What the Bible Says About Healthy Living

Top List of Healing Foods from the Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin

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Below is a summary of the top healing foods from the Bible as listed in The Maker's Diet by Jordan Rubin.

· Fish and fish oil: Rich sources of protein, potassium, vitamins, and minerals. The healing power comes from the omega 3 fatty acids. The best fish are the cold water fish such as salmon, sardines, bluefish, herring, lake trout, mackerel, sablefish, whitefish, bluefin tuna and anchovies as well as in cod liver oil.
· Grains of the Bible: The description of the promised Land in Deut 8:8 was a land of wheat and barley. John 6:9-13 describes the food the young boy brought to Jesus as five barley loaves. The young sprouts of these grains are known as cereal grasses and juicing them contains four essential compounds largely absent from our diet – Antioxidant enzymes, trace minerals, chlorophyll, high-quality vegetable proteins.
· Cultured dairy from goats, cows and sheep: The milk of the Bible was consumed straight from the animals and was not pasteurized or homogenized or it was immediately fermented. They could not keep dairy products fresh so they learned from the wine fermentation process and used it to preserve dairy products. The result is what we know today as yogurt, cheese and curds. (see page 148 for benefits)
· Olive Oil: Olive oil is one of the most digestible of all fats. Olive oil contributes to health of the bodies’ tissues, organs, and brain. It also reduces heart disease.
· Small fruit (figs, grapes, berries) Figs are mentioned more than fifty times in the Bible and are the first fruit specifically named in scripture (Gen 3:7). Grapes were the first crops Noah planted after the flood (Gen 9:20) Grapes fight tooth decay, stop viruses, and are rich in other ingredients that researchers believe may lower the risk of cancer.
· Soups/stocks: Stocks and soups appear in biblical diets as we see in Judges 6:19.
· Healthy saturated fats (high vitamin butter, coconut oil) Butter from grass-fed animals. Extra-virgin coconut oil is one of the healthiest saturated fats available. Coconut oil can tolerate extremely high heats (other oils become rancid at high temperatures). Coconut oil reduces symptoms of digestive orders, supports overall immune functions, and helps prevent bacterial, viral, and fungal infections.
· Honey: The Bible implies a strong influence of butter and honey on brain function: Isa 7:15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. Look for high quality produced locally and sold in its raw and unheated form preserving the enzymes.
· Seeds (Soaked and sprouted) The germination process produces vitamin c and increases the B vitamins. (p152)
· Omega 3 eggs: Eggs contain all known nutrients except for vitamin c.
· Cultured/fermented vegetables: fermented vegetables provide the body with natural probiotics and enzymes. Sauerkraut, pickled carrots, beets, or cucumbers.
· Organ Meats: Liver from grass fed animals is dense with vitamins A, D, B6, and B12.
· Fermented beverages: kefir, grape cooler, natural gingerale, combucha and kvass.
· Green vegetables: Green leafy veggies contain beta carotene and virtually every mineral and trace element.

Lesson 3 Part 1: Intro

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This is the final section of the material. Lesson 3 is posted in 3 parts for easier reading.

Proverbs 3:7-8

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

We have looked at a lot of information over the last two lessons.

Briefly, Jesus came to fulfill the law, not abolish it. Even though foods have been declared clean for spiritual purposes, there are valid reasons backed up by archaeological and scientific research for following the OT healthy Living Laws.

Lesson 3 Part 2: Avoid Food Addictions

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The third principle is Avoid food addictions: Don’t let food or drink become your God.

Exodus 20:3: You shall have no other gods before me.

When anything consumes our attention and replaces God, even good things can be made bad. Common substances that we become dependent on are caffeine, fat, sugar, and salt.

The following verse describes what happened when Isarael substituted an overabundance of food for God.

Deuteronomy 32:15 : Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek.  He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior.

There are also direct commands against drunkenness and alcoholics suffer from heart disease, liver disease, bowel diseases, joint problems, mental disorders, along with various other aches, pains, and fatigue.

Dr. Russell’s recommendation for avoiding food addictions is fasting. A physical explanation of the benefits of fasting is that during this time of rest from food, the enzyme systems replenish themselves to their proper balance.

There are various reasons for fasting in the Scriptures: mourning, seeking God’s face, obtaining answers to prayer, deliverance from enemies and oppressors, getting closer to God, and asking God to intervene in our lives. Clearly the benefits of fasting are largely spiritual.

Fasting is a whole study in itself so just briefly, Dr. Russell describes four kinds of fasts.

Normal Fast: Not eating food for a definite time period: 1 day, 3 days, one week, one month and 40 days are some of the fasting times observed in the Scriptures.

Absolute Fast: Not ingesting food or water – should be short. Moses did an absolute fast for 40 days.

Partial Fast: Omitting a certain amount of meals or certain foods for a specific period of time. Daniel, John the Baptist, and Elijah are some examples of the partial fast.

Rotational Fast: Avoiding certain foods periodically

We typically fast every night while we sleep. Again, a whole study can be devoted to this topic so I just wanted to mention it briefly. Please note sustained fasting should be done with professional guidance.

Personal note about liking frappacinos. I generally don’t like coffee. But I do like the littled bottled frappacinos. But there have been times when I have “fasted” from them such as when following a yeast-free diet. But I really like them. So when it was time to add foods back to my diet, I got a frappacino. And I felt like a heroin addict getting a fix. It was such a total ahhhhh experience. That’s one reason, I don’t drink alcohol except for rare occasions. I know that I am not a sipper. I’m a gulper. So I know my weaknesses and try not to put myself in a position to become addicted.

Lesson 3 Part 3: Hygiene Laws

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Now, a note about the hygiene laws. While we have focused so far on dietary laws, healthy living involves hygiene rules also. Way before the scientific community recognized the value of cleanliness, the Israelites were following God’s guidelines on sewage disposal. Deut 23:12 says put your outhouse outside the camp.

Archaeologists have noted that during the Roman Empire, Roman cities and camps planned their sewage and cisterns in the center of their compounds which allowed contamination of the water supply and made them vulnerable to epidemics and plagues. The contrast are both Jewish and Muslim communities have been spared many of those tragedies by following the OT hygiene principles.

In fact, during the black plague that killed millions during the middle ages, the European Jews were spared the disease, and consequently suffered great persecution because they were healthy.

In the Middle Ages the common people did not have access to the scriptures. It is said that as Louis Pasteur developed his theories and learned more scientifically, his faith became stronger. His discoveries help check some of the terrible epidiemics.

Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis became known as the savior of mothers when he discovered that just by washing hands in the ob gyn ward between patients, deaths decreased significantly. His work was used by Louis Pasteur to develop the germ theory.

It was a major discussion in a scripture we’ve already looked at – Mark 7—on washing hands before eating. We also know that there were ceremonial wash stands for the priests to use. So these are just examples of God’s guidelines proved valid by scientific discovery.

There are guidelines on sexual behavior and without going specifically into each prohibition (don’t have sex with your children or homosexual behavior), we know that avoiding sex before marriage and being faithful to your spouse is good disease prevention. We have new diseases and new strains of old diseases developing because of our sexual revolution.

Perhaps a good closing Proverb is one we have already looked at

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

Please understand that many of the problems that happen to us by not following the guidelines given by God are not His punished meted out to us but a result of the natural laws resulting from His creation.

My goal here was to give you new information and new things to think about and encourage you to start or to continue a journey to healthy living so that your focus can be on serving God with the gifts he has given you.

Lesson 2 Part 3: A Look at Fats and Sugars

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A couple of other notes about foods which have been changed from natural form – fats and sugars.

Fats found in foods as they naturally occur are generally healthful including the natural marbled flesh of clean animals fed grasses and not fed antibiotics or injected with hormones. To turn grains and seeds into cooking oils requires a high level of processing and refining and uses chemicals. At the end, there is then a clear, odorless oil that we use in cooking.

Sugars – Our tongues were created with taste buds specifically to taste sweet. The sweetener mentioned in the Bible is honey. It is mentioned 56 times! Honey contains various enzymes, minerals, amino acids, and vitamins that aid in digestion. Most biblical references indicate that honey is good for you:

Proverbs 2:4 – My son, eat thou honey because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet to thy taste.

Honey also has a substance in it that causes nausea if too much is eaten.

Read Prov 26:16 If you find honey, eat just enough— too much of it, and you will vomit.

White sugar and artificial sugars have been through a lot of processing and are altered from the original creation. Other sweeteners mentioned in the Bible are freshly squeezed juices, dates and sugar cane.

Lesson 2 PART 2: Principle 2: Eat Foods as They Were Created

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Principle 2: Eat foods as they were created.

Dr. Russell quotes the following proverb to emphasize his second principle.

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

As the food technology industry developed, it changed the way we get our food. Much of the time, by the time we get the food home, it is far removed from its original form – a long way from how nature produced it. There is a big movement to eat local and eat seasonally. It is part of the sustainable movement. It means eating the foods that are grown locally and in season so that you getting food closest to the source of production.

Back to Gen 1:29 and where God gave every seed for food.

Seeds are in 3 forms: grains, beans (legumes) and nuts.

Seeds reproduce themselves at rates of 100 to 1,000 times a year. They supply everything we need nutritionally for food. Grains can be grown from the arctic to the Antarctic. Grains have good storage life. Kernels of wheat found buried with Egyptian pharaohs can still be sprouted 4,000 years later. The proteins in seeds are of the highest quality and usefulness for us and include enzymes that are important in allowing us to digest the rest of the kernel.

By the way, some translations use the word corn when talking about fields of grain. It doesn’t mean corn as we know it. More correctly translated it means grain.

Bread, made from grains and seeds of course, is commonly spoken of in the Bible – from eating stories – breaking bread to the loaves and fishes story to the symbolism Jesus used when he speaks of himself as the bread of life.

The bread they baked is vastly different than the loaf of bread we buy off the grocer’s shelf. There is a rise in popularity of a bread called Ezekial bread and it gets its name from

Ezek 4:9: Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself.

I started eating Ezekiel break last year after several years of avoiding bread in general. There are several varieties of Ezekiel bread but this is Ezek 4:9. It is low on the glycemic index meaning that the rate at which the body converts it to sugar is very slow. It will not cause a rise in blood sugar. It is also very high in protein. It is made from sprouted grain. Sprouted grains are the grain seeds that have begun to grow the plant. As the plant sprouts from the grain, it uses the stored sugar in the grain as food for the growing plant. Thus using the sprouted grain means the plant has already used its sugar store so the resulting bread has less sugar.

Lesson 2 Part 1: Clean Versus Unclean Foods

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Dr. Rex Russell M.D. in his book, What the Bible Says About Healthy Living, provides some fascinating facts about the differences between clean and unclean meats.

Generally, we don’t have controversy regarding the plant foods. Meat is where we have digressed from the original guidelines.

We learn in Leviticus what land and water creatures are permitted to eat.

Lev 11:3 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.

Lev 11:9 Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales.

What are the benefits of eating clean meats? Meats contain proteins, iron, zinc and vitamins B6 and B12. Clean animal flesh contains omega 3 fatty acids. These fatty acids are essential for life and offer strong protection from vascular diseases.

Clean animals generally eat grasses and grains that were also designed for food. The design of these animals’ digestive tracts is especially significant. A cow’s stomach contains four rumination pouches in which various kinds of bacteria help to digest grasses and grains. These bacteria compete for nutrients, crowding out harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites. They also destroy many toxins before they reach the flesh of the cow. The digestive system presents the flesh with purified nutrients. This process also allows deposits of healthy 3-omega fatty acids into a grazing animal’s flesh. These fatty acids are protection against the harmful effects of triglycerides or cholesterol.

Unclean meats were designed by God to be the cleaners of the creation. While not all unclean animals are scavengers, there is ample evidence that even the non scavengers are the source of viruses and parasites when consumed.

Let’s look at pork, a common part of the Standard American Diet. The digestive system of the pig is completely different from the cow. Pigs’ stomachs are very acidic. Pigs are gluttonous, never knowing when to stop eating. Their stomach acids become diluted because of the volume of food, allowing all kinds of vermin to pass through this protective barrier. Parasites, bacteria, viruses and toxins can pass into the pig’s flesh because of overeating.

We have a clear idea of the Egyptian diseases from radiographs and autopsies performed on mummies. The most common affliction of the Egyptians appears to be vascular diseases that resulted in severely calcified arteries. Other common maladies included arthritis, tooth decay, infections, cancer, emphysema, tuberculosis, parasites, pneumonia and obesity. Historically, Pharaohs and other royalty were the only ones whose diets included large quantities of meat and other delicacies.

The same is true for unclean water life: creatures without fins and scales.

Shellfish – shrimp, crabs, lobster are considered are common food for us here on the gulf coast! Shellfish can be placed in a body of water that is contaminated with cholera bacteria, and they will purify the water. Shrimp, oysters, crab, scallops and mussels are particularly efficient at this. They filter large volumes of water every day. Catfish is another popular food but they are bottom feeders! Now, you may think there is a different for farm raised creatures. The author includes a story about a peach farmer that sprayed his crop with insecticide. A rain followed and washed the insecticide into the pond. The catfish did their job, cleaning the water but most of them died. None of the fish that had fins and scales died.

Another common argument for eating unclean meat is that we have better cooking methods now. Sophisticated ovens and cooking devices have been found in the most ancient archeological ruins, including most of the Israelites’ ruins. In fact, there are God given instructions for cooking meat – look at the instructions for preparing the Passover lamb.

Lesson 1 Summary: The Significance of the Old Law and Introduction to Clean and Unclean

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Throughout the scriptures, God has made promises to us. One of the great things about God’s character is that He is faithful.

Read Exodus 15:26. What is the promise contained in that verse?

The laws God gave his people were used to teach His people obedience and were a way to spare them from many preventable illnesses and problems.

Read Matthew 5:17. Jesus came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.

The Old Testament dietary laws are not significant for us spiritually. In Mark 7:1-23, Jesus has a discussion with the Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law regarding what is clean and unclean. Jesus list sins that are morally significant and points out that what makes us unclean comes from within. This is the passage where Jesus declares all foods clean; however, clean and healthy are two different concepts.

Clean means set apart for God.

Read Genesis 15:6. Because Abram believed, it was credited to him as righteousness. The grace/faith principle has been there all along, simply overshadowed by legalism.

Dr. Rex Russell suggest three principles for eating according to biblical principles:

1. Eat what God created for food.
2. Eat foods at they are created.
3. Avoid food addictions.

Read Genesis 1:29. What did God provide for food?

Read Ezekiel 16:19: What gifts did God provide for food?

Read Leviticus 11:3 What are the food guidelines provided?

Read Leviticus 11:9 What are the food guidelines provided?

Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Using this verse, what would be the benefit of eating by the Old Testament dietary laws?

Read Proverbs 3:7-8. Summarize what this means for you in the choices you make.

Introduction: Before Lesson 1

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The Old Testament is a record of the history of Israel and the covenant of God with His people. The Old Testament points the way to the coming of Jesus. The first five books are known as books of Law. Leviticus records the laws given to Moses by God.

Christians generally do not consider themselves bound by Old Testament Laws. The New Testament is gospel: The good news about Jesus Christ. It is through Jesus Christ that we have our salvation:

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

But as the early church developed and more Gentiles came to believe in Jesus, the subject of the validity of the Law of Moses had to be addressed. Acts 15 tells the story of the Jerusalem council where the Pharisees wanted to require the Gentiles to obey the Law of Moses. The Council concluded that Gentiles needed only avoid foods that would be offensive to religious Jews who believed in Jesus but still followed the Mosaic law.

Read Exodus 15:26

What is the promise contained in that verse?

Read Matthew 5:17

What is Jesus relationship to the law?

Read Mark 7:1-23 and make note of the sins that Jesus points out in the passage.

What did Jesus mean when he declared all foods clean?

Read Deuteronomy 14.

List what is permitted to eat.

List what is not permitted to eat.

What do you hope to learn in this class?