“Major Scientific Discoveries foreshadowed in the Old Testament”
Author: Terry Leon Dashner of Broken Arrow, OK
The bubonic plague killed one half of the population of England.
Some entire villages were destroyed by the disease. However, it
was evident for all to see that the Jewish people were escaping
the plaque. Why did they escape? Because some 3000 years before
bacteria was discovered, the Creator gave instructions which are
recorded in the Old Testament book of Leviticus that prevent the
spread of communicable disease. Those instructions require
strict cleanliness and quarantines, and cleansing following
contact with the sick or the dead. The Jews followed those
instructions, and their lives were spared.
Ignaz Semmelweiss lived from 1818 until 1865. He was a Hungarian
obstetrician and was connected with the Vienna General Hospital
where he taught obstetrics to medical students. One day he was
walking through the lobby of the hospital when he noticed a
near-term pregnant woman weeping inconsolably. When he asked
why, he was informed that the distraught expectant mother had
been assigned to the obstetrics ward served by the medical
students rather than to the midwives. To her, that was a death
sentence. She preferred the midwives because the medical student
ward had a terrible reputation for postpartum infection. The
reputation was justly earned. One out of every six women
delivered by the medical students died.
Dr. Semmelweiss wondered what the difference was between the
medical students and the midwives. Suddenly, he realized the
difference possibly was the anatomy lab. In that day it was
common for the medical students to dissect cadavers in the
anatomy lab while the expectant mothers labored in a nearby
ward. Every now and then the students would leave the lab to
check the progress of their patients by doing an internal exam.
Dr. Semmelweiss wondered if there was a connection between the
medical students who handled the dead corpses in the lab, and
then without washing, used their hands to do the internal exams
on the laboring women. He decided to order his students to rinse
their hands in limewater before doing the exams on the women.
Within one month the death rate of the women dropped from one in
six to one in eighty-four! The results were indicative of the
benefits of following the Bible's teaching about dead bodies and
cleanliness.
Today we know about the transmission of bacteria that was taking
place from the cadavers to the women. They did not know in Dr.
Semmelweiss' time. Many more lives would have been saved, and
much suffering avoided, if only people had by faith accepted the
Old Testament's teaching about cleanliness and practiced it (The
Word on Health, Dr. Michael D. Jacobson, Moody Press, 2000).
When studying the science of the ancient world, one is more apt
to be impressed with its ignorance than to admire its accuracy.
However, the Bible offers a definite exception to this rule. The
scriptures are replete with statements suggesting scientific
knowledge which predates the corresponding discoveries of
secular science. Given that Bible writers were not scientists,
and given that the scientific information at their disposal was
generally misleading, the accuracy of the Bible can only be
attributed to the inspiration of God (“Examples of Scientific
Accuracy in the bible” David Pyles). Let me begin by listing a
few of these Biblical foreshadows.
For one, Genesis 10:25 speaks of one Peleg whose name means
division. The text then explains that he was so named because in
his days the earth was divided. It is now commonly believed that
all continents of the earth were once combined into a single
continent called Pangaea. This belief is based upon the fact
that present continents appear somewhat as pieces out of a
puzzle. There are also other evidences, including several
geological similarities on matching continental edges (“Examples
of Scientific Accuracy in the Bible” David Pyles).
Secondly, the fact that the earth is of spherical shape is
generally considered to be recent knowledge. However, Isaiah
40:22 spoke of the circle of the earth approximately 750 years
before Christ. Other statements in the Bible also indicate that
God revealed this truth long ago. For example, David said that
God has removed our transgression from us as far as the east is
from the west (Ps 103:12). On a spherical surface, east and west
are infinitely separated in the sense that one can travel
indefinitely in either direction without ever attaining the
other. However, Solomon described the wind as blowing in
circuits, first towards the south and then turning toward the
north. North and south are not infinitely separated as east and
west, because a southward traveler on a spherical surface will
be heading north after crossing the South Pole (David Pyles).
Thirdly consider this: What is man, that thou art mindful of
him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast
made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him
with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the
works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All
sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of
the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through
the paths of the seas. Matthew Maury (1806-1873) is commonly
known as the father of oceanography. He was among the first to
discover and chart systematic ocean currents. Maury claimed that
his research was inspired by Ps 8:4-8 (David Pyles).
Fourthly, in Leviticus 17:11 it says that the “life of the flesh
is in the blood” (KJV). That’s very interesting because science
didn’t know about the properties of blood until centuries after
Moses received the Law from God on Mount Sinai. Every ancient
Jew was taught the validity of God’s Word for practical living
as well as its spiritual value. Every Jew was taught that
Leviticus 17:11 referred to the life of living creatures. If one
drained the blood out of his sacrificial lamb, the lamb died;
therefore, the blood equaled life. Here again, it was centuries
after this Biblical knowledge that blood was discovered by means
of science to circulate throughout the human body.
Fifthly, it wasn’t until the time of Pasteur that germs were
discovered as the culprit to spoiling French wine. Pasture
eliminated the microbes by “pasteurizing” the wine. The process
is still used today with dairy products. The Old Testament
proscribed certain meats as being unclean for human consumption.
Today we know that many of these banned meats, if not properly
prepared and fully cooked, can sicken or cause death in humans
because of bad bacteria.
Time does not permit me to list the Bible’s instructions on
washing clothing when contaminated by disease and death. Or to
list what the Bible says regarding the effectiveness of
quarantines for diseases and the importance of early diagnoses
of skin diseases.
The Bible, if it’s nothing more than an ordinary ancient book,
is certainly unusually accurate in its scientific foreshadowing.
I believe that’s because it’s more than just an ancient book. It
is the Holy Word of God with a scientific accuracy long before
inductive reasoning was used to challenge what had been
unchallenged until the Age of the Enlightenment.
Keep the faith. Jesus is our Healer and soon coming King.
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