The Blessing of Charcoal

Ashes are what remains after something has been burnt. Ashes, or charcoal, have drawing and
healing power.

Jesus suffered affliction for us, and was offered as the sacrificial lamb, burnt on the altar of sacrifice.
What He has left behind for us brings healing.

The blood brings the healing from the outside, and the Holy Spirit, left by Jesus to continue His
ministration, draws sin out of us, gently wooing us to exchange sin and death for God’s love and life.
How the charcoal can draw or adsorb substances to itself is a mystery to man, just as mysterious as the
working of the Holy Spirit. We cannot see it, but we can experience it!

Ashes were used throughout the Bible period as a treatment for affliction of many types. The
ashes were a sign that:

• The person was suffering in some way

• That they had sorrow for sin, or
• a desire for healing from their sin or affliction, or
• a desire to avoid coming affliction.

The parallel we have is that charcoal can be used in both a preventative and treatment mode.
It is useful to:

• Cleanse
• Assist in healing
• Take away poisonous or toxic substances (including gasses, liquids and heavy metals), absorbing
them into itself
• Adsorbs germs etc. that cause disease. Also as an insecticide.
• Filter Water
• Bring oxygen to a site needing healing

As you go through these texts, seek to understand the nature of the affliction that is being
experienced. Are there any lessons that we can learn about the application of charcoal as a remedy, or
anything we can learn about affliction?

“When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth
with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; And came
even before the king's gate: for none might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. And in
every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, there was great
mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and
ashes.” Est. 4:1-3

“So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the
sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down
among the ashes.” Job 2:7
 “And Tamar put ashes on her head, and rent her garment of divers colors that was on her, and
laid her hand on her head, and went on crying.” 2 Sam. 13:19

“Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken
with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy
lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” Isa. 6:6,7

“Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his
head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an
acceptable day to the LORD? Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness,
to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to
deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou
seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall
thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness
shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.” Isa. 58:5-8

“To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.” Isa. 61:3

“Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall
roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his
habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth.

A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the
nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great
whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the LORD shall be at that
day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither
gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.

Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for
the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant
vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.” Jer.
25:30-35

“And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and
sackcloth, and ashes: And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O
Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them
that keep his commandments; We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly,
and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:” Dan. 9:3-5

“So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the
greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from
his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he
caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles,
saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every
one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and
repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they
turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them;
and he did it not.” Jonah 3:5-10

“Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done
in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”
Matt. 11:21

“For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean,
sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God?” Heb. 9:13,14.

Charcoal in the Spirit of Prophecy

Indigestion
“I will tell you a little about my own experience with charcoal as a remedy. For some forms of
indigestion it is more efficacious than drugs. A little olive oil into which some of this powder has been
stirred tends to cleanse and heal. I find it is excellent. Pulverized charcoal from eucalyptus wood, we
have used freely in cases of inflammation…” PC.038

Knee inflammation
"One of the boys who came with the father was a cripple, using crutches, and he cooked while
the others worked. This boy is thirteen years old, and had been troubled with a knee-swelling for five
years. For eleven months he was confined to his bed under the care of a physician. Sister McEnterfer
had treated him with water compresses and pulverized charcoal, until the inflammation had been
relieved. He was so much better that he laid aside his crutches, and attended to the cooking, as has
been mentioned. But this was too much, and the knee troubled him again. It was necessary to give him
a thorough course of treatment, so we took him into my own house and gave him constant care. There
was a large swelling under the knee, which he called his 'egg.' This swelling was opened and
discharged freely, and from it were taken pieces of bone.” GH.1899-10-01

Pain, Snake bite, Insect bite, Inflammation

“I have ordered the same treatment for others who were suffering great pain, and it has brought
relief, and been the means of saving life. My mother had told me that snake bites and the sting of
reptiles and poisonous insects could often be rendered harmless by the use of charcoal poultices. When
working on the land at Avondale, Australia, the workmen would often bruise their hands and limbs,
and this in many cases resulted in such severe inflammation that the worker would have to leave his
work for some time. One came to me one day in this condition, with his hand tied in a sling. He was
much troubled over the circumstances; for his help was needed in clearing the land. I said to him, "Go
to the place where you have been burning the timber, and get me some charcoal from the eucalyptus
tree, pulverize it, and I will dress your hand." This was done, and the next morning he reported that the
pain was gone. Soon he was ready to return to his work.” LLM.366
Great pain, and near death

“One of the most beneficial remedies is pulverized charcoal in a bag and used in fomentation’s.
This is a most successful remedy. If wet in smartweed, boiled, it is still better. I have ordered this in
case where the sick were suffering great pain and when it has been confided to me by the physician
that he thought it was the last before the close of life. Then I suggested the charcoal, the patient has
slept, the turning point come, and recovery was the result.” Testimony by Ellen G White, K-82, 1897

Boils
“Elder Haskell has suffered a great deal from boils. He has taken treatment at the Sanitarium
several times, but most of his treatment he has taken in his room in our house. Our home has been his
sanitarium. He has been afflicted continuously, and has kept to his bed most of the time. Pulverized
charcoal poultices have been used with good results. His wife is a good nurse, and she has taken
faithful care of him. He has thought several times that he had overcome the affliction, and that he
would recover rapidly, but as soon as he began to stir around, boils would again appear. His
countenance looks clear and wholesome for a man of his age.” LLM.155

Insect bite

“The building work on our hospital has not yet commenced, but the land is being cleared
preparatory to building. We need a hospital so much. On Thursday Sister Sara McEnterfer was called
to see if she could do anything for Brother Palmer's little son, who is eighteen months old. For several
days he has had a painful swelling on the knee, supposed to be from the bite of some poisonous insect.
Pulverized charcoal, mixed with flaxseed, was placed upon the swelling, and this poultice gave relief at
once. The child had screamed with pain all night, but when this was applied, he slept. Today she has
been to see the little one twice. She opened the swelling in two places, and a large amount of yellow
matter and blood was discharged freely. The child was relieved of its great suffering. We thank the
Lord that we may become intelligent in using the simple things within our reach to alleviate pain, and
successfully remove its cause.” PC.015

Bowel inflammation, dysentery

“I might go to any length in this matter, my brother, but I leave it now with a few instances. A
brother was taken sick with inflammation of the bowels and bloody dysentery. The man was not a
careful health reformer, but indulged his appetite. We were just preparing to leave Texas, where we
had been laboring for several months, and we had carriages prepared to take away this brother and his
family, and several others who were suffering from malarial fever. My husband and I thought we
would stand this expense rather than have heads of several families die and leave their wives and
children unprovided for. Two or three were taken in a spring wagon on spring mattresses. But this man
who was suffering from inflammation of the bowels, sent for me to come to him. My husband and I
decided that it would not do to move him. Fears were entertained that mortification had set in. Then the
thought came to me like a communication from the Lord to take pulverized charcoal, put water upon it,
and give this water to the sick man to drink, putting bandages of the charcoal over the bowels and
stomach. We were about one mile from the city of Denison, but the sick man's son went to a
blacksmith's shop, secured the charcoal, and pulverized it, and then used it according to the directions
given. The result was that in half an hour there was a change for the better. We had to go on our
journey and leave the family behind, but what was our surprise the following day to see their wagon
overtake us. The sick man was lying in a bed in the wagon. The blessing of God had worked with the
simple means used.” PC.026

Typhoid fever

“I still remember another case. At our first camp-meeting here, held in Brighton, a young lady
was taken sick on the ground, and remained sick during most of the meeting. She was thought to have
typhoid fever, and although many prayers were offered in her behalf, she left the ground sick. Dr.
M.C.Kellogg, half-brother to J.H.Kellogg, of Battle Creek, was attending her. He came to me one
morning, and said, Sister Price is in great pain. I cannot relieve her. She cannot sleep, and every breath
seems as though it would be her last. We prayed for her, and then like a flash of lightning there came
to me the thought of the charcoal. "Send to the blacksmith for charcoal, and pulverize it, I said, "and
put a poultice of it on her side." He tried this, and in one hour he came to me and said, "That
prescription was an inspiration from God. Sister Price could not have lived until now if no change had
come. The sick one fell into a restful sleep; the crisis passed, and she began to amend. In a few days
she was taken from Melbourne to her home in Melbourne (?), and is alive and well today.” PC.027

Attitude of others toward charcoal

“I expect you will laugh at this; but if I could give this remedy some outlandish name, that no
one knew but myself, it would have greater influence.” Testimony by Ellen G White, K-82, 1897