If you have ever tried to read the Bible, you have probably made it as far as Leviticus. Genesis and Exodus are pretty easy: lots of great stories. But Leviticus is a book short on stories and long on laws. The same is true for Numbers and Deuteronomy—there are stories mixed in, but much of the content is laws about all kinds of things: how to prepare food, how to handle mold, how to treat leprosy and other skin diseases, how and where to construct latrines, what to eat and what not to eat, how to handle marriages, deaths, adultery, and crime. Some have said there are 613 laws in the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. That’s a lot of laws, and can make for less-than exciting reading.
But I became interested in the law because of a verse in Exodus. If you can grasp this truth, it may make reading these books a lot easier:
“If you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, then I will put NONE OF THESE DISEASES on you which I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you.” Exodus 15:26.
Does that make sense? The Bible says that if the Hebrews will obey God’s laws, they will not suffer all the diseases of the pagans. For example, the Hebrews were not allowed to eat pork. Why not? THEY DID NOT KNOW–BUT WE KNOW: Trichinosis. Even in the United States, this roundworm infection has for years been associated with eating undercooked pork. (Today most Americans who contract worms pick the parasites up from eating undercooked game animals.) The Hebrews were also not allowed to eat shellfish and fish without scales. Why not? THEY DID NOT KNOW–BUT WE KNOW: Because these are all bottom-feeders. Catfish, flounder, lobsters, crabs, and shrimp are the “garbage men” of the sea, eating dead animals and fecal matter all day long. If their meat is not well-cooked, it can be dangerous. The Bible has many more rules about what to eat and how to prepare it, but God does not explain the rules. He just gives the rules. If His people obey, they will be spared—and He will bring on them “none of these diseases” that He brought on the rest of the world.
Long ago, one physician argued that doctors should wash their hands, but no one listened. They mocked him. Every day, the doctors took medical students to the morgue and began the day by examining the bodies of everyone who died at the hospital during the night. They went from body to body to body, then they wiped their hands on a towel or whatever, and went upstairs and began to examine the women who were in labor. And they touched every woman. And the mothers kept dying in childbirth or shortly after. Finally, one doctor discovered that if he washed his hands with soap after examining the dead bodies, the women in labor did not die as often. And when he began washing between EVERY patient, the mortality rates dropped to nearly zero. But no one listened to him. When he later became the boss, he instituted washing rules and for many years that hospital set the record for healthy deliveries. But when the old doctor died, the new chief did away with his rules. Doctors stopped washing hands and patients started dying again, just like they did everywhere else. People can be stubborn!
If only the doctors would have looked in the Old Testament. God’s laws require washing in many situations that must have seemed ridiculous at the time of the Exodus. The same was true of laws about going to the bathroom (you must bury it). Why? THEY DID NOT KNOW–BUT WE KNOW about eColi and other germs. And the priests must perform tests on mold. If it is spreading, the house must be torn down. Why? THEY DID NOT KNOW–BUT WE KNOW: some molds are deadly. God’s law also prohibits adultery and fornication. Why? THEY DID NOT KNOW–BUT WE KNOW: not only do those sins damage your soul, they also spread herpes, syphilis, gonorrhea, and AIDS, diseases that bring horrible suffering, blindness, and death. Following God’s law is the only truly “safe sex,” and prevents the spread of all sexually transmitted diseases.
My point is, the Bible is filled with laws that God gave us to protect us. No one understood the laws when they were first given. But if they obeyed God, they would avoid many terrible illnesses. In the same way, we may not always understand the rules, but we must trust God—there is a reason behind every one of them. As evidence, consider one of my favorite books: NONE OF THESE DISEASES, by S.I. McMillen, M.D. In this book, a modern-day physician explains how so many Old Testament laws (such as the quarantine[1]) can actually prevent the spread of terrible modern-day diseases. Once you understand that truth, reading Old Testament laws will be much more interesting!
ΑΩ
[1] See Leviticus 13:46.
Household Words: 