Health – 8 Secrets from the Bible

Notes from Stephen Bohr’s “The Genesis Code” #29: The Eight Health Secrets in Genesis

1. Before the fall
– The perfect environment

These 8 laws are exemplified as the things God explicitly told us that he created for us, the things that we need:

1. Sunshine (creation of light)
2. Fresh air (creation of the firmament)
3. Fresh water (creation of the springs of waters)
4. Plants and fruit (creation of plants and fruit bearing trees)
5. Concept of temperance (creation of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil)
6. The need for rest and sleep (creation of the night)
7. The need for exercise (Genesis 2:15 God intended man to work/tend the garden and maintain it)
8. Trust in Divine power of the Creator (demonstrated by the creation of the Sabbath)

(Confusion about the creation account centers on everything that God did not tell us. God told us the good things that we must remember to obtain from His creation. The Genesis 1 account focuses on the things we need to remember and use in our everyday life, not on a scientific explanation of a supernatural process)

Ministry of Healing page 127
by Ellen White
“pure air, sunlight, abstaining from the harmful, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust in divine power – these are the true remedies.”

These alone are not sufficient to maintain life, God created a battery charger:

Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Bible teaches devolution from a perfect state until today.

The five different environmental stages of human history

2. Between the fall and the flood

Denied access to the battery charger to replenish life

Genesis 3:22-24 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Nature after the fall suffered greatly by the act of sin by Adam and Eve. The environment suffered, produced thorns and thistles, introduced death, but was still hospitable and could sustain life spans of 800-900 years.

Romans 8:20-22 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

People violated laws of health and morality:

Genesis 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Genesis 6:11-12 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

3. Between the flood and today

The environment was severely damaged and the lifespans dropped very quickly from 800-900 years down to 100-150 years. The ecosystem was destroyed, deserts and ice caps and salt water appeared, cosmic rays were no longer blocked by the layer of water above the earth, disease occurred and the land was less fertile

Sham 600 years
Arphaxad 438 years
Salah 433 years
Eber 464 years
Peleg 239 years
Reu 239 years
Serug 230 years
Nahor 148 years
Terah 205 years
Abram 175 years

Mankind continued violating God’s laws as seen by the Tower of Babel and stories of the time of Abraham

4. Today

In David’s world without healthcare, medicine, antibiotics, eradication of disease causing bacteria and viruses, air-conditioning, etc:

Psalm 90:10 The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Science and hygiene have stabilized our exposure to the environment that depletes our vital force.

Reliance in our secular modern society on the 8 laws of health has stabilized our lifespan. In many third world countries it has continued to drop:

44.2 years – Zimbabwe
53.5 years – Congo
47.9 years – Nigeria
51.4 years – South Africa

(2008 World Bank world development indicators)

People whose ancestors lived in severe environmental conditions and violated the laws of health live far less than people who had ancestors who lived better balanced lives in more moderate environments.

Counsels on Health, page 99
Ellen White

“Intemperance with eating and drinking, intemperance in labor, intemperance in everything exists on every hand. Those who try to do so much and continue to labor when their judgment tells them to rest are never gainers. They are living on borrowed capital and expending vital force that they will need at a later time. When the energy they have so recklessly used is demanded they fail for want of it. The physical strength is gone. The mental powers have failed. They recognize that they have met with the loss but do not know what it is. Their time of need has come but their physical resources have been exhausted.”

“Everyone who has violated the eight laws of health must be a sufferer to a lesser or greater degree. God has provided us with constitutional force that will be needed at different times in our life. If we exhaust this force we will at sometime or another be losers and our influence lessened if not our life destroyed.”

Habits that diminish our vital energy that affects our body, mind and resistance to disease:
1. Not sleeping enough
2. Trama or accidents
3. Lack of exercise or overweight (heart has to work harder) Fit individuals resting heart rate 60 bpm/unfit 80 bpm, or a difference of 27,000 heartbeats a today
4. Smoking or other deadly habits – 30+ poisons that our liver and kidneys must work overtime to expel
5. Alcohol (at all levels no matter how small does damage to brain cells)

Bible: wine always refers to both unfermented grape juice and also to alcohol. We must read in the context if the Bible is discussing unfermented or fermented grape juice.

Negative references to alcohol:

Alcohol inhibits judgment and leads to bad decisions:

Genesis 19:35-38 Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.

Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise

Nadab and Abihu were drunk when they entered the temple:

Leviticus 10:1-2 Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2 So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.
…
Leviticus 10:8-10 Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying: 9 “Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, 10 that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean,

Those who are drunkards will not enter the kingdom of God:

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

Biblical principles that should be applied to all habits not explicitly mentioned by the Bible:

Does the habit promote or shorten one’s own life?
Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.

Is a deceitful or unclean or impure in any way?
Revelation 21:27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Stewardship Practices – Does it waste resources and money?
Isaiah 55:2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy?

Does it harm others? (second-hand smoke)
Leviticus 19:18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

Is it habit-forming?
Romans 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

And most importantly:
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.

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Four types of diet
1. Vegetarian

Human beings and animals were created purely vegetarian originally:

Genesis 1:29-30 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. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.

2. Vegetarian plus dairy products

3. Clean meats

Even clean meats have downsides, contain fat and cholesterol which may cause heart problems, diseases carried in the blood, growth hormones, stimulant hormones causing an artificial sense of strength. Those who switch to a vegetable diet initially notice that they are weaker because they are no longer receiving this artificial source of stimulants.

Criteria for what is clean or unclean meat:

Vegetarian animals only: (no scavengers or carnivores)

Deuteronomy 14:6 And you may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and that chews the cud, among the animals.

Vegetarian sea creatures only:

Deuteronomy 14:9 “These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and scales.

Vegetarian birds only:

Deuteronomy 14:11 “All clean birds you may eat. (followed by a list of carnivorous or scavenger birds which are forbidden)

No swine:

Deuteronomy 14:8 Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh or touch their dead carcasses.

4. See-food diet (you see it, you eat it)

The main argument used is that dietary laws apply only to the Israelites. The distinction between clean and unclean started long before Israel:

Genesis 7:2-3 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; 3 also seven each of birds of the air, male and female, to keep the species alive on the face of all the earth.

Is the digestion system of Jews different from the digestion system of other people? Did God give these rules for health or did he give these rules for some other reason

General principles of diet:

1. As close to natural foods as possible
2. A very wide variety of different fruits and vegetables
3. Balanced diet: carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, and vitamins
4. Eat at regular times in proper amounts
5. Avoid junk food, excess sugar, fat, and cholesterol

Motivations for living healthfully:
1. Good physical health, less medical bills, and a longer lifespan
2. We are not our own, our body belongs to God by creation and by redemption
3. God gives the reason after giving the health laws as a matter of consecration and holiness:

Leviticus 11:44-45 For I am the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. 45 For I am the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

4. Jesus said we were to serve the Lord with our entire mind and all of our strength. How can we do this if we are depleting our mind and strength by bad habits?

5. When we practice the laws of health we improve our ability to discriminate between good and evil, choose good over evil, and have the strength to live a good life.

6. Our mind is greatly affected by the strength of our body. When we take care of our body, our mind is sharpened.

7. 1 Corinthians 10:31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

5. Diet in eternity after sin is eradicated

All of the damage to our physical bodies will be traversed and we will be given new, immortal and perfect bodies:

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

We will again have access to the battery charger again in the presence of the Lord:

Revelation 22:2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.