When Jesus Saw Her He Called Her Forward And Said To Her Woman You Are Set Free From Your Infirmity Luke : 12 Niv
God is willing to heal even the most hopeless situations. Hes willing to upset the norm to do it as well. The story of Jesus healing the crippled woman in Luke 13 is evidence of these facts. For eighteen years, this woman suffered not just physical pain but from judgment and scorn.
The holy men around her were of no help to her, and they treated her poorly. Jesus, on the other hand, stepped into her life and treated her with love. He saw her condition, but he also saw her.
This is encouraging news to anyone struggling with illnesses and addictions that have formed their identity over time. People may no longer see you as you want them to. Instead, all they can see is the sickness.
There is still hope for healing in Jesus. Whether its been eighteen years, thirty years, or fifty years. Whatever your weakness, illness, or disease, Jesus can remove it from your life and bring you back to full health.
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Where Does Herbalism Come From
If youre just getting started with natural remedies as a Christian, you might wonder where herbalism comes from and if its okay for Christians to use.
God warns us in Jeremiah 10:2 to Learn not the way of the heathen.
Shaman, pagan, and other spiritual traditions have used herbs in one way or another, whether for healing ceremonies, religious purposes, or both. Many of these cultures developed highly intricate, complex, and effective systems of herbal healing.
- Ancient India produced the Ayurvedic herbal tradition.
- Ancient China gave us Traditional Chinese Medicine.
- Indigenous people groups in Africa, North and South America, and Australia have their own unique healing traditions, too.
Modern herbalism often pulls from these traditions. In fact, while some herbalists will just work within one traditional framework, many will incorporate ideas from multiple herbal traditions in their practice and teachings.
But since none of these traditional herbal frameworks are found in the Old or New Testament, you might be left with a nagging worry.
Does this mean herbalism comes from heathen practices?
How Many Herbs Are In The Bible
Although we are specifically chatting about plants of the Bible, an excellent resource on essential oils of the Bible is by Dr David Stewart. Healing Oils of the Bible will give you a deeper dive into the herbs, plants, botanicals, and oils of the Bible. Stewart claims this:
Seventy percent of the books of the Bible mention essential oils, their uses, and/or plants from which they were derived. Chapter Five of this book tabulates 1,035 such references involving 33 species of aromatic herbs and trees.
Although I am not going to mention all 33 of these species, here are some of the highlights of the plants and herbs of the Bible mentioned.
- Fig
- Tumeric
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Lets Debunk A Common Myth
I cant tell you how many times Ive heard people say, If its good enough for Baby Jesus, then its good enough for me!
Well, heres the bottom line: Jesus didnt use frankincense oil. Or any essential healing oil for that matter.
How can I be sure about this?
Because essential healing oils as we know the today didnt exist!
Truth is, the magi gave the Christ child gold, frankincense, and myrrh resins. Essential healing oils as we know them didnt exist back then. Simply put, the essential healing oils of the Bible that we all love and use today require highly advanced distillation techniques that werent yet invented.
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Who Gets The Glory For Herbal Remedies
For the Christian, no one gets the glory for herbalism but God Himself.
And while many pagan cultures and other religions developed complex and often effective healing systems using herbs, that doesnt mean they got everything right.
I love how my friend Jasmine from The Christian Herbal put it:
Herbalism is not rooted in paganism. Herbalism is perverted in paganism.
You see, herbalism gives us an opportunity to thank God for graciously providing us with healing plants. Pagans and people of other faiths may give that glory to a false god, nature, or the plants themselves, but their idolatry doesnt make herbalism inherently sinful.
As a Christian herbalist, my faith is the foundation of my love for herbal medicine.
God blessed this planet with incredible plants that work in remarkable ways within the human body. He knew sin would cause sickness, and in His love, He provided helpful remedies even before the human race fell.
When I use an herb to help the body heal, God gets the glory. Not the plant, not Mother Earth, not a nature spirit.
These remedies work because God designed them to.
I dont need to thank nature, talk with the plants, or shake a rattle to benefit from herbs.
God, in His goodness, gave us these plants. I, as a Christian herbalist, am incredibly thankful to have these botanicals at my service.
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Bitter Herbs Of The Bible
Bitter herbs are plants with the bitter principle that represent a group of chemicals with an exceedingly bitter taste.
These herbs beyond their biblical significance in the Passover offer tremendous healing properties that we can benefit from on a daily basis.
To gain this benefit you first have to taste the bitter flavor this starts a chain reaction in your body starting with the digestive juices and enzymes.
Taste buds have a reflex action that stimulates the secretion of digestive juices and also stimulates the activity of the liver, which improves detoxification and elimination.
Bitter herbs also have antibiotic and antifungal properties. And also anti-tumor actions. They, like all the wonderful foods God has given us, are meant for more than just pleasing our taste buds.
So, what are the 7 bitter herbs mentioned in the Bible and are also powerful for health and healing?
Incredible Medicinal Plants From The Bible
Before the advent of synthetic compounds, injections, and expensive medications, the human body was accustomed to natural herbs and spices. Our planet Earth has thousands of healing plants that grew during biblical times. I have written more about medicinal herbs and healing plants in my ebook, Medicinal Herbs from the Bible. Click on the image below to receive your copy.
Even though I am a pharmacist, I believe that we can use what grows on Earth to heal. Today Im listing 8 incredible plants, all mentioned in the Bible, as well as their medicinal benefits:
Almonds Known as Prunus dulcis, almonds contain salicin which goes on to form salicylic acid. This is the primary pain-relieving component of aspirin. We all know what aspirin is for, dont we? Eating a handful of almonds each day is like consuming natural aspirin. A study published in The Journal of Nutrition found that almonds can decrease post-prandial blood sugar, as well as insulin and free radical damage.
Black Cumin Known as Nigella sativa, these jet black seeds can be used to flavor breads and other baked goods. You can buy black cumin seed oil as a dietary supplement which I often recommend for people dealing with neurological problems. If your child suffers from intractable seizures, please mention Nigella sativa supplementation to your pediatrician because the research on this is easy to find, and very promising.
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Bitter Herbs For Healing In The Bible
Today I am going to share 7 bitter herbs and why you need to add these to your routine and daily cooking.
When working with my clients for the last 18 years, we always start with the digestive system, the underlying problem for almost every complaint.
Over the last decade or so, weve learned a bushel of information about the importance of gut health. How its not just where your food goes for processing, but how its intricately linked to every body system, and especially our mental health.
Research has discovered that while our brains play important roles in the production and use of hormones important for physical health such as serotonin and dopamine, our gut does even more so.
This is why when we heal the gut we seed issues including depression, colitis, inflammation, heart disease, and so much more start to heal.
There is one type of herb that can fast forward that healing: bitter herbs.
The Israelites were commanded to eat the Passover lamb “with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs.”
These “bitter herbs” consisted of such plants as chicory, bitter cresses, hawkweeds, sow-thistles, and wild lettuces, which grow abundantly in the peninsula of Sinai, in Palestine, and in Egypt. The purpose of this observance was to recall to the minds of the Israelites their deliverance from the bitter bondage of the Egyptians.
Herbalism And Religion Today
Even today, the vast majority of professional herbalists and herbal teachers are not professing Christians.
Their faiths, or lack thereof, might range from more familiar religions like Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism to lesser-known systems like
- Wicca
- Relativism
and anything or nothing in between.
Sometimes this slips through their practices or teachings lightly, like the one page dedicated to a harvest ritual in the otherwise valuable 200+ page book I mentioned above.
Other times it might be quite overt, like repeatedly singing Im the goddess on stage at a well-known herbal conference.
Practicing Christian herbalists are a rarity within the modern herbal community. This only adds to the concern that using herbal remedies goes against the Bible.
But is that really true?
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Turmeric Song Of Solomon : 14
Used for: Inflammation, flatulence, arthritis, bronchitis, diuretic, dyspepsia, expectorant, laryngitis, lymphoma, rheumatism
Three plants vie for the honor of being the biblical saffron: the saffron crocus, safflower, and turmeric. Since saffron is mentioned only once in the Bible, this plant presents a conundrum for botanists. Linguistically, the issue is the proper translation and interpretation of the Hebrew kakom and the Arabic kurkum, or saferam.
Okay. I confess. I want turmeric to be the saffron mentioned in the Bible. Its such a good herb that it deserves to be in the Bible. I am sure that humans have used it for thousands of years.
Dried turmeric rhizomes are used as spice, whole or ground, to flavor meat and egg dishes and to flavor or color pickles, relishes, prepared mustard, butter, and cheese turmeric is an indispensable constituent of curry powder. It provides a natural dye to color cloth, leather, silk, palm fiber, wool, and cotton. Its rhizomes yield an orange-yellow essential oil used in flavoring spice products and in perfumery. Powdered turmeric is an antioxidant. The essential oil of turmeric has shown anti-arthritic and anti-inflammatory activity in rats. And I believe that turmeric as a pain reliever has preceded aspirin by at least 2,000 years.
Adapted with permission fromHerbs of the Bible: 2,000 Years of Plant Medicine by James A. Duke, Ph.D.
When I Saw The Spiritual Side Of Herbal Remedies
I came home from the library with bundles of books on herbalism packed into my bag and slung over my very tired shoulder. The world of herbal remedies was waiting for me and I was ready to dig in.
I cracked open the books and started reading, my eyes taking in all the information as quickly as possible. Then I came to a page that stopped me.
Before harvesting, find the grandmother of the plant colony and ask her permission to harvest and maybe shake a rattle and then dance in the moonlight to show your gratitude Wait, what?
I put the book away.
It was the first time I ever encountered the spiritual side of herbalism, and I wasnt sure what to make of it. So I kept researching, reading, and learning.
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Is It Actually Sinful For Christians To Use Herbs
Herbal remedies seem to be rooted in pagan practices and cultures. But does that mean Christian herbalism is against the Bible?
If you research herbal medicine for any length of time, youll likely come across ideas that clash with Christianity. Nature worship, witchcraft, occult practices, and more are sometimes so intertwined with herbalism and natural health that its difficult to distinguish where one ends and the other begins.
Many good, honest Christians are left wondering if Christianity and herbalism can really mix. If that sounds like you, youre not alone.
As a Christian herbalist, Ive also had to wrestle with this question. Lets dig deep and explore what the Bible says about herbs, as well as answer an important question:
Can you use herbs without sinning if youre a Christian?
Why Were Plants Mentioned In The Bible
Why mention plants and herbs of the Bible? Dr. Stewart also covers this in his book and I think his insight is fascinating.
The lack of detail of on the oils of the Bible is primarily because it was not the intent of the Bible writers to discuss oils, but to present an account of the relationship of their people with God in a historical context.
Later he goes on to write,
This leads to another point. The lack of detail int he use of essential oils of the Bible is no only because the authors were focused on otherp urposes, but also because oils, in the forms of incense, perfumes, speices, ointments, and medicines, were so much a part of the lives of everyone that no explanatinos were necessary. Why bother to explain something in print to people who already knew about common things such as oils and how to use them?
Botanical herbs, plants, and oils derived from them were mentioned in the Bible because they were a part of everyday life!
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How Can Christians Use Herbs For Gods Glory
Scripture is clear: God calls Christians completely avoid witchcraft, idolatry, and spiritualism .
And thankfully, you can do that and still confidently use herbal remedies. Just keep some things in mind.
- Follow your conscienceas you choose herbal practices and give your fellow Christians that freedom, too. Some Christians can burn an herb for medicinal reasons with a pure conscience. Others might feel its too close to a spiritual practice and decide to avoid it. Both can be valid choices.
- Pray for guidance as you choose herbal teachers. Like choosing how you use herbs, choosing how you study herbs as a Christian isnt a black and white issue. I choose to learn from believers and nonbelievers alike but avoid a few herbalists whose unbiblical practices and spirituality are a key feature of their teaching. Joining my free email list is a great place to start.
- Consider how your herbal practices might impact your Christian brothers and sisters, especially those who are young or weak in faith . For example, if you burn sage for medicinal reasons but know it might cause a brother or sister to doubt, then consider doing this practice privately.
- Use herbs with faith in the God Who created them . Pray for wisdom as you choose remedies, use them in Jesuss name, and give God the glory when health and wellness are restored. If you dont want to figure that out on your own, I can help.
God is the ultimate healer, and He can heal in many ways. Herbs can be one avenue for that healing.
Revisiting The Medicinal Plants Of The Bible And The Holy Land
Many previously described medicinal plants of the Bible do not match the flora of the Holy Land. Using modern interpretations of ancient Hebrew, Egyptian and Mesopotamian sources, the authors have reduced these potential medicinal plants to 45 species of which 20 were not previously included. Amots Dafni has extensive knowledge of the ethnobotany of sacred, ritual and medicinal plants of the Holy Land. Barbara Boeck studies ancient Mesopotamian healing therapies and medicinal plants.
The Holy Land, an area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea that also includes the Eastern Bank of the Jordan, is synonymous with the biblical land of Israel and Palestine. This was an ancient botanical crossroad, enjoying an active trade in spices, incense and medicines from Egypt to Mesopotamia and beyond. Its flora includes about 2,700 species, some of medical value.
Among the early written records of plants in this region are Egyptian medical papyri. Ebers papyrus contains 700 magical formulas and prescriptions, including the medical uses of plants. In the ruins of Assyrian Nineveh , thousands of cuneiform documents from earlier than 500 BC were found that mention over a thousand plant species. Many of the medical cuneiform texts remain to be translated.
Most of the plants in the Bible are only mentioned in passing, with reference to medicinal use occurring even less.
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The Top 14 Herbs Of The Bible
People have been using herbs for thousands of years because of their culinary and medicinal benefits. Ive listed out some of the most popular herbs of the Bible, and what they were traditionally used for. Hopefully, you can pick up a tip or two on how to incorporate these Biblical herbs into your diet today.
Best Bitter Herbs In The Bible For Health & Weight Loss
There is one food group that will fast forward your healing, better than a supplement or workout routine! As with everything I do, I search out Gods Word for the keys to healing and health. And its no surprise theres a wealth of information about powerful herbs in the Bible.
We think of herbs as little additions to a dish or meal that abounds with flavor, but they are so much more.
They can help:
– Jumpstart your digestive healing which leads to healing in all areas of your body. Would you like better digestion? Less back talk from your body?
– Attain better mental clarity
– Reduce anxiety
– Increase circulation, which means less clogged systems
For centuries, in fact millenia, herbs have provided people with flavors, fragrances, and medicinal benefits. People used herbs to promote health and healing long before scientific advancements allowed us to study them and prove their benefits.
If youre curious to know what herbs are a great treasure for your health, plus mentioned in Scripture, youre in the right place.
Today is definitely another fun foodie day!
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