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 it became rancid, then discarded.
The only other reference to oil being used for healing was in the story of the Good Samaritan:Luke 10: 33-35 CEV. “A man from Samaria then came traveling along that road. When he saw the man, he felt sorry for him and went over to him. He treated his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put him on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him.The next morning he gave the innkeeper two silver coins and said, “Please take care of the man. If you spend more than this on him, I will pay you when I return.”
The Samaritan cleansed the wounds with wine and poured Olive Oil on them and bandaged him up. The wine spoken of in the Bible was not the high alcohol content wine we have today, but rather grape juice that would naturally ferment over time as heat would react with the natural sugar in the juice. It was much safer to carry wine than to chance getting sick on contaminated water when you traveled. It would have been perfect for a cleansing and astringent solution for wounds.
The victim spoken of in this passage was probably beaten and robbed and left for dead in the dirt, so his wounds were probably filthy and very prone to infection. It doesn’t say what his outcome was, but he was taken to an Inn and cared for by the Inn keeper, so I would imagine that he recovered. Irregardless, we have a snapshot of what was the standard treatment in that day for wounds.
With modern medical science and antibiotics, it would be easy to dismiss such archaic treatment as not having any worth. But, I recently had an opportunity to put this ancient form of wound care to the test. Approximately six days ago my wife received a nasty bite wound from one of the Squirrels we rehabilitate. The squirrel bit her left ring finger clear to the bone. We did not clean the wound with wine, because we didn’t have any that would duplicate what is mentioned in the Bible, so we washed the wound with soap and water. There was profuse bleeding so we held direct pressure on the wound until it stopped. We applied a piece of gauze soaked with Virgin Raw Coconut Oil and a pressure dressing. We changed the dressing twice a day and reapplied the Raw Coconut Oil. On day three we started soaking the wound in warm raw coconut oil.
A deep puncture wound, especially one produced by a bite, is the more likely to get infected than any other wound. The wound has never shown the slightest evidence of getting infected. There was some slight swelling initially, as is normal in a fresh wound, but no pus or redness ever developed. By day three there was a slight hint of bruising but the finger was almost completely pain free. Today is day seven, and except for a tiny piece of skin that is missing where the upper teeth tore the skin, you can hardly tell that she had an injury!
Having worked in the Emergency Room for over 20 years, I know if I had taken her to the hospital she would have had an IV and an IV antibiotic such as Rocephin. The wound would have been enlarged and irrigated and possibly a drain would have been placed to keep it open so bacteria could escape. She would have gone home with a prescription for ten days worth Keflex and Bactrim, plus one for Vicodin for pain. I was prepared 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 added cost of follow-up for suture and drain removal.
We used Raw Coconut Oil because most Olive Oil today is processed in various ways and no longer resembles the olive oil of Biblical times. Virgin Raw Coconut Oil is rich in a natural substance called Lauric Acid and Capric Acid that studies have shown it to be a natural anti bacterial, anti fungal and anti yeast agent. Virgin Raw Coconut Oil also has a long shelf life in its natural state, lasting over two years with no special storage needed.
Raw Coconut Oil is a marvelous treatment for wounds. Research has shown that there are many other uses for this oil that range from sun blocker to treatment for HIV and AIDS. Unfortunately, in the United States natural substances have little or no chance of making it in to mainstream medicine because if it can’t be patented, it won’t be recognized as a viable treatment!