24-Questions Regarding Health - NKJ

1. Didn't Jesus Say, "It Is Not What Goes into a Man But It's What Goes Out Which Defiles Him?".
Mark 7:18-20 So He said to them, "Are you thus without _understanding_ also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, [19] because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is _eliminated_, thus _purifying_ all foods?" [20] And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.

2. The New Testament Plainly Tells Us to Keep Our Bodies Undefiled As Temples of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 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? [20] For you were _bought_ at a price; _therefore_ _glorify_ God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

1 Corinthians 3:17 If anyone _defiles_ the temple of God, God will _destroy_ him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, _whether_ you eat or drink, or _whatever_ you do, do all to the glory of God.

3. The Scriptures Are Consistent in Their Teaching.
They do not tell us to carefully consider what to eat and Drink in one place, and then in another place tell us it doesn't matter what we Drink and eat.

 4. The Pharisees Had Very Strict Laws Regarding Ceremonial Cleanliness.
Mark 7:1 Then the _Pharisees_ and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from _Jerusalem_.

Mark 7:2 Now when they saw some of His _disciples_ eat bread with defiled, that is, with _unwashed_ hands, they found fault.

Mark 7:3 For the _Pharisees_ and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the _tradition_ of the elders.

Mark 7:4 When they come from the _marketplace_, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, _pitchers_, copper vessels, and couches.

Mark 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, "Why do Your _disciples_ not walk according to the _tradition_ of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?"

5. Jesus' Remarks in Mark 7:18-20 Are to Refute This Missunderstanding of the Teachers of That Day.
Mark 7:18-20 So He said to them, "Are you thus without _understanding_ also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, [19] because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is _eliminated_, thus _purifying_ all foods?" [20] And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.

The object of the discussion in Mark 7 was not the Levitical health laws of Leviticus 11 which were given by a loving God to preserve the health of His people. The discussion was about the Jewish "tradition of the elders" (mark 7:5). The Pharisees believed that to eat with unwashed hands, a person absorbed or took in defilement from the Gentiles. Jesus was not repudiating the health laws which our Lord Himself gave. Instead He was rejecting the idea that a person was ceremonially defiled by touching a Gentile.

In the context of Mark 7, Jesus is saying that "nothing from outside you can produce defilement or sin. " All sin begins in the mind. The Jews rejected God's commandments, to maintain their tradition of exclusiveness (mark 7:9).

The expression "purging all meats" (k. J. V. ) in verse 19 is better translated "purging all foods. " The word is "broma. " No food is ceremonially unclean. No food carries sin within it. Not from without, but from within sin arises (mark 7:21).

Jesus did not promote unclean animals as food. They were scavengers never to be eaten. The issue in Mark 7 is not health as to whether or not to eat unclean animals, but rather ceremonial defilement which the Jews believed came from touching Gentiles, transferring their defilement into themselves through foods into the body.

 6. Didn't Paul Say, "Meat Doesn't Commend Us to God, We Are No Better Or Worse If We Eat It. ".".
1 Corinthians 8:8 But food does not _commend_ us to God; for _neither_ if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.

7. Didn't He Also Say That We Should Eat Whatever Is Sold in the Market Place?
1 Corinthians 10:25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no _questions_ for _conscience_' sake;

8. Paul Answers the Questions at the Beginning of 1 Corinthians 8.
1 Corinthians 8:1 Now _concerning_ things offered to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love _edifies_.

9. So That No One Will Misunderstand Paul Emphasizes the Same Reason in Verse 4.
1 Corinthians 8:4 Therefore _concerning_ the eating of things _offered_ to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.

10. Concerning the Quote From 1 Corinthians 10, Verse 25, Paul Ends His Discussion About Meat Offered to Idols in Verse 28.
1 Corinthians 10:28 But if anyone says to you, "This was offered to idols," do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for _conscience_' sake; for "the earth is the Lord's, and all its _fullness_."

11. Portions of the Meat Which Were Used in Idol Worship at Pagan Temples in Corinth Were Then Sold in the Market Places.
This led some very strict Jews to become vegetarians.

 12. Note What Paul Said to the Romans.
Romans 14:2-4 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only _vegetables_. [3] Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has _received_ him. [4] Who are you to judge _another's_ _servant_? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.

13. The Issue at Stake Here, Both in Corinth and in Rome, Is Whether It Is Morally Wrong to Eat Meat Offered to Idols.
In the eating of this meat, is a person actually participating in idol worship?

 14. Paul's Response Is That Idols Are Nothing at All.
1 Corinthians 8:4 Therefore _concerning_ the eating of things _offered_ to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.

15. However, Paul Does Go on to Address the Idea That Our Liberty May Become a Stumbling Block for Someone Else.
1 Corinthians 8:11-13 And because of your _knowledge_ shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? [12] But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak _conscience_, you sin against Christ. [13] _Therefore_, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

16. At Stake Here Is Not Unclean Foods But Food Offered to Idols.
Jesus did not come to cleanse pigs. Unclean animals which were unhealthful in the Old Testament are still unhealthful in the New Testament.

 17. The Lord Will Not Withhold Any Good Thing From Us.
Psalms 84:11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He _withhold_ From those who walk _uprightly_.

18. Unclean Animals Do Not Fall in the Category of Good Things.
They are scavengers and unfit for food.

 19. Aren't the Health Laws in the Bible Just Jewish Old Testament Rituals Which Christ Did Away with at the Cross?
When Jesus died, He gave His life to redeem mankind. His death did not affect in anyway what was healthy and what was not healthy. It only makes sense that if pork, for example, was unhealthy because it was a scavenger before the cross, it is unhealthy because it is a scavenger after the cross.

Contrary to popular opinion, the Biblical health laws are not for the Jews alone.

When Noah entered the ark, he was instructed to bring the unclean in by twos. Since the clean animals would be eaten due to the shortage of vegetation after the flood, they were brought in by sevens.

In Leviticus 11, God distinguishes between clean and unclean animals for all mankind.

 20. Isaiah Describes Those Who Rebel Against God As Worshipping Idols and Eating Swines Flesh.
Isaiah 65:2-4 I have stretched out My hands all day long to a _rebellious_ people, Who walk in a way that is not good, According to their own thoughts; [3] A people who provoke Me to anger _continually_ to My face; Who _sacrifice_ in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick; [4] Who sit among the graves, And spend the night in the tombs; Who eat swine's flesh, And the broth of _abominable_ things is in their vessels;

The prophet Isaiah reveals the results of rebellion as destroying those who eat unclean animals.

God knows best. He wants for us to be in good health. He invites us to give up anything that will harm our body temple in which He want to dwell.

 21. Since God Told Noah, "Every Moving Thing Which Liveth Shall Be Meat for You," Isn't It Permissible to Eat Whatever We Want?
Genesis 9:3 Every _moving_ thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all _things_, even as the green herbs.

Genesis 7:2 You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of _animals_ that are _unclean_, a male and his female;

We might ask, "was God giving Noah permission to eat snakes, rats, alligators, lizards, worms, and cockroaches? Certainly not! Noah already knew the difference between clean and unclean foods.

God was simply making a statement. Noah, you may now eat flesh foods.

The evidence is that God clearly forbade unclean animals later in both Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.

 22. God Does Not Change.
Psalms 89:34 My _covenant_ I will not break, Nor _alter_ the word that has gone out of My lips.

Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I do not change; _Therefore_ you are not _consumed_, O sons of Jacob.

23. Since God Does Not Change, Would He Give Permission to Noah to Do Something He Forbade Moses to Do?

All of God's Laws Including Those Relating to Health Were Given in Love to Reduce Disease and Increase Happiness.

Exodus 15:26 And said, If you _diligently_ heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His _commandments_ and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the _Egyptians_. For I am the LORD who heals you.

Many in the scientific community recognize that the health principles of the Bible can significantly assist in reducing heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer. God's ways are best.

 24. Doesn't the Bible Say to Beware of Those Who Command You to Abstain From Meat?
1 Timothy 4:3 Forbidding to marry, and _commanding_ to abstain from foods which God created to be received with _thanksgiving_ by those who believe and know the truth.

Genesis 1:29 And God said, See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose _fruit_ yields seed; to you it _shall_ be for food.

This passage describes a group who depart from the Biblical faith in the last days. According To Timothy 4:3, they teach twin errors. This group forbids marriage and commands to abstain from meats (k. J. V. ) or foods (greek: broma) which God has created to be received with thanksgiving. The word meat (k. J. V. ) refers not to animals in particular, but food in general. The same word is used in the Greek version of the Old Testament in Genesis 1:29.

The Greek word broma, could as well be translated as food, rather than meat. Meat was an old English term that was used for food.

Throughout the centuries, certain ascetics, monks, and priests have declared the world as evil. Both marriage and food are created by God. They are both part of God's good plan for the human race.

According to 1 Timothy 4:4, 5, those creatures sanctified by the word of God are good and not to be refused when received with thanksgiving. Paul here is arguing against the fanaticism which declares all physical pleasure as evil.

God desires that His creatures heartily enjoy the food He has created for them. The issue here is not clean or unclean foods, but whether food itself is part of the material world and to be rejected through a monastic life. Paul says no! God's creation is good.

 25. What Difference Does It Make As to What We Eat and Drink? Isn't God Interested Only in Our Spirituality?
Human beings are a unit. Whatever affects the physical also affects the mental and the spiritual faculties. Our physical habits affect the quality of blood which passes through the brain. A poor quality of blood supplied to the brain makes one less capable of comprehending spiritual truth.

 26. Paul Says This About Body and the Spirit:
1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you _completely_; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved _blameless_ at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, _acceptable_ to God, which is your _reasonable_ service.

27. John Adds This:
3 John 1:2 Beloved, I pray that you may _prosper_ in all things and be in health, just as your soul _prosper_s.

Next Bible Study: 25-State of the Dead

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