The wound healing secret revealed in the Bible
In the book of James, chapter 5 verse 14 (CEV) it says: “If you are sick, ask the church leaders to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil on you in the name of the Lord.”
Olive oil in biblical times was used for everything from worship to cooking, and that included medicinal purposes. It was fresh and unprocessed and used until rancid and then thrown away.
The only other reference to the oil that was used for healing was in the story of the Good Samaritan: Luke 10: 33-35 CEV. “A man from Samaria then came that way. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him and approached him. He healed his wounds with olive oil and came and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own donkey. And He took him to an inn, where he looked after him. If you spend more than this on him, I’ll pay you when I get back. “
The Samaritan cleaned the wounds with wine, poured olive oil on them, and bandaged it. The wine spoken of in the Bible was not the high alcohol wine we have today, but rather grape juice that would naturally ferment over time as the heat would react with the natural sugar in the juice. It was much safer to carry wine than to risk getting sick from contaminated water when traveling. It would have been perfect as a cleansing and astringent solution for wounds.
The victim spoken of in this passage was likely beaten and robbed and left for dead on the ground, so his wounds were likely dirty and very prone to infection. It doesn’t say what his result was, but he was taken to an inn and cared for by the inn keeper, so I imagine he recovered. Regardless, we have a snapshot of what the standard treatment was on that day for wounds.
With modern medical science and antibiotics, it would be easy to dismiss such an archaic treatment as worthless. But I recently had the opportunity to put this ancient form of wound care to the test. About six days ago, my wife received a nasty bite from one of the squirrels we rehabilitated. The squirrel bit its left ring finger to the bone. We did not clean the wound with wine, because we did not have any that could duplicate what is mentioned in the Bible, so we washed the wound with soap and water. There was profuse bleeding, so we kept direct pressure on the wound until it stopped. We apply a piece of gauze soaked with Raw Virgin Coconut Oil and a compressive bandage. We changed the dressing twice a day and reapplied the raw coconut oil. On the third day we began to soak the wound in warm raw coconut oil.
A deep puncture wound, especially one from a bite, is more likely to become infected than any other wound. The wound has never shown the slightest evidence of infection. Initially there was some mild swelling, as is normal in a recent wound, but pus or redness never developed. By the third day there was a slight hint of bruising, but the finger was almost completely pain free. Today is day seven, and except for a small piece of skin missing where the upper teeth tore the skin, you can hardly tell you had an injury!
Having worked in the ER for over 20 years, I know that if I had taken her to the hospital, they would have put her on an IV and an antibiotic like Rocephin. The wound would have been enlarged and irrigated and a drain would possibly have been placed to keep it open so bacteria could escape. She would have gone home with a ten-day prescription for Keflex and Bactrim, plus one for Vicodin for the pain. He was willing to take her to the doctor at the first sign of infection, but it never happened. I probably saved $ 1000.00 to $ 1300.00 in medical expenses, plus the additional cost of follow-up for removal of sutures and drains.
We use raw coconut oil because most olive oil today is processed in various ways and no longer resembles the olive oil of biblical times. Raw virgin coconut oil is rich in a natural substance called lauric acid and capric acid that studies have shown to be a natural anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-yeast agent. Raw virgin coconut oil also has a long shelf life in its natural state, lasting more than two years without the need for special storage.
Raw coconut oil is a wonderful wound treatment. Research has shown that there are many other uses for this oil ranging from sunscreen to treatment for HIV and AIDS. Unfortunately, in the United States natural substances have little or no chance of entering mainstream medicine because if it cannot be patented, it will not be recognized as a viable treatment!