Transcript God’s Health Code - Trussville church of Christ

Leviticus…
So what’s
the point?
God’s Old Law Health Code
God’s Health Code
• The Old Law Health Code:
Peculiar, But Not Pointless
• Not just a symbolic ritual, that purification water was really a recipe
for highly effective soap! (Numbers 19:6-7, 9, 17-18)
– Ashes of a heifer and cedar  Pouring water through such ashes would
produce “lye” – This is how some American pioneers made their soap!
– Hyssop was added  This contained “thymol” which is an antiseptic that is
used in our mouthwashes.
“Once used for
purifying temples
and cleansing lepers,
the leaves contain
an antiseptic,
antiviral oil. A mold
that produces
penicillin grows on
the leaves. An
infusion is taken as a
sedative expectorant
for flue, bronchitis,
and phlegm”
God’s Health Code
• The Old Law Health Code:
Peculiar, But Not Pointless
• Not just a symbolic ritual, that purification water was really a recipe
for highly effective soap! (Numbers 19:6-7, 9, 17-18)
– Ashes of a heifer and cedar  Pouring water through such ashes would
produce “lye” – This is how some American pioneers made their soap!
– Hyssop was added  This contained “thymol” which is an antiseptic that is
used in our mouthwashes.
– Cedar wood  Antiseptic, astringent, expectorant, antifungal, sedative,
insecticide… Recently been used for influenza type A and eczema!
– Scarlet yarn (wool)  Thought to make it an ancient equivalent of lava soap
– Also, the Bible prescribed that hands be washed under “running” water… for
a long time doctors used bowls of water & disease spread (Lev. 15:13)
God’s Health Code
• The Old Law Health Code:
Peculiar, But Not Pointless
• The 8th day for circumcision wasn’t chosen randomly… We’ve
discovered that’s when Prothrombin peaks (Genesis 17:12)
– Circumcision alone has proven to be a healthy choice – Helps prevent urinary
tract infections in boys as well as lowering the chance of penile cancer
– Prothrombin, along with vitamin K, causes the blood to coagulate. At birth,
the level drops low. By day 8 the level peaks to over 100% of normal. With
a deficiency, hemorrhaging can take place.
“The percent of available prothrombin in a newborn dips from about
90% of normal on its day of birth to about 35% on its third day of life
outside the womb. After the third day, the available prothrombin
begins to climb. By the eighth day of the child’s life, the available
prothrombin level is approximately 110% of normal, about 20% higher
than it was on the first day, and about 10% more than it will be during
of the child’s life. Such data prove that the eighth day is the perfect
day on which to perform a major surgery such as circumcision”
God’s Health Code
• The Old Law Health Code:
Peculiar, But Not Pointless
• God’s laws for leprosy and other diseases seem logical today, but
really these laws were ahead of their time (Lev. 13:45-46; 14:4-6)
– One suspected of leprosy was pronounced unclean and isolated until he could
prove that he was not leprous and contagious to others
– If leprous, he was made to dwell outside the camp – Leper colonies formed
– One with leprosy encountering others had to cover mouth and mustache
region and proclaim, “UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN!” – This prevented the spray
from the nose & mouth from going airborne… Germs is a “modern” disc.
– God gave very specific and detailed information on how to diagnose leprosy,
determining contagiousness, and differentiating between problems
“To show how far Moses was ahead
of modern society we need only to
remind ourselves that the word
quarantine originated in the
fourteenth century when the Italian
ports of Venice and Genoa first
refused admission to immigrants
who might be harboring plague and
required them to stay on board for
forty days — hence the word
quarantine. Even in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries leprosy
spread over southern Europe until
the principles of Moses were reenacted successfully (Dr. William
Vis, Medical Science And The Bible)
God’s Health Code
• The Old Law Health Code:
Peculiar, But Not Pointless
• What about those seemingly arbitrary dietary restrictions? These
two are very purposeful (Leviticus 11:1ff; Deut. 14:9-10)
– Why no pork? Parasites and bacteria can take up residency in the muscle
tissue. Parasites, worms, & bacteria if not completely cooked out.
– A 1953 study by David I. Macht showed an incredible difference in toxicity
between the clean and unclean animals in the Bible
Growth Of Seedlings When Exposed
To Muscle Juices From These Animals
• Clean Mammals: Ox – 91%, Sheep 94%, Calf –
82%, Goat – 90%, Deer – 90%
• Unclean animals: Pigs – 54%, Rabbit – 49%,
Camel – 41%, Horse – 39%
• Clean birds: Pigeon – 93% & Quail – 89%
• Unclean birds: Red Tail Hawk – 36% & Owl –
62%
• Fish: Those with scales (Herring, pike, shad) –
100% & those without scales were highly toxic
God’s Health Code
• The Old Law Health Code:
Peculiar, But Not Pointless
• What about those seemingly arbitrary dietary restrictions? These
two are very purposeful (Leviticus 11:1ff; Deut. 14:9-10)
– Why no pork? Parasites and bacteria can take up residency in the muscle
tissue. Parasites, worms, & bacteria if not completely cooked out.
– A 1953 study by David I. Macht showed an incredible difference in toxicity
between the clean and unclean animals in the Bible
– Reptiles were included on the list of unclean animals – We now know these
carry Salmonella… not just from eating them, but from handling them. Even
by handling what has been in contact by them (Leviticus 11:32-34)
– Bats were unclean. Surely, they resemble flying rats but they also are carriers
of rabies. From 1992-2002 they were responsible for 24 of 26 rabies related
cases of human death. Even contact can be dangerous
God’s Health Code
• The Old Law Health Code:
Peculiar, But Not Pointless
• Some more not so random health code laws from God:
– Special care for clothes, bandages, and other items that contacted disease.
Garments burned if contaminated. Metal pots were washed. Earthen
vessels were destroyed (Lev. 13:47-48; 15:12; 6:27-28)
– If you contacted the dead, things that contacted the dead, and things you
touched after contacting the dead were all unclean. Some were washed,
some destroyed. It wasn’t until the 1800’s that doctors really discovered the
danger from going from the morgue to the living (Numbers 19:11, 22)
– Israel was to bury their “waste” outside the camp… covering it up. Even
today places where this isn’t practiced, issues like Cholera, amebic
dysentery, and ecoli prevail (Deut. 23:12-14)
God’s Health Code
• The Old Law Health Code:
Peculiar, But Not Pointless
• Some more not so random health code laws from God:
– God forbid sex during menstruation. Some say this was simply a “thoughtful”
law. Yet such activity increases the risk of bacteria, diseases, yeast infection,
urinary tract infection, & pelvic inflammatory disease (Leviticus 15:19)
– God’s law for the sexual relationship between a husband and a wife within in
the bounds of marriage prevented many issues – Sexually transmitted
diseases among other diseases and problems (Lev. 20:10-16; Gen. 1:27)
– Moses recorded that all of mankind descended from one man and one
woman. Many mocked this idea, however, scientists have been able to
prove that all the differences can result from the DNA of two (Gen. 1:28)
If Adam and Eve had been
“heterozygous” (AaBb; two
dominant, two recessive
genes), they would have
been middle-brown in color.
And, from them—in one
generation—racial
differences easily could have
occurred. To illustrate this,
examine the chart at the left
(known to geneticists as a
Punnett square). From these
possibilities, one
theoretically could obtain the
following:
1 ⎯ Darkest Negroid
1 ⎯ Lightest Caucasoid
4 ⎯ Light
4 ⎯ Dark
6 ⎯ Medium skin
God’s Health Code
• Timeless lessons from these
health laws:
• The medical accuracy of the Bible stands as a testimony to its
reliability and inspiration (2 Peter 1:20-21)
– Inspiration means “God-Breathed” – The Bible contains the words of God for
man. It’s not man’s ideas & wisdom, but God’s words… Fully authoritative!
– How could Moses have understood these things? Men had not discovered
germs, microorganisms, bacteria, and how diseases spread
– Some have tried to explain this away based on Moses’ great training in Egypt.
Yet as advanced as Egypt’s medical doctors were, they were still filled
absurd ideas that were clearly wrong. None of these are found in God’s
word… Moses writes with perfection! (Acts 7:22)
– Also, a testimony against evolution – Man’s errors vs. God’s perfection!
– The Bible demands our respect, attention, & obedience… It is the final word!
God’s Health Code
• Timeless lessons from these
health laws:
• The people of God are to be a holy people, because God is holy…
our lives are to be a reflection of His character (Lev. 11:44-45)
– “It’s hard to see… what does touching an unclean animal have to do with a
person’s holiness. It’s an external thing, externals don’t affect internals?”
– Cleanliness is next to godliness is not a scripture… but Leviticus does teach
that cleanliness is next to holiness… Avoiding what God declares is unclean!
– Remember, God declared these things unclean for a reason… they had a
negative impact on people’s lives. Ignoring God’s law invited problems.
– If for no other reason, they impacted holiness because of what it said about
your and your love for God and desire for His will in your life
– Today we are to be holy because God is holy (I Peter 1:16). What is our
attitude toward what God has called unclean for us? A heart for Him?
God’s Health Code
• Timeless lessons from these
health laws:
• God’s laws are for our good, even if we don’t fully understand why
and how (Proverbs 3:3-10, 16-18)
– Moses & the Israelites surely didn’t understand the why and how’s of these
laws… but following God’s laws preserved life and health for them
– God’s laws are for our good… ALWAYS! Sometimes we may have other
desires, sometimes we may not understand, and sometimes we may not
agree… but that does not matter. We must trust in His wisdom!
– Think about the problems and struggles that enter into our lives when we
choose to ignore God’s laws. Think about how much better people’s lives
would be if they would give God’s way a chance!