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You will most likely have heard of the term quarantine before, but how about the phrase “cordon sanitaire”? Sounds French doesn’t it? According to Wikipedia.org this term refers to the restriction of movement of people and/or goods to prevent further spread of a disease or infective agent and is used synonymously with medical isolation. The healthy population is protected from those who are infectious with a communicable disease, and also from those who have been exposed and may potentially pass on the unwanted illness. The act of quarantine can be applied to humans and animals or both as part of border control, as well as within a country.
Did you know that the word quarantine comes from Venetian dialect or variant of the Italian quaranta giorni, meaning forty days, the period that all ships were required to be isolated before passengers and crew could go ashore during the Black Death plague pandemic? Wikipedia.org states “Between 1348 and 1359, the Black Death wiped out an estimated 30% of Europe's population, and a significant percentage of Asia's population. The original document from 1377, which is kept in the Archives of Dubrovnik, states that before entering the city, newcomers had to spend 30 days (a trentine) in a restricted place (originally nearby islands) waiting to see whether the symptoms of Black Death would develop. In 1448, the Venetian Senate prolonged the waiting period to 40 days, thus giving birth to the term quarantine”. Quarantine is vital in order to halt or stop the spread of contamination by limiting or controlling the risk to those who have not had exposure.
HIV/AIDS, Pneumonia, Anthrax, Smallpox, Ebola, Typhoid, Cholera, Diphtheria, Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers (Lassa, Ebola, Marburg, Crimean Congo), Hantavirus, Plague, Dengue, Yellow Fever, Spanish Flu, Tuberculosis, Influenza, Leprosy, Hepatitis, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Bubonic Plague (Black Death), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Shingles, and now the Novel Coronavirus originating in Wuhan, China, are a few names of highly infectious agents we may be familiar with.
As a health professional I wholeheartedly agree with quarantine methods in order to isolate and contain the spread of any illness that can spread to others. Conversely, I take a very dim view of anyone placing others, including their own children, with the infectious in order to become infected. While we may read and hear daily from various news reports, it is hard to know what is fact and what is fiction. To have the ability to discern between truth and error is very valuable but how are we able to do this when the media sensationalise, suppress, twist or distort, show bias, under report, or worse, lie about the facts. Here is a link to the Chinese doctor, Li Wenliang, who told the truth and investigated what he thought was Novel Coronovirus back in December 2019. Despite proving his hypothesis Li was punished for exposing his findings in order to warn and help others. Sadly, he has since died due to helping those with this disease. https://www.theguardian.com/world/coronavirus-outbreak
What are we to make of all this? When troubled, in doubt, or we need clarification, the only place to go in order to have truth told, and nothing but the truth, is from the familiar pages of our beloved Bibles along with subsequent meditation, and heartfelt prayer on our knees to God before and after reading His Word. What does God have to say about quarantine measures? Is there anything in the Good Book, our Life Manual, about disease control which we can use in our daily life?
Quarantine is one of God’s health laws and lays the foundation for good practice which He lovingly gave to His people thousands of years ago. Found in Leviticus 13 and Numbers 5 where we can read of the example of leprosy to represent contagious illness. Leprosy today is known as Hansen’s Disease. These examples are a type of template if you like, so that we can apply any disease to God’s instructions and know we are following God’s way which will give us the best form of protection to remain healthy, while there may be confusion and chaos all around us due to the effects of debilitating disease which can result in death.
Modern science is still catching up to the brilliant perfection of God’s laws and so it is because humans have much to learn. Sadly and selfishly many still go to work sick with the common cold, the flu, or a virus, taking remedies which may make them feel slightly better, therefore they justify their ability to work, and subsequently spread their disease to others. Some decide to have vaccinations and I used to be one of these before proving for myself that they are not only dangerous (autoimmune disease) but the vast majority live in ignorance without being able to cite all the ingredients, their source, and side effects. Never again will I be so ignorant in thinking this way. People are busy these days, under all sorts of pressures, so much so that they tend to take the easy way out and succumb to what everyone else does fed by pressure from the governments in this world. Apparently parents can no longer have family support payments made regularly if their children are not vaccinated. As God’s people do we worship money or God?
Sanitation and Segregation by Separation as Opposed to Spreading Sickness
When the ancient Israelites practised isolation techniques through quarantine they were highly successful due to listening to what God told them to do for their own benefit. Their obedience showed faith and trust in God. However God’s people were not always faithful and obedient. Down through the ages God’s people have been blamed and persecuted for being different as in practising quarantine methods such as in the time when the Bubonic Plague became so widespread it devastated parts of Europe, Asia, North Africa, Russia, Turkey, and Persia. People were panicked as the plague killed up to one third of the total population. They came to realise that the Jewish people, who practised quarantine, were not vulnerable as they were, but instead of emulating their sanitary practices, they blamed the Jews by accusing them of starting the plague by infecting the air and water! This is what living in Satan’s world looks like.
The rest of the world did not listen to God but remained defiant, ignorant, and thought they knew best. They may understand the benefits of quarantine but do they do it in every circumstance? Obviously not, and that is why we continue to have epidemics and pandemics across the world. Airline travel is just one way diseases spread so readily and quickly. There is no way currently to separate sick people on flights and we have experienced the effects of this by contracting Influenza A while travelling from USA to Australia in January 2017. It struck us down brutally and suddenly. There was only one person on board very obviously ill who continuously coughed for nearly 15 hours without any breaks — she must have been exhausted! Despite wearing a mask, this proved ineffective due to the close proximity in confined cabin space for such a long time. Will airlines ever prevent ill people from boarding aircraft? Probably not as customers have paid for their ticket and money is what rules supreme in this current evil age. It always seems to get down to money.
Another way to protect yourself from harmful bacteria is to wash your hands. Sounds so simple doesn’t it, but this act of hygiene has proven effective and has saved many lives when doctors discovered they needed to wash their hands after performing autopsies before they then operated on live patients. Many deaths could have been prevented. As a nurse I witness quite regularly clients who use the restroom and do not wash their hands. When prompted to do so they often refuse, may half heartedly move their hands once (only one hand mostly) from left to right under water with no soap, thinking this is adequate. This is certainly not sanitary and they wonder why gastroenteritis spreads so easily amongst the aged, let alone the wider community.
If we look at the Bible the following scripture relates to the time when Moses brought God’s people out from Egypt through the Red Sea into the Wilderness Of Shur — Exodus 15:26 goes on to say “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” God was clearly into prevention thereby lovingly sparing His people from all the pestilence and plagues the haughty and prideful Egyptians experienced. Fast forward to our time today. Is the world listening? Do the masses want to listen to God and do what He says? The world’s systems are imperfect and broken down to various degrees. Before we face a massive crisis and the next pandemic, God’s people continue to pay attention and practice quarantine regulations by not attending services when ill, nor going out to the shops, or anywhere else for that matter until they have passed the time when they are no longer deemed infectious.
Whether the Novel Coronavirus was started by a bat or a snake or any other animal, God’s people know that there are specific rules for what is considered clean to eat and what is considered unclean. The best thing we can do is pray for those who eat unclean foods as they are in danger, maybe not today, but eventually it will catch up with them in one form or another. Spreading the news and information found in Leviticus 11 is another way to share our wisdom with those who are uninformed. Perhaps they will scoff but imagine if they listen and change their way of life in order to establish a relationship with God. Even if only one person changes through being informed, surely that is an improvement.
Don’t be like all of those who discount or make light of God’s laws of quarantining. Quarantine methods work when applied as set out in the Bible. It can be challenging to stay at home if our illness is perceived small like the common cold but we must think of others and keep away. God will bless you because you do the right thing in keeping His laws through obedience. Keep on doing the right thing even when others don’t. It won’t be long now before Jesus Christ ushers in His soon coming Kingdom of God when all will eat clean foods, obey God’s commandments, and live according to His ordinances. Until then stay committed, convicted, and courageous.