.org for more details
[1] Mather,
Cotton The Wonders of the Invisible World: Being an Account of the Tryals of
Several Witches Lately Executed in New-England (Massachusetts: John Russell
Smith, 1862), p. 52
[2]
Ibid.
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