Rom 1:21-25 (NLT)  “Yes,[in the beginning] humankind  knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people, or birds and animals and snakes. 24 So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. 25 Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things God made but not the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen.”

This “darkness” of the heart and mind is a result of the sin of rejecting God, His wisdom and rulership of one’s life. In so doing, the human race was left to its own devices trying to figure out how to preserve the human body and mind. Through the years we did a very poor job; Until, some individuals turned back to God and the “light of Christ” illumined them to begin thinking rightly and discovering God’s cures, treatments and preventions for the illnesses and injures suffered by the world of mankind. Why a case history can be found in the time period of the ancient Israelites.

In the Old Testament Bible, God gave what is called the Laws of Moses. Much of the regulations and laws for the Israelites were in fact “Health laws,” unbeknown to them. These laws proved that no human being in that time period around 2000 B.C., could ever have known the reasons for following them. Dr. A. Rendle Short, a surgeon, once demonstrated the wisdom of God’s food laws contain in Lev 11. The meat diet of people in our scientific age roughly corresponds to that suggested in Scripture long ago. In the Book of Deuteronomy 14:21, we read of God forbidding eating any animal that dies by itself.

Deu 14:21a (NLT)  “”Do not eat anything that has died a natural death

21^st century food laws also prohibit sale of meat from animals that die by themselves for usually it is because of some disease. But there are further reasons too. Dead carcasses harbor fleas, ticks, and lice ¾ all of which are carriers of many deadly diseases such as bubonic plague, spotted fever, or typhus fever.  One of history’s worst pandemics occurred in the early 1300s. The bubonic plague also called the “Black Death,” swept through Asia and Europe killing one out of three Europeans. No one at that time ever realized it was spread by germ carrying fleas. Doctors of the day, blamed it on foul air and a strange alignment of the planets. Again in the 1700s a strange plague haunted 17^th century England killing over 17,000 people in London alone. Yet long ago, we see in Scripture, God protected His children by giving health laws to prevent the spread of disease among the Israelites. Now, God didn’t give them the reason for it, for that was to be discovered by man, many centuries later. We read in,

Lev 11:29-36 (NLT)  “”Of the small animals that scurry or creep on the ground, these are unclean for you: the mole, the mouse, the great lizard of all varieties, 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. 31 All these small animals are unclean for you. If you touch the dead body of such an animal, you will be defiled until evening. 32 If such an animal dies and falls on something, that object, whatever its use, will be unclean. This is true whether the object is made of wood, cloth, leather, or sackcloth. It must be put into water, and it will remain defiled until evening…33 “If such an animal dies and falls into a clay pot, everything in the pot will be defiled, and the pot must be smashed. 34 If the water used to cleanse an unclean object touches any food, all of that food will be defiled. And any beverage that is in such an unclean container will be defiled. 35 Any object on which the dead body of such an animal falls will be defiled. If it is a clay oven or cooking pot, it must be smashed to pieces. It has become defiled, and it will remain that way…”

In short, God told them of the need for maintaining pure water, and that disease could be spread through polluted water! Yet it was only 80 years ago, that it become recognized that Typhoid fever in this country, Cholera in India and Bilharziasis in Egypt, and many other diseases were spread principally by polluted water. Indeed, looking over the ancient health laws of Israel, further showed God’s people were given “supernatural” information, yet to be discovered for thousands of years. Yet, way back then the Jews were told by God to put great emphasis on washing and sanitation. Again we read in,

Exo 29:4 (NLT)  “”Present Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and wash them with water.”

Lev 14:8 (NLT)  “”The people being purified must complete the cleansing ceremony by washing their clothes, shaving off all their hair, and bathing themselves in water. Then they will be ceremonially clean and may return to live inside the camp. However, they must still remain outside their tents for seven days.”

Deu 23:13 (NLT)  “Each of you must have a spade as part of your equipment. Whenever you relieve yourself, you must dig a hole with the spade and cover the excrement.”

These provisions alone eliminated the typhoid and paratyphoid fevers that plagued the godless nations around them.

Another ancient health and medical law God gave to Israel before the time of its natural discovery, was to quarantine contagious diseases.

Lev 13:46 (NLT)  “As long as the disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean and must live in isolation outside the camp.”

Instead of trying to control the disease by fetishes as did other nations doctors of the day, the Hebrew priest acted as the health officer and conducted a systematic plan of diagnosis. Patients were isolated from the healthy community and their clothing disinfected. But in addition to these now known health rules we practice, God gave practical medical advice too.

We can read the Bible and see that incidental references of interest to the physician abound in the Word of God. For instance, psychiatry and psychology agree with,

Prov 14:30 (NLT)  “A relaxed attitude lengthens life; jealousy rots it away.”

Prov 17:22 (NLT)  “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.”

We also note that alcohol is injurious and habit forming,

Prov 23:32 (NLT)  “For in the end it bites like a poisonous serpent; it stings like a viper.”

Prov 23:35 (NLT)  “And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t even know it when they beat me up. When will I wake up so I can have another drink?””

Most of all, God revealed to the people of Israel, some medical knowledge only found out thousands of years later. Only a century or so ago, we discovered that in the blood, the life of the creature flows. Yet we read in the Old Testament,

Lev 17:11 (NLT)  “for the life of any creature is in its blood…”

History reveals that for centuries doctors used leeches to “bleed” the sick and injured believing that removing blood from the body would bring health. But, it wasn’t until the mid 1800s that doctors realized, doing that robbed the health and life of people. Why our most beloved president, George Washington actually died after being bled by leeches for a simple cold. If only he would have carefully read the Bible’s teaching on the matter of blood, he would have lived longer. Yet today, many lives are saved by blood transfusions.

But now, how does Christianity square with medicine? Haven’t those who have rejected the Christian world-view been better doctors and medical practitioners? The answer of course is no! History reveals that medicine needs Christianity, and always did for advancement! Only a Christian world-view separates mankind from the animal kingdom. Today there is a current medical crises in the area of morality. We find Godless practitioners now embrace euthanasia, (the killing of helpless elderly and sick people) and embryonic research that treats the unborn child (formed at conception) as blob of cells for experimentation. Why now medical scientists, rejecting a Christian world-view, are trying to clone human life. What for? Why to use such live human beings as physical body banks for parts or substance then to destroy them for the sake of possibly continuing the life of others. These pagan doctors and medical scientists, ignoring Christian values, results in self-seeking arrogance instead of service, and the callous destruction of human life that has brought us the abortion debacle which in America alone since 1973 has brutally killed 40 million unborn babies! Friend, medicine desperately needs Christianity for its moral base that alone provides all human life the dignity God granted it. We are not just a random collection of chemicals that evolved out of some primordial slime. We are the “image-bearers” of the great Omnipotent God who created all things; and, therefore every human being has dignity and value.

History, as I said before, verifies this as most of the great medical breakthroughs and scientists of the past were men and women who believed in God, followed a Christian world-view and were dedicated and surrendered to God’s Son Jesus Christ. I don’t have the time to share with you the many names of godly physicians and scientists in the medical realm who were Christians and because they were, they applied their understanding to seek to know and care for human life. As a result, God revealed to them many breakthroughs that we enjoy to this day.

Do you also realize that if Christianity weren’t involved in the lives of many healthcare practitioners, we would not have had the advancement and medical care we enjoy today? Let me ask you, who established the hospitals and health care facilities through the centuries? The answer is Christians. In the United State, the early hospitals were “framed and motivated by the responsibilities of Christian stewardship.” Hospitals were built to care for the feeble and sick and provided long-term care for the elderly ¾ all because God had commanded them to do this. Why way back in 324 AD, the Council of Nicea “decreed that hospitals were to be duly established wherever the Church was established.” A Christian woman by the name of Fabiola ( 399AD), history reveals established the first Western European hospital. Dr. Ambroise Pare (1510-1590 AD) a Christian was the first modern surgeon.

Yes, there is much more that could be told about the contributions of godly Christians and their works of Christianity founded in the European and later American way of life. It is therefore obvious that in the realm of medicine, Christians majored in its advance and quality care. Thus, those whose who deride Christianity and its place among the medical profession are either tremendously biased in their thinking or are just ignoramuses of true history.

Now saying all that, it brings me to present to you what made these men and women of faith so great in the fields of their medical exploitations. The answer is Jesus Christ. You see, God promised us that His wisdom for life and living and for the hereafter would be God’s special gift to us, when we turned our lives over to Him. Yes, all who come to see Jesus Christ as their God and Savior from their sins, can enter into a life of faith and blessings which can result in the “blinders” of sin being removed, enabling us to reach our fullest potential in life. Without Christ no man or woman can, it’s that simple.

So I ask you my friend, do you know Jesus Christ personally? What I mean is  – have you trusted Him alone for your full forgiveness of your sins. and His promised gift of eternal life? If not, why not do that right now? Just bow your head wherever you are, or get to some place where you can, and pray a prayer asking God to grant you His forgiveness purchased by Jesus Christ on the cross. The Bible says,

Rom 5:8 (NLT)  “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

John 3:16 (NLT)  “”For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

Acts 16:31 (NLT)   “Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with your entire household.””

Now, the great question has been answered:  “Without God, medicine’s history was steeped in magic and fetishes; But, medicine with God, brought about every advance and blessing we enjoy to this day. May God add His continued blessing to these words for Jesus sake, Amen...

... Did you know that most drugs for treating illnesses come from plants? Aspirin for instance, an ancient remedy, originally was found in willow bark. For centuries, few believed common substances contained anything of medicinal value. But, in the 1930s antibiotics were discovered that could effectively and quickly destroy life-threatening bacteria. The modern drug called, Digitalis, is an extract from the leaves of the plant called “Purple Foxglove;” Additionally, Quinine which for decades treated malaria, comes from the Quinquina tree found in South America.

Yet 78 years ago, a Christian doctor named Alexander Fleming was allowed to discover the world’s greatest antibiotic – Penicillin. From simple bread mold, God enabled this Christian doctor to have access to the world’s most important cure for many bacterial illnesses. Yes, from “magic” to Christianity, true medical breakthroughs and care came often through those who yielded their heart and life to God the Son, Jesus Christ. May God find you in the New Year doing the same, and His blessing also to follow you all the days of your life.  

·         Radio talk # 0203

·         Broadcast date: January 13, 2003

·         Speaker: Dennis L. Finnan, Commentator

·         Program: The World, the Word & You! Radio Broadcast

·         Address: P.O. Box 40133 Grand Junction, CO 81504

The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries are not exhaustive studies of any particular subject due to the time limit of broadcasting. Actual broadcasts can be heard in selected areas around the nation, as funding provides. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for over 22 years, and serves as General Director.

These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are actual radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of recent messages is available upon request also.