Bible Study Seattle

Does the bible give any guidance on vaccination?  Yes.  The Law has many mentions of being ‘clean’.  There are laws for washing and cleanliness.  Laws for waste.  And laws for quarantine in the case of disease outbreak.  There are also many mentions that blood is sacred.  Jesus’ blood had to be spilled to buy back the human race from Adam’s curse.

If God had wished, he could have instructed the Israelites to take some of the puss from diseased animals and rub it into a cut made on a person.  But he never instructed anyone to cut themselves and rub disease into it.  Actually that sounds a little Satanic, no?  Satanic rituals often involve blood and child sacrifice.

Our bodies are to be treated as holy temples.  Why would God want us to put anything impure into a holy temple?  How is it that we can inject disease and become healthy?  Is it kind of like saying, cut off your arm to lose weight?  Here’s more:

http://www.squidoo.com/biblical-support-for-not-vaccinating-your-child

“The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
³ You have enlarged the nation
and increased their joy;
they rejoice before you
as people rejoice at the harvest,
as warriors rejoice
when dividing the plunder.
⁴ For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.
⁵ Every warrior’s boot used in battle
and every garment rolled in blood
will be destined for burning,
will be fuel for the fire.
⁶ For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.”   Isaiah 9:2-7

That child was Jesus.  But most of this has yet to be fulfilled.  After Armageddon, “For the trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire.”  vs 5  This is when, “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.  Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”  Isaiah 2:4

The joy will be overwhelming.  Peace will be unlike anything ever before experienced.  Israel itself will be huge: “The dominion will be vast.”  vs 7  King David will be ruling as the prince or ambassador of Jesus.  It is still a few centuries from now.

Isaiah 7 is the famous Immanuel prophecy.  It is a favorite at Christmas time.

“Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel (which means: God with us).”  Isaiah 7:14

Although Jesus was not named Immanuel, he clearly fits the discription.  But is there another fulfillment?  Yes.  If we keep reading, we find in Isaiah 8:

“I [Isaiah] was then intimate with the prophetess [a virgin], and she conceived and gave birth to a son.  The Lord said to me, “Name him Naher-shalel-hash-baz (which means: Speeding to the Plunder, Hurrying to the Spoil), for before the boy knows how to call out father or mother, the wealth of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria will be carried off to the king of Assyria.”  The Lord spoke to me again:

Because these people [Israel] rejected the slowly flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoiced with Rezin and the son of Remaliah [Assyria], the Lord will certainly bring against them the mighty rushing waters of the Euphrates River – the king of Assyria and all his glory.  It will overflow its channels and spill over all its banks.  It will pour into Judah, flood over it, and sweep through, reaching up to the neck; and its spreading streams will fill your entire land, Immanuel!  Band together, peoples, and be broken; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for war, and be broken; prepare for war, and be broken.  Devise a plan; it will fail.  Make a prediction; it will not happen, for Immanuel.”  Isaiah 8:3-10

Isaiah 2 is very prophetic.

“This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:  In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.  Many peoples will come and say,  “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”  The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.  They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.  Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.  Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.”  Isaiah 2:1-5

In Jesus’ day, he rarely went to people to convert them.  They usually came to him.  It will be this way in the ‘Day of the Lord’.  People will come from all over the world to learn from the King, much like the Queen of Sheba came from afar to hear the wisdom of Solomon.  Many people came to Jesus because of his great fame healing people.  It will be this way in the Millennium.  How would you feel if there was someone in Madagascar that could make you live forever?  Would you make the trip?  This is how it will be in Israel in that Day.  In our day (2012), healthcare is a $2.5 trillion per year business in the U.S., and they don’t even do that well!  Imagine what people would give to live forever?

Jonah is a very memorable book.  He is told to preach against the wicked city Nineveh, but instead runs the other way.  He probably figured he’d be killed; hence the running away.  Imagine if you were told to preach a bold message in a country where Christians are routinely killed.  You might run the other way too!  But God had his hand in the whole thing.

A huge storm arises threatening to sink the ship he’s on.  The sailors plead with God not to hold them responsible for throwing Jonah overboard.  Jonah goes overboard and the sea calms down immediately.  (Sounds like Jesus sleeping while the waters surged over the disciple’s boat on the sea of Galilee.  Luke 8:23-25)  Jonah is swallowed by a great fish and vomited onto the beach.  Most stories have it that Jonah miraculously survived three days and three nights in the fish.  Or did Jonah die?  And be resurrected on the third day?  Either way it’s a miracle, but the resurrection more closely matches Jesus’ experience in the tomb.

Then Jonah decides since he already died, it can’t be any worse in Nineveh.  So he goes and preaches destruction.  And they all repent!  Wow.  That never happens!  Why did it happen?  Perhaps there’s a bigger picture here.

Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the fish just as Jesus spent three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (death).  Then he’s resurrected and preaches to pagans.  Is this not a picture of the millennium?  Christians will be resurrected to heaven for the job of restoring mankind on earth.  The whole world will hear the message.  Even the animals!  Notice that the king of Nineveh had the animals repent and lie in sackcloth too!  This is suggests that even animals have morality and will be resurrected too.  Remember the scene in Isaiah:  “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.  The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.  The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.  They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”  Isaiah 11:6-9

After Nineveh repents, Jonah is disappointed.  Perhaps he wanted to see Nineveh fried to a crisp?  But God tells him of his great love and that there were 120,000 children there.  This has the ring of the Prodigal Son story where the elder faithful son is mad when the profligate son is treated with a banquet.  The Father’s explanation to the faithful son is much like God’s explanation to Jonah for his great mercy.  Won’t it be that way in the millennium?  The grace may be too much for some Christians to bear.  Consider this:

“However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters, and your [Israel’s] fortunes along with them, so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort.  And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your daughters will return to what you were before.”  Ezekiel 16:53-55

This is saying God will raise Sodom and Samaria from the dead along with Israel.  That’s a lot of grace!

“See how the faithful city has become a prostitute! She once was full of justice; righteousness used to dwell in her— but now murderers!  Your silver has become dross, your choice wine is diluted with water. Your rulers are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribe and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow’s case does not come before them.

The first crescent of a new moon marks the beginning of each Hebrew month.

“Also at your times of rejoicing—your appointed festivals and New Moon feasts —you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord your God.”  Numbers 10:10

“On the first of every month, present to the Lord a burnt offering of two young bulls, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect. With each bull there is to be a grain offering of three-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; with the ram, a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil; and with each lamb, a grain offering of a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with oil.  This is for a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the Lord. With each bull there is to be a drink offering of half a hin of wine; with the ram, a third of a hin; and with each lamb, a quarter of a hin. This is the monthly burnt offering to be made at each new moon during the year.”  Numbers 28:11-14

Hebrews had a lunisolar calendar.  The lunar month is about 29.5 days, meaning the lunar year is 354 days.  The solar year is about 365 days, so that Passover is always in Springtime.  As the moon symbolizes the bride of Christ, it may symbolize fertility, even as women have monthly cycles.  The bride of Christ will have lots of children; in fact dozens of billions!