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(Note: We plan for Ask The Doctor . . . to be a regular feature of Focus On Jesus, to address most Christian's concerns about nutrition and healthy living. Dr. Ted Cash, M.D., practices family medicine. Jesus Christ is the center of his life. He is devout and active in serving God. If you would like to ask Dr. Ted your questions about medicine, nutrition, or about the Lord, submit it through the mail slot at the bottom of this article. To start things off in a lively way, we submitted a question we have heard often.)
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Ask the Doctor . . . |
I'm answering my good friend, Art Thompson, who loves Jesus immensely, and he's posed a question to me that caught my attention.
I've been practicing medicine for 30 years, and Art just happens to be a patient of mine. But, he said, "Doctor, do you think Christians should seek physicians?"
I said, "Well, my goodness, what a question!"
Then, I began to ponder the issues, and I'd like to share some thoughts.
First, people seek physicians when they are sick. Jesus said that the "well" have no need of a physician, indicating that the sick probably did need a physician. And it was certainly customary in his time, the times before, and even to the present, that the sick seek a physician.
Why Do We Get Sick?
So the first thing we'd like to ask is if they seek physicians because of illness, then where does sickness come from?
I'd like to look with you at one of the infamous "3:16's" in the Bible - this being Genesis 3:16. Let's get some baseline here. Adam and Eve are in the garden, but the serpent is also in the garden. There was no curse until after the consumption of the forbidden fruit, and yet, the serpent was in the garden created by God, and was there to deceive Eve, and subsequently to delude Adam. Then, when the deception had occurred, God Almighty spoke to Eve, and he said, "I will greatly multiply your . . ." - The King James version translates this word ". . . sorrow". The Hebrew word is itstsabown. This is a very profound word that God uses to speak to Eve. And the profound word means pain, it means suffering, it means woe, it means sickness, it means disease, it means depression, it means anxiety. In fact, one of the 20th Century's greatest etymologists, John Chardy said that itstsabown was probably the single most profoundly bad word in all human language.
To Eve "I will greatly . . ." and that means "a whole lot" - ". . . multiply . . ." He didn't say "I'll add." He said, "I'll multiply". And of course we know that when we multiply we get a higher quotient than we do when we add. So, he's multiplying Eve's itstsabown.
But of course Adam's not home free, because in Genesis 3:17, God said to Adam, "I will curse the ground for your sake, and in sorrow . . ." - in itstsabown - ". . . shall you eat of it all the days of your life."
He did not say it would be just for a short time. He said it would be a long time - all the days of your life.
And if we believe the scriptures are true - and certainly we do believe the scriptures are true - Jesus said the scriptures could not be untrue. And the Bible tells us that the scriptures - the word of God - "are forever settled in heaven." It is "forever settled."
So we see here that disease came into the world. Now why did disease come into the world?
Now we know that God said to Adam and Eve, "Do not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil." "Just don't eat of that tree! You can eat everything else. The garden is yours. You'll not have to do anything but just don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and of evil." And of course, the serpent came and deceived Eve into eating. So Eve's and Adam's sin was to disobey the word of God.
So we need to look at the word of God and see what the word of God says about these matters.
"Plowing The Corn . . ."
When I was a very young boy, my dad, who was an extremely wise man, was counseling me on what he thought I ought to do in life. And I said, "Well, dad, I feel like the Lord wants me to be a physician."
And my dad had just said to me, "My granddaddy was a farmer, I'm a farmer, and you're a good farmer."
And then he pondered when I said the Lord wants me to be a physician, and he said, "You know, son, you'll make a good physician, because, you'll plow the corn."
I pondered that a long time and I see the wonderful wisdom of that statement. Because all healing comes from God. All healing is built into the body. When God said to Jesus and the Holy Spirit, "Let us make man in our image . . ."
When they made man in "their image," they created the healing process into man. If you cut your finger, and scrape your hand, a scab will come on it and cells will begin to grow, and they know exactly when to stop growing, and they know exactly when they've reached a plateau, and exactly when they've reached the level that they're supposed to reach, and then the hand's healed in about two weeks. It takes about 14 days for maximum healing to occur in all situations in the body.
So, it's built in. And physicians who claim they are "healers" are not claiming the truth. The truth is the body heals itself. It's built in by God to heal itself.
And then I go back to what my dad said. He said, "You know how to plow the corn."
And that's exactly what physicians do. They take the "crop" and they cultivate the crop, sometimes adding fertilizer, sometimes adding insecticide. Sometimes adding this, that, and the other. And yet, all the increase is given by God. It's designed into the genetic nature of the plant. Designed - I tell you - not evolved! It is designed. It is designed by the hand of the magnificent Creator of the universe, who also is our Savior.
So, back to the question of whether Christians should seek physicians, and I certainly believe that they should seek physicians, but don't seek physicians as the healers. Seek physicians as the consultant. Seek physicians as people who know disease and who are able to direct the body's systems toward healing. And that's what physicians do a good job of.
I'm often reminded of the simile that when the seasoned pilot was sitting in his 747, they were about to take off. The pilot comes on the PA system and says, "Well, I've been flying for 30 years, and I'm kinda tired today, so I'm going to get an engineer or a carpenter to come and fly this plane."
Now we'd get a little nervous, because we want the pilot to fly the plane. We don't want the carpenter. Carpenters are wonderful. We don't want the engineer. Engineers are wonderful. But, they are not pilots. They're engineers and carpenters. So when we're flying on an airplane, we want the pilot in the seat, and when we're looking at disease, I know that I, myself, and my family, when I have a medical problem that I seek a physician.
Seek God, Not The Doctor
Now you have to leery and wary of seeking physicians for total healing. King Asa, the good king of Judah had gout. He was diseased in his feet, and most authorities say that Asa had gout. And when I think of gout, I think of King Henry VIII, who had severe gout. And of course, Henry VIII was not above chopping your head off and had that authority to do the head-chopping business, and his physicians were treating him for gout with wine. And of course, wine is completely contraindicated in gout [In layman's terms, that means it's bad for gout, it makes it worse - Editor], because it causes a reduction of excretion of uric acid, so Henry VIII's physicians were making him worse, so if he'd known it, he'd have cut their heads off.
The problem here, with Asa, is - and the scriptures are very clear - is that King Asa sought the physicians and not God. Sought the physicians and not God. And king Asa died. It's certainly not the case that if you seek physicians, you're going to die for seeking the physicians. Now, there are groups of people who do not take aspirin. There are groups of people who do not take anything into their bodies, because they think that they can depend on God. And I believe in depending on God. But, I raise some corn almost every year, because I love fresh roasting ears. And, when I raise that corn, you better believe that I till that soil. And that I plow that corn. And that I ensure that the corn has adequate fertilizer. All these things are the things that we do every day that enhance our production in farming.
So back to the physicians, they simply enhance the structures that God has built in. They simply enhance the healing mechanism. They simply enhance these things that God does naturally.
So, I would advise you, if you get sick, see your local physician. But, I'd be ever so careful if I thought that he were my healer, because he or she is not our healer. God is our healer. And remember where disease comes from. It comes from disobedience of the word of God. We need to obey the word of God. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice."
So when something is upon you, you need to seek the voice of God. You need to seek the counsel of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You need to seek that counsel, and say, "What do you want me to do in this matter? How do you want me to address this corn crop? Do you want me to plow it? Do you want me to go to the physician? Do you want me to fast and pray? What do you want?"
And hear the word of God. Jesus said, "My sheep shall hear my voice."
And, we need to obey the voice of God. The most common way we hear the voice of God is in the word of God, because it's written and it's forever settled in heaven. Now I would remind you that Jesus said that in this world you will have thlipsis. And the word thlipsis is translated "tribulation" in the King James version of the bible, which is what most folks think Jesus used :-).
But anyway, the word there is actually an old Assyrian principle. What the Assyrians would do when they would capture an army - and they were a very mean people - they would line the soldiers up, and they would take the healthiest, strongest, most masculine in the Army, and they'd tie him on the ground, tying his feet down, and his arms down. Then four Assyrian soldiers would take a boulder that it took four men to lift, and they would gently lay it on this captive's chest. What would happen is the muscles of the chest wall were not strong enough for the man to breath, so he would slowly be asphyxiated. So that's what thlipsis means.
"By His Stripes . . ."
Now remember that Jesus said, "In this world, you'll have thlipsis." And we're going to have a lot of situations that we do not understand. But always seek the Lord God. Always seek the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, because they are one and they are magnificently at our disposal, because of what Jesus did on the cross. "He was wounded for our transgressions." That's ptaio (pt-ah'-o) - the sins that we do that we know are wrong, and we do them. "He was bruised for our iniquities." The chastisement that brought us peace was on him. And with the stripes that went on his back, we are healed.
You're healed, brothers and sisters, by the word of God. You're healed because it was built into your body. And when you have thlipsis I'm not opposed to your seeking a physician, but seek God to do the healing. Seek the physician as an adjunct.
The Lord bless you and keep you, and make his marvelous face shine upon you.
