3. Introduction
1. Look at what the Bible says
concerning disease prevention,public
health, and medical practice.
2. Compare the Bible’s instructions with
that of the ancient Egyptians as well
as with more “modern” day public
health and medical practice.
4. The Bible’s Instructions
First five books of the bible are incredibly
detailed and specific regarding the law.
Ever wonder why God was so “picky”
about so many seemingly obscure things?
Example: (Leviticus 12:1-2)Why is a woman
“unclean” for seven days after giving birth??
5. God’s Promise to Abraham
“Look up at the heavens and
count the stars if indeed you can
count them.”
Then he said to him, “So shall
your offspring be.”
(Genesis 15:4-6)
6. Genesis 17:2-6
God made many promises:
• He would greatly increase his numbers
• Be the father of many nations
• Be very fruitful
• Make nations of him
• Kings would come from him
• Establish His covenant through him
7. Fulfillment of many of God’s
promises requires:
1. FAITH in God’s word
2. OBEDIENCE to what He says
8. To put the word into practice.
We can’t just listen to the word, but
must do what it says.
James 1:21-24
(Speaker’s paraphrase)
The Test
10. Abraham’s Test
In Genesis 17:9-14 God told
Abraham that he was to undergo
circumcision and that for the
generations to come every male
eight days old was to undergo
circumcision.
19. Consider
It is estimated that in the U.S.
circumcisions currently prevent
more than ten thousand UTI’s
per year. If these boys were not
circumcised these infections
would kill up to two hundred
boys.
20. • In Abraham’s time before there
were antibiotics these infections
would have been much more
serious. UTI Infections could have
resulted in thousands of boys
dying.
25. Here is How it Works
1. Blood Clotting Proteins (Prothrombin) are
continually produced in the liver.
2. The Liver needs Vitamin K to make clotting
proteins.
3. Vitamin K is produced in our intestinal tract.
4. When a baby is born the Vitamin K levels are
similar to that of the mother.
26. 5. Infants are born without the required
bacteria in their intestines to produce
Vitamin K
6. It takes about five days for the bacteria to
build up in order for the baby to start
producing its own Vitamin K
7. As a result Prothrombin drops to 30
percent of normal
32. Why Flint instead of Metal?
• Making a Flint knife produced a clean
bacteria free sharp edge.
• Bacteria and germs would only be
discovered thousands of years later, yet God
instructed Joshua to use a surgical
instrument which would be germ free!
• We did not have to wait for Louis Pasteur’s
Germ theory of disease to tell us that!
34. Ritualistic Surgeons
Even today, ritualistic surgeons
are infecting babies with fatal
cases of gangrene, tetanus,
tuberculosis due to using dirty
instruments.
35. INITIATED INTO DEATH
Infected from botched
circumcisions, beaten and
exposed to bitter cold - it’s
not surprising five boys died.
“Some of them lay shivering with fever, apparently the upshot of
septicaemia resulting from infected circumcision cuts.”
The Star, Wednesday, June 26 2002
36. The Promise of a
healthy disease free
life
Egypt 3500 years ago
40. Prescriptions
1. “To cure pinkeye apply the urine of a
faithful wife.”
2. To Embedded splinters they applied
worms’ blood and asses dung.
3. To prevent hair from turning gray,
anoint it with the blood of a black calf
which has been boiled in oil, or with
the fat of a rattlesnake.”
41. The Bible Says
Gray hair is a crown of
splendor; it is attained by a
righteous life.
(Proverbs 16:31)
43. Rx for Hair loss
• “When it falls out, one remedy is
to apply a mixture of six
fats,namely those of the horse,
hippopotamus, the crocodile, the
cat, the snake, and the ibex. To
strengthen it, anoint it with the
tooth of a donkey crushed in
honey.”
44. Leviticus 13:40-41
“When a man has lost his hair
and is bald, he is clean. If he
has lost his hair from the front
of his scalp and has a bald
forehead, he is clean.”
45. Drugs of Choice included:
• Lizards blood
• Swine’s teeth
• Putrid meat
• Moisture from Pigs’ears
• Excreta from animals including human
beings, donkeys, antelope, dogs, cats and
flies
46. Exodus 15: 26
He said, “If you listen
carefully to the voice of the
Lord your God and do
what is right in his eyes, if
you pay attention to his
commands and keep all
his decrees, I will not bring
on you any of the diseases
I brought on the
Egyptians, for I am the
Lord, who heals you.”
47. Moses' Test
Acts 7:22 tells us that
Moses was educated in
all the wisdom of the
Egyptians
48. The Difference
• Instructions in the Bible were altogether different
form the Papyrus Ebers. The Bible definitely was
not copying the medical authorities of the day…
Far from it!
• We do not find a single harmful or useless remedy
from the Egyptians in the Bible
• God’s divine instructions were not only devoid of
harmful practices, but had many detailed positive
remedies.
49. We find remedies such as:
“The sting of the hornet is healed by the
housefly, crushed and applied to the
wound”
in a Jewish book of medical knowledge
from the time of the New Testament
writings.
WE NEVER FIND SUCH A
PRESCRIPTION IN THE BIBLE!!!
50. THE IMPACT OF POSITIVE
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE
BIBLE FOR THE PREVENTION
AND IRRADICATION OF
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
51. LEPROSY
• Killed millions of people in Europe and
around the world for hundreds of years.
• “Fear of all other diseases taken together
can hardly be compared to the terror
spread by Leprosy”
Dr. George Rosen
53. MEDICAL COMMUNITY HAD
NO ANSWERS
They taught that it was brought on by eating
hot food, pepper, garlic and the meat of
diseased hogs.
NO MORE PERI PERI CHICKEN!
Other physicians said it was caused by malign
conjunction of the planets.
The suggestions were utterly worthless!!
55. Sixty Million Deaths
• In the 14th
Century alone Black Death took
the lives of one out of every four persons,
an estimated 60,000,000
• Greatest disaster ever recorded in human
history
56. What brought the major plagues
of the dark ages under control?
• It was the church that finally took
leadership as the physicians had nothing to
offer.
• The guiding principle was the concept of
contagion or quarantine as described in the
Old Testament
57. “As long as he has the infection
he remains unclean. He must live
alone; he must live outside the
camp.”
Leviticus 13:46
58. Mission Accomplished!!
By following the precepts laid
down in the book of Leviticus
the church accomplished the
feat of methodical eradication
of Leprosy and then Black
Death.
60. Disease Prevention
• Intestinal diseases such as cholera,
dysentery and typhoid fever continued to
take a heavy toll of lives in Europe into the
late 1800’s
• In London because of the high cost of a
funeral (20 weeks wages) it was not
uncommon for a family to keep the dead
body of a relative who died for days and
even weeks in their one or two room house.
62. Sir Edwin Chadwick’s proposal
• Clean up city and build proper
sewage system
• No burials within city limits and the
bodies to removed from people’s
houses immediately and taken to
mortuary for burial
63. Deuteronomy 23:12-13
“Designate a place outside the camp where you
can relieve yourself. As part of your equipment
have something to dig with, and when you
relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your
excrement. For the Lord your God moves
about in your camp to protect you and to
deliver your enemies to you.”
64.
65. Disgusting!!!
• Undertaker quotes: “…even after the
coffins had been tapped to let out the liquid
products of decomposition, till maggots
were seen crawling about the floor…till, as
the body was borne away, escaping matter
ran down the shoulders of the bearers.”
66. Deuteronomy 21:23
• God directed the people not to even leave
executed criminals unburied.
“…you must not leave his body on the tree
overnight, be sure to bury him that same
day…”
67. Good Idea!
• Parliament did not think so
• 1854 Chadwick Sacked!!!
• For decades England’s poor would
continue to pass diseases from the
dead to the living.
75. Was Semmelweis Applauded?
• To the contrary he was demoted and
eventually sacked.
• His successor threw out the washbasins and
the death rate shot back up.
• Died of blood poisoning in a mental
hospital
77. Hyssop
Wash as described in
Numbers 19
1. Hyssop contains antiseptic Thymol
2. Repeated washing running water
3. Exposure to the sun
4. Scrub Cedar Oil & Wool fibers
5. Repeat
80. Pride
The Doctors should have listened
to Semmelweis and looked to the
Scriptures.
Pride and Laziness kept doctors
from accepting the obvious and
in their comfort zones while
women and their unborn babies
kept on dying needlessly.
81.
82. The Bible’s Instructions
Ever wonder why God was so “picky”
about so many seemingly obscure things?
Why is a woman “unclean” after childbirth??
(Leviticus 12:1-2)
To protect the woman from infection!
God Loves us
85. HeartHeart Disease
42% of all deaths each year in U.S.
1 million people per year have heart attacks
A heart attack every 20 seconds
A death every 60 seconds
86. Risk Factors
(mentioned directly or indirectly in Bible)
Stress
Cholesterol
High blood pressure
Obesity
Diabetes
Smoking
Sedentary lifestyle
88. Leviticus 7:22-24
Do not eat any of the fat of
cattle, sheep, or goats. The fat
of an animal found dead or torn
by wild animals may be used for
any other purpose, but you
must not eat it.
91. Smoking
• 80% of smokers start before age 16
• In the US 3000 start each day
• 1000 die each day of smoking-related illness
• Lung cancer: 120 000 Americans per year
• Heart disease: 200 000 Americans per year
• 2nd hand smoke: 80 000 Americans per year
93. Other cancers
due to cigarettes
• Cancer of the lips and mouth
• Cancer of the larynx
• Cancer of esophagus and pancreas
• Cancer of the bladder
• Breast cancer
94. God says:
Take care of your body
• 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20
• 1 Corinthians 3: 16-17
• 1 Corinthians 10: 31
• Romans 6:13-14
• Romans 12:1-2
95.
96.
97. Alcohol-related problems
• 80% highway related deaths
• 57% of all rapes
• 47% of all robberies
• 60% of all assaults
• 53% of all murders
• 80% of all suicides
98. Proverbs 23: 29-34
“Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has
complaints? Who has needless
bruises? Who has bloodshot
eyes? Those who linger over
wine… it bites like a snake and
poisons like a viper.”
101. AIDS Statistics
2001
World 40 000 000 people infected
Africa 28 000 000 people infected
South Africa 4 700 000 infected
2010
Africa 26 000 000 orphans
South Africa 4 000 000 orphans
Children
1 child dies every minute
1 new case every 6 seconds
102. Epidemic of Sexual Diseases
• Herpes, Gonorrhea, Syphilis, Chlamydia
• Genital warts and Cancer of Cervix
• Teenage pregnancy and Abortions
• Infertility and Tubal pregnancy
• Pelvic infection
• Rape, abuse, violence
• AIDS and other infections
103. Prevention of AIDS
and sexual diseases
• Faithful marriage Genesis 2, Hebrews 13
• Avoid promiscuity Proverbs 5, 6, 7
and homosexuality Leviticus 18: 22
• Avoid sex with period Leviticus 18: 19
• Circumcision Genesis 17, Joshua 5
• Genetic diseases Leviticus 18
104. Now choose life, so that you
and your children may live and
that you may love the Lord
your God, listen to his voice,
and hold fast to him. For the
Lord is your life…
Deuteronomy 30:19
In the 60’s and 70’s Doctors started to question age old practice of circumcision
Dr. Wiswell specialized in Newborn intensive care
Initially not in favor of circumcision
The older the boy the more discomfort and the longer it lasts.
Newborns cry for a minute or two and then are ready to feed again.
God specifically instructs Joshua to use a flint knife in performing circumcision.
Poor wife
Dung loaded with Tetanus spores
Just getting the stuff is enough to make your hair fall out.
Minoxodill..Millions of $ spent every year to grow fuzz
Or diseased brought on by themselves
Moses born in Egypt during this time
Acts 7:22 He was raised in the royal court of the Egyptian King
Well acquainted with the medical knowledge of his time
Probably used the mentioned remedies of this time