https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/06\/The-Bible-and-Medical-Science.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Isaiah 45:20-25<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. We know that the Bible is God’s directions for mankind<\/p>\n A. It is not a history book per se; that is, it doesn’t document all of world history. Just\na small, but relevant portion.\n
B. It is not a science book, but it does mention scientific facts once in a while.<\/p>\n C. It is not a medical book, but it does mention medical and health facts once in a\nwhile.\n D. In a book written by man, when the author mentions something that is not in his\nline or is not the primary focus of his book, we expect to find inaccuracies. After\nall no one knows everything.\n E. But in a book that claims to be written by an all-knowing God ought to be\naccurate even in the casual side details.\n
F. It is that accuracy which should make people sit up and take notice of the Bible. <\/p>\n
II. Moses was educated in Egypt – Acts 7:22<\/p>\n A. If the first five books of the Old Testament were solely the product of Moses,\nwithout the inspiration of God, we would expect to find Egyptian influences in\nMoses’ ideas.\n B. Egypt was considered the most advanced nation of its time in the medical\nsciences.\n 1. “Egypt was the medical center of the ancient world”[A Sketch of Medicine\nand Pharmacy<\/i>, Dr. S. E. Massengill, 1943].\n 2. King Darius of the Medo-Persian Empire kept “in attendance certain\nEgyptian doctors, who had a reputation for the highest eminence in their\nprofession” [The Histories<\/i>, Herodotus].\n
C. Egyptian medical practice<\/p>\n 1. A document, known as the Ebers Papyrus, discovered in 1872, gives 811\nremedies for ailments.\n a. For example, to draw out a splinter it was suggested that a poultice\nmade of worm blood, mole, and donkey dung be used.\n
(1) Unfortunately, donkey dung is filled with tetanus spores.<\/p>\n (2) Thus, “a simple splinter often resulted in a gruesome death\nfrom lockjaw” [None of These Diseases<\/i>, S. I. McMillen and\nDavid Stern, 2000].\n b. A remedy for healing skin diseases called for a hog’s tooth, cat’s\ndung, dog’s dung, aau of samu oil, and berries of the xet plant all\npounded and blended together to form a poultice. [Ancient\nEgyptian Medicine: The Papyrus Ebers<\/i>, Cyril Bryan, 1930].\n c. To promote hair growth, it was suggested that you mix lizard dung\nwith the blood from a cow, donkey, pig, dog, and stag. [Cyril\nBryan].\n 2. Some of the medicine actually did work and was helpful, but it wasn’t\nconsistently good. Some did nothing and others would cause additional\nharm.\n 3. For example, Egyptians believed that pus in a wound was a good sign, thus\nmany remedies deliberately caused infections in order to gain pus.\n
III. Contrast this to the writings of Moses<\/p>\n A. While not a medical book, it is obvious that there was a grasp of the concept of\ndisease-causing germs. It exists in a society that had no means of seeing bacteria\nor viruses.\n B. It was in 1847 that an obstetrician named Ignaz Semmelweis tried to do something\nabout the 1 out of 6 death rate in his ward. His wasn’t unique, all other modern\nhospitals of his time has similar death rates. It looked really bad compared to\nhaving a baby at home with a mid-wife; there at least the death rate was only 3%. \n 1. He noticed that doctors were performing autopsies, rinsing their hands in a\nbowl of bloody water, wiping them on a common towel, and then visiting\ntheir patients.\n 2. He ordered everyone to wash his hands throughly in a chorine solution\nafter every examination. In three months the death rate went from 18% to\n1%\n C. Moses wrote that touching a dead body required isolation for seven days in which\nthey had to wash on the third and seventh day, a proper method for preventing the\nspread of diseases that caused someone’s death – Numbers 19:11-13\n
D. Ordinary water wasn’t used for purification<\/p>\n 1. Ash was made from a red heifer, cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet –\nNumbers 19:6\n
2. Water was run through the ashes of a red heifer – Numbers 19:17<\/p>\n
3. It might sound like a magical incantation, but look at the ingredients<\/p>\n
a. Pouring water through ash is how you collect lye, used in lye soap<\/p>\n (1) Concentrated lye is very caustic, but diluted, it makes an\nexcellent agent to remove dead skin cells and kill bacteria.\n b. Hyssop contains thymol, an antiseptic which is used in some\nbrands of mouthwash today.\n (1) “Once used for purifying temples and cleansing lepers, the\nleaves contain an antiseptic, antiviral oil. A mold that\nproduces penicillin grows on the leaves.”\n
c. Cedar<\/p>\n (1) “Cedar wood has long been used for storage cabinets\nbecause of its ability to repel insects and prevent decay. In\noil form, applied to humans, it is an antiseptic, astringent,\nexpectorant (removes mucus from the respiratory system),\nanti-fungal, sedative, and insecticide.”\n (2) Recent research on oriental cedars, “do in fact have\nantiviral, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial properties.”\nThey also note that it inhibits the reproduction of type A\ninfluenza and is effective in treating eczema. [“Thuja,”\nRebecca Frey]\n d. Scarlet is thought to refer to scarlet wool. “Adding wool fibers to\nthe concoction would have made the mixture the ‘ancient\nequivalent of Lava soap,’ since the small fibers would require more\nscrubbing to remove.” [McMillen and Stern].\n 4. In other words, long before all our modern discoveries, Moses at the\ndirection of God told the Israelites to wash with antibacterial liquid soap\nwhen they became unclean to purify themselves.\n
IV. Quarantine rules<\/p>\n A. The book of Leviticus lists the symptoms of a number of diseases and for some\nprescribes isolation while the person is ill.\n
B. For example, leprosy – Leviticus 13:46<\/p>\n
1. If someone gets close – Leviticus 13:45<\/p>\n 2. Notice the covering of the mouth, like you do when you sneeze. Why? It\nprevents spray from the nose and mouth to carry germs to another person.\n C. “The idea of contagion was foreign to the classic medical tradition and found no\nplace in the voluminous Hippocratic writings. The Old Testament, however, is a\nrich source for contagionist sentiment, especially in regard to leprosy and venereal\ndisease.” [Encyclopedia of Medical History<\/i>, Roderick McGrew, 1985]\nV. Contrary to the practices of his day Moses wrote rules for dealing with disease and its\nspread that rivals modern practice.\n A. “In the prevention of disease, however, the ancient Hebrews made real progress.\nThe teachings of Moses, as embodied in the Priestly Code of the Old Testament,\ncontain two clear conceptions of modern sanitation – the importance of\ncleanliness and the possibility of controlling epidemic disease by isolation and\nquarantine.” [S. E. Massengill]\n B. It is clear that the teachings found in the Bible, while medically sound, do not\nmatch the practices of Egypt, where Moses was trained, or the of the nations.\n C. Such is not what we would expect to find in a man-made book, but it is consistent\nwith the claim that Moses was inspired by God.\n
D. Isaiah 46:8-10<\/p>\n
\n
Based on “Scientific Foreknowledge and Medical Acumen of the Bible” by Kyle Butt, MA, Reason and Revelation<\/i>, December 2006<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
VI. Additional Medical Practices (Not Mosaical)<\/p>\n
A. The Samaritan’s use of oil and wine on wounds<\/p>\n
1. Oil slows bleeding and speeds the healing of wounds<\/p>\n
2. Wine kills germs and causes blood vessels to contract<\/p>\n
B. Timothy told to use a like wine for his stomach ailment<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Isaiah 45:20-25 I. We know that the Bible is God’s directions for mankind A. It is not a history book per se; that is, it doesn’t document all of world history. Just a small, but relevant portion. B. It is not a science book, but it does mention scientific facts once in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[568,709,911],"class_list":["post-26275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-accuracy-of-the-bible","tag-evidence","tag-medical-practices"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36504,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-it-really-matter-about-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":26275,"position":0},"title":"Does It Really Matter About the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant Sometimes in talking with people, I ask if they believe the Bible is true. I then give three options: It is inspired by God, and all true; It is just a collection of writings by men through the centuries; or The original writings were God-inspired, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57877,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/leprosy\/","url_meta":{"origin":26275,"position":1},"title":"Leprosy!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Paul Williams The repulsive disease of leprosy has a strange fascination. God's law for Israel described its symptoms in detail and gave minute instructions to the priest for its diagnosis. This law also said, \"As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/YW030393V_Leprosy-skin-discolouration-on-an-Indian-mans-arm-300x212.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26391,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/homer-sometimes-nodded\/","url_meta":{"origin":26275,"position":2},"title":"Homer Sometimes Nodded","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Numbers 23:18-19 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Horace (65 - 8 B.C.), a Latin poet, wrote \u201cSometimes even the noble Homer nods\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Homer was a blind Greek poet of the eight century B.C. Know for the Illiad and the Odyssey. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As accomplished as Homer was, he sometimes erred with reference to the facts\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62864,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-science-the-source-of-truth-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":26275,"position":3},"title":"Is Science the Source of Truth? (Sermon)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Download Audio Text: I Corinthians 1:18-31 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mankind has long fooled themselves into thinking they can accurately determine the truth \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We call this search for Truth \u201cScience\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cKnowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method.\u201d -\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":94813,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-canon-of-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":26275,"position":4},"title":"The Canon of the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 28, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. 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In the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Ignaz_Semmelweis_1860-222x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26275\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}