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Biblical
Health and Healing
by Richard C.
Nickels
"Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all His benefits:
Who forgiveth
all thine iniquities; who healeth
all thy diseases." Psalm 103:2-3.
Distributed by:
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Acknowledgments
I praise the Eternal for the precious Truth He has
revealed.
I appreciate the teachings of
Herbert W. Armstrong, who helped me understand many Biblical
Truths, including the Bible
instructions regarding health and healing.
Thanks to our printer,
George Johnson, and our
proofreaders, who wish to remain anonymous.
"I am come that they might
have life,
and that they might have it more
abundantly" John 10:10
"Beloved, I wish above all
things that thou mayest prosper and be in health,
even as thy soul prospereth"
III John 2
"But He was wounded for our
transgressons,
He was bruised for our
iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace
was upon Him;
and with His stripes we are
healed" Isaiah 53:5
NOT TO BE SOLD. For a free copy of this book, one per family,
please write:
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c/o Johnson Graphics
P.O.
Box 317
Decatur, Michigan 49045
We welcome your contributions to
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COPYRIGHT 1993 by Giving &
Sharing. Permission granted to copy
this material, provided it is
given away freely and not altered in meaning.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section
Page
Introduction v
Health From the Biblical
Viewpoint 1
Annointing the Sick for Healing:
Who? What? Why? How? 11
What is the Gift of
Healing? 17
God Does Heal --Today! 23
Clean and Unclean Meats 29
Should Christians
Be Vaccinated? 75
Whole Grain Breads, and Proven
Whole Grain Recipes 83
A Time to Be Born --
Naturally 97
Be Ye Clean 109
Review: Confessions of a Medical Heretic 111
Review: Back to Eden 113
Review: None of These Diseases 116
The Attack Against Healing and
Health 117
Topical Index 137
Additional Literature 138
Summary
Health From the Biblical
Viewpoint (Study No. 18)
There are many scriptures which
lay the framework for Biblical Health.
Anointing the Sick for Healing:
Who? What? Why? How? (Study No. 23)
A detailed analysis of James
5:14-16 shows that we have much to learn about the Almighty's
healing power.
What is the Gift of Healing?
(Study No. 115)
The gift of healing has been
abused by some modern "faith healers." Is it always God's will to
heal? Why does God
allow sickness?
God Does Heal -- Today!
A review of the 1952 Herbert W.
Armstrong booklet, "Does God Heal Today?" shows that the
doctrine of divine healing is part of the Gospel commission. We "break bread" at Passover to
symbolize our faith in Christ's
body, beaten for our healing.
Clean and Unclean Meats
This 46-page article is a
comprehensive study of the Bible teaching about clean and unclean
meats. The Law of Clean
and Unclean is NOT just a principle of good health, but a vital part of
the Ten Commandments.
Should Christians
Be Vaccinated? (Study No. 72)
Vaccines are made from unclean
substances and Christians should not be vaccinated. We should
trust YHVH as our healer.
Whole Grain Breads: Proven Recipes, by Shirley Nickels
These are natural recipes we
actually use. If you haven't eaten
Shirley's delicious whole wheat
Sabbath waffles, you haven't
lived!
A Time to Be Born--Naturally
(Study No. 77)
We went through a tremendous
trial during the birth of our daughter Amanda. The Bible has
many scriptures regarding childbirth. Natural childbirth and breast feeding are
God's way for
having children.
Be Ye Clean (Study No. 91)
Being clean involves more than
just washing one's hands before meals.
God wants us to be clean
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.
Reviews:Confessions of a Medical Heretic, Back to Eden, and None of These
Diseases
Dr. Robert
Mendelsohn warns us to stay away from doctors,
operations, hospitals and
vaccinations except under extreme emergencies. Natural doctor Jethro
Kloss wrote
the
encyclopedia on herbal remedies.
Dr. S.I. McMillen shows that scientific
evidence supports Bible
Health Laws.
The Attack Against Healing and
Health
Our review of anti-healing
material by Ernest Martin, David L. Antion, Herbert
W. Armstrong,
Joseph W. Tkach,
and Church of God, The Eternal,
counters their subtle attacks on faith healing
among God's people. The
doctrine of healing is critical because it requires the faith of God,
which is necessary for salvation.
Biblical Health and Healing
INTRODUCTION
Our Bible Studies are written to
share and preserve Biblical Truths, address problems in the
Church, counteract doctrinal errors proclaimed by
others, and inspire the brethren, especially our
family and friends. I
owe a tremendous debt to others for everything I have learned. Most
articles we publish are the work of more than one person. These Studies have "bled" with
red ink
marks several times!
Our miscellaneous Bible Studies
have been published in our book, Bible Studies. Over the years,
we have emphasized several major topics, which have been
published separately. These include:
Biblical Holy Days, Biblical
Law, Biblical Doctrine, Biblical Marriage and Family, Biblical Health
and Healing, Church History,
Basic Bible Study Tools, Book Reviews and What Should We Be
Doing? Revised and expanded editions of these and
others are being planned. As we write
additional articles, they will be included in the next update.
This publication includes
articles on the subject of Divine Healing and Bible Laws of Health. I
strive to live by God's Laws of Health, but know that at times
I fall miserably short of the mark.
Nevertheless, the subject of
Health and Healing is a very important Bible subject.
I have been condemned to hell
fire by at least one prominent minister.
The audacity of a lay
member writing religious articles! However, I cannot but write what is in my
heart, as I want to
share what I have learned with others. Let God be the Judge. I pray that the Eternal
will use this
small effort for Him, for His
glory, and that He will forgive me of any unintentional errors
contained therein. Read,
and enjoy, always remembering to put into practice what you have
learned.
I have concluded individual
articles with the Greek Omega symbol,ê.
-- written by Richard C.
Nickels, Vancouver, Washington
Health From the Biblical
Viewpoint
How does the Bible view health,
and what principles does it contain for healthy living? It is
certainly the Eternal's purpose for us
to be healthy, III John 2. But many today, even those who
claim to be true believers, abuse their bodies. Others become "health food
fanatics," existing on a
profuse amount of vitamin pills and organic supplements. What is the true Biblical approach to
health? This article is
written for those who truly want to obey the Eternal's
laws.
Surprisingly, the Bible gives a
few remedies for sickness. Primarily,
it lays out a way of life,
which, if followed, will prevent diseases.
Bible Remedies
Strong drink is prescribed for
those ready to perish: "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to
perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and
remember his misery no more," Proverbs 31:6-7. "Drink no longer water, but use a
little wine for
thy stomach's sake and thine often
infirmities," I Timothy 5:23. Isaiah made a fig poultice to
alleviate a deadly boil on King Hezekiah, II Kings 20:1-7.
A Healing Ministry
Healing definitely belongs to
the Almighty God our Healer, Exodus 15:26, Jeremiah 30:17, 33:6.
He promises freedom
from disease for those who diligently obey all His statutes. His servants
who are sent to teach the word, also have a healing ministry
to perform. The Levites were
guardians of the general health of the Israelites, Leviticus
13. The Levites had to be without
blemish and in good health, Leviticus 21:9-11, 16-24. The people knew that priests and prophets,
not doctors, were to be
consulted when illness did occur, I Kings 14:1-5 (Ahijah),
I Kings
17:17-24 (Elijah), and II Kings 4:18-35 (Elisha).
Our Savior performed many works
of healing in His public ministry, even using natural substances
as Isaiah did, John 9:1-7.
Healing and teaching the laws of health are a vital part of the Great
Commission to the true disciples
in every age, Mark 16:15-18. Luke was
called the "beloved
physician," Colossians 4:14, indicating that he was noted for
a healing ministry.
Obedience is the Key to Health
Some people believe health foods
and/or vitamins are the key to health.
Others would say herbs;
still others a special exercise, or even foot massaging. These, of themselves may indeed have
much value, but the real
key to health is often overlooked:
obedience to the Eternal.
We are promised good health for
obedience to all of God's laws, Exodus 15:26, Deuteronomy
28:1-14. The cursing for disobedience is bad
health and sickness, Deuteronomy 28:15-62.
Obeying all the laws of the
Almighty is the only way to health and happiness.
Biblical Laws of Health
There are many direct Bible laws
of health. Plus, there are many clear
principles relating to our
health. We should follow
them all.
Here are some of the direct
Biblical Laws of Health:
(1) The primary Biblical law of health is
ignored or neglected by many professed believers. It
lays the foundation for every other Biblical principle
relating to the care of the human body.
Simply stated, our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit,
given to us by the Almighty, and is not
our own to do with as we please. Our Savior paid a great price to buy us as
His own. Therefore,
we ought to glorify the Almighty in our body and spirit, I
Corinthians 6:19-20. Every part of our
body should be used for the glory of the Eternal!
(2) The law of clean and unclean flesh foods is
another major Biblical health law.
Certain
animals, birds, fish and other creatures were never created to
be eaten. Noah knew about clean
and unclean animals, Genesis 7:1-3. The laws of clean and unclean in Leviticus
11 and
Deuteronomy 14:1-20 were not
just laws for Israel, but have been in effect for all mankind at all
times. We are not to
eat unclean foods, but are to be a Holy people.
(3) Other things not to be eaten include: (a) anything that dies of itself,
Deuteronomy 14:21,
(b) a kid in his mother's milk,
Deuteronomy 14:21, Exodus 23:19, (c) blood or improperly bled
animals, Leviticus 17:10-16, (d) fat, Leviticus 3:17.
(4) Moderation in food and drink. We are not to be drunkards and gluttons;
Proverbs
23:20-21, 25:16. Most people in affluent societies eat and
drink too much. Scientific evidence
has proven that overweight
increases mortality from diabetes, digestive diseases, and coronary
disease. Most authorities agree that overeating and underactivity cause 95% of obesity.
(5) Ask the Lord to heal you if you become
sick, James 5:14-15. Your faith in the
power of
the Almighty, and His promises to heal you, makes you whole,
Matthew 9:20-22.
(6) Maintain a truly joyful spirit. This can only be done by producing the
fruits of the Holy
Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23,
living by every word of the Eternal, Matthew 4:4. See also Proverbs
17:22, 14:30,
4:20-22.
(7) Be an active person. This means a lot of physical work, which
may include exercise and
sports. Proverbs 6:6-11, 10:4-5, 12:11, 20:13, 19:15, 14:23,
and I Timothy 4:7-8.
(8) Obtain proper sleep and rest. Exodus 20:8-11 is a health law as well as a
spiritual law.
He gives His beloved sleep,
Psalms 4:8, 127:1-2,
Ecclesiastes 5:12.
(9) Eat food grown in good soil
organically. Try to obtain or grow
your own high-quality
food. Luke 13:6-9, Proverbs 28:19, Deuteronomy 14:22-23, and many other statutes of the
Eternal show that Biblical laws
are based on God's ideal, agricultural, society. In today's
industrial age, it is difficult
to get into harmony with the Eternal's ways, but we
ought to do the
best we can, with His help.
(10) Keep your body clean, and
fast occasionally, for both spiritual and physical health. Isaiah
52:11, II Corinthians 7:1, and I John 3:3 refer both to physical and spiritual
cleanliness.
Cleanliness is indeed next to
godliness. Fasting is a way to cleanse
your body internally, Isaiah
58:6-8. Balm of Gilead (which can be
obtained today) is a digestive cleanser, Jeremiah 8:22.
Bathing in running water is a
Biblical prescription for cleanliness, Leviticus 15:13, II Kings 5:10.
Proper Perspective on Food
Reading I Corinthians 6:9-20
from the Living Bible translation, we see that we should not do
anything that isn't good for us, whether or not the Bible
expressly forbids it. Even if allowed
to
eat something, we should not do so if we cannot control how
much we eat. The Almighty has
given us an appetite for food, and stomachs to digest it. That doesn't mean we should eat too
much, or something that is harmful.
An example is smoking. The Bible doesn't say, "Thou shalt not smoke."
However, scientific
evidence has proven the harmful effects of smoking. It is a sin to ingest things harmful to the
body, the temple of the Holy Spirit. Smoking is something that brings us into
bondage, and many
find it almost impossible to quit. Smoking is a sin and those in bondage to it
need the Almighty's
help to be released from its addictive power.
Other examples are coffee, tea,
and soda pop. America's annual consumption of soft drinks is
37.5 gallons per person, up 175%
over 1960. There is no direct Bible
prohibition here.
However, coffee, tea and many
soft drinks contain habit-forming caffeine, a poison used by
African pygmies on the tips of
their spears to kill animals.
Carbonated beverages tend to destroy
kidney cells and allow the
leakage of blood through them, destroying the body's natural cleansing
method. Decaffeinated
coffee is not entirely free of poisons either. Tea is worse than coffee,
containing tannic acid, used for dying leather. Chocolate and cocoa contain caffeine and
theobromine,
and have been linked to intestinal cancer.
Carob is a good substitute for cocoa.
If we really
grasp the meaning of I Corinthians 6:19-20, then these statistics will move
us to
action, instead of neglect.
Some will say, "Oh, well! Everything is bad for us to some
extent, so
why get so picky?"
They may even use Mark 7:14-23 or Romans 14:17 to justify a casual
disregard for what they eat.
The proper perspective on food
and drink is expressly stated in I Corinthians 10:31, "Whether
therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the
glory of God." Everything we do
will be judged by the Eternal. Let us wholeheartedly serve Him in all
things. Food and drink are
not as important as love and mercy, but they are important.
Living Water
Two-thirds of our body is
water. Nothing is more vital to one's
health than good pure water.
Natural spring or well water is
a blessing from the Eternal. So much
of the world is sick due to
impure water. Waterborne
diseases plague the poorer nations. Man-made
pollutants added or
dumped into water systems are responsible for untold death and
misery. If at all possible, avoid
impure water. Chlorine
and fluoride additives to water destroy pipes, making plumbers rich.
Think what they do to your body!
The Bible says to drink waters
out of your own cistern, Proverbs 5:15-18.
It is best to make sure
your water is pure.
Get it from your own well, spring, distill it, or at least put a
filter on your tap
if your water has a lot of pollutants. Safeguard your water supply, drink plenty
of living waters,
Song of Solomon 4:15.
Avoid Unclean Foods -- Read the
Label!
It is amazing the casual
attitude that some professed believers have about eating unclean meat
products. One person was
told that the vitamin supplement she was giving her child had "fish
oil"
on the label of ingredients, and
that the odds were great that this meant "shark oil" rather than
"cod
liver oil." She did not seem at
all concerned.
If we profess to live by every
word of the Eternal, and believe Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14
apply to us, then let us be honest. Otherwise, why bother? It takes diligence to obey the Eternal.
Let's not play "Russian
roulette" with our food intake.
Read the label, know what you are eating.
When it says "made from
animal shortening and/or vegetable shortening (lard or soya
oil)," don't
eat it. Otherwise,
you will not only be breaking one health law, but two, that of not eating
pork
and fat, Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14:1-20, and Leviticus
3:17.
Does all of this mean that when
we are at someone's house or in a restaurant that we should make
a spectacle of ourselves?
Of course not! There is a way
of being very discreet and finding out
quietly what to avoid. Mexican or Chinese foods often contain unclean
products, so one must be
careful with these items.
At a friend's home, simply avoid anything questionable, or in the case
of
close friends, tell them very politely about your beliefs when
you are invited. That way, you won't
feel apprehensive and unable to enjoy yourself. If you find it has something unclean in it,
simply
avoid it and don't make an issue out of it.
Some may point to I Timothy
4:1-5, "every creature . . . is sanctified by the word of
God and
prayer," and I Corinthians
10:23-31, ". . . whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no
question for conscience sake. .
." to try to prove that we should not carefully examine what we
ingest. After all, in
public it may be a little embarrassing.
Please read Romans 1:16. It is easy
to
do this in quiet good taste without causing a scene, if a
person really wants to obey the Eternal.
When we pray for the blessing of
food, we do not sanctify something that is impure or unclean.
We come before the Eternal
giving thanks for the good food He has given us. We must have
done our part to insure that it is healthy and nutritious or
our prayer is meaningless. We ask the
Almighty to do what we cannot
do: to bestow His blessing and remove
impurities that we are
unaware of or cannot do anything about.
The topic of I Corinthians
10:23-33 and 8:1-13, is not clean and unclean meats, but meat offered
to idols.
So it will take diligence for a
true believer to insure that his diet is free of unclean foods. In all
cases, we must not offend others
who do not have the same knowledge that we do, I Corinthians
8:7, 13.
Peter was able to say, "I
have never eaten anything that is common or unclean," Acts 10:14.
Daniel refused to defile himself
with the King's meat and drink, Daniel 1:8.
Ezekiel said that from
his youth he had not polluted
his soul with anything that died of itself, or was torn in pieces, or
abominable flesh, Ezekiel 4:14.
How about us? Can we say this?
Those who eat swine's flesh and
abominable things pretend to be holy, but are headed to
destruction, Isaiah 65:1-5,
66:16-18. This scripture points out
the fact that a physical law can
certainly have spiritual consequences. We need to be careful how we conduct
ourselves!
The Bread of Life
Bread is the staff of life,
Leviticus 26:26, Ezekiel 4:16-17. Yet
so many Sabbath-keepers have
not even grasped the fact that
wholesome bread is the basic part of our diet, the foundation of
good health. Bread
strengthens man's heart, Psalms 104:15.
Today's white bread, with its
chemicals and preservatives, is robbing people of life-giving
strength and polluting their bodies.
Eating 100% whole wheat bread is
not a fad for "health food nuts."
It is a return to the Biblical
laws of health.
However, to do anything right doesn't come easy! It takes work to
produce a
quality product. It costs
more to buy wholesome bread (and less to buy white bread). The best
way is to make your own.
Make sure that your flour is freshly ground, for it loses nutrition
unless
made into bread fairly soon.
Dough must be kneaded well to bring out the gluten so the bread
will have the proper consistency and not crumble.
A flour mill is a basic tool one
should have, whether an inexpensive hand stone mill (which takes a
lot of work), or an electric stone grinder or an electronic
crusher type such as the Magic Mill.
An
electric bread kneader such as
the Bosch (also made by the Magic Mill Corporation) helps one to
make professional quality
breads, gluten, noodles, peanut butter, ground beef and much more,
with its many attachments.
It is sad that professing believers will think nothing of buying a
nice
car, a TV set, and yet refuse to
buy basic kitchen tools for making wholesome products in the
home. Ask your local
Health Food Store for information on a good unit. We recommend the
Magic Mill grinder and Bosch bread
kneader. Write to: Magic Mill Corporation, 1911 South
3850 West, Salt Lake City, Utah 84104 USA. Wheat, rye,
millet, and other grains can be milled
and combined to produce nutritious, delicious products.
Some people say that they don't
like the taste of wholesome food. Our very taste buds have in
many cases become perverted.
If you have the will to obey the Eternal, it is amazing how He can
change our tastes, our thoughts, our every action.
Sugar or Honey?
The evils of sugar have been
publicized so widely that there is no need to elaborate on this fact
here. Refined white,
or even raw sugar, is not a food but a harmful substance to the body. It is a
drug that temporarily gives a
person a boost because it stimulates the adrenal glands, which
causes the pancreas to secrete insulin. Then the blood sugar drops too low so the
liver has to
convert its stored glycerine into
glucose. When this is used up, there
is a let down (called by
doctors the "sugar blues") and another shot of sugar
is needed.
The Bible shows us the proper
sweetener to use: honey. We are even told to eat it; especially the
honeycomb, Proverbs 24:13, but only in moderation, Proverbs 25:16,
27. When one uses honey
instead of sugar, he will need
less sweetener
So, let us obey the Bible. Eat honey.
Make sure it is raw honey, if possible, which has not been
refined or heated. Some
other natural sweeteners such as maple syrup are also very good.
Ground dates can also be used as
a sweetener instead of sugar or honey.
Herbs For Man's Service
Green growing things have been
created for man's health. We do not
have instructions from the
Almighty telling us which plants
to avoid and which to eat. Some herbs
are poisonous. We must
learn the uses of plants, and which of them to avoid. The Creator placed Adam and Eve in a
garden and told them to dress it and keep it. He said that He has given us every herb
bearing seed
and every tree with fruit bearing seed to be our food,
Genesis 1:29-31. Further instruction
must
have come at that time, but it is not recorded in the
Bible. At the time of Noah, the
Almighty
specified that clean animals were also for our food, Genesis 9:1-4
compared with Genesis 7:2.
"Herbs" are the
foundation of man's diet. Meat, milk
and honey are often accessories. Cereal
grains are a good basic herb (plant bearing seed). Just as grass was made for cattle, so herbs
were
made for the service of man, Psalms 104:14, 15. Oils, such as those made from olives,
sunflowers
and corn, make our faces shine in health. The life-giving herbs mentioned in the
Bible are not the
quick fed, artificially
fertilized, sprayed, processed and packaged vegetables that are eaten by our
modern "civilization." They are the crops grown on healthy soil,
eaten raw or lightly steamed,
properly processed, if at all.
Biblical herbs are also the plants that one gathers from the
mountains, Proverbs 27:25.
Most people today are either too busy or too lazy to gather crops
from the countryside, or plant their own, Proverbs 10:5. Consumption of commercially processed
fruit and vegetables has gone up
in the United
States
while the consumption of fresh vegetables
and fruit has gone down.
The unconcerned person pays to let someone else make a profit off an
inferior product, rather than gather his own food. As we sow in
our bodies, so shall we reap.
Milk and Cheese
When our Savior described the
land of promise, He called it a land flowing with milk and honey.
The Bible uses this phrase
seventeen times to describe a land of plenty and good things. Our
society has an aversion for these good foods. The way most people eat, our country could
be
described as a land of soda pop and candy. Milk has been replaced with carbonated
drinks as the
chief beverage for children.
An adult is sometimes considered strange if he drinks milk. Dairy
farmers continue to go out of business because of lack of demand
for their products.
The milk that is available is mostly
pasteurized and/or homogenized, which
robs it of vital
nutrients and has been linked with heart trouble. Most milk sold comes from Holstein
cows,
which is of inferior quality.
What does the Bible say about
milk and milk products? It mentions
butter made from cows' milk,
milk of sheep, Deuteronomy 32:14. Goat's milk is especially prized, Proverbs
27:26-27. Milk is a
very mild substance, as opposed
to meat, I Peter 2:2, I Corinthians 3:2, Hebrews 5:12-13. This
brings us to a controversial subject, that of eating milk and
meat together. Exodus 23:19, 34:26,
and Deuteronomy 14:21 tell
us not to seethe a kid in his mother's milk.
This could mean not to
eat a kid (of a goat) that is still nursing its mother. This is probably the true meaning, for in
Genesis 18:8 we find that
Abraham took butter and milk and a calf to feed the Eternal.
The Bible shows that cows' milk
is made into butter, Isaiah 7:21-22, or cheese, II Samuel 17:29, I
Samuel 17:18. Goats' milk has unusual properties, making
it easy to digest, even curing some
stomach ulcers. Cheese
from cows' milk is quite often made from pork rennet, so be sure of what
you are getting.
Is milk only for children? Not according to the Bible, which is
written from the Middle Eastern
point of view. As Peloubet's Bible Dictionary (article "milk")
says, "as an article of diet, milk
holds a more important position in eastern countries than with
us. It is not a mere adjunct in
cookery, or restricted to the
use of the young . . . but beyond this it is regarded as a substantial
food adapted alike to all ages and classes."
Drink the Pure Blood of the
Grape
A great number of medical and
religious authorities decry the use of alcohol. Some, however,
point out the benefits of drinking wine with meals, as a
healthful digestive aid and nutritional food.
The Bible is not silent on this
topic. Drunkenness is condemned, but
right use of wine and even
strong drink is not only recommended -- it is commanded! See our article on "Drink the Pure
Blood of the Grape," which
shows that wine, not grape juice, is to be used for the annual
Christian Passover.
Our Savior lived a pure, clean
and sinless life. He would not destroy
His own brain cells, or
anyone else's. He drank
wine, and even changed water into wine.
The Apostle Paul, who taught
us in I Corinthians 6:19-20, to
glorify the Almighty with our bodies, prescribed wine to Timothy
for a stomach ailment, I Timothy 5:23. Notice, he said a little wine. There is a right use of wine.
Wine is a blessing from the
Eternal for keeping His laws, Deuteronomy 14:22-26.
Again as is so often the case,
man perverts what the Eternal gives as a blessing. Instead of
naturally fermented wine, most
alcohol is made artificially with the aid of chemicals, such as
formaldehyde. The quantity
consumed is often excessive.
Wine as a health-giving beverage
is especially important for the elderly.
It has a blessing
associated with it, if used properly. Scientific research has shown that 1-2
drinks of the proper
kind per day are beneficial to
health and will lengthen life, whereas 3-4 or more drinks per day are
detrimental to health. (One
drink = 1.5 ounces. of liquor, or 8 ounces beer, or 6 ounces wine.
Source: Center for Consumer Health Education.) Wine helps us to be joyful, Psalms
104:14-15.
Use it properly.
Fasting to Loose the Bonds of
Sin
There is certainly a tie between
the physical and the spiritual.
Nowhere is this tie more clearly
seen than with fasting, a physical (and spiritual) act that should
produce a spiritual (and physical)
benefit.
At times, we drift away from the Eternal and His ways. Unrepented sins
and poisonous thoughts
get the upper hand and lead us to spiritual sickness. The Almighty doesn't hear our prayers
because of our sins, Isaiah 59:1-2. So likewise, bodily poisons, from sinful
eating habits or wrong
thoughts, can build up and make us physically sick. A Biblical prescription in both cases is
fasting. Primarily,
fasting has a spiritual purpose. It
should loose the bands of wickedness and
draw us closer to the Eternal;
undoing the heavy burdens of sin, and making us aware of the needs
of the poor, Isaiah 58:1-7.
It has both a spiritual and physical blessing. Done the right way, the
Eternal says, "Then shall
thy light break forth as the morning, and thine
health shall spring forth
speedily . . . . Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer . . .", Isaiah 58:8-12.
Keeping the Sabbath Holy
The above passage continues
(verses 13-14) to give another key to health:
keeping the Sabbath
holy. In this world of
turmoil, nervous tension, and striving to make a living, we need a haven of
rest. The Sabbath can
be a time of spiritual and physical rejuvenation so we can be recharged and
ready to tackle the responsibility of life for the next
week. Properly kept, the Sabbath is
essential
to your spiritual and physical health.
Other Biblical Health Principles
This article is not intended to
be medical textbook, nor a health food book of do's and don'ts. We
hope that all who seek to obey
the Eternal will look to the Bible as the foundation of all
knowledge, and follow its guiding principles. The Bible is a way of life, that affects
what we do,
say, think, wear, and eat.
In religion, as well as in
health, we have seen some who exhibit initial enthusiasm but soon lapse
into their old ways.
Like the seed that fell on stony ground, they joyfully begin to follow
Biblical
laws of health, but when difficulty or other adverse
conditions come, they give it all up.
Living by
the Bible, including its laws of health, is not a game, but
a lifetime vocation. Everyone of us
needs improvement in our physical and spiritual life.
Diligence and continual effort are required.
Look to the Bible for
guidelines. The Bible discusses foods
such as cucumbers, melons, leeks,
onions and garlic (Numbers 11:5), ingredients such as myrrh,
aloe, and spices, and so much more.
Use these Bible foods and
substances. Learn more about your
body, the Temple of the Holy
Spirit. Treat it with respect. Teach others to do the same.
The Almighty Yahweh, our Healer,
is, and always has been, concerned about our health. Read
Revelation 22:1-5 and prepare
now for the time when the Messiah arises (returns to rule the
earth) with healing in His wings, Malachi 4:2. Follow the Biblical laws of health now, and
for all
eternity, verses 3-6.
Recommended Reading
None of These Diseases, by Dr.
S.I. McMillen. Proof of Biblical health principles.
Vaccination Condemned, by E. McBean. Protect
your children from dangerous
vaccines.
Back to Eden, Jethro Kloss. America's best-known health book, describing the proper use of
nature's herbs.
The Natural Childbirth Book, by
Milburn & Smith. Have your baby
God's way.
Feasting Naturally, by Mary
Pickard. Over 300 excellent natural
recipes.
Wheat for Man Cookbook, by V. Rosenvall. For 35
years a classic!
Confessions of a Medical
Heretic, Dr. Robert Mendelsohn. How to guard against harmful effects
of doctors, drugs, hospitals.
Your Keys to Radiant Health, by
William Dankenbring.
Wonderful World of Honey by Joe Parkhill.ê
Anointing the Sick for Healing:
Who? What? Why? How?
We need to understand James
5:14-16. This is an instruction for us
to follow when we are sick.
We believe in faith healing,
rather than resorting to doctors.
Who are the elders of the church
that we should go to when we are sick?
What exactly should
they do? Do they have
to have the gift of healing in order to anoint with oil? How is this
anointing to be done? What
is the meaning of this ceremony? For
what are we to be anointed?
Should we be anointed for any
little scratch, or only when a life is in danger? What about
anointed cloths? Is this
practice scriptural? Who is authorized
to do this today?
Is Any Sick Among You?
The Greek word for "sick"
in James 5:14 is astheneo. This and several related words seem to
generally describe sickness, weakness or physical
infirmities. The Savior laid hands on
those who
were sick with different diseases, and healed all that were
brought to Him, Luke 4:40. Preaching
the message of the Almighty's
Kingdom and healing the sick went hand in hand, Luke 9:2, and
Matthew 10:8. There are
lingering chronic sicknesses, John 5:5.
At times astheneo seems to
indicate merely our physical
limitations, or physical afflictions imposed upon us by others,
Hebrews 4:15, 5:2; II
Corinthians 10:10, 13:4; and I Peter 3:7. At other times,
it is clearly shown
to be a sickness unto death,
Luke 7:2, 10; John 4:46-47,
11:1-6; Acts 9:37, and Philippians
2:26-27.
So, the sick among us can be for
a variety of causes and degrees: from sickness unto death, to
physical weaknesses and limitations. Being sick refers to times
when one cannot carry out his
daily routine.
Let Him Call For the Elders of
the Church
Here the practice of some is
clearly found to be in error. It says
"the elders," plural. And
let them
(not
him) pray over the sick one. So these
verses are showing that the church should have more
than one elder, and that they should be contacted when one is
sick and wishes to be healed.
What is an elder? Some have said that this merely means any
older church member. Is this so?
The Greek word for
"elder" in James 5:14 is presbuteros, used 67 times
in the New Testament.
Of these, 32 times
refers to the Jewish elders (the 70) of the Sanhedren,
or rulers of synagogues, a
religious office. Twelve times
this word refers to the twenty-four elders in heaven, who are
certainly in a high religious office. This leaves seventeen times
where presbuteros refers to elders
of the church: Acts 11:30, 20:17, 28, 21:18; I Timothy 5:17-19, I Peter 5:1-5, II John 1, and III
John 1, who were apostles or
worked closely with the apostles, Acts 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23, 16:4, and
were ordained in every church, Acts 14:23, Titus 1:5. Only
five times does presbuteros refer to an
older person (not in the context
of the church), Luke 15:25, John
8:9, Acts 2:17, and I Timothy
5:1, 2.
So the usage of the word presbuteros in Scripture proves that a presbuteros of the church
(ecclesia) is generally a mature
man ordained to an office of religious service, NOT just any older
church member. Only
those ordained as elders have the responsibility to anoint. This is the
general rule.
It doesn't say to call upon
those with the gift of healing. The gift of healing, I Corinthians 12:9,
30, is not something that
everyone has. Peter had the gift;
people were healed by his shadow.
Certainly, the Savior had the
gift of healing. Nevertheless, even
He, at least on one occasion,
could not heal many because of their unbelief, Matthew 13:58,
Mark 6:5-6. Those who had the
gift of exceptional healings
performed healing miracles other than through normal anointing with
oil. One does not have to have the gift of healing to
anoint, but he does have to be an ordained
elder.
And Let Them Pray Over Him
If possible, more than one
church elder should pray over the one that is sick. What does it mean
to pray over someone?
The sick would have to be kneeling or laying down so the elders could
be
"over"
him. Why? So the elders could, at the same time, lay
hands on the sick. They pray with
hands laid over the sick one.
Our Savior laid hands on the
sick, Mark 6:5, and Luke 4:40,
including the woman that had an
infirmity eighteen years, Luke 13:11-13. The disciples were instructed in the Great
Commission
to "lay hands on the sick, and they shall
recover," Mark 16:15-18. Even though James 5:14 does
not mention laying on of hands, the New Testament example
indicates that such is to be done.
Prayer and laying
on of hands is done after baptism for the receiving of the Holy Spirit. This is a
type of anointing.
Compare Acts 2:38, 8:17, with I John 2:20, 27, and John
16:13. So likewise,
prayer and laying on of hands
accompanies anointing of the sick, in order to ask for the
forgiveness of physical sins.
With the one, we receive a spiritual anointing; with the other, a
physical anointing. In
both, it is the perfect sacrifice of our Savior that makes spiritual and
physical salvation possible.
It is our faith in that sacrifice that makes the difference, James 5:15,
Romans 3:23-25.
Anointing Him With Oil
The Bible speaks here a little,
there a little. Mark 16:18 says the disciples were to lay hands on
the sick, but says nothing about praying and anointing with
oil. James 5:14 says to pray over and
anoint the sick with oil, but says nothing about laying on of
hands. The total truth is the sum of all
scriptures on the subject.
Mark 6:7 shows that the disciples
were sent out to preach two by two.
They anointed with oil
many that were sick, and they were healed. This is a practice that true believers
continue to
follow.
Anointing with oil signifies
setting apart for holy use. The Savior
is the Messiah (Hebrew word
for anointed one), the Christ
(Greek for anointed one), anointed with the Spirit (oil) of gladness,
Isaiah 61:1-3, Hebrews
1:1-9. Being anointed with oil, we are
free from being bound in sickness
and sin. This is the
good news of salvation. Anointing the
sick for their healing goes
hand-in-hand with the gospel (good news). Once anointed, we are to go forth in newness of life,
happy instead of
brokenhearted, loosed from Satan's prison of this life of sorrows. We are now
anointed ones as the Messiah is.
With our elder brother, we join the Almighty's family.
What a wonderful, holy
ceremony! Woe be
to those who take it lightly.
The Levitical
priesthood used a holy anointing oil made primarily
of olive oil, Exodus 30:22-33.
Therefore, it would be good to
use pure olive oil for anointing, if at all possible.
What does it mean to
anoint? In one denomination,
ministers have a little vial, and during the
prayer pour a drop on the head of the sick, laying their hands
on his head. Sometimes,
they would
put a little oil on a finger and
wipe it acros the forehead of the sick person, not
actually pouring it
as such. I am not
bringing up a picky point for the sake of argument, but this isn't what the
scripture intends. (I am not denigrating their sincerity nor the
fact that healings have resulted from
use of one drop.)
Moses took the anointing oil and
poured it upon Aaron's head, Exodus 29:6-7, 30:25, 30 and
Psalms 133:1-3. The Hebrew word
for anoint here is mashach meaning "to rub
with oil, to paint,
to consecrate."
This is the root word of Messiah, "the anointed one." One that is anointed
doesn't just have a drop on his head. The Greek word anoint (in James 5:14) is alipho which
means "to oil or
grease," such as to oil one's hair, Matthew 6:17, rub ointment on, Luke
7:38, 46,
or anointing a whole body, Mark 16:1. Everywhere, anointing means a profuse
amount of oil.
In the Name of the Lord, Amen
The prayer for the sick is to
close using our master's name, Yahshua
(Jesus). We are to do all
things in His name, by His authority. He promises to answer the prayer of faith,
using His name,
John 14:13-14.
And the Prayer of Faith Shall
Save the Sick
"And the Lord shall raise
him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him,"
James 5:15.
Just as sinners need to be saved
(forgiven of their spiritual sins by the blood of the Savior), so the
sick need to be saved (forgiven
of their physical sins by the body of the True Passover Lamb, the
Messiah).
It is only the prayer of faith
that will be answered, James 1:2-7, Romans 4:16-25, and Hebrews
11:6. The Almighty answers the prayers of
the faithful, those who are diligently seeking Him.
This fact puts severe
restrictions on just who the elders should be who anoint the sick. The
Father is not pleased with false
ministers who pervert the truth. Don't
go to them to be anointed
when you are sick.
What To Do When There is No
Faithful Elder
What if there is no faithful
elder available? You should not show
disrespect to your Heavenly
Father by calling upon an elder
of a false church. Then is there no
healing possible? You are not
left without prayer for healing! James 5:16
provides an additional course for the sick to take. It
says "confess your faults
[Greek word for sins, trespasses] one to another, and pray for one
another, that ye may be healed. The effectual prayer of a
righteous man availeth much." In the
context of verse 16 and of verses
14-15, this must refer primarily to
physical sins (sickness is
primarily the result of sin).
So, confess your physical
infirmities to other brethren. Pray
together. Pray one for the other.
Join together in prayer to
resolve the issue. A righteous
person's prayer, be he elder, apostle, or a
common brother, avails much with the Almighty.
Verse 16 should be followed in
addition to verses 14-15, especially if there is no elder available.
Fervent prayer is important.
This means earnest, zealous prayer, dynamic prayer of faith, such as
that of Elijah, verses 17-18.
Sometimes the prayer of faith takes patience and perseverance,
James 5:7-13. Results are
promised, Luke 11:1-13. So, even if
your are not an ordained elder,
you may, and should, fervently pray for others to be healed.
Anointed Cloths?
Acts 19:11-12 has been used to
support the practice of sending anointed cloths for healing. These
verses say that the Almighty
wrought "special miracles [Greek: uncommon miracles] by the hands
of Paul: So that from his body were brought unto the
sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the
diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of
them."
Notice! In an age of tremendous healings, this was
"uncommon," out of the ordinary.
It is not a
command like James 5:14.
Nor is it a substitute when a minister is not nearby or is too busy to
come. Acts 19 shows
what an extraordinary miracle the Eternal worked through Paul, and no one
else. It says nothing
here or elsewhere about anointing the cloth.
It would be wrong to castigate
those sincere brethren who have received an anointed cloth instead
of an anointing from a man they respect as a true
minister. I have personally received
anointed
cloths from time to time and have been healed as a result of
the prayer of faith. This method is
traditional rather than based upon a "thou shalt"
scriptural command. An anointed cloth
should
never be used as a substitute when the ministers are able to
come personally to anoint the sick.
Positive Preventive Action
Laying on of hands, anointing with oil, and the prayer of
faith, are all part of dealing with the sick.
But there must also be positive
action.
Some ministers will not anoint
you unless you have gone to a doctor first, thus tearing down your
faith. Others won't
anoint you if you have gone to a doctor.
Both are wrong extremes. The
responsibility of the elders who
are anointing or the brother who is praying with you, is mainly to
encourage you. They should
help to build up your faith, and if at all possible, help you learn how
to keep from getting sick again. Some ministers send you an anointed cloth
rather than care
enough to take the time to visit. Others rush off right after an anointing
when you need someone
to comfort you and help build up your faith. They should help you learn what physical
sin you
may have committed, so that you
don't repeat the same mistake, and can get well and stay that
way.
This is what James 5:19-20
(Living Bible) means: "Dear brothers, if anyone has slipped away
from God and no longer trusts
the Lord [as for healing], and someone helps him understand the
Truth again [that God does
heal], that person who brings him back to God will have saved a
wandering soul from death, bringing about the forgiveness of his
many sins."
It is my sincere hope that your
faith will be strengthened by the Almighty.
That you will never
forget that He is the Yahweh -- Healer, Exodus 15:26.
Remember always: the prayer of
faith shall save the sick!ê
Healing Article
"I would like to commend
you on your article concerning the need for trusting in God for healing.
It's true that many people have
lost faith in God's healing powers.
When people lose faith they are
really in a bad way. Unfortunately
they are turning more and more to man for all of their needs.
People seem to think that man
has more wisdom and power than God, but they are due for a rude
awakening. God is still in
control, and all things are possible with God."
J.S., Arkansas
What is the Gift of Healing?
There is much talk today about
healing revivals, and healing ministries.
Stories of miraculous
healings appear frequently in sermons and articles. Evangelists,
who claim to have the gift of
healing, exercise their
"gift" in front of large crowds and TV cameras -- often whipping up
the
enthusiasm of the crowd by chanting phrases such as, "Jesus
heals! Jesus heals!"
While some healers claim
absolute power over disease, others admit that the success
rate is closer
to 60%. Now if a man
claiming to be a prophet of God had a 60% accuracy rate, we would give
him little credence.
But what about one who claims the gift of healing with a 60% success
rate?
Does he really
have the gift of healing? What is the
gift of healing?
Jesus' Exercise of the Gift of
Healing
Jesus was the ultimate faith
healer. By studying His healing
ministry and His teachings, we can
learn a great deal about the gift of healing. Here are some observations about His
healings.
(1)
There is no record of Jesus praying publicly for the healing of
anyone. He simply
touched the sick or commanded healing. Sometimes
Jesus instructed the sick person to do
something. On various
occasions, lepers were sent to the priests; blind men were told to wash,
etc. But in most
cases Jesus commanded healing. He
simply dispensed the power of God, which
had been delegated to Him.
Notice the following examples:
Jesus said to a man with leprosy, "Be clean!" The results were
instantaneous:
"Immediately he was cured of leprosy," Matthew 8:3. Jesus said to the centurion,
whose servant was paralyzed, "Go! It will be done just as
you believed it would. And his servant
was healed at that very hour," Matthew 8:13. When Jesus saw
Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed
with a fever, "He touched her hand and the fever left
her . . . ," Matthew 8:15. One example
involving a prayer was that of the raising of Lazarus. But it was not a request; rather, it was a
prayer of thanksgiving that His Father always heard him, John
11:41-42.
(2)
Jesus did not use crowd enthusiasm to induce healings. He did not make a big
show of healing. Sometimes
He left crowds, in order to heal in private.
Often He healed with
crowds present, but there is no
record of His ever asking them to participate in the healings in any
way (to sing, or pray, or raise hands). In Cana,
a royal official's son was healed with just a word
from Jesus; the son wasn't even present, John 4:50. Jesus sent one
blind man to wash in the pool
of Siloam where he was healed without benefit of anyone
else, John 9:7. A crowd was present at
the raising of Lazarus, but if anything, this was a negative
factor, John 11:21, 32, 39. At the
raising of Jairus'
daughter, the people present laughed at Jesus; only the parents were allowed
in
the room with Jesus and three of His disciples, Luke 8:51.
(3)
Jesus did not advertise His healings.
Often Jesus commanded the person He
healed to tell no one: Matthew 8:2-4, 9:27-30, Mark 7:31-37, Luke 5:12-14, 8:49-56.
(4)
Usually faith was expressed in some way by the person (or parents)
requesting a
healing, but frequently it was not. No faith is mentioned in the healing of the
blind man, John
9:1-7, the raising of Lazarus,
John 11:1-49, the raising of the young man of Nain, Luke 7:11-16,
or the healing of Peter's mother-in-law, Matthew 8:14-15. But Jesus'
faith was always present. In
cases when a person's faith was
weak ("I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief" Mark 9:24),
Jesus' gift of healing was not
restricted. However, in general, He
healed among those who
desired healing and believed that He could heal if He wanted
to. There is a reference to His
healing miracles being limited.
In Nazareth, "He did not do many miracles there because of
their
lack of faith," Matthew 13:58. The implication
is not that His power was somehow inhibited, but
rather that He was not about to
display His power to the full in the face of skeptics and doubters,
Mark 6:5-6.
(5)
Jesus never failed at healing.
If He said it, it happened!
This is perhaps the most
important characteristic of the gift of healing.
The Apostles, particularly in
their early ministry, healed in the same way Jesus did. The crippled
beggar at the temple gate was
healed without benefit of crowd psychology, without confession of
faith, without prayer; Peter and John simply commanded
healing, Acts 3:1-7. People were
healed
when the shadow of Peter passed over them, Acts 5:15. Frequently no faith was evidenced in
persons being healed, though sometimes
it was, Acts 14:8-9. The Apostles
commanded healing
with 100% success. They exercised
the gift of healing in exactly the same way Jesus had.
A Definition of the Gift of
Healing
Based on the examples of Jesus
and the Apostles, I suggest the following definition for the gift of
healing:
The delegation of God's
miracle-working power to an individual, who is given authority to
administer it directly.
Whatever gift modern "faith
healers" have, it differs remarkably from that of Jesus and the
Apostles in virtually every
respect. Modern healers are only partially
successful; they require faith
on the part of the sick and
blame the sick persons' lack of faith if they are not made well; they
frequently do pray for healing
rather than command it; and they frequently use crowd psychology
to accomplish healings. Their approach doesn't match up
with that of Jesus and the Apostles.
How Do Modern Faith Healers
Heal?
If modern healers don't have the
gift of healing, as it was exercised by Jesus and the Apostles,
how is it that some people are apparently healed through
their ministries?
It is certainly not my place to
judge the sincerity of any who claim to heal.
God is their judge and
there is no reason for me to pass judgment on them. However, I certainly can judge their
methods in comparison to those of Jesus and the Apostles. And I can postulate a number of
explanations for their apparent
effectiveness, apart from the gift of healing, which I don't believe
they have.
(1)
In His mercy and omnipotence, God can miraculously respond to the
prayers and
the faith of the sick, in spite of the errors, antics, and
mistakes of the faith healer. God is
God; He
can choose to heal in any way He wants -- in spite of human
sin and ignorance. Thank God for
His mercy -- because we all come
before Him in some degree of ignorance.
(2)
The faith healer may simply be using the laws of psychology to
heal. The mind can
cause sickness and the mind can bring about healing, according
to laws put in motion by God.
These laws are neutral; they
work for Christians and non-Christians
alike, for hypnotists, doctors,
spiritists, witch doctors, psychologists, ministers, and for faith
healers, who can be instrumental in
unleashing an individual's own powerful mental forces to bring
about healing.
(3)
Deception of two types may be involved. Individuals, caught up in the powerful
psychological forces of a
healing revival, may really think they are healed and publicly claim a
healing -- only to discover later, in the privacy
of their own homes, that their illness persists.
Follow-up studies of people who
have claimed public healings indicate that many "miraculously
healed" people do not stay healed. Deliberate
fraud can also be used; people feigning illness can
be used as plants to feign healing, to "get the ball
rolling," so to speak.
(4)
Satan has great spiritual powers.
It is possible that some faith healers can
wittingly, or unwittingly, use
the powers of evil to effect apparent miracles -- just as spiritists
and
mediums do.
A faith healer could be
"healing" through one or more of these four means and not have the
gift of
healing as exercised by Jesus and the Apostles. How can you know for sure? If he doesn't teach
the truth, don't have any part of him, no matter how many
people he heals, Isaiah 8:20. If he
appears to teach the truth,
check him out. Thoroughly
investigate the man, his methods and
teachings, comparing them with the Bible. Get to know dozens of the people said to
have been
healed by him. In the
final analysis, let God be his judge.
Remember that the workers of Satan
can often produce lying miracles
in an attempt to deceive the very elect, Matthew 24:24, II
Thessalonians 2:3-12, Revelation
13:11-14. Miracles, per se, are NOT the proof of a true servant
of the Almighty!
You can be sure of this -- James
5:14 instructs a sick person to call the elders of the church for
anointing and prayer, and that God does heal. You can go to Him in prayer, you can ask
others
to pray, you can call for the elders of the church for
anointing and prayer. This is the
general
practice prescribed for the
church; it is an appeal for God's mercy and is significantly different
from the gift of healing.
Part of the problem of modern faith healers is that they confuse
prayer
for healing (which is what they
should be doing according to James 5:14) with
the gift of healing
(which
they don't have). This is not to say
that God cannot at any time give someone the gift of
healing, just as He gave it to Jesus and the Apostles. But if and when He does, that healer will
not be dependent on crowd
enthusiasm or psychology; and when he commands healing, it will
always happen. He will
never command healing when it is not God's will to heal that person.
Is It Always God's Will to Heal?
Many modern healers teach what
has been called the "gospel of good health," that it is always
God's will for us to be well,
that sickness is of the devil, that just as it is God's will to forgive all
our sins, it is His will to heal all our sicknesses, Psalms
103:3. Scriptures such as John 14:14,
"You may ask Me for
anything in my name, and I will do it," and Mark 9:23, "Everything is
possible for him who
believes," are cited to show that all we have to do is believe -- that
our
healing is already established in the will of God -- all we have
to do is claim it.
This line of understanding
claims that if a person does not experience healing, it is always because
he lacks faith -- that he must
investigate his life to find secret sins that are preventing him from
receiving the healing promised by God. We should examine ourselves, yet realize
that it is not
always God's will to heal right away.
To be sure, the gospel of good
health makes some very valid points.
It has done much to
counteract the erroneous concept
that Christians should be poor, sick, and downtrodden, that
there is some eternal reward in penury and suffering. But the Scriptures used to support this
"gospel" must be
understood in the context of other verses such as I John 5:15 ( . . . that if
we ask
anything according to his will . . . ) and the whole of God's
word. The fact of the Bible record is
that, for whatever reasons,
human beings in every generation, including men of powerful faith,
have been sick; and all eventually died!
Sickness Experienced by Men of
God
Elisha, a prophet with a double portion of the spirit, suffered
from a disease that eventually took
his life, II Kings 13:14.
Even after Elisha died, a dead man whose
body touched his bones, came
to life. In the New
Testament are numerous accounts of healings, frequently of non-Christians
or
of new Christians. Yet there
are also a number of references to sickness with no mention of
divine healing.
The Apostle Paul was denied his
petition for removal of his "thorn in the flesh," II Corinthians
12:7-10; he
stated ". . . outwardly we are wasting away . . ." II Corinthians 4:16; he also refers
to having had an illness that resulted in his preaching to
the Galatians, Galatians 4:13-14.
Paul's
fellow minister, Trophimus, was sick and was left behind -- not healed --
by Paul, II Timothy
4:20. Timothy was encouraged to drink wine for
his stomach's sake and for his "frequent
illnesses," I Timothy 5:23.
Epaphroditis was sick and almost died
"for the work of Christ . . . but
God had mercy on him,"
Philippians 2:25-30. Note that in
this last example, Epaphroditis' healing
is described as an act of God's mercy, not of obligation.
From all these examples, it is
obvious that even men of powerful faith got sick and were not
healed immediately. Some
undoubtedly recovered eventually from their sicknesses. Some died
from or with their sicknesses! While one could argue that it was because
of their lack of faith
that they weren't healed, the argument seems rather
hollow. Not once were their sicknesses
attributed to lack of faith, so
it seems rather presumptuous for modern preachers to claim that a
lack of healing proves a lack of faith. Are faith healers today aspiring to a
faith so much greater
than that of Elisha and Paul?
Why Does God Allow Sickness?
The Bible reveals that God is
interested primarily in eternal "good health." He doesn't always heal
right away because He uses the
sufferings and pain natural to human existence to teach us what is
really important. Peter wrote, ". . . while you may have had to suffer
grief in all kinds of trials.
These have come so that your
faith . . . may be proved genuine," I Peter 1:6-7. Paul wrote, ". . .
we also rejoice in our sufferings, because . . .
suffering produces perseverance
. . . character . .
. hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because
God has poured out his love into our hearts
by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us," Romans
5:3-5. James wrote, "Consider it
pure joy,
my brothers, whenever you face
trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your
faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and
complete, not lacking anything," James 1:2-4. See also Romans 8:21-26; I Corinthians
15:42; II
Corinthians 4:10-17; 5:2-4;
12:7.
Perhaps we can understand the
question of God's will on sickness by thinking of how we parents
view our children.
Certainly we don't want them to be sick or to suffer pain. We want
them to see
life in positive terms of joy and hope -- not in terms of
suffering and pain. On the other hand
we
recognize that scrapes and
bruises are part of growing up -- and that children learn very valuable
lessons by experiencing pain.
In like manner, God doesn't want us sick and doesn't deliberately
cause us to suffer. Yet
He has put us in an environment of which pain and suffering, including
sickness, are a part -- because He is preparing us for the real
life, eternal life, that lies ahead.
Conclusion
Faith healers generally do not
have the gift of healing. They do not
follow the example of Christ.
Anyone with the gift of healing
will heal 100% of the time. The general prescription for New
Testament
believers is to seek prayer and
anointing from the elders of the Church.
God's servants
sometimes do get sick, not always from a lack of faith or a sin
they have committed.
We shouldn't have an
"I'm-meant-to-be-sick" attitude.
Such a negative outlook only consigns us
to a life of sickness.
Rather we should have an overall expectation of health and wellness --
viewing illness as the exception, not the rule. But when we do get sick and God delays
healing,
we can know that He is accomplishing in us something far
more important than physical health. A
healed body will last for a few decades at most. But the love, peace, patience, temperance,
and
meekness learned through sickness and suffering will last for
eternity. God's ultimate will for us
is
to prepare us for the ultimate
healing -- which is living with Him
for all eternity in a body that
knows no sickness or suffering.
-- adapted by Richard C. Nickels, September
1987, from an article by Richard A. Wiedenheft. All
quotations are from the NIV translation.ê
God Does Heal -- Today!
Review: "Does God Heal Today?" by Herbert
W. Armstrong. Radio Church
of God, Pasadena,
California: 1952.
Without faith it is impossible
to please God. When we get sick or
injured, and need the
Almighty's healing power, our
faith is tested. All too often, we fail
the test. Like the disciples,
we need the Messiah to "increase our faith," Luke
17:5.
"Does God Heal Today?"
helps to shore up, to increase, our faith in the Creator to heal us when
we are sick. Because
of the power of the medical profession (the American Medical Association
in particular), trusting God for healing can be a very
controversial subject. Few realize
that the
AMA is one of the most powerful
labor unions in the world. As Dr. Robert
Mendelsohn has
written, modern medicine as a whole, is a powerful religion
against God.
Armstrong Learns That God Heals
-- Today
Herbert W. Armstrong learned the
lesson of divine healing shortly after he was baptized in 1927.
In Chapter 17 of his
Autobiography (1967 edition), "Learning Whether God Answers
Prayer,"
Armstrong relates how, through a
severe experience and Bible study, that God does heal, today.
Mrs. Armstrong had a series of
afflictions, and had contracted blood poisoning as a result of a
rose thorn. For three
days and nights, she was unable to swallow a drop of water or a morsel of
food. The doctor told
Armstrong she could not last another twenty-four hours. A neighbor lady
asked if she could ask a man to come and anoint and pray for
his wife's healing. The man
answered the Armstrong's questions, from the Bible, and they
began to understand, and believe.
They knelt in prayer, and as he
anointed Loma Armstrong with oil from a vial he carried, "He
uttered a quiet, positive, very
earnest and believing prayer which was utterly different from any
prayer I had ever heard.
This man actually dared to talk directly to God, and to tell God what
He
had PROMISED to do!
He quoted the promises of God to heal.
He applied them to my wife.
He literally held God to what He
had promised! . . . You have
promised,' he said to God, and you
have given us the right to hold
you to your promise to heal by the power of your mighty Holy
Spirit. I hold you to that promise! We expect to have the answer!' (pages 317-318)."
They
believed, and Mrs. Armstrong was dramatically healed. Even the doctor was astonished.
Further Bible study taught
Armstrong that there are two conditions which God imposes: (1) we
must keep His commandments, I
John 3:22, and (2) we must really BELIEVE, Matthew 9:29
(page
322). When Armstrong later learned
that the resurrection of Jesus was not on Sunday, so
that the very foundation for
Sunday sacredness crumbles, he wanted to share this new truth with
the man that anointed his wife for healing. Upon study, this man rejected the Sabbath,
for even
though he admitted it was Bible truth, he knew it would put him
at variance with his own church.
Shortly thereafter, Armstrong
found this man dejected and depressed.
"Brother," he told
Armstrong, "something
terrible has come over me. God has
left me. He doesn't answer my
prayers any more. I don't
understand what has happened (page 328)." Armstrong knew that
when one deliberately,
knowingly, from the heart, rejects knowledge, God will reject him, Hosea
4:6.
Summary of "Does God Heal
Today?"
The day of miracles is not
past. Hebrews 13:8 and John 14:12 show
that Christ will continue to
perform miraculous
healings, in our day. It is not true
that God has changed and works through
medical science today.
Diving healing began with God's
Old Testament Church. Divine healing
is a miracle from
Almighty God, as a result of
believing prayer. The same conditions
of obedience and faith for
divine healing existed during the Exodus, and still do today,
Exodus 15:23-26, I John 3:22. God
is our healer, the doctors are not. Any honest doctor will admit that drugs,
medicines, or knives
cannot heal. Only God
can heal!
Scripture labels other modes of
"healing" IDOLATRY. For
centuries, Israel's means of healing
was faith in God alone.
Later, they departed from God, and turned to heathen methods of
medicine. King Asa of Judah forsook God, and sought the physicians instead. He died, II
Chronicles 16:13. Herbert
Armstrong's son, Garner Ted Armstrong, wrote in a Good News
magazine article (June, 1964,
pages 4, 22), "To rely on any foods, supplements, medicines, drugs,
knives, or even on fasting, for
healing (and none of these can, ever have, or ever will heal!) is to
break the commandment against idolatry!"
Modern medicine originated in
paganism. Baal-zebub,
the god of Ekron, was a pagan deity of
medicine. King Ahaziah of Israel fell through a lattice, was injured, and sought Baal-zebub
whether he would recover.
Elijah rebuked him for not seeking the God of Israel, and told him he
would die. So, he died,
II Kings 1:1-17. God did not raise up
medical science today, and bless it
and work through it.
The example of Hezekiah in II Kings 20:1-7 again shows that faith and
obedience are required for healing from God. (Comment:
It also shows that upon seeking God,
one should also perform whatever physical therapy is
required to assist the healing process.
Isaiah
told Hezekiah's servants to make a fig poultice to lay on
Hezekiah's boil.)
It IS God's will to heal;
healing is forgiveness of physical sin.
Just as God forgives all our
iniquities, so will He also heal all our diseases, Psalm
103:2-3. It is God's will to heal,
Ephesians
5:17, Luke 5:12-13.
Sickness is generally the penalty of violating physical laws of
health.
Healing is the forgiveness of
this kind of sin, removing the penalty for the sin. None but God can
forgive sin, so none but God can heal. When Jesus healed, he showed that he was
forgiving sin,
Luke 5:18-26, Matthew 9:2-8,
Mark 2:3-12. Jesus heals because he
paid the penalty for our sin,
in our stead, John 3:16, Romans 5:8, Matthew 8:16-17, I
Peter 2:24. Jesus suffered scourging
to
pay the price for our physical transgressions, John 19:1.
We "break bread" at
Passover to symbolize our faith in Christ's
body, beaten for our healing. We
take the broken bread
unworthily, if and when we put our trust in doctors and medicines, instead
of in Christ, thus putting another god before Him. See I Corinthians
11:23-30.
There is a need for doctors, to
help us to prevent sickness and get in harmony with nature's laws.
Doctors should concentrate on
helping us eat right. Naturopaths and chiropractors are more in
line with what doctors should be. Medical doctors, all too
often, resort first to drugs and surgery.
It is wise to use a doctor to
assist in childbirth, setting broken bones, and helping to repair
damage. Doctors cannot
heal, and often take all of their patient's money, Luke 8:43-48. Healing
is out of their line, and
doctors should not be looked to in faith for healing.{1}
Healing is part of the Gospel
Commission, Matthew 9:35; Luke 9:1-2, 10:1, 9; Mark 16:15-18.
The New Testament Church
believed in, and practiced, faith healing.
See Acts 3:1-11, 4:29-31,
5:15-16, 19:11-12;
James 5:14-15.
We should leave the way and the
time to God. God promises to heal you. Accept His promise,
stand on the promises, expecting an answer, knowing you will
get it. But, leave the "how"
and
"when"
to God in His way and His time. The
Scripture cannot be broken! "Who forgiveth all
thine
iniquities, who healeth ALL thy diseases!"
Opposition to Healing Booklet
Of all the religious articles
Armstrong has written, it appears that "Does God Heal Today?" has
aroused the most opposition and controversy. Some unstable, unbalanced, individuals in
the
Church, have acted unwisely, drawing
unnecessary persecution from
medical and legal
authorities.
Lawsuits against the church, or
against families who do not seek medical care for their sick
children, have given the doctrine of divine healing a bad name.
As a result, the booklet was
"killed" about the late 1960's or early 1970's. In some church areas,
members were told to burn their copies. An official Interoffice Memo to Regional
Directors of
the Worldwide Church of God,
dated May 30, 1973, states the
reason for killing "Does God Heal
Today?" was "medical
authorities." The is a frank
admission that the booklet aroused the ire of
the medical profession, because their livelihood was
threatened.
Rather than continue to boldly
proclaim God's Truth, Armstrong gave in to pressure and
de-emphasized divine healing.
His 1979 booklet, "The Plain Truth About Healing," is a far
cry
from "Does God Heal Today?" For a review of this newer booklet
(revised by Armstrong's
successor, Joseph Tkach, in 1987), see
the chapter in this series of articles entitled "The Attack
Against Healing and
Health." Some gleefully rejoiced
that the Church had discarded the
"heretical" doctrine of divine healing. The 1991 "Statement of Beliefs of the
Worldwide Church
of God" does not even mention divine healing as an
important tenet of faith.
We should not throw out the
doctrine of divine healing. As
Armstrong wrote,
If something breaks on my
automobile--something that can be fixed back either by myself or a
specialist in a garage, I do not
just PRAY and DO NOTHING, and expect God to do for me what
I can do for myself (page 11,
"Does God Heal Today?").
How then, should we properly
practice the doctrine of divine healing?
A Sound-Minded Approach to
Healing
God's Church should set forth a
high standard for God's people to exercise faith and obedience in
God, trusting God for
healing. Those who at times
do not live up to higher levels of faith should
not be browbeaten or put down. The Church's function should be to shore
up, to encourage us to
have faith in God, and to understand God's laws of health.
Church members should seek to
obey God and exercise faith in Him.
They are responsible, as
individuals, to apply the Bible
in their own lives, to decide what they will, and will not do, when
they are sick.
Church members should call for
the elders of the church when they are sick.
Seek God FIRST,
then decide what, if any, physical means should be used.
Church members should not trust,
or rely upon, medical doctors. They
should realize that many
doctors are unscrupulous, but
should seek and find, if possible, sensible physicians for
consultation and advice when necessary. There are a few good doctors, like Luke,
today, but
they are very hard to find.
If you have children, you should
be very sensitive to their health situation.
Many governments
today will put the parents in
jail if they do not seek "competent" medical attention when their
children are sick.
Exercising discretion, yet trusting God and using natural means, is
extremely
important.
Using these sound-minded
principles, "Does God Heal Today?" becomes an anchor for our faith
in time of need. We
recommend the original article be read by every believer.
The Legal Issue
Today, you can write books and
articles advocating homosexuality, bestiality, how to make
bombs to kill policemen, etc., and not fear persecution or
prosecution. But, if you write in
favor
of divine healing, or promoting Bible Laws of Health, watch
out!
Fear of "medical
authorities" caused the Worldwide Church of God to kill the free
booklet, "Does
God Heal Today?" That same fear causes some today to include
a "disclaimer" with their
religious articles on healing and health. One Sabbath-keeping church prefaced their
article with
this statement: "The reader should not construe what
is written to be specific advice or a course
of action to be followed with regard to any health
problems." The supposition is,
that if someone
did interpret the article as
medical advice, and consequently died or was harmed, then they or
their heirs could successfully
sue the church. Crackpots and
extremists abound who can do harm
to themselves and others by wrongly interpreting almost any
teaching. Courts today grant huge
settlements for the most ridiculous reasons.
"Does God Heal
Today?" is balanced, and
uplifting, holding up the sacrifice of Jesus Christ
in a
reverent and respectful manner, shoring up our faith in God. If opposers of
God take unwise
actions, which are not supported by the article, and then turn
and sue, let them. We should trust
God for healing, and trust Him
to defend us from such wicked lawsuits.ê
Write For Your FREE Copy of
"Does God Heal Today?"
According to an official search
of copyright records, "Does God Heal Today?" by Herbert W.
Armstrong, was published May 9, 1952, and registered in the name of the Radio Church of God
in the United States Copyright Office on December 14, 1955. No renewal was
found. Under the
law covering this period, the copyright expired 28 years
after publication. Therefore, this
publication is in the public domain.
Further investigation has
revealed that "Does God Heal Today?" was first published, without
copyright, from Eugene, Oregon in the late 1940's or early 1950's, before the
"copyrighted"
edition from Pasadena, California, in 1952. Thus,
it was in the public domain even before it was
supposedly copyrighted.
These facts make it doubly clear
that re-printing this article is entirely within the law. We
encourage you to write for a free copy.
Except for spelling out all
Bible references, our printing of
"Does God Heal Today?" exactly
conforms to the original.
Write to Giving & Sharing
for your free copy of "Does God Heal Today?" by Herbert W.
Armstrong.
FOOTNOTES********************************
{1} In ancient China, doctors were paid when their patients were kept well,
not when they
were sick. Believing
it was the doctor's job to prevent disease, Chinese doctors often paid the
patient if the patient lost his health. When a patient died, a special lantern was
hung outside the
doctor's house. Too many
of these lanterns would certainly hurt business for a doctor.
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