All posts tagged: Bible and plagues

What is a Plague?

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And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. — Mark 5:29 By Rick Renner Do you know anyone that has ever been subjected to a plague? Have you ever had a plague afflict you? Technically, what is a plague? We tend to use this word “plague” to describe worldwide pandemic outbreaks, but that is not the way it is used in Mark 5:29, which tells of a woman who had an issue of blood for 12 years. Specifically, Mark 5:29 says that when this woman touched Jesus, she was healed of her “plague.” Yet this woman’s sickness was not contagious, nor was it imminently life-threatening, since she had been sick with it for 12 years. So today I want to tell you about how I discovered the meaning of the word “plague” in the New Testament and why this was such an important discovery to me. As a university student, I suffered tremendously from allergic reactions. In fact, a simple …

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Mysterious plague arrives in New York?

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According to an article in the New York Times (NYT), a new and dangerous illness has arrived on the east coast of the US.  Called Candida Aurus, it is a fungus that has been showing up in other countries such as Venezuela and Spain, but has now hit America with deadly consequences. The US Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported that there are 587 people with the infection including 309 in New York, 144 in Illinois and 104 in New Jersey. The disease is a bacteria and is considered both dangerous and mysterious. It is dangerous because there is no known cure. Antifungal medication typically used to combat this type of disease are ineffective. It is one of those superbugs that are resistant to modern drugs. Its symptoms that include fever and fatigue are particularly dangerous for  those with compromised immune systems. This can include newborns, the elderly, smokers and those with other health complications. One elderly patient who showed up at a Mount Sinai hospital in Brooklyn, New York died within 90 days. And …