Lesson 17: None of These Diseases

 A Healthy Lifestyle for Your and Your Family

Lesson 17: None of These Diseases

1. What has our physical body been compared to? 1 Peter 1:24

“For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” James 4:14.

2. According to Paul, what purpose do our bodies serve? 1 Corinthians 3:16

 3. In what condition are we to keep our bodies? Romans 12:1

4. What did God promise the Israelites if they were faithful to Him? Exodus 15:26

5. What kind of health problems could they look forward to if they turned away from God? Read the following verses in Deuteronomy 28 for the answers.

A. Verse 22

B. Verse 35

C. Verse 59

C. Verse 60

D. Verse 61

6. What diseases afflicted the Egyptians? Deuteronomy 28:27, 28

Because the Egyptians were consistent about preserving the bodies of their dead through mummification, modern scientists can use modern scientific methods and machines to study the mummies and have determined that they suffered from a number of diseases. They have been found to have suffered from such diseases as arthritis, cirrhosis of the liver, gallstones, cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, pneumonia, gout, dental cavities and abscesses, periodontitis, polio, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, emphysema, obesity, malaria, smallpox, hookworm, spondylitis[1] and other diseases. Their women also suffered miscarriages and premature births, and there were birth defects such as dwarfism[2], acromegaly[3], and hydrocephalus[4]. The Egyptians were not a healthy people. (See end of lesson for meanings)

7. When the Israelites arrived in Canaan, how many of them were sick and diseased? Psalm 105:37

8. What provisions had been made for a time when there would be disease among them? 

A. Leviticus 13:2, 13, 15

B. Leviticus 13:45, 46

C. Leviticus 13:5

Leviticus chapters 13 and 14 deal with a number of contagious diseases under the common term of leprosy. Some of the diseases could be found in garments and in buildings. Isolation and quarantine were measures used to control the spread of disease in people and destruction of the garments and buildings which were infected. It is interesting that one disease was airborne (a modern example is tuberculous of the lungs) and the infected individual was required to wear a veil or mask over his mouth.

9. What other preventive measures against disease are mentioned in the Bible in addition to obedience to God’s commandments? 

A. 1 Timothy 4:8

B. Acts 27:34

C. Jeremiah 35:5-8

D. Proverbs 17:22

E. Isaiah 58:6-11

F. Proverbs 3:7, 8

10. What is one factor that can bring poor health and illness upon a person? James 5:1-3

11. Why would riches cause such calamities to strike a person? James 5:4-6

Having wealth does not necessarily bring disease and sickness to a person. Abraham was a wealthy man, but we have no record of any illness other than afflictions that come with aging. It is the manner in which wealth is obtained and the kind of life that a rich person lives. If wealth has been gotten through fraud and deceit and by oppressing others; if they have lived only for pleasure and treated honest, righteous people with contempt, scorn, and hatred causing them to be condemned and killed, those rich people may find themselves in ill health.

12. What are some other factors listed in the Bible that contribute to poor health? 

A. Numbers 11:32, 33

B. Deuteronomy 28:58, 60

C. 1 Corinthians 6:18

D. Philippians 3:19

E. Proverbs 25:16

F. Proverbs 18:8

G. Proverbs 14:30

H. 1 Corinthians 6:13

I. Proverbs 6:12-15

J. Proverbs 7: 10, 21, 25, 26

K. Hosea 7:5

It will be helpful if you will read 1 Corinthians 11:23-31, before answering the next questions.

13. What does Paul say causes weakness, sickness and even death in Christians? 1 Corinthians 11:29, 30

14. What are Christians to do that they might avoid these afflictions? 1 Corinthians 11:28, 31

In partaking of the Lord’s supper or communion, Christians are to examine their hearts and lives and be sure that all sins have been forgiven and that nothing stands between them and God. This is what is meant by judging oneself. 

“For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” James 1:23-25.

God’s law is the mirror into which Christians are to look and “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves” 2 Corinthians 13:5.

When we, as Christians, have examined ourselves and know that we are covered with the robe of Christ’s righteousness, then we can partake of the Lord’s supper without fear that we are partaking unworthily. We will not need to fear the consequences which befall those who do not do a heart examination and make things right between themselves and God.

All medical definitions in this lesson are from Mosbey’s Medical Encyclopedia.

[1] a swelling of any of the spinal vertebrae, usually marked by stiffness and pain. The condition may follow injury to the spine, or it may be the result of infection or rheumatoid disease.

[2] the abnormal underdevelopment of the body, marked by extreme shortness. The condition is linked to numerous other defects and sometimes includes varying degrees of mental retardation.

[3] a long-term problem in which bones of the face, jaw, arms, and legs get larger. It occurs in middle-aged patients. It is caused by too much growth hormone. It is treated by x-rays to shrink the pituitary, or part of the pituitary gland is removed. 

[4] Interference with the normal flow of cerebrospinal fluid may be caused by increased release of fluid, blockage in the ventricular system, or reabsorption from a cerebral space. These may result from developmental problems, infection, trauma, or brain tumors.

Next Lesson: Why Do People Get Sick?