H1N1 Pandemic
So the World Health Organization has now declared a pandemic situation for the H1N1 virus. Leading pharmaceutical companies are in a race to produce a vaccine to counter this virus. But what do health authorities do when innocent people come into close contact with infected persons? They quarantine them. It’s called medical quarantine.
Medical quarantine is not something new. It was last enforced during the SARS scare. But medical quarantine started long before anyone even understood the principles involved. We read in the Bible of God commanding the Israelites to separate – isolate – those with a communicable disease until they are cured. In short, they practised medical quarantine.
As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp (Lev 13:46).
Do you know that the Israelites were the only one to enforce medical quarantine for a long time? It seems that other nations only started to practise this after the black plague that killed millions of people in the 14th century.
The black plague infectious chain was finally broken in Vienna after the church leaders encouraged the public to start observing medical quarantine as stated in the Bible. The success in Vienna in turn prompted other cities to adopt the same medical quarantine practise, until finally the black plague was fully destroyed.
God does know what He is saying!
The medical community uses an insignia which a stick and 2 serpents wrapping around it. Is this also from the bible?
WHen I read the account in Number 21 below I couldn’t help but to conclude that it also came from the bible:
Numbers 21:8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Numbers 21:9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
God is the greatest Physician. Perhaps this common symbol of the medical profession also originates from the bible.
In fact Jesus heals many people. These included the sick, the blind, the dying , the lepers, the handicapped ….etc He even caused Lazarus to resurrect from the dead.