A Miracle Takes Place
God is at work!
Dora Greenberg was 80 years old. She was weak and couldn’t get out of bed on her own. Her breathing was short; sometimes she felt as if she was suffocating. She couldn’t swallow well and her weight was dropping. Worst of all she was too weak to speak; all she could do was mumble. The decline had been long and gradual but now it was accelerating. Dora was admitted to the Neurology Service at University Hospital. She was thoroughly examined by the Chief Neurologist at the bedside. In addition, diagnostic imaging was done including carotid artery ultrasound studies (the carotid arteries are major arteries supplying blood to the brain) which showed carotid artery narrowing (70% obstruction bilaterally). A CAT scan of the brain revealed generalized cerebral atrophy but no strokes (no infarcts seen on scan). In addition, Dora was thoroughly evaluated by the Chief of Medicine at University Hospital and she could not add anything to the case. After 2 weeks in University Hospital with no improvement and no answers from multiple other tests, her doctors concluded that Dora had atherosclerotic dementia and that no treatment was possible. They made plans to send her to a nursing home . Dora understood all this from listening to discussions between the doctors in her room and was distressed about it, but could not articulate her frustrations to her doctors because she couldn’t speak clearly. And she was frustrated that none of the physicians who saw her noticed that she had trouble breathing. Dora had lost hope at University Hospital.
It was at just this point that Dr. Samuel Burns, Dora’s neurologist at University Hospital, received a call from Ben Kaplan. Dr. Burns was thrilled with Dr. Kaplan’s offer to take Dora off his hands.
Dora was transferred to Ben’s service at Memorial; he and Joe, his Nurse Practitioner, went to her hospital room to evaluate her.
“Joe, notice that Mrs. Greenberg is breathing rapidly. She seems to be short of breath. Yet, she’s never been a smoker and has no history of heart disease. There are no crackles at the lung bases, no cardiac enlargement, no distended neck veins, and no peripheral edema, so congestive heart failure seems unlikely to be the cause of this breathing problem. We’d better be sure though; let’s get a chest X ray and a BNP blood test, and while we’re at it, please get an oxygen saturation by finger pulse oximetry. Let’s see if her blood is carrying a normal amount of oxygen.”
“Ben, the chest X ray is normal and the BNP is really low, under 100; both of these results go against congestive heart failure and the normal chest X ray rules out advanced lung disease. But her oxygen saturation is only 63% on room air. Isn’t that really low?” said Joe.
“It sure is Joe, really low. There’s got to be a reason for that.”
Ben asked Joe to have arterial blood gases drawn. This test was more involved in that an artery had to be punctured to obtain the specimen, but the test would provide more information than a finger pulse oximeter could give. The results confirmed the suspicion that there was a serious respiratory problem.
“Joe, we’ve got a woman with shortness of breath, but with no heart failure and normal lungs on physical examination and chest X ray; the blood gases prove that her oxygenation is very poor and also that her lungs are not ventilating effectively enough for her to exhale carbon dioxide. She’s a CO2 retainer, Joe. Her high blood CO2 is a striking and unexpected finding,” said Ben.
Joe was getting excited. “Could she have weak respiratory muscles, too weak to enable her lungs to blow off carbon dioxide? Could she have a neuromuscular disease?”
“Exactly, Joe! Maybe she has myasthenia gravis. That could also explain her trouble swallowing and her generalized weakness. Let’s treat her for MG and see what happens; there’s simply no reason not to try that. This is a desperate situation.”
2 days later:
Dora felt like a new woman on oral treatment for myasthenia gravis. She could swallow and talk, and she felt strength returning to her limbs. She no longer felt short of breath. Ben and Joe came into her room. Dora sat up in bed, extended both arms above her head, and said exuberantly,
“I’m going to live!”
Jeremiah Greenberg couldn’t believe his eyes and ears. His mother was a new woman and she could speak to him and clearly so. Her mind was normal; she was as intelligent as ever.
“Jeremiah, do you know this Dr. Benjamin Kaplan? He is helping me,” said Dora Greenberg.
“Yes, I know him, mother.”
Jeremiah Greenberg was seated next to Ben on a couch in his office at Memorial.
“Ben, you’ve done it. You’ve discovered what’s wrong with my mother and you are making her well.”
“Thanks, Rabbi. But it’s not me. The God I serve has given me the ability to help your mother. And by the way, your mother is a lovely woman. I really like her.”
“Ben, I promised to listen to you about Jesus. So, go ahead. Maybe I have ears to hear you now. And I think it’s time that you called me Jeremiah.”
“Thanks, Jeremiah. Do you have a Bible on your phone?”
“Of course, Ben. Let’s use the NKJV, OK?”
“Absolutely. Let’s turn to Daniel 7, verses 13 and 14. Will you read, Jeremiah?”
Daniel 7:13-14 (NKJV) "I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. [14] Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.
“Ben, I see two people in these verses. There is One like the Son of Man and there is the Ancient of Days. This is what is referred to as apocalyptic literature. Am I right Ben? It’s similar to what is written in the book of Revelation, in the New Testament. But this is just symbolic, Ben. You can’t take this literally.”
“Why not Jeremiah? Let me share with you something called the Golden Rule of Scripture Interpretation, coined by a great scholar who loved the Jewish people, Dr. David L. Cooper:
"When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise.”
“Jeremiah, this passage in Daniel is indeed apocalyptic literature and there are two people in it, just as you have said. They are both in heaven. The Son of Man is coming on the clouds of heaven and the Ancient of Days gives the Son of Man dominion and glory and a kingdom. These two people both have the qualities of deity.”
“But Ben, what makes you say that these two people have the qualities of deity?”
“Jeremiah, look at verse 9 in this same chapter”.
Daniel 7:9 (NKJV) "I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire;
“Ben, this is apocalyptic literature all right! It reminds me of the book of Ezekiel.”
“I agree. But, to answer your question, the Ancient of Days is seated on a throne of fiery flame. The ancient of Days is a supreme ruler; He is God. And the Son of Man approaches him and is given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. Now, what about this One like a Son of Man? Let’s refer to Him as the Son of Man. He can’t be an angel. There is no angel who has ever been granted dominion and glory and a kingdom by God. No, this is someone else who Himself has the qualities of deity.”
“But, Ben, how could that be? There are not two Gods. There is only one God, Ben. You know our Shema, don’t you?”
“I know the Shema, Jeremiah. Let’s read it, OK?
Deuteronomy 6:4 (NKJV) "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
“Or, in Hebrew:
Shemah Yisrael Adonai Elohenu Adonai Echad
“Jeremiah, you are a Hebrew language scholar, correct?”
“Correct, Ben, I am.”
“Jeremiah, I want you to look into something for me. It’s this: could the Hebrew language of the Shema be talking about one complex God who is comprised of more than one divine person?”
“OK, Ben. You’ve earned the right to ask me to do this. Can we get together again in a few days?”
“I can’t wait, Jeremiah! See you soon.”
Wow. Just Wow. Dr. Art, you bless my reading and understanding of Scripture.