The Original Antibiotic

Genesis 1:28
“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth on the earth.”

In Genesis 1:28 God tells man to subdue the Earth. That command implies that God has placed, within the creation, many tools that man can learn to use for his benefit. After sin entered the world and sickness and death became a reality, God’s remarkable foreknowledge then became evident. One of the first antibiotics ever discovered by man has been in use for thousands of years. Modern researchers are just beginning to appreciate the wonder of this natural antibiotic that kills some 650 different strains of disease organisms, and is virtually non-toxic. Best of all, disease organisms don’t become resistant to it.

What is this miracle antibiotic? The metal silver. The ancient Greeks and Romans used silver containers to keep liquids fresh. American settlers often placed a silver dollar in milk to delay souring. Most of the world’s airlines today use silver filters on board to prevent dysentery. After testing 23 different methods for purifying water, NASA selected silver water filters for use on board the Space Shuttle. Japanese researchers have found that silver is even able to detoxify some poisons.

Isn’t it striking that even the inanimate world is filled with things that are so carefully designed to fit into the overall picture of reality painted by Scripture? And who says the Bible isn’t a book of science?!

Prayer:
Dear Father, we have only begun to scratch the surface in learning how to use all the wonderful things You placed into the creation for our benefit. We pray that You would guide us so that constructive discovery for the benefit of man may be done, and scientists would abandon destructive scientific work. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Notes:
Photo: Electrolytically refined silver. Courtesy of Alchemist-hp. Licensed under the Creative Commons ‘Attribution-NonCommercial-NonDerivative 3.0 (US) License.