Bible Health Guide
By Philip St. Vincent Brennan
Chapter Two
A Land Of Milk & Honey
The Israelites enjoyed a special advantage that gave them an edge over many other ancient peoples not blessed with their healthy way of life—God had given them that famous "land flowing with milk and honey." The Bible laid out explicit instructions on the use of the land for agriculture, frequently zeroing in on the most minute details.
Foods Mentioned in the Bible
The agricultural standards of the Israelites were high, and yielded abundant crops. Wheat, barley, and millet were plentiful.
The Bible mentions lentils, broad beans, chick peas, onions, leeks, garlic, coriander, cummin, dill, and mint as among the staples in the Israelite diet.
The Holy Land was noted for its orchards, where olives, figs, dates, and grapes were grown in abundance, along with walnuts, almonds, and pomegranates. The Holy Land was equally famous for its wine, and its vineyards yielded rich harvests.
Israelis Ate Sparingly
Despite the richness of their agriculture, the average Israelite ate sparingly. They observed the biblical command to do all things in moderation. Moreover, natural disasters such as droughts and pestilences often limited agricultural production, sometimes making foodstuffs scarce.
The Key To Peace Of Mind
The Bible offers a very simple prescription for obtaining peace of mind: Love! When we fail to love one another, we create dissension, and dissension creates mental problems for ourselves and for others. And mental problems spawn physical problems. We simply cannot be healthy in body when we are unhealthy in mind, and the Bible makes this amply clear. By love we do not mean the kind of dreamy romantic emotion that a man and woman in love experience.
What Love Really Means
Love simply means wanting the best of everything for everyone. To love your neighbor simply means wanting only good for him or her. It also means never wishing misfortune on anyone. You don't have to like people to love them. Love your enemies, Christ tells us, not like them. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells us what love is.
"Love Never Fails"
Love is patient, is kind, does not envy, is not pretentious, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, is not self-seeking, is not provoked; thinks no evil, does not rejoice over wickedness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails...." (I Corinthians 13:4–8)
Love is the key to happiness. When we hate others, or wish misfortunes on them, our minds become their prisoners! Our hostile feelings toward them fester until they become obsessions, dominating our thoughts and denying us peace of mind. As we will see, this is the Bible's whole message. It is the key to everything else.
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