Health Plan. Lesson 10. Prophecy Study Guides by Desire Media, Inc. 2010

Transcription

1 Health Plan Lesson 10 Prophecy Study Guides by Desire Media, Inc. 2010

2 In a health study featured in National Geographic Magazine, and sponsored by the US government, Dan Buettner researched 3 regions in the world where people lived the longest lives. He called these regions Blue Zones. One of these Blue Zones is a religious community in Southern California called Loma Linda. Loma Linda is a city that is home to the largest concentration of Seventh Day Adventists in the world. As a result of the research and many studies, Dan Buettner learned that Seventh Day Adventists live, on average, about 10 years longer than the rest of the US population. What is their secret to living longer? Dan, who is not a Seventh Day Adventist, summarized his findings into 3 categories. First, he says they take their diet plan directly from the Bible, where in Genesis 1 and 2, it talks about a plant based diet of fruits and vegetables. Secondly, they take a 24 hour period every week, from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday, and devote it to rest, time with God and time with family. Thirdly, most of them abstain from meat and alcohol, and make physical activity a way of life. We ve already studied about spending time with God and the Sabbath, but what does the Bible say about this health plan that gives longer life? Let s begin this lesson: 1. Does the Bible have a plan for our health? Answer: 3John 1:2 I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in even as your soul prospers. Rev 2:7 To him that overcomes will I give to of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. One of the most important teachings in the Bible, is that God wants us to be in good health physically as well as spiritually. God plans for us to eat the fruit from the tree of life some day. Fruit is one of the healthiest form of nourishment, that our bodies can get. 2. What was God s original diet plan for man? Answer: Gen 1:29 I have given you every herb bearing seed and every tree, which is the of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food. In the beginning, God s plan was for man to eat fruit. This included a wide varitety of foods. A fruit is the product of the blossom in a plant. 3. What changed after Adam and Eve sinned? Answer: Gen 3:18 and you shall eat the of the field. After Adam and Eve sinned, God gave them the herb of the field. Vegetables were then introduced into man s diet.

3 4. When were flesh foods allowed into man s diet? Answer: Gen 9:3 Every moving thing that lives shall be for you; even as the green herb have I given you. It wasn t until after The Flood that God allowed animals to be food for man. When Noah first got off the Ark, there were no gardens to supply man with the food he needed. 5. Did God intend for man to eat any kind of animal? Answer: Gen 7:2 Of every beast you shall take by sevens, and of beasts that are not clean by two. God made a difference between clean and unclean animals. Noah took seven of the clean animals into the ark but only two of the unclean. If Noah had eaten one of the unclean animals, that animal species would have become extinct. 6. How did God distinguish clean animals from unclean? Answer: Lev 11:47 Make a difference between the unclean and the, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten. The Bible makes tells us there is a difference between unclean and clean animals. These differences are divided into three major distinctions: Land Animals: Lev 11:3 What ever parts the hoof, and chews the cud, that shall you eat. Water Animals: Lev 11:12 What ever has no fins nor scales in the waters, shall be an abomination to you. Birds: Lev 11:13-19 these shall not be eaten: the eagle, ossifrage, ospray, vulture, raven, owl, hawk, swan, pelican, eagle, stork, heron, bat. Foraging birds, such as the chicken, quail, and turkey are clean, but birds of prey and scavengers are not clean. 7. What other restrictions did God give about meat eating? Answer: Gen 9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the thereof, shall you not eat. Lev 3:17 eat neither nor blood. The two major restrictions were, not to eat blood or fat. God gave instructions how to drain the blood and cut out the fat from an animal before eating it. Most of the meat processing is not done the way the Bible tells us to. There are some, called Kosher that process meat the way the Bible says to.

4 8. Is it a serious offense to eat unclean food? Answer: 1 Cor3:16, 17 You are the temple of God...If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God. Isa 66:17 They that sanctify themselves, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be together. The Bible says that we are the temple of God, and if we defile this temple, God will destroy us. In 1Cor 6:19, it says our bodies are the temple of God. Of all the animals listed as unclean, the pig seems to be mentioned most often. The Bible says God will consume those who defile themselves by eating swine s flesh and other abominable things. 9. What is the ideal Bible diet? Answer: Dan 1:12 Prove thy servants, ten days; Let them give us to eat, and water to drink. Dan 1:15 And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Dan 1:20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, the king found them times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm. Rather than eat the king s food, which was unclean, and drink the king s wine, Daniel and his three friends chose to obey God s word, and not defile their bodies. They proposed a ten day test. Give us pulse to eat, they said, and test us to see if we aren t healthier than those who eat from the king s table. At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his friends were fairer (healthier looking) and ended up ten times better (wiser) than all the wise men that worked for the king. (Pulse is any food derived from a plant.) 10. What does the Bible say about alcohol? Answer: Pro 20:1 Wine is a, strong drink is raging: and whoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Pro 23:31-32 Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it gives his color in the cup, when it itself aright. At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder. Wine is a mocker, and a deceiver. There are 2 kinds of wine in the Bible: fermented wine, and grape juice. They are both called wine, which has confused many Christians. The Bible says don t even look at the wine that moves (is fermented) itself. The fermented wine, or alcohol, is forbidden. The Bible talks about new wine, which is unfermented grape juice (Isaiah 65:8)

5 11. What about smoking, caffeine, and other harmful foods? Answer: 1Co 6:19 What? Know ye not that your is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, and ye are not your own? 1Cor 10:31 Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or what ever you do, do to the glory of God. Your body is the temple, or dwelling place, of the Holy Ghost. The Bible tells us that in everything we do, we should do all to God s glory, including what we eat and drink. 12. Didn t God clean all animals in Acts 10? Answer: Act 10:14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have eaten any thing that is common or unclean. Acts 10:28 God has showed me that I should not call any common or unclean. Was God telling Peter it was now okay to eat unclean animals? No. When the heavenly voice invited Peter to kill and eat, Peter said, I have never eaten anything unclean. Peter told us what this vision meant in vs. 28, when he said, God has shown me not to consider any man common or unclean. Up until this time, the Jews considered gentiles (people who were not Jews) unclean and they wouldn t keep company with gentiles. God wanted the gospel to go to the gentiles, but first He needed to teach this lesson to His disciples. 13. Doesn t 1Tim 4 say that no food is to be refused? Answer: 1Tim 4:3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath to be received with thanksgiving. The subject is meats (foods) which God has created to be received or eaten. Which foods did He create to be eaten? Fruits, vegetables, and later He allowed clean animals. 1Tim 4:4,5 For every 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. The word creature means things created. Here, the Bible is referring to the things God created in verse 3 to be eaten, which were the fruits, vegetables, and later the clean animals, which were sanctified by the word of God. Only fruits, vegetables and clean animals were sanctified by the Word.

6 14. Are Bible health principles still practical today? A. Quarantine procedures control contagious disease (Leviticus 13:46). B. Human-body waste should be buried (Deuteronomy 23:12, 13). C. Washing the body and clothing controls germs (Leviticus 17:15, 16). D. Moral living prevents sexual diseases (Lev18; Proverbs 5:1-12; Colossians 3:5, 6). E. Animal fat should not be eaten (Leviticus 3:17; 7:22-24). F. Hatred and bitterness is detrimental to one's health (Leviticus 19:17, 18; Proverbs 15:17; Hebrews 12:14, 15). G. Overeating is harmful (Proverbs 23:2). H. Our bodies need proper rest (Psalm 127:2; Mark 6:31). I. Importance of work (Exodus 20:9, 10; 2 Thessalonians 3:10). J. A positive attitude is good medicine (Proverbs 17:22; 1 Timothy 6:6). K. Parents' habits affect children (Deuteronomy 12:25; Exodus 20:5). Long before modern science confirmed them, the Bible knew about these health practices. Science is just now catching up with what God gave to us long ago. 15. Does God really care that we have healthy bodies? Answer: Rom 12:1 I beseech you, that you present your a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. A healthy body means a healthy mind. God so wants to speak to our minds. He wants us to be able to hear and understand His voice. With a healthy body and mind we can better hear and respond to His leading. That s why the Bible tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God. God really cares about us and wants us in the best possible health. Answer:. Hopefully your answer is yes. Are you willing to follow God s health plan for yourself? End of lesson 10 (Next lesson: Revelation s True Church ) For more information or if you have questions please contact us at the addresses below. Desire Media PO Box 220 Henagar, AL us at: biblestudy@desiremedia.org Visit our website at: call: Desire Media, Inc. is a non profit, 501c 3 corporation and tax exempt ministry run by volunteers and supported by donations.