06. Health Discussion Part 2 - Worldly Health vs. Biblical Health
Consumption and dependence on meat referenced in the bible are often made in reference to death and disconnection from God.
“6 You have killed many people in this city and filled its streets with the dead. 7 Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The bodies you have thrown there are the meat and this city is the pot, but I will drive you out of it.” - Ezekiel 11:6-7.
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“3 Tell this rebellious people a parable and say to them: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Put on the cooking pot; put it on and pour water into it. 4 Put into it the pieces of meat, all the choice pieces — the leg and the shoulder. Fill it with the best of these bones; 5 take the pick of the flock. Pile wood beneath it for the bones; bring it to a boil and cook the bones in it. For this is what the Sovereign Lord says… 10 Cook the meat well, mixing in the spices; and let the bones be charred. 11 Then set the empty pot on the coals till it becomes hot and its copper glows, so that its impurities may be melted, and its deposit burned away. 12 It has frustrated all efforts; its heavy deposit has not been removed, not even by fire. 13 Now your impurity is lewdness. Because I tried to cleanse you, but you would not be cleansed from your impurity, you will not be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided. 14 I the Lord have spoken. The time has come for me to act. I will not hold back; I will not have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged according to your conduct and your actions declares the Sovereign Lord.” - Ezekiel 24:3-14
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4 “You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. 5 You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. 6 You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. 7 Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end.”- Amos 6:4-7
If we take a look at this from a different perspective; what we still don’t see in scripture are God’s people or followers referred to as glistening meat that I crave or a cluster of new eggs to eat. However, in Micah 7 listen to what is being said about Israel’s misery.
“1 What misery is mine! I am like one who gathers summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster of grapes to eat, none of the early figs that I crave. 2 The faithful have been swept from the land; not one upright person remains.”
The upright people of Israel are referred to as a gleaning cluster of fresh grapes or early ripe figs. Why do we consistently see references to fruits, vegetables, and grains in the bible but no references to God’s chosen people as being meat, eggs or fish? Was God intentional when He instructed the vernacular of the bible? Was Jesus intentional about his word usage when using parables to answer questions of the Pharisees?
I hope something inside of you is starting to wrestle with the idea of diet and health as it relates to scripture. My goal today isn’t to change your mind completely. My goal is to help open our eyes to the possible fallacy, there is only one way and it’s the only way because it’s how we’ve been told to do it. If you think what I’m asking you to do is extreme, then let’s take a closer look at an even more extreme case of full reliance upon our Heavenly Father for our complete needs through John the Baptist.
In Mark 1:4, Jon the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching about baptism of repentance and forgiveness of sins in the wilderness. John was eating whatever God provided him in the wilderness, but it doesn’t say he killed animals for food. Is it probable, John ate plants, insects, and possibly manna as we have seen God provide elsewhere in scripture, especially if John the Baptist was supposedly sent “to prepare the way for Jesus” (Isaiah 40:3; Mal. 3:1; Matt. 3:3)?
Exodus 16:31(KJV) - And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
Numbers 11:7 (KJV) - Now the manna resembled coriander seed, and its appearance was like that of gum resin.
Deuteronomy 8:3 (KJV) - He humbled you, and in your hunger gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord
Deuteronomy 8:16 (KJV) - He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.
3) The old way of Christian health thinking leads to sickness, death, and destruction long before we carry out the calling God has for us. How do we define consumption? How is the human body limited to what we can consume? In Sunday school we often talk about what we need to keep our kids and ourselves from consuming with our eyes and ears. This is especially taught to males because we are more easily affected by visual stimuli. According to the 2004 study published in the Emory University Health Sciences Center, “The emotion control center of the brain, the amygdala, shows significantly higher levels of activation in males viewing sexual visual stimuli than females viewing the same images, according to a Center for Behavioral Neuroscience study led by Emory University psychologists Stephan Hamann and Kim Wallen” (Neuroscience, 2004) We’re also taught to keep our ears from consuming songs or language which could affect the way we think, feel, or act.
The bible adds an additional layer of consumption in Acts 28:27, “For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.” Here the Lord talks about consuming with our hearts and if we aren’t able to consume with our hearts, we cannot have an understanding or have healing.
Again, it talks about this in Deuteronomy 29:4, “But to this day the Lord has not given you the heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.” Looking closely at what consumption means through scripture we are reminded consumption is anything entering the body and has an effect on the body. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and we are to protect it from all forms of attack, whether they be physical, emotional, auditory, visual, and spiritual. 1 Corinthians 6:12-19 says to glorify God in body and spirit.
12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. 13 Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods, but God will destroy both it and them… 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” - 1 Corinthians 6:12-19
The church fails to recognize food consumption as a stronghold in Christian life unless it is clinically classified as a “disorder” or the “overconsumption” of something. But why is this, based on what we’ve read thus far?
The devil is the master of strategy and he’s campaigning in war siege tactics. He doesn’t need to take us out of the game right away. He knows God has a plan for us but if he can outwit us one meal a day, seven days a week and twice on Saturdays, 52 weeks a year, until we have that doctor’s appointment or that phone call comes – we have cancer, we have an auto-immune disease, the biopsy came back positive for _______ … how many small battles did the devil win at the dinner table before we could realize what has happened, to us, to our children, to our family member or friend? It’s my strong belief God is sending his message to us through new research, new health studies, and data. It seems to me we are caught in a parable story of the religious person on the top of a house during a flood…
I Sent You a Rowboat ~
A very religious man was once caught in rising floodwaters. He climbed onto the roof of his house and trusted God to rescue him. A neighbor came by in a canoe and said, “The waters will soon be above your house. Hop in and we’ll paddle to safety.”
“No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me.”
A short time later the police came by in a boat. “The waters will soon be above your house. Hop in and we’ll take you to safety.”
“No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me.”
A little time later a rescue services helicopter hovered overhead, let down a rope ladder and said. “The waters will soon be above your house. Climb the ladder and we’ll fly you to safety.”
“No thanks” replied the religious man. “I’ve prayed to God and I’m sure he will save me.”
All this time the floodwaters continued to rise until soon they reached above the roof and the religious man drowned. When he arrived at heaven, he demanded an audience with God. Ushered into God’s throne room he said, “Lord, why am I here in heaven? I prayed for you to save me, I trusted you to save me from that flood.”
“Yes, you did my child” replied the Lord. “And I sent you a canoe, a boat, and a helicopter. But you never got in.”
Because all knowledge and wisdom come from the Lord, should we not adhere to new scientific discoveries in health? A Great book recommendation is How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease by Dr. Michael Greger, M.D. and Gene Stone.
“The vast majority of premature deaths can be prevented through simple changes in diet and lifestyle.” In How Not to Die, Dr. Michael Greger, the internationally-recognized lecturer, physician, and founder of NutritionFacts.org, examines the fifteen top causes of death in America—heart disease, various cancers, diabetes, Parkinson’s, high blood pressure, and more—and explains how nutritional and lifestyle interventions can sometimes trump prescription pills and other pharmaceutical and surgical approaches, freeing us to live healthier lives.
The simple truth is that most doctors are good at treating acute illnesses but bad at preventing chronic disease. The 15 leading causes of death claim the lives of 1.6 million Americans annually. This doesn’t have to be the case. By following Dr. Greger’s advice, all of it backed up by peer-reviewed scientific evidence, you will learn which foods to eat and which lifestyle changes to make to live longer.
History of prostate cancer in your family? Put down that glass of milk and add flaxseed to your diet. Have high blood pressure? Hibiscus tea can work better than a leading hypertensive drug-and without the side effects. What about liver disease? Drinking coffee can reduce liver inflammation. Battling breast cancer? Consuming soy is associated with prolonged survival. Worried about heart disease (our #1 killer)? Switch to a whole-food, plant-based diet, which has been repeatedly shown not just to help prevent the disease, but arrest and even reverse it.
In addition to showing what to eat to help prevent the top 15 causes of death, How Not to Die includes Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen—a checklist of the foods we should try to consume every day. Full of practical, actionable advice and surprising, cutting-edge nutritional science, these doctor’s orders are just what we need to live longer, healthier lives” (NutritionFacts.org).
Are you familiar with the concept of siege warfare? “Siege Warfare was an ancient and medieval military operation involving the surrounding and blockading of a town, castle or fortress by an army in the attempt to capture it. To lay siege or to besiege.” The term derives from the Middle English word 'sege' from the Old French meaning blockade” (Alchin, 2018).
Scripture itself offers a vivid scope of true siege warfare and the atrocious effects that ripple through the affected people. Referring to 2 Kings 6, “Syria Besieges Samaria in Famine:”
24 And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. 25 And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a [a]kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver.
26 Then, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”
27 And he said, “If the Lord does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” 28 Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?”
And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”
30 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes; and as he passed by on the wall, the people looked, and there underneath he had sackcloth on his body.
Here in these few lines of scripture we see murder, famine, extreme starvation, desperation, isolation, chaos, items being sold on the black market for exorbitant prices, cannibalism, manipulation, deception, murder, death, destruction, deterioration of morality and judgment, survival mentality of the individual over others, bartering system, etc. The list could go on but just in these passages, we can visualize the effects of siege warfare can have on people and its pure effectiveness to deteriorate the target.
When you think of a Temple what comes to mind? I think of 1000 BCE - King David Conquers Jerusalem and declares it the city capital of the Jewish Kingdom or in 960 BCE - David's Son, King Solomon, Builds the first Jewish Temple (Jewish Virtual Library, 1999). This isn’t just a fortress, this is a complete and heavily fortified structure to protect the Holy of Holies. The layers of the Temple Mount starting at the innermost portion moving outward included: The Holy of Holies, The Holy Place, The Court, The Upper or Inner Court, The Great Court or Outer Court, The Temple walls, and the elevated Temple Mount walls. Additionally, outside of the Temple Mount walls was the city surrounded by yet another great wall (Dolphin, n.d.).
The entire Temple Mount was a walled place where the whole population could run to for safety during an attack. The walls of the temple are 2.4966 miles in length surrounding the Temple Mount. They are an average height of 39.37 feet tall and their average thickness are 8.2 feet thick. Just one of the large cut stones at the base of the walls can weight over 160,000 lbs. That is not just a temple, that is a strong fortress (Biblical Archaeology Society Staff, 2017).
If Satan’s ultimate goal is to destroy us, do you think he stops trying to find new ways to attack us? When besieging a town or fortified structure, armies would cut off the town from the surrounding area stripping them of their resources and supplies from the outside world. Satan wants to cut us off from the vital resources God has put on this planet for us. We are constantly under attack by Satan and he is always trying to find a weak spot in our fortification. It is an all-out attack by land, sea, and air and he will stop at nothing to tear down our walls. Why wouldn’t he try to attack our health?
As warrior men of God, we can’t be hypocrites who preach faith, walking in Christ, and praying daily but at the first sign of a male gathering we throw out what we know about protecting our temple fortress. We make the choices each day to fill our bodies with wholesome food providing the most nutrients and healing qualities. Satan doesn’t need to win today but he is winning one meal at a time.
According to an article published in October of 2017, “America's Obesity Epidemic Reaches Record High” by Felix Gussone, MD, “America's obesity crisis appears more unstoppable than ever. A troubling new report released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that almost 40 percent of American adults and nearly 20 percent of adolescents are obese — the highest rates ever recorded for the U.S. "It's difficult to be optimistic at this point," said Dr. Frank Hu, chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. "The trend of obesity has been steadily increasing in both children and adults despite many public health efforts to improve nutrition and physical activity." The continued weight increase in the youngest Americans is especially worrisome for long-term health. One in five adolescents, ages 12–19; one in five kids, ages 6–11, and one in ten preschoolers, ages 2–5 are considered obese, not just overweight” (Felix Gussone, 2017). If our Standard American Diet is killing us and our children through heart disease, diabetes, blood clots, clogged arteries, high blood pressure, cancer, sleep disorders, stroke, and suffocating our organs, then who do you think is really winning the battle?
In practical terms, we are supposed to put on the full armor of God, but we can’t put on the armor if we are too big to fit in it. If we are in desperate need for a plus-size in God’s armor, chances are we’re too big to move when you need to. An organization is only as strong or as fast as its slowest, weakest member. If our obesity is affecting our personal health, how much more is Satan affecting our lives and our spiritual health? We’re depressed, we’re out of breath, we can’t move, and we can barely serve.
Ephesians 6:11-18 King James Version (KJV)
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Dealing with our overall health is much more than a personal choice, we are consciously letting Satan affect multiple facets of our lives and it is preventing us from carrying out our responsibility to the Body of Christ, to have a full and joyful life, and to carry out the calling God has for us. If we are too sick to move, how can we have the endurance to finish the race?
We need to radically change the way we, as Christians, view diet and health in our church and community culture. When the topic of food and diet is brought up in community with one another. This only comes with helping one another, providing inspiration to others, and holding each other accountable. If anybody has ever been on a sports team, worked for an organization, or sat on the advisory board of a non-profit, we’ve come to realize we can’t have changed as a whole without accountability.