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Bible references to health
Bible references to foods
Our diet
has had spiritual significance from the beginning of man's existence.
The original sin involved diet. Adam and Eve ate what
they wanted, rather than what was allowed, and we are still all reaping the
consequences of their rebellion:
"Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil
you will eat of it all the days of your life"
-
Genesis 3:17
What Food was Allowed?
In the garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve every plant yielding seed
"I give you every seed-bearing plant on the
face of the earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be your
food."
Every plant yielding seed includes:
Grains:
wheat, corn, rye, barley, rice, oats, millet, etc.
Seeds:
sunflower, sesame, flax, pumpkin seeds, etc.
Legumes:
soybeans, lentils, peas, peanuts, other beans, etc.
Seeded Vegetables:
eggplant, okra, bell peppers, squash, green beans, pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes,
melons, etc.
Fruits: citrus fruits, sweet fruits, palm fruits, etc.
Nuts:
almonds, pecans, cashews, brazil, walnuts, etc.
Banished from the garden of Eden, God added plants
without seeds
(previously food for the animals)
"And you will eat the plants of the field." - Genesis
3:29
God originally intended for man to eat seed-bearing plants and fruits, but
after Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden because of their sin, God added
field plants.
Leaves:
lettuce, beet greens, brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard, spinach, etc
Flowers:
globe artichoke, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus;
Roots
(tubers): carrots, beets, potatoes, turnips, yams, etc.
After the Great Flood God added meat and fish to the
menu.
"Every moving thing that lives shall be food
for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. But you shall not
eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood."
Genesis 9:3
After the Great Flood God gave the Israelites further instructions
to be followed under the O.T. law
God instructed the Israelites on what was good
to eat and what was not. Not only to test their obedience and
respect, but also to set them apart from the world as a model nation. God promised
good health to the Jewish people, and His law blessed them by affecting their social
structure and stability, as well as their physical and emotional health.
"My son, pay attentionto what I say; listen closely to my
words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they
are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body ."
Proverbs 4:20-22 NIV
"If you listen carefully to the voice of the
Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attentionto His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases
I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you."
Exodus 15:26
"My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart
keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will
add to you".
Proverbs 3:1-2
Anyone reading Leviticus chapter 11 will realize that the instructions
mentioned (dietary and otherwise) were not just an arbitrary set of rules, and that
in addition to showing respect to our Creator, they were also knowledgeable advice
that created a stable social structure and spared them from easily preventable emotional
and physical illnesses.
For example:
The "Do
Nots". Do not steal, murder, lie, cheat on your spouse,
or envy your neighbor's possessions;
Touching
certain dead bodies make us unclean until evening . If you carr y
one of these carcasses --- pigs, creeping things, edible animals that
die by unknown causes).
Christ's death on the cross abolished the law
We are freed from the law to be joined to Christ.
We are discharged from the law like a woman is
freed from a dead husband. It would be spiritual adultery to try to practice both
the old law and the law of Christ.
He abolished the old law by His blood.
Ephesians 2:13-16
"For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while
he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the
husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she
shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law,
so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man. Therefore,
my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ,
so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead,
in order that we might bear fruit for God."
Romans 7:2-4
Does the NT Specifically Say
that all Foods ("Clean"or "Unclean")
are now Good to Eat?
Two scripture references (In Mark 7 and Acts 10) are often cited to support
a view that there is no distinction between clean or unclean foods. i.e. all
food/meat is now good to eat
Mark 7
Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by
going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'"
After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about
this parable. "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that
enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? 19 For it doesn't go
into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." Some
translations add here "In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean" . He
continued: "What comes out of a man is what makes him
"unclean". For from within,
out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils
come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "
Mark 7:15-23
The passage has nothing to do with whether we should
eat clean or unclean meat. Jesus addressed a
question about why His disciples ate without washing their hands according to
ceremonial traditions followed by the Pharisees.
Some Bible translations have added words
in parentheses in v19, suggesting that all meat is now good
to eat. Christ's point was that ingested food or dirt passes through and out
of the body and does not spiritually defile a person , since it does not
enter the heart to influence attitudes. i.e. We are spiritually defiled from
the inside out rather than from the outside in. Also ---Verse 19 could not have been referencing unclean meat because unclean meat was not
even considered to be "food" for a faithful Jew in Jesus' day.
Acts 10
Peter's Vision:
9 About
noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter
went up on the roof to pray.
10 He
became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared,
he fell into a trance.
11 He
saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its
four corners.
12 It
contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and
birds of the air.
13 Then
a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."
14 "Surely
not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."
15 The
voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has
made clean.
16 This
happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
17 While
Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision,
the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon's house
was and stopped at the gate."
Here,
Peter is given a vision
to help him understand God's future plans for the growth of the Church.
In a vision, Peter was shown
a group of unclean animals and told three times to eat. Each time he adamantly
declined . (vv. 13-16). Remember too, this was the Peter who
supposedly heard Jesus abolish the dietary laws in Mark 7 and who was trained
by Christ for 3½ years. The issue in Acts 10-11 is not a matter of clean or
unclean food but the problem of the Jewish association with the Gentiles. After
the vision, God arranged for Peter to go to the house of the Gentile centurion Cornelius:
28 "He
(Peter) said to them: You are well aware that
it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But
God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean ." God's
message was that Gentiles were not to be considered "unclean" or "common" and
thus unworthy of being members of Christ's church.
What we Eat or Don't eat is not the Important thing
As long as we serve Christ whatever
we eat or do not eat is acceptable to God - The Kingdom of God is not
concerned with our diet, but with righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit:
"For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink ; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy
Spirit. For he that in these things serves Christ is acceptable to
God, and approved of men."
Romans 14:17-18
Those who eat all kinds of food do so to honor the Lord, since they
give thanks to God before eating. And those who won't eat everything also want to
please the Lord and give thanks to God.
Romans 14:6b (New Living translation)
"Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed
to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy;
having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding
to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of
them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing
to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving : For it is sanctified
by the word of God and prayer."
1 Timothy
4:1-5
This passage would seem to say that ALL creatures provide good meat for
eating. In the same way, the passage in Genesis 1:29 NIV
"Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing
plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in
it. They will be yours for food" seems to say that ALL seed-bearing
plants are good for food. We know however, that because of their toxicity, we would
not deliberately eat, for example, poisonous hemlock or deadly nightshade plants.
God is obviously expecting us to apply our knowledge and common sense
in choosing food which will be both beneficial to our health, and which will not
harm us.
Evidence of Toxicity in "Unclean" Creatures
A wise man does not Ignore God's advice. Christ's death
on the cross abolished the "Book of law", so that what we eat or don't eat is now
left to our own choosing. We could for instance, choose to eat nothing but ice-cream,
even though that would eventually take its toll on our health. Likewise, the kind
of meat and how much of it we eat is also up to us.
In the Old Testament, God appeared as a stern, uncompromising Father who
laid down the rules and regulations, and severely punished those who disobeyed them.
As our scientific knowledge progresses, the reasons behind the rules and regulations
are explained.
It would behoove us to take a look at some of God's O.T. laws from
the perspective that they were given to the Israelites, not as a punishment, but
as a blessing from a loving Father, in order to maintain their well-being.
"Every word in the Hebrew Scriptures is well-chosen and carries valuable
knowledge and deep significance."
- Dr. David
L. Macht
An informative experiment was published by the John Hopkins
Press in 1953 on the toxicity-level of the meats of various creatures
(by Dr. David Macht, a man responsible for many contributions to pharmacology
during the first half of the 20th century - Pharmacology is the study of the effect
of drugs, toxins, sera etc. on living organisms). Macht attained a bachelors and
medical degree at John Hopkins University, where he later became assistant professor,
lecturing in pharmacology. Macht published over 900 scientific studies, and three
books. He also introduced several new methods of disease treatment. His many contributions
include discovering the use of ephedrine as a substitute for cocaine, proving X-rays
of varying wavelengths produced different biological effects, and distinguishing
the sedative effect of morphine and codeine on the respiratory system from the stimulant
effect of other narcotics. Macht, who was an Orthodox Jew, also received the first
degree of advanced research awarded at Yeshiva College, New York, being made Doctor
of Hebrew Literature.
While researching the pharmacological effects of cancer, on the properties
of an individual's blood and muscle tissue, he became interested in investigating
the comparative pharmacological actions of fresh muscle juices and saline extracts
of skeletal muscle tissue of different species of animals and birds mentioned in
the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
He did this by employing a simple method he had used for 30 years to detect
toxins in blood and other body fluids of human beings, and had already identified
specific toxins present in the blood of patients with pemphigus (skin disease w/itching
blisters), pernicious anemia and psychotic patients.
This method measured the effect, when exposed to various body solutions,
on the root growth of seedlings of Lupinus Albus, grown in strictly controlled
environments (temperature, light, etc giving statistically reliable, consistent
results) supplying plant-physiological solutions of salts and ions necessary for
growth. For example, a toxic body solution would inhibit the root growth compared
to the control sample proportional to its level of toxicity. The results he found
were quite enlightening from a biblical perspective:
SPECIES
CLEAN (>75% Root Growth)
%
CLEAN (<75% Root Growth)
%
Four-Footed Animals
Cloven-hoofed ruminants: Calf; deer; goat; ox; sheep
82-98%
Not cud-chewing with cloven-hoofs: Black bear; camel; cat; guinea pig; dog; fox(silver); grizzly bear; ground hog, hamster, horse, opossum, rabbit, rat, rhinoceros, squirrel, swine
39-62%
Birds
Predominantly eat grasses / grains: Goose; chicken; coot; duck; pigeon; quail; swan; turkey;
83-98%
Have omnivorous diet: crow; ostrich; owl; red-tail hawk; sparrow hawk;
Not tested : Bat; cormorant; eagle; falcon; hawk; heron; ibis; kite; nighthawk; osprey; pelican; raven; sea gull; stork; vulture;
36-63%
Fish
Have fins and scales: Black bass, black drum; bluefish; carp; channel bass; chub; cod; croaker; flounder; flying fish; goldfish; haddock; hake; halibut; herring; kingfish; mullet; pike; pompano; porgy; rainbow trout; rock bass; salmon; smelt; sea bass;shad; Spanish mackerel; spot; sturgeon; tuna (bluefin); white perch; Carolina whiting; yellow perch;
80-100%
Without scales and fins: Catfish; eel; moonfish; porcupine fish; puffer; sand skate; shark (dogfish); stingray; toadfish. Not tested : clams; crabs; lobster; octopus; oysters; scallops; shrimp; squid;
46-62%
Macht, D.I., (1953).
"An Experimental Pharmacological Appreciation
of Leviticus XI and Deuteronomy XIV,
- Dr. Macht
also tested the blood
of all the fish species. In every case it was more toxic than the flesh.
Dietary Laws
Do not eat the blood of animals
"You must not eat meat that has its lifeblood
still in it"
Gen. 9:4; Lev. 3:17; 7:26,27;
19:26; Deut. 12:`6-24; I Sam. 14:32-34
After the flood, God told Noah not to eat the blood
of any animal, meaning that the blood should be drained from the meat.
Meaning we can strike European "Blood sausage" ("Black Pudding"
in Great Britain) off our menu! Apart from the respect issue
that animal blood represented life, which was accepted by God in atonement for sin,
blood carries the body's waste products and can also carry microbial infections
and toxins.
Eat meat from plant-eating animals with split hooves
"These are the animals which you may eat among
all the beasts that are on the earth...
whatever divides the hoof having cloven hooves and
chewing the cud . There are some that only chew the cud or only have
a split hoof, but you must not eat them.
Leviticus 11:1-4.
Animals which chew the cud are called ruminants, having multiple stomachs
for digesting plants. One stomach starts the digestion, and then the food is partly
regurgitated and sent to another stomach to be digested some more. (Strictly speaking
rabbits are not ruminants, although at night rabbits produce and eat their own soft
feces, effectively giving their food a second digestion).
Pork. This is the meat that has created most controversy.
Who doesn't like
to eat a couple rashers of fried bacon with their eggs for breakfast? And in
the southern USA, barbequed spareribs are a way of life!
And yet, since pigs do not chew the cud, O.T. law stated that pig flesh
must not be eaten. The Lord even emphasized His disapproval to Isaiah of those people
who disobeyed this instruction, in the same breath as mentioning committing idolatry
and conjuring up spirits from the dead!:
"continually provoke me to my very face, .
. . who eat the flesh of pigs, and whose pots hold broth of unclean meat".
Isaiah 65:3,4
What might God be protecting us from? It's interesting in
Matthew 8 that Jesus had no compunction about sending some demons into a large herd
of pigs to be drowned? Presumably the pigs were someone's livelihood, so it would
be unlike Jesus to destroy someone's property without reason.
Trichinosis - is caused by a
small parasitic roundworm that gets into the muscle tissue of animals and humans,
affecting ~60 million people worldwide. It is transmitted by eating undercooked
pork and other "unclean"animals. It is most common in the developing
world where pigs are fed raw garbage, but today is rarely diagnosed in the U.S.,
due mainly to public awareness of cooking requirements and the government
restriction on the feeding of raw meat garbage to commercially raised pigs.
Tapeworms
- 3% of the global population (~180 million people) have tapeworms, and the pork tapeworm
can be fatal if not eliminated.
Erysipelas and
typhoid. Also carried by pigs.
Moderate Meat Consumption
"Be not ... among those who gorge themselves with
meat."
Proverbs 23:20
"Excess of meats bringeth sickness."
Eating too much meet can increase homocysteine levels
- which can induce oxidative stress
In particular, eating too much
cooked meat taxes the pancreas.
Raw meat contains the enzymes required for its digestion and since these enzymes
are destroyed by cooking, the task falls to the pancreas to produce some more. This
puts a strain on this busy organ, which also is required to produce the all important
INSULIN to trigger glucose transport into cells. Today, type II diabetes is being
diagnosed in epidemic proportion, a condition where the pancreas eventually burns
itself out. Additionally, too much protein leaches calcium from the body to
neutralize excess acidity in the blood -
calcium is particularly essential to bone strength.
Do not Eat Animal Fat
God said to Moses:
" Say to the Israelites: Do not eat any of
the fat of cattle, sheep or goats".
Leviticus 7:23
Animals store toxins (e.g. insecticides, herbicides,
antibiotics, hormones) and parasites in their coverin g
fat. The saturated fatty acid, stearic acid, is a healthy fat used in cell
membranes, however, it is found in unbalanced proportion in animal coverin g
fat, which can have detrimental effects on our health.
Eat only Non-Scavenger Birds
(i.e. those having a primarily vegetarian diet)
Birds on the "Can eat" list eat primarily
plant parts (leaves, seeds, fruits), insects, grubs,
caterpillars, and crustaceans. In contrast, birds of prey, which were excluded
in the Law, are likely to have eaten other scavengers or dead meat with its inherently
high microbial level resulting from the decay process.
"
But these you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture,the
red kite, the black kite, any kind of falcon, any kind of raven, the horned owl,
the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the great owl, the
white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant, the stork, any kind of heron,
the hoopoe and the bat."
Deuteronomy 12:11-18
Many of these birds are ecologically necessary scavengers, which feed on and
control the population of rats, mice, reptiles, lizards, frogs and other birds.
For example, storks are carnivores; their diet consists of fish, amphibians, reptiles,
insects, rodents and other small mammals. The Marabou stork's diet consists primarily
of dead animals including fish, insects, birds, frogs, and rodents.
Eat Fish with fins and scales
"Whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters,
in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat. And all that have not
fins AND scales in the seas . . . they shall be an abomination unto you."
Leviticus 11:9-10.
Clean, edible fish have fins and scales.
Those
without fins and scales are generally bottom-feeding fish, which do a great job
of absorbing toxins existing in the water. Many varieties of fish are loaded with
anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids.
Eating fish for omega-3 EPA /DHA
Some Insects can Be eaten
"Yet these you may eat of every flying insect
that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with
which to leap on the earth ."
Leviticus 11:21
- Includes
only grasshoppers, locusts and crickets -
all primarily herbivorous - Mmm, Mmm, Mmm !
Miscellaneous Bible References to Food
"7 For the LORD thy God bringeth
thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water , of fountains and
depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates;
a land of oil olive, and honey;
9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness,
thou shalt not lack any thing in it;"
Deuteronomy 8:7-9a
"and I have come down to deliver them out of
the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad
land, a land flowing with milk and honey"
"13
He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of
the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and
with oil from the flinty crag,14 with curds
and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats ,
with choice rams of Bashanand the finest kernels of wheat . You drank the foaming blood
of the grape ".
Deuteronomy 32:13-14
"Sustain me with raisins , refresh
me with apples : for I am sick with love.
Song of Solomon 2:5
"And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs ,
and two clusters of raisins ....."
Samuel 30:12
"And you take wheat and barley, beans and
lentils, millet and spelt , and put them in a single vessel, and make
bread of them."
Ezekiel 4:9
"Eat your bread with enjoyment, and
drink your wine with a merry heart."
Ecclesiastes 9:7
"I went down into the garden of nuts ...."
Solomon 6:11
"The glutton shall come to poverty... and put
a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony."
Proverbs 23:2, 20
Information on some foods referenced in the bible
Honey.
Contains
the vital mineral boron, sadly lacking in today's diet; has tranquilizing powers,
and can aid in healing wounds.
Raisins.
Rich
in boron, a mineral used in preventing osteoporosis.
Dates and figs.
Natural laxatives and a good source of antioxidant vitamins
A and C.
Barley.
People in the Middle East call it "heart medicine" to this day; The loaves and fishes
miracle used barley loaves.
Millet.
Rich
in essential amino acids and antioxidant vitamins A and C; also contains lecithin.
Grapes.
Contain
antioxidant vitamins and substances that fight cancer; juice is antiviral.
Lentils.
Esau
sold his inheritance for the famous "mess of pottage" a dish of cooked lentils
and some bread! Complex carbohydrates regulate the body's metabolic system, prevent
diabetes, fight obesity by making you feel full longer. Rich in vegetable protein
and fiber.
Nuts.
Excellent
source of certain antioxidants, a source of omega-3
fatty oil, potassium,
magnesium ,
zinc , and vitamin
E .
Pomegranates.
Long-time use in the Middle East, Iran and India for treating disease and infections.
Pomegranates are proving to be the most powerful antioxidant available and show
ability to lower LDL cholesterol oxidation.
Melons.
Rich
source of beta carotene ,
potassium , and
vitamins C and
B6.