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honored in the community] . . .
the judge, and the prophet, and
the prudent [people with proper
knowledge and understandi ng]
and the ancient [those experi–
enced and wise] ... And 1 will
g ive child ren [those without
understanding and experience] to
be their princes and babes shall
rule over them."
1n plai n modern words, God
will remove from us the basic
und e rs tanding- includ ing the
wi sdom- required to practice
proper nutrition on a wide scale!
. And if you look at the Babylon of
confu sion that surrounds aca–
demic and commercial disciplines
of nutrition today, you have to
admit that
something
is sorely
lacking!
Concerni ng pract icing
good
nutrition (a term most nut rit ion–
ists steer clear of because they
recognize no final authori ty) , let's
look toa source we can regard as
authoritative.
That source is none other than
the Bible! "Thy word is
TRUTH"
reads J oh n 17:17 , so let' s see
what the Bible says.
About 2,500 years ago, an
unusually bright young man and
his three companions were given
the opportunity to attend a very
prestigious school. This school
was sponsored by the then most
powerful man on the face of the
earth. The young man Daniel and
his three friends enjoyed a t re–
mendous opportunity to partake
of what was then considered to be
the most advanced culture and
li terature of its day.
Given the poli tical climate of
the time, one might thi nk that it
would be wise to "play ball" in
whatever fashion the king de–
sired- especially si nce Daniel
was there as a J ewish
captive,
the
enti re nation of Judah then being
slowly absorbed into the state of
Babylon .
But Daniel had strong princi–
pies. He knew the importance of
proper diet and health. So he
bucked the system.
"Daniel purposed in his heart
that he would not defi le himself
with the portion of the king's
meat , nor with the wine which he
drank ..." (Daniel 1:8).
May 1981
"Certain e/ements of
our personal
Uves must be changed
befare we
can develop sound
nutritional
habits."
Pretty courageous for a teen–
ager in the court of the then
world-ruling king!
Daniel spoke with the man who
was in charge of him (Daniel 1:8-
1O) and talked him into changing
his diet as an experiment.
"Piease test your servants for
ten days," Daniel said to the man
in charge of him and his friends.
"Give us nothing but vegetables
to eat and water to d rink. Then
compare our appearance with that
of the young men [who attended
the royal school with Daniel and
his friends] who eat the royal
food, and treat your servants in
accordance with what you see"
(Daniel 1:12-1 3, New lnterna–
tional Version).
The result?
"At the end of the ten days
they [Daniel and his fr iends)
looked healthier and better nour–
ished than
any
of the young men
who ate the royal food" ! (Daniel
1:15, NIV.)
From the context, we can sur–
mise that the king's food Daniel
was referring to probably was of a
refined
natur~royalty
was privy
to gourmet-type foods, while ser–
vants and peasants had to eat
coarse, whole-grain foods. (To–
day, this same stigma of food
preference exists. Many older
people who went through the
great economic depression of the
1930s will not eat whole wheat
bread because to them it smacks
of having to eat home-baked
bread. Many were unabl e to
afford anything else during this
period.)
The wisdom of Daniel's dietary
practice was re-confirmed by the
United States Department of
Agriculture and a report by a
U.S. Senate committee. They
recommended that people eat less
red meat and consume more veg–
etables and whole grain foods!
The other possible inference
gained from Daniel's refusal to
eat the king's food is that it may
have been unfit to eat by God's
standards. According to God, cer–
tain meats are perfectly fine in
moderation for human consump–
tion.
God
wants
you to enjoy f9<)d
(Psalms 103:5; 104:14-1 5; Gene–
sis 1:29-30), so He gave certain
guidelines. In Leviticus ll and
Deuteronomy 14 you will find
God's instructions on what meats
to eat and not to eat.
Notice that when you begin to
have heart problems and high
blood pressure or digestive prob–
lems, which meats your doctor
will tell you to abstain from. Yes,
medica! science, in its way, con–
fi rms God's dietary instructions!
( For more information on this
eye-opening subject, write imme–
diately for our free reprint, " Is
All Animal Flesh Good Food?")
Building a Happy Famlly
Tying everything together now,
we see that certain elements of
our personal li ves must b e
changed before we can develop
sound nutritional habits.
Chiefiy,
time
must
be
made
avai lable- both so food can be
prepared a nd e njoyed . You
should be able to know
why
you
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