The Role of Old Testament Law in Health.

Jesus redeemed us from the law.  However, Old Testament laws continued to serve an important purpose, because many of them protect people from dangers science would not discover for centuries. Here are examples in addition to the recently mentioned hand washing and burying of “night soil”:

  1. Don’t eat fish without scales and fins. Reason? The shrimp, crabs, lobsters, catfish, eels, and even sharks—are “bottom feeders” consuming carcasses of dead fish and animals, and a great deal of “fish poop,” making these the riskiest of underwater meals.  The even, “all-over” cooking provided by modern kitchens greatly reduces the risk, but may not eliminate it entirely.
  2. Don’t eat animals unless they both chew the cud and have split hooves—and pork is particularly unclean. Reason? The unusually high parasite load.  Before modern cooking, people often picked up roundworm infections from not only pork, but “bear, walrus, and horse” (quoting mayoclinic.org).
  3. Don’t eat blood. “Life is in the blood, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh” Genesis 9:4. Reason? The high bacteria and iron count pose health risks.
  4. Don’t eat fat. Reason? Science has only recently discovered the health risks of too much animal fat in our diets. Not only “marbleized steaks,” but ground beef and pork products, especially bacon, are loaded with animal fat, leading to heart disease, stroke, etc.  Animal fat can take years off your life.  And God warned us in the Old Testament:

“All FAT belongs to the Lord. This is a PERMANENT statute throughout your generations, wherever you live: you must not eat any fat or any blood” Leviticus 3:16-17.

This is why we should study ALL the scriptures. The “boring” O.T. law remains relevant. In fact, God promised to protect us from many diseases if we followed His laws:

“If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, … and keep His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians” Exodus 15:26.

God, teach us to honor your law.

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None of These Diseases, Part 2.

Recently I wrote to you about Exodus 15:26:

“If you will listen to the voice of the Lord … and keep all His statutes, then I will put NONE OF THESE DISEASES on you...”

God promises His people that if they obey, they will not have the diseases of the pagans. For example, those who ate pork often became infected with roundworms. But God’s dietary laws protected the Israelites.

Today I read about additional dietary restrictions: God’s people are not allowed to eat blood. God says “the lifeblood belongs to Me.” Eating blood is unhealthy. Even people who do not intend to eat blood must wash their hands after butchering animals. As a matter of fact, researchers believe AIDS began when men in Africa killed and ate monkeys. They ate with blood on their hands and the AIDS virus was transmitted from monkeys to men.

There’s another curious rule.

“All fat belongs to the Lord. You must not eat any fat or any blood.” Leviticus 3:16-17.

God says don’t eat FAT. Did you know that? I remember a cousin who would slice the fat from the edges of a steak and eat that first. Yuck. I can’t imagine. And what do doctors tell us? Fat—the famous “marbling” in a steak—is the most unhealthy thing in meat. Chicken is healthier than red meat because red meat has more fat. (Particularly meat from cattle that were “finished” in a CAFO); by contrast, grass-fed cattle (who did not spend their final six months eating corn) are healthier because their meat is less fatty.

Modern medicine has discovered the point behind God’s rules. If you obey, you will be healthier. Fat causes heart disease. Blood spreads AIDS and more. Pork causes worms. And the list goes on: avoid fish without scales, animals without split hooves, meat eaters and scavengers, etc.

Generations followed God’s laws by faith, without understanding that God was protecting them. But in Exodus 15:26, He made it clear: If you obey My rules, I will put NONE OF THESE DISEASES on you.

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Finders Keepers.

You’ve heard the code of the schoolyard: “Finders-Keepers, Losers-Weepers.” Is that the law?  Can you simply keep things you find, telling yourself they must have been abandoned?

No.  That is not the law.  Britain actually retains a criminal charge known as “THEFT BY FINDING.”  It is possible to find something and be accused of theft because you made no attempt to locate the owner.  The state of Texas has a similar law, requiring (in simplified terms) finders attempt to locate owners. 

The Bible is incredibly practical, filled with detailed laws involving everyday events like losing and finding, and what to do about it.  And Moses did not derive these practical laws from some abstract principle He learned from God, such as the Golden Rule.  Instead, these practical laws were dictated directly from God to Moses:

“THE LORD SPOKE TO MOSES: ‘When someone sins and offends the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit, … or FINDS SOMETHING LOST AND LIES ABOUT IT … he must return what he stole, … or the lost item he found….  He must make full restitution and add a fifth of its value to it’” Leviticus 6:1-5.

God cares about practical details like what to do about lost and found items.  I find that fascinating.  Too many people think God is so “High and Lifted Up” that He does not care about little things.  Many people don’t pray about “little things” for that very reason.  But God does care.  He sees.  He notices.  He understands the details of life on earth—the mundane, ordinary, little details.  Jesus even told parables about a lost coin and a lost sheep.  When you lose something God DOES care about it.  Consequently, He gave Israel laws to ensure that lost things would be returned to their owners.

Never think that God is so “High and Lifted Up” that He does not care about the nitty-gritty, ever-practical details of life.  Talk to Him about your details!

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Here’s to the Cooks.

We elevate religious leaders.  But the preacher is not a different breed.  My childhood pastor was a gifted orator and a man with nearly irresistible leadership qualities.  Yet, he was humble and chose to be called “Brother John”—an equal.

Preachers, elders, and priests are your equals.  So are doctors, lawyers, bankers, statemen.  But you know who deserves special consideration?  Cooks.  We eat three times a day.  That’s 21 meals a week for every man, woman, and child on earth.  With nearly 8 Billion on earth, someone has to cook 24,000,000,000 meals every week.  Who will do all that cooking?  Cooks: some paid, most unpaid, none paid enough.

You could spend days studying scriptures on food preparation and people eating.  Jesus ate after fasting. He ate at the wedding at Cana. He ate with tax collectors and sinners at Matthew’s house. He was anointed during a meal at Simon’s house. He fed the 5,000. He fed the 4,000. He ate with Mary and Martha. He told a parable about a banquet. He ate with Zacchaeus. He ate at the Last Supper. He ate following the road to Emmaus. He ate fish on the beach with the disciples.  He will eat in Heaven at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:6-9).

Eating is a huge part of life—and God is interested in it.  Look at the varieties of food, the infinite ways to prepare it, the globe covered in filling staples and flavorful herbs and spices.  The Bible steers us toward healthy options and away from the unhealthy.  And entire chapters concern the sacrificial system whereby priests prepared “meals” for God, complete with butchered and seasoned lambs, bulls, doves, grains, and more.  See Leviticus 1-4.

The Bible is a book of doers, men of action, from carpenters and builders to craftsmen and cooks.  God is not interested in “religious people.”  God is interested in PEOPLE.  Busy, hard-working, productive people.  People who get things done. 

The next time you cook a meal, think about the literally billions of meals prepared every single day.  Cooks keep humanity going.  Cooks make the world go ‘round. 

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“Just as the Lord Commanded.” Exodus 40:34

In Exodus 39 and 40, the artisans used their crafts to build the tabernacle. Do you know what the tabernacle is? If the temple is God’s House, the tabernacle is God’s mobile home: it could be moved.

The artists and craftsmen obeyed God in EVERY DETAIL. The result: God’s glory.

39:1— “They made … garments … just as the Lord commanded Moses.”
39:5— “…just as the Lord had commanded Moses.”
39:7— “…just as the Lord commanded Moses.”
39:21— “They did just as the Lord commanded Moses.”

This pattern continues. The phrase “just as the Lord commanded Moses” is repeated SEVENTEEN times. The craftsmen were perfectly obedient in all that they did.

The RESULT?

“The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.” Exodus 40:34.

APPLICATION?

If we follow God, carefully doing all that He commands, then His glory will descend on us. If you want to see God do amazing things in your life, do like Moses, and do everything “just as the Lord commanded.”

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ARE YOU A ‘MAKER’? God Uses Artists, Craftsmen, Designers, Engineers, Mechanics, and Hobbyists.

Pictured: Jesus showing his mother Mary a table he built, a scene from the film THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST.

I once asked my father, “Daddy, are you a people person, an idea person, or a thing person?”

There was a pause while he looked up from the model airplane he was building.

“I don’t know.  Can I be all three?”

As you grow, God may indeed train you to enjoy all three.  But what is your passion? It probably favors one area over another.  Given his engineering career and innumerable hobbies, my dad’s deepest passion was probably “things,” though he loved good stories, great books, and deep conversations about ideas.

Do you hold “MAKERS” in lower esteem than thinkers, leaders, writers, and preachers?  God does not.  He revealed Himself as Creator first, and the Bible is filled with passages indicating how important good craftsmanship is to God.  Consider some of the ingredients that went into the building of the tabernacle:

  1. Acacia wood (harder and more beautiful than oak)
  2. 2,193 pounds of gold
  3. 7,544 pounds of silver
  4. 5,310 pounds of bronze
  5. Anointing oil
  6. “pure, fragrant, and expertly blended incense”
  7. Carnelian, topaz, emerald, turquoise, sapphire, diamond, jacinth, agate, amethyst, beryl, onyx, jasper
  8. Ram skins dyed red and Manatee skins
  9. Finely spun linen
  10. Blue, purple, and scarlet yarn

“They hammered out thin sheets of gold, and he [Bezalel] cut threads from them to interweave with the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and the fine linen in a skillful design” Exodus 39:3.

Could you do that? What, make golden thread and weave it into a priestly garment–are you kidding me? This was but one task among thousands necessary to prepare the tabernacle and the priests who would serve there.  “The Israelites did all the work according to everything the Lord had commanded Moses” 39:42. 

God BLESSED their obedience “and the GLORY OF THE LORD filled the tabernacle” 40:35.  God blesses the work of His artists, designers, craftsmen, and mechanics.  Their work is not “second-class” in God’s eyes.  He gives us “Maker-gifts” so we can fulfill His purposes. (Remember, God chose a carpenter to raise Jesus and teach him a vocation.)

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Put Your Heart Into Your Work.

When Moses needed men to build the tabernacle, God brought men with skill AND passion. They had a CALLING. We have many skills, but few callings. That is, you may be good at several things. But your heart will lead you to the one that is right for you. Of course, your heart can get it wrong and confuse you when you’re young–because you have done so few things. But as you gain experience in MANY areas, you will begin to sense a calling to the one that is God’s plan for you. 

I was drawn to acting for a time, and the training and experience proved useful, though only rarely did it pay anything. I was drawn to church work and it benefited me and the youth, but it was not a calling for life. I was NOT drawn to teaching, and was even against it–but it grew on me, and years later, I’m doing it again (and it does feel like a calling of sorts).

“And Moses called … every wise-hearted man, in whom the Lord had put skill, every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it.” Exodus 36:2.

As a young person, you must participate. Get involved in lots of things! Do everything for as many years as you can. Then narrow to your areas of skill. Then narrow again to areas of both skill and calling. God’s plan for your life will often involve both. After years of working and serving God and people, your heart will begin to guide you to areas where you should focus your energy and talent. That passion will fuel you as you serve God with your whole life.

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Who is God?

How would you describe God? Angry? Forgiving? Judgmental? Uninvolved? Deists said he was the Cosmic Clock Maker, who set the universe in motion, but has kept his hands off since. What do you say? Is He involved? Does he consider little prayers, or only wars and pandemics? Is God personal, or is he just a mystical energy like the “force” in the STAR WARS films?

God IS personal, and though beyond human understanding, God explains Himself in human terms. The Bible says he is father, shepherd, warrior, law giver and judge, rescuing savior, and ultimate hero.  Consider how he explains himself to Moses:

“The Lord, the Eternal One, is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and rich in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation” Exodus 34:6-7.

What adjectives does God use to describe himself?

Compassionate, gracious, patient, filled with a loyal love and committed to truth, will loyally love us and our children for a thousand generations, forgiving but punishing the guilty to the third and fourth generations.

Which of these traits do you like best or least? Are any of them qualified or explained by other Bible passages?  Yes.  The most uncomfortable lines are qualified in Jeremiah 31.  God says after the Messiah comes, children will no longer suffer for the sins of their fathers.  “Instead, each will die for his own iniquity” Jer. 31:30.

We serve a God who LOVES US, who is DEEPLY PERSONAL. He is more interested in your heart than you are! He is patient, loyal, forgiving, and full of grace.  Why do we run? Why do we let anything keep us from the One Person Who loves us the most?

God, thank you for your deeply personal love for each of us.  Never let us stray from your side!

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MOSES.

Moses will forever be one of history’s great men: Miracle worker. Delivered the Jews. Taught them the law and worked as their judge. Founded a new nation. Wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

But more than that, consider his walk with God: the burning bush, encounters with Pharaoh, God spoke to him face-to-face, God gave him the Ten Commandments. God showed him his glory. And later, he joined Jesus and Elijah for a conversation at the Mount of Transfiguration. See Matthew 17.

One curious story happens in Exodus 34. Moses has been talking to God on the Mountain for forty days. He has fasted the whole time. He persuaded God to show Him His glory, and God said “I will place you in the rocks [a cave?] and cover you with my hand as I pass by—for no man can see my face and live—but I will let you see my back.” Then God dictated the ten commands so Moses could carve a replacement set of stone tablets.

Finally, Moses came down the mountain to talk to the people. Do you know what happened? His face shined so brightly with God’s glory that the people were afraid to come near him. He had to put a veil on—had to mask up—just to talk to everyone. From then on, he wore a veil when speaking to people, but took it off when speaking to God.

That’s amazing. And I think God does the same thing today. When we are closest to God—when we have seen His glory and been filled by the intense, white-hot fire of His presence, it radiates from our face. Our countenance is filled with the light and joy and love and glory of the Lord. Have you ever seen that anointing on anyone? It is what I prayed for when portraying Jesus on stage. But it will make some people uncomfortable, just as it did with Moses.

God, may we love you so deeply and communicate with you so intensely that we shine with your glory. Use the joy and peace and grace and love on our faces to draw people to you! 

“Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” Daniel 12:3.

I want to shine for God, don’t you?

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Forget “Beauty Rest.” Get Your “Beauty Prayer.”

What can walking with God do for your physical appearance? Quite a lot, it turns out. Have you ever seen the way some people look angry all the time—their faces permanently unhappy?

When King David was depressed, he turned to God:

“Why are you in despair, O my soul? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, THE HELP OF MY COUNTENANCE and my God.” Psalm 42:11.

When you worship God, you cheer up. When you read His word, your soul has a conversation with your Savior. How could it not lift your spirits? And if you talk to Him and read His words daily, your face will change over time—your countenance will become more cheerful, more hopeful. You know why children loved Jesus? Because He spent time with the Father until He radiated PURE JOY.

Remember Moses? He spent 40 days alone with God, fasting and praying.

“And he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the Lord. When the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face SHONE! They were afraid to come near him…. Moses’ face was RADIANT.” Exodus 34:29-30,35.

Moses eventually had to cover his face with a veil! The people could not look at God’s glory, even shining from the face of a man.

When we walk with the Lord, He lifts our countenance. Weight is lifted from our shoulders. Guilt from our backs. We face the world with a cheerfulness that draws people to us. Do you want to be more attractive? Forget hair products and skin treatments. Forget age-defying wrinkle creams. Instead, spend time with Jesus. Bask in His grace. Worship Him. Remind yourself of His promises. Spend time thanking Him for His blessings, and your countenance will improve. I can see this in your grandparents. Since I have known them, I have seen the four become more cheerful and more attractive as they have aged. Talk about aging gracefully! Spend time with Jesus—He is “the help of your countenance.” Psalm 42:11.

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