Greetings!    

    I found the following article while digging through some of my old files this week. The article was written by a man named George W. Kell, J.D. I think you will find it very interesting in light of Bible prophecy and the times in which we live. I do apologize though, for I do not have a date as to when it was written nor any further information about the author. Now, here is the article by George W. Kell.

     In searching for an answer to the Biblical position with respect to the use of drugs, we may first be led to the conclusion that there is no such position stated in the Bible. Standard Concordances do not contain the word "drug" or "drugs."

     But we do find the word "medicine" in several places. in Proverbs 17:22 is stated that "A merry heart does good like a medicine." In Ezekiel 47:12 the prophet states "the fruit thereof [of a tree] shall be for meat and the leaf thereof for medicine." In Jeremiah 30:13 it is stated that "There is none to plead thy cause that thou mayest be bound up: thou hast no healing medicines." The last reference to "medicine" found in the Bible is in Jeremiah 46:11 wherein it is stated, "In vain shalt thou use many medicines; for thou shalt not be cured." However, when we search the semantic derivation of the term "medicine," as used by the translators, we find that, in each of the foregoing references, the word in the original Hebrew meant something substantially different than a drug or chemical.

     Strong's Concordance shows that the derivation of the word "medicine" as used in Proverbs 17:22 is from the Hebrew word "gay-haw" meaning "to remove (a bandage from a wound, i.e., heal it): --cure." Ezekiel 47:12 used the Hebrew word "ter-oo-faw," which Strong's says is derived from two other Hebrew words, "roof," meaning to agitate or tremble, and "raw-faw," meaning to "mend (by stitching): i.e. to cure, (cause to heal)." The word "medicines" as found in Jeremiah 30:13 and 46:11 are derived from the same Hebrew word roots. Consequently it is apparent that the word "medicine" as found in the Old Testament is the translator's interpretation of the meaning of the Hebrew word which literally meant "to cure" or "to mend," and which did not necessarily imply the use of any drug, chemical, or "medicine" as we understand that term in this era of time.

     Since we do not find the word "drug" anywhere in the Concordances, and since the foregoing constitute the only references to the word "medicine" or "medicines," we must search for other leads which would tend to show what the Biblical position might be with respect to the use of drugs.

     Unger's Bible Dictionary states, with respect to this question: "Although a considerable number of hygienic precepts exist in the Mosaic law, such as circumcision, burying of excrements, etc. (Duet. 23:13), it is a strained interpretation to refer to the medical knowledge or skill of the law giver. There was a tendency in all serious sickness to fall back on the religious ritual, and ultimately on the divine providence (Exodus 15:26; Psalms 103:3; 147:3; Isa. 30:26; Jer. 17:14; 30:17). When Asa sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians (II Chronicles 16:12), the record speaks reproachfully."  Unger also declares that  "A few passages in Proverbs and one in Ecclesiastes have been quoted to prove that Solomon was versed in medicine (Prov. 3:8; 12:18; 17:22; 20:30; 29:1; Eccles. 3:3); but such an interpretation is quite fanciful."

     But it is apparent that "physicians" were known as a regular profession in the New Testament times (Matt. 9:12; Mark 2:17; Luke 4:23; 5:31). Luke is spoken of as the beloved Physician" (Col. 4:14), and it is indicated that physicians were numerous (Mark 5:26); Luke 8:43). Unger concludes that these physicians "doubtless practiced according to the system then in vogue in the Greek and Roman world." So it is important that we know what form of healing was practiced by the physicians in these early years.

     Luke, who was probably a Greek, very probably followed the teaching of Hippocrates, known even today as "the father of medicine." So great was the impression left by this original thinker, who had been born in the year 460 B.C. on the Island of Cos, that it is fair to say that every "reputable physician" in the Greek speaking world at the time of Christ followed his teachings. Describing the essence of the Hippocratic philosophy, the Encyclopedia Britannica states, partially quoting from his writings: "Every disease," he continued, "has its own nature, and arises from external causes." He noted the effect of food, of occupation, and especially of climate in causing disease, and one of his most interesting works, entitled De Aere, Aquis Et Locis (of Airs, Waters, and Places), would today be classified as a treatise on human ecology. Pursuing this one of thought, Hippocrates stated that "our natures are the positions of our diseases' and that this tendency to natural cure should be fostered, laying down much stress on diet and using few drugs. He knew well how to describe illness clearly and concisely and recorded failures as well as successes; he viewed disease with the eye of the naturalist and studied the entire patient in his environment."

     With this background of the study behind us, we are now ready to consider what the Bible has to say on the subject of drugs, for although this word does not appear in the Standard Concordances, it is in fact present in the original Greek in several places in the New Testament. In order to understand the full significance of the interpretation placed on the use of drugs, the writers of the New Testament let us first read in full the verses in which the word appears before discovering its semantic derivation. The verses, in their order of appearance in the New Testament, are:

     1) "Now the works of the flesh are these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told in times past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal. 5:19-21)

     2) "Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." (Rev. 9:21)

     3) "And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee; for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived." (Rev. 18:23)

     4) "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars; shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Rev. 21:8)  

     "For without are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers, and idolaters and whosovever loveth and maketh a lie." (Rev. 22:15)

     Parenthetically, it is well to keep in mind that the writer of Revelations was speaking of a future time. When we read the foregoing five verses in context, as they appear in the Books of Galatians and Revelation, the entire circumstances therein described seem to be speaking prophetically of the very age in which we find ourselves today.

     Readers of the Books of Galatians and Revelation in the original Greek would never find the words, witchcraft, sorceries, or sorcery. The word is, again, a translator's interpretation of a meaning which was very likely accurate enough in the day in which it was translated, but it is inappropriate in our era. Notably, in every other place in the New testament where these words appear in English, the true Greek equivalent for "witchcraft," "sorcery," or "sorcerer" is used. But, in the original Greek, we find the word Pharmakon in Revelation 9:21, and not the word "sorceries." The literal meaning of the Greek word is "a drug, i.e. spell-giving potion," according to Strong's Concordance. Similarly, in Revelation 18:21, the Greek word is Pharmakeia which would correctly be translated "druggery." The Greek word in Revelation 21:8 is pharmakeus, the literal translation for which is "druggers," and the original Greek for the word found in Revelation 22:15 is pharmakos, meaning "pharmacist" or drugger." The Greek word in Galatians 5:20 was also pharmakeia--druggery. In addition to Strong, whose Concordance has been known as an unimpeachable source since 1890, we find such others as the reknowned Greek scholars, B.F. Westcott and F.J.A. Hort, who wrote a Greek interlinear translation in 1881 in which the literal English translations of the Greek words were set forth immediately below the original Greek and who give the correct literal meaning of the these Greek words, as above.

     If you do not have these study helps immediately available you may take a look at an old Webster's New World Dictionary where, under the word "pharmaceutical," you will find the following definition: "adj. (pharmaceuticus; Gr. Pharmakeutikos, from pharmakeuein, to practice witchcraft, use medicine, from pharmakon, a poison, medicine), 1. Of pharmacy or pharmacist. 2. Of or by drugs: as, pharmaceutical care." (Emphasis added; 1957 College Edition.)

     But why is the word drug found in such company? Historically it seems that the people who used drugs were, as a rule, idol worshipers, enchanters, or temple magicians, who were for that reason abhorred by the religious Hebrew community. The Encyclopedia Britannica, describing the history of pharmacy, states: "The physician-priests of Egypt were divided into two classes, those who visited the sick and those who remained in the temple and prepared remedies for the patients." So "druggery" was also abhorred by the New Testament writers. This word, in turn, was translated "sorcery" by the King James Version translators because people who used drugs in the 1500's and early 1600's were in fact sorcerers, witches or alchemists. Things hadn't much in 16 centuries, nor since the King James Version was translated. In short, the Bible contains no precedent for the use of drugs in the healing process except.