Bible Articles

C A R L   B.   G A R N E R WASH YOUR HANDS! It is amazing to see the advances being made in the field of medicine. Doctors are capable of doing things today that were not even dreamed of twenty years ago. We fuss about doctors, hospitals and the cost of health care, but when we get sick, or when we are injured, or when a loved one is ill, we begin to look for a doctor. And we get in line with the rest of the folks at the pharmacy. The past few weeks have seen near panic in central Texas. The Strep A virus has parents and everyone on their toes watching for symptoms of this dangerous, deadly disease. We watch the news daily to see if we are approaching an epidemic stage in fighting against such deadly threats. We pore over the newspaper to see how we can protect ourselves from this invasion into our family. You have probably noticed that at the top of every prevention list is the same simple instruction: Wash your hands often with plenty of soap and water. That is so elementary that we almost overlook the wisdom of this basic step in personal hygiene. You see it in the doctor's office. You see it in public reWst rooms. You see it in magazine articles. You see it everywhere. Even in the Bible! We often speak of the fact that the Bible contained truths and principles of science and medicine long before modern science "discovered" them. This "wash your hands" principle was a part of the sanitation laws given to the Jews on Mount Sinai. They may not have understood the importance of cleanliness, but they were commanded to maintain good personal and collective hygiene. Upon their release from Egyptian captivity, Israel traveled over 200 miles to Sinai. They had seen the plagues brought upon the Egyptians, and they had even seen God's power over those who opposed them in their journey. Some of their own people had been stricken with death and illness. When they arrived at Sinai, Moses was inspired to write the following words to Israel: "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. Note God's promise: "I will put none of these diseases upon thee." What measures did God give for their preservation and protection from disease? Some of the laws given to Israel may have been a bit puzzling to them, and we still may not know the purpose of all of them, but the most prominent was, to put it simply: "Wash your hands!" In Numbers 19:19, God gave His instructions on the subject of cleanliness for all who came in contact with an infected person: "And on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even." They were not aware of bacteria, but they could be protected. A young doctor in Vienna, Ignaz Semmelweis, noted in the 1840's that many in the maternity wards were dying from unknown causes. He found that the women were being examined by doctors just after they had finished performing autopsies. Had they washed their hands, he asked. No, they had not. Upon initiating this simple rule, deaths diminished quickly. Had they read their Bible, most of these deaths could have been prevented. Such rules of hygiene are commonplace today, but they were virtually unknown as recently as the 19th century. Unfortunately, for many years the medical community ignored Doctor Semmelweis' discovery before finally realizing that the washing of a doctor's hands is a must for safe medical practice. In Deuteronomy 23:11-13, Moses gave instruction requiring sanitation laws regarding human waste. And Leviticus 13 mandates the quarantine and separation policies necessitated by rampant contagious diseases. These and other means of prevention and treatment of disease were not discovered by men of science for another 2,000 years. Egyptians were told that baldness could be prevented if they applied "a mixture of six fats, namely those of the horse, the hippopotamus, the crocodile, the cat, the snake, and the ibex. To strengthen it, anoint it with the tooth of a donkey crushed in honey." Scientists in Moses' day taught that applying "goose grease, asses' hoofs, lizard's blood, asses' dung and worm's blood" would heal certain diseases. Moses was taught those things in his youth in the court of Pharaoh, Acts 9:22. But when he wrote the books of Genesis through Deuteronomy, he wrote truths that were scientifically and medically centuries ahead of their time. How? Because God, the Great Physician, gave Moses the words. In None of These Diseases, a book by S. I. McMillen, M.D., several other related things are discussed that also illustrate the inspiration of the Bible. Truly "All scripture is given by inspiration of God," 2 Timothy 3:16. Count on it; the "scripture cannot be broken," John 10:35. Christians are told, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts," James 4:8. Clean hands and pure hearts are a good combination! Both physically and spiritually.