Bible History

Healthy Living

As part of Bible history, we see that God gave us many instructions to live a healthy lifestyle. Historians say that the Egypt was the most advanced civilization on the planet in 1500 BC. The great pyramids of Giza and temples of Karnak certainly give credence to this accolade. God disagreed though when it came to the issue of health,

And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee (Exodus 15:26).

For those that were not just listeners of His word, but in fact “doers”, God promised that they would be without disease and that He would keep them healthy. History further tells us that mankind has ignored His instructions many times for literally thousands of years, resulting in the unnecessary death of millions of people.

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In this section of Bible history, we will examine some of God’s commandments that relate to living a healthy and disease free life.

Human Waste Disposal

In Deuteronomy 23:12-13, the Lord gave us instructions for a sewage system that are not dissimilar to what we use today,

Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, whither thou shalt go forth abroad: And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee (Deuteronomy 23:12-13)

In other words, “go out of camp when you releive yourself, take a shovel with you, dig a hole and cover your waste”. Today this is readily accomplished with toilets and sewage treatment systems.

In the 1300's the Black Plague struck Europe because they dumped their sewage and garbage on the streets, where the rats picked up the bacteria and fleas transmitted the bacteria to humans. So the 14th century standard was not to discharge the waste outside "the camp" and not for it to be "buried". It is estimated that nearly 75,000,000 died from the Black Plague worldwide, all because they didn't follow these simple instructions.

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Infectious Disease

With the invention of the microscope, mankind has become to understand God's commands with regard to preventing and controlling infectious disease. In the late 1600's, a Dutchman Antony van Leeuwenhoek, using the microscope he invented, was able to see bacteria for the first time. God didn't have to wait for man to invent the microscope though, as part of Bible history, He gave the Israelites many instructions to prevent the spreading of disease from deadly germs.

Identification of disease,

When a man shall have in the skin of his flesh a rising, a scab, or bright spot, and it be in the skin of his flesh like the plague of leprosy; then he shall be brought unto Aaron the priest, or unto one of his sons the priests: And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean (Leviticus 13:2-3).

Ongoing evaluation and sanitation of clothes after being healed,

And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague be somewhat dark, and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is but a scab: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean (Leviticus 13:6).

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Isolation and quarantine if necessary,

He is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be (Leviticus 13:44&46)

Release after quarantine and subsequent sanitation of the person and his clothes,

And the priest shall go forth out of the camp; and the priest shall look, and, behold, if the plague of leprosy be healed in the leper;Leviticus 14:9  But it shall be on the seventh day, that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean (Leviticus 14:3 & 14.9).

Life is in the Blood

In modern medicine, lives are saved many times by giving patients blood transfusions! God always knew this,

For the life of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11).

Over the years many lives would have been spared if they had listened to God. But for centuries physicians "bled" patients to remove "bad blood" believed responsible for disease. In fact, puncturing a vein to let it bleed has been practised throughout history. George Washington was bled to treat a cold and it resulted in his death.

By reading, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy in the Online Bible you will find many more admonitions from God relating to a healthy lifestyle as part of Bible history.

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