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 pour 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 was used until it went rancid and then thrown away.
The only other reference to the use of oil for healing is in the story of the Good Samaritan: Luke 10:33-35 CEV. “Then a man from Samaria came traveling that way. When he saw the man, he took pity on 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 this man. If you spend more than this on it, I’ll pay you back when I get back.”
The Samaritan cleaned the wounds with wine and poured olive oil on them and bandaged him. 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 reacted 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 for 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 highly prone to infection. He doesn’t say what the result of it was, but he was taken to an inn and cared for by the inn keeper, so I guess he recovered. Anyway, we have a snapshot of what was the standard treatment on that day for injuries.
With modern medical science and antibiotics, it would be easy to dismiss such an archaic treatment as worthless. But recently I had the opportunity to put this ancient form of wound care to the test. About six days ago, my wife received a nasty bite wound from one of the squirrels we rehabbed. The squirrel bit her left ring finger to the bone. We didn’t clean the wound with wine, because we didn’t have any that duplicated 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 gauze soaked in 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 start soaking the wound in warm raw coconut oil.
A deep puncture wound, especially one caused by 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 slight swelling, as is normal in a fresh wound, but no pus or redness ever 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 through the skin, you can hardly tell he had an injury!
Having worked in the ER for over 20 years, I know that if I had taken her to the hospital, she would have been given an IV and an IV antibiotic like Rocephin. The wound would have been enlarged and irrigated and possibly a drain placed to keep it open so bacteria could escape. She would have gone home with a ten-day prescription for Keflex and Bactrim, plus a Vicodin for pain. He was prepared to take her to the doctor at the first sign of infection, but it never happened. I probably saved between $1,000.00 and $1,300.00 in medical expenses, plus the additional cost of follow-up suture and drain removal.
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 which studies have shown to be a natural antibacterial, antifungal 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 treatment for wounds. Research has shown that there are many other uses for this oil ranging from sunscreen to treating HIV and AIDS. Unfortunately, in the United States, natural substances have little or no chance of making it into mainstream medicine because if they can’t be patented, they won’t be recognized as a viable treatment!
