3 John 2 – “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”
WHY DID GOD GIVE HEALTH RULES TO HIS PEOPLE?
“And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes ... for our good always, that he might preserve us alive.” Deuteronomy 6:24. “And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.” Exodus 23:25.
“Eat ye that which is good.” Isaiah 55:2. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31.
“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed ... and every tree ... yielding seed.” “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.” Genesis 1:29; 2:16.
In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, God very clearly points out the following groups as being unclean.
Read both chapters in full.
A. All animals which do not have a split hoof and chew the cud (Deuteronomy 14:6).
B. All fish and water creatures that do not have both fins and scales. Nearly all fish are clean (Deuteronomy 14:9).
C. All birds of prey, carrion eaters, and fish eaters (Leviticus 11:13-20).
D. Most “creeping things” (or invertebrates) are also unclean (Leviticus 11:21-47).
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1. Are health principles really a part of true Bible religion?
“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”
3 John 2.
Answer: Yes. In fact, the Bible rates health right near the top of the list in importance. Man's mind, spiritual nature, and body are all interrelated and interdependent. What affects one affects the other. If our bodies are misused, our minds and spiritual natures cannot become what God ordained they should.
2. Why did God give health rules to His people?
“And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes ... for our good always, that he might preserve us alive.” Deuteronomy 6:24. “And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.” Exodus 23:25.
Answer: God gave health rules because He knows what is best for the human body. Automobile manufacturers place an “operations manual” in the glove compartment of each new car because they know what is best for their product. God, who made our bodies, also has an “operations manual.” It is called the Holy Bible. Ignoring God's “operations manual” results in disease, twisted thinking, and burned-out lives, just as abusing a car (against the manufacturer's counsel) results in serious car trouble. Following God's rules results in “saving health” (Psalms 67:2) and more abundant life (John 10:10). These great health laws are like a wall or fence to keep out the diseases of Satan. God tells us what these rules are so we can avoid the devil's traps.
God's health rules have much to say about what we eat and drink.
3. Do God's health rules have anything to do with eating and drinking?
“Eat ye that which is good.” Isaiah 55:2. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31.
Answer: Yes, a Christian will even eat and drink differently, all to the glory of God, using only “that which is good.” If God says a thing is not fit to eat, He must have a good reason. He is not a harsh dictator, but a loving Father. All His counsel is for our good always. The Bible promises: “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalms 84:11. So if God withholds a thing from us, it is because it is not good.
Note: No person can eat his way into heaven. Eating even the food of angels will not entitle people to paradise. Only acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour can do that. Ignoring God's health laws, however, may cause a person to be lost, because it will ruin his judgment and cause him to sin.
God prescribed a vegan diet for Adam and Eve.
4. What did God give people to eat when He created them and provided a perfect diet?
“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed ... and every tree ... yielding seed.” “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.” Genesis 1:29; 2:16.
Answer: The diet God gave people in the beginning was fruit, grains, and nuts. Vegetables were added a bit later, after sin. (Genesis 3:18).
5. What items are specifically mentioned by God as being unclean and forbidden?
Answer: In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, God very clearly points out the following groups as being unclean. Read both chapters in full.
A. All animals which do not have a split hoof and chew the cud (Deuteronomy 14:6).
B. All fish and water creatures that do not have both fins and scales. Nearly all fish are clean (Deuteronomy 14:9).
C. All birds of prey, carrion eaters, and fish eaters (Leviticus 11:13-20).
D. Most “creeping things” (or invertebrates) are also unclean (Leviticus 11:21-47).
Note: These chapters make it clear that most animals, birds, and water creatures people ordinarily eat are clean. There are, however, some very notable exceptions. According to God's rules, the following animals are unclean and are not to be eaten: hogs, squirrels, rabbits, catfish, eels, lobsters, clams, crabs, shrimp, oysters, frogs, and many others.
6. But I like pork. Will God destroy me if I eat it?
“For, behold, the Lord will come with fire ... and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many. They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves ... eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 66:15-17.
Answer: This may be shocking, but it is true and must be all who eat “swine's flesh,” the “mouse,” and other unclean things that are an “abomination” will be destroyed with fire told. The Bible positively states that at the coming of the Lord. When God says to leave something alone and not eat it, we should by all means obey Him. After all, the mere eating of a piece of forbidden fruit by Adam and Eve, a sinless couple, brought sin and death to this world in the first place. Can anyone say it doesn't matter, when God so clearly shows it does? God says men will be destroyed because they “chose that in which I delighted not.” Isaiah 66:4.
Noah's sacrifice of a clean animal (Genesis 8:20) shows that he understood the difference between clean and unclean.
7. But didn't this law of clean and unclean animals originate at Sinai? Wasn't it for the Jews only, and didn't it end at the cross?
“And the Lord said unto Noah...Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens ... Genesis 7:1, 2 says and of beasts that are not clean by two.”
Answer: No indeed! The Bible has ample evidence that there were clean and unclean animals from the very dawn of Creation. Noah lived long before any Jews existed, but he knew of the clean and unclean, because he took into the ark the clean animals by “sevens” and the unclean by “twos.” Revelation 18:2 refers to some birds as being unclean just before the second coming of Christ. The death of Christ had no altering effect whatever on these health laws, since the Bible says that all who break them will be destroyed when Jesus returns (Isaiah 66:15-17). The Jew's stomach and digestive system in no way differs from that of a Gentile. These health laws are for all people for all time.
The use of alcoholic beverages is clearly condemned by Scripture.
8. Does the Bible forbid the use of alcoholic beverages?
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” Proverbs 20:1. “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” Proverbs 23:31, 32. “Neither fornicators ... nor drunkards ... shall inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10.
Answer: Yes, the Bible clearly forbids the use of alcoholic beverages.
9. Does the Bible condemn the use of tobacco?
Answer: Yes, the Bible gives six reasons why the use of tobacco is displeasing to God:
A. The use of tobacco injures health and defiles the body.
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17.
Romans 6:16 says that we become servants to whomever (or whatever) we yield ourselves. Tobacco users are servants of nicotine. Jesus says, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Matthew 4:10.
“Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you.” 2 Corinthians 6:17. It is really preposterous to think of Christ using tobacco in any form, isn't it?
“Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread?” Isaiah 55:2. We are God's stewards of the money given us, and “it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” 1 Corinthians 4:2.
“Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.” 1 Peter 2:11. Tobacco use is a fleshly lust.
Eat your meals at regular intervals, and do not use animal fat or blood.
“Eat in due season.” Ecclesiates 10:17. “It shall be a perpetual statute ... that ye eat neither fat nor blood.” Leviticus 3:17.
Don't overeat.
“Put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.” Proverbs 23:2. In Luke 21:34, Christ specifically warns against “surfeiting” (overeating) in the last days. Overeating is responsible for many degenerative diseases.
Balance work and exercise with sleep and rest.
“Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work.” Exodus 20:9, 10. “The sleep of a labouring man is sweet.” Ecclesiastes 5:12. “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.” Genesis 3:19. “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late.” Psalms 127:2. “For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? ... his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity.” Ecclesiastes 2:22, 23.
Keep your body clean.
“Be ye clean.” Isaiah 52:11.
Be temperate in all things.
“Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.” 1 Corinthians 9:25. “Let your moderation be known unto all men.” Philippians 4:5. A Christian will completely avoid all things that are harmful and will be moderate in the use of things that are good. Habits that injure health break the command “Thou shalt not kill.” They kill by degrees. They are suicide on the installment plan.
What solemn reminder is given to those who ignore God's rules?
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:7.
Nothing defiling or unclean will be permitted in God's kingdom. All filthy habits defile a person. Use of improper food defiles a person (Daniel 1:8). It is sobering, but true. Choosing their “own ways” and that in which God “delighted not” will cost people their eternal salvation (Isaiah 66:3, 4, 15-17).
“Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.” 2 Corinthians 7:1. “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he [Christ] is pure.” 1 John 3:3. “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15.
“To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him IT IS SIN.” James 4:17.
Bible Verses about Health
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