Ps 119:73 says, “Your hands made me and fashioned me;” We might ask ourselves, If I am the product of a perfect God, why do I feel so bad? And if we read the rest of the verse, it might put us on the right tract. “Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.”
Hosea 4:6 gives us the answer: “My people are destroyed because they don't know me, (or, for lack of knowledge) and it is all your fault, you priests, for you yourselves refuse to know me; therefore, I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten my laws, I will 'forget' to bless your children.
And back in verse four God is even more direct, "Don't point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame to him! Look, priest, I am pointing my finger at you.”
The ministers may be at fault but does that relieve us of the consequence of our actions? I think not.
But God promises His chosen in Exodus 15:26: "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer."
And in Ex 23:25-26; “But you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst. There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.”
And you can depend on our God for He is consistent, "For I, the LORD, do not change;” Mal 3:6. Also in Heb 13:8 Paul tells us, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and to day, and forever.
And we are all familiar with 2 Tim 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
Proverbs is a good source of much needed wisdom.
Prov. 3:1-2 my son, do not forget my teaching, But let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of life And peace they will add to you.
Prov. 4:20-22 “Listen, son of mine, to what I say. Listen carefully. Keep these thoughts ever in mind; let them penetrate deep within your heart, for they will mean real life for you and radiant health.
Cause and effect, for every effect there is a cause. Prov. 26:2 reminds us that, the curse, causeless shall not come.
What good to ask for healing if we keep doing the thing that made us sick? If you always do what you always did you will always get what you always got. It’s so hard to break old habits and traditions.
The creator has set certain laws that has always been and will always be in effect. Man has never yet broken one of those laws; he may break himself against them, but the law remains.
There are laws that cover and set in order many things.
There are laws of physics, like the law of gravity. Or the law of thermodynamics, which proves that anything left to it’s self, will simply degenerate back to its basic elements.
There is a law of agriculture, if you plant weeds, no-matter how hard you pray you wont raise corn. How many of us has sown wild oats and then prayed for a crop failure?
There are health laws that we constantly seem to be breaking ourselves against and then asking God to heal us so we can do it again. Why not clean ourselves up, physically as well as spiritually?
Leviticus tells us of things God holds to be clean and unclean. That is His determination not ours. To be clean is to be separated for God; to be unclean is to be separated from God. Do you think God might be speaking physically as well as spiritually?
On being clean, we read in Deut 23:13-14 of a law concerning sanitation: “Each man must have a spade as part of his equipment; after every bowel movement he must dig a hole with the spade and cover the excrement. The camp must be holy, for the Lord walks among you to protect you and to cause your enemies to fall before you; and the Lord does not want to see anything indecent lest he turn away from you.”
Many armies have caused their own defeat by ignoring this simple law of hygiene, and perhaps it caused God to turn away from them as well.
In 1847 London suffered a devastating epidemic of cholera because they would not apply this principle taught by the bible. A very wise man by the name of Edwin Chadwick was put in charge and was finally able to clean up the open sewers and cesspools that plagued all of London and brought the plague to an end. But he had to step on many political toes and made so many enemies that he was universally denounced.
Chadwickism was to the nineteenth century what McCarthyism would be to the twentieth century. When he first accepted the job of cleaning up London he wrote in his diary, “It will involve trouble, anxiety, reproach, abuse, unpopularity, I shall become a target for private assault and public press---God give me strength.” Such is the fate of anyone who attempts to change the status quo.
After 22 years of 10 and 12-hour days he was forced into retirement a very sick man. Yet many of today’s cities still use the methods he developed.
At about the same time, there was a doctor by the name of Ignaz Semmelweis who worked at a hospital in Vienna. He attempted to introduce the ridiculous procedure of washing ones hands between patients. Germs and bacteria were unheard of in those days so why bother with some old book that said one should practice cleanliness. Even though the death rate of his department dropped from 18% down to 1% he was unable to convince anyone and became known as “the clean freak.”
His successes at saving lives eventually cost him his job. Truth was blinded by prejudice, jealousy and pride. After a series of defeats and the frustrations of trying to change established procedures, Semmelweis was committed to and died in an insane asylum. If only someone would have taken Leviticus 12 or Numbers 19 seriously
In the 1700’s Norway was losing a battle with an epidemic of leprosy. Finally someone read, believed and acted on Leviticus 13:46 and isolated those with the disease. By the 1800’s leprosy was under control; but surely it couldn’t have been those silly biblical superstitions that stopped it. It must have just run its course.
And so the enlightened ones, who knew that the Old Testament was meant only for the Jews, then allowed lepers to wonder freely throughout the cities. Guess what. Once again leprosy flared out of control. Will we ever learn?
We are told in Lev. 7:23 not to eat the fat. It’s referring to the hard fat in particular that lies just under the skin around the out side of the muscle, or meat. We now know that that is where the body stores much of the poisons, infectious diseases, parasites and anything harmful to the body that the body can’t get rid of any other way. But it makes things taste so good when it’s used to cook with. Umm, smell that aroma.
Appetite has been the downfall of mankind as far back as the Garden of Eden, when Eve, as we do today, decided God didn’t really mean what He said.
We are also told not to eat blood. We now know that blood not only delivers nutrients throughout the body, but it also acts as the bodies sewer system and carries off waste products.
A certain tribe in Africa requires the drinking of blood as a coming of age rite. That would be like drinking water from a sewer. It’s significant that that tribe has a shorter life span then others in the area and they are plagued with more diseases. Ever tasted blood pudding or blood sausage? Its been said, we dig our graves with our spoon. How true.
Most of the meats we consume have not been bled properly and we are inadvertently eating blood. Soaking meat in salt water before cooking does help to draw the blood out. I’m sure restaurants take the time to do that, don’t they?
Let’s not ignore the great house cleaners, the scavengers; God’s vacuum cleaners. Purposely designed to keep land and waters clean.
Swine, “the other white meat”. The flavorful, aromatic, tasty meat that is so popular. God has much to say about the pig in all its many forms. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to avoid pork? When you start reading labels you will be surprised at where you will find the many byproducts of the swine. One would think there is an evil agenda being perpetrated here on earth, humm?
The modern way of raising pigs is now so much better we no longer need to be concerned about the health problems of eating swine, right? Wrong. The pig was not designed for human consumption and no matter what man does to make it clean God still knows that it is unclean. Consider what God says about the eating habits of some in the latter days.
Isa 66:17 “Those who [attempt to] sanctify themselves and cleanse themselves to enter [and sacrifice to idols] in the gardens, following after one in the midst, eating hog's flesh and the abomination [creeping things] and the [mouse--their works and their thoughts] shall come to an end together, says the Lord.
The cow eats grass yet the food that is eaten is filtered through four stomachs before it gets into the cows body. The pig will eat even it’s own excrement and what it eats goes through a very short digestive system and then directly into it’s flesh, mostly unchanged.
In an experiment at M.I.T. they fed hogs various refuse and within two hours it was found unchanged in the flesh of the pig. In another experiment infected pork was heated to extremely high temperatures in a pizza oven to see if the trichina worm could survive. Most died but some lived. So much for cooking your pork chops well done.
Shellfish and other bottom feeders we now know were put on earth to clean up polluted waters. Oysters, clams, lobsters etc, will actually purify waters that have been polluted by industrial wastes or any other poisonous wastes. Where do the poisons go? In you, if you chose to be stupid enough to partake of those fine delicacies.
God asks us a very important question in Isa 55:2-3 "Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live;”
There is so much more that needs to be discussed. Such as the four white killers, white flour, white sugar, white salt and white fat. But let me point you to some good sources of information. Remember your health is your responsibility. Take charge of it.
GOD’S KEY TO HEALTH AND HAPPINESS by Elmer A Josephson. A Baptist minister who was dying of cancer and was forced to take God’s instructions more seriously than he was taught in seminary.
WHY CHRISTIANS GET SICK, by Rev. George H. Malkmus. He had to fight colon cancer at age 42; and he won, because he acted on God’s word.
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT HEALTHY LIVING, by Rex Russell, M.D. Rex and his family was suffering from many ailments but cured them all except for his diabetes which he was able to bring under control.
Dr Russell developed a simple formula that guided him and his family to radiant health. It can do the same for you.
Three principles of living a healthy life:
1. Eat only what God created to be food for mankind.
2. Eat it as close to it’s natural state as possible.
3. Do not become addicted to any food or drink.
How to break the yoke of addiction.
Isa 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every [enslaving] yoke?
This verse, as with many in the bible, has a dual meaning. If one is addicted to anything they are under the yoke of wickedness, they are oppressed and enslaved. To break that yoke, Fast, particularly concerning what you are addicted to.
Other good books:
THE BIBLE CURE, by Reginald Cherry, M.D.
NONE OF THESE DISEASES, by S. McMillen, M.D. and David E. Stern, M.D.
WHAT WOULD JESUS EAT? By Don Colbert, M.D.
SPIRITUAL SECRETS TO PHYSICAL HEALTH. By Paul Johnson, M.D.
HEALING WISDOM FROM THE BIBLE. James E. Gibson, Ph.D.
Knowledge can be learned, but wisdom comes from God.
Christ was very respectful of God’s temple while here on earth. Since our bodies are the holy temple dedicated to God shouldn’t we be concerned how we treat them least we offend the Holy Spirit. Remember how He cautioned Israel in Duet. 23:14 to be careful not to offend Him? He said “----- that He see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.”
Your body is a priceless, irreplaceable, gift from the King, treat it accordingly.
Sermon given 5/3/03 by Del Leger, pastor, Christian Church Of God.