Participants: George Guthrie, Tim Arnott
Series Code: WM
Program Code: WM000336
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00:01 The following program presents principles
00:03 designed to promote good health 00:04 and is not intended to take the place 00:05 of personalized professional care. 00:07 The opinions and ideas expressed are those of 00:10 the speaker. Viewers are encouraged to draw 00:12 their own conclusions about the information presented. 00:36 Welcome to Wonderfully Made my name is 00:39 Dr. George Guthrie I'm the Medical Director at 00:41 Lifestyle Center of America. 00:43 Have you ever noticed that the Bible has 00:49 some things to say about what we eat about diet, 00:53 as a matter of fact there is more than one diet 00:56 mentioned in the Bible. Dr. Tim Arnott and myself, 01:00 are here to discuss this with you today. 01:02 Welcome Tim. Thank you George, 01:05 it's good to be with you on Wonderfully Made. 01:08 So, the Bible we think of it more as a 01:12 theological sort of a book, but I guess through time, 01:18 through the scriptures we actually see some 01:21 diets spoken of. What's the first diet 01:25 that you would like to emphasize today? 01:27 Well George, you know it's very true that the Bible 01:30 is not just a book of doctrines and theology. 01:34 But I like to think of it as an owner's manual 01:37 and something you can turn to when you need 01:40 practical information for various areas of your life 01:45 including health and so we find that there are 01:49 several diets. We look actually at seven diets 01:53 that are mentioned in the Bible and I'm not saying 01:56 that we have covered them all, but these are seven 01:58 that have come to surface. The first diet we like to 02:03 call it the seeds diet and it's the original diet that 02:07 the creator gave to man in the Garden of Eden. 02:11 You know we find this diet in Genesis chapter one 02:16 and verse 29 and we read there in Genesis 1 and 02:22 verse 29 and God said, behold I have given 02:28 you every herb bearing seed. See there it is, 02:33 herb bearing seed, that's the whole grains, 02:36 that the beans for example, which is upon the face of 02:40 all the earth, and every tree in the which is the 02:44 fruit of a tree yielding there is that word again 02:47 seed to you it shall be for meat. 02:51 And so here we find that God has given to man 02:55 at the beginning in a perfect world a perfect man 02:58 is perfect diet, seeds. The whole grains, 03:02 herb of the field, bearing seed and then the fruit 03:05 tree yielding fruit whose seed is in itself, 03:09 fruits and nuts. Fruits, whole grains, nuts 03:13 and perhaps even beans were given to man 03:16 in the beginning and this was a diet that designed 03:21 by the creator to sustain life for how long 03:24 Dr. Guthrie. Well, I guess God intended people 03:27 to leave forever, forever. Absolutely. 03:31 In my mind I see Adam and Eve walking through 03:33 the garden picking the fruit and eating it, 03:37 I wonder if they did more grazing or 03:39 if they actually had sit down meals. 03:41 Well, certainly we know that they had enjoyable, 03:45 enjoyable foods in fact we are encouraged in one 03:49 of the themes that this program is going to be 03:52 coming back to time and time again is that the 03:55 creator wants to lead his children back to the 03:59 original diet and science bares out the reason 04:04 for this, because the original diet, the seeds diet 04:08 and we will have an edition here in a few minutes, 04:11 that diet actually is the most powerful at keeping you 04:15 and I from the killer diseases that we have 04:19 to struggle with in this world especially 04:21 Western societies, the heart disease, the cancer, 04:25 the stroke, the diabetes and so many of these 04:30 chronic diseases can best be dealt with, 04:34 with a total plant diet including the seeds diet. 04:39 Now there is one more component of the original 04:41 diet that we wanna mention and that's found in 04:44 Genesis chapter 3 and verse 22. 04:48 Genesis chapter 3 and verse 22, says here, 04:52 And the Lord God said behold the man has 04:55 become as one of us, to know good and evil 04:59 and now lest he put forth his hand and take also 05:03 of the tree of life and eat and live forever, 05:07 so George what was the other 05:09 component of the original diet. 05:11 Well, it sounds like it was the fruit from the tree 05:13 of life. You think that was an apple? 05:15 Well, I hope it was a mango, but you never know. 05:19 Anyway we know that probably the seeds diet 05:23 just by itself was not enough to give man 05:27 eternal life. They needed to eat daily perhaps 05:31 or at least often from the tree of life 05:34 and it was because that God did not want sin 05:37 to continue for ever that he removed the tree of life, 05:41 so that man would not have that continual 05:44 existence in his sinful state. Well, Dr. Guthrie 05:49 you know God believes in meeting felt needs. 05:52 Yes, and as we know the story a man was unfaithful 05:57 and you know just bring us back, 06:00 remind us of what was the first temptation 06:04 and what was the first sin. It has something to do 06:06 with diet I understand. Well, its my memory 06:09 that Eve left Adam and found this tree of 06:13 knowledge of good and evil, 06:15 apparently she was tempted to eat something 06:18 that God has recommended that she not eat. 06:20 And having taken it she went and shared 06:24 it with her husband. Then they went and hid, 06:27 if I remember the story correctly 06:28 and God came looking for them. 06:30 So, the first temptation was a temptation 06:34 of appetite. Taking what God had forbidden 06:38 and that's why Jesus and the wilderness 06:41 the first temptation was in the area of appetite. 06:46 He over came appetite where we fell and so 06:50 we can claim his victory for our appetites 06:55 that are frankly quite depraved. 06:58 I speak by experience you know, but you know God 07:02 always comes with something that man needs. 07:05 When man has a need God has that what he needs 07:09 to sustain him and bless him and so when sin 07:12 entered man was more vulnerable. 07:14 The environment was different. 07:17 He was little more insults and more toxins 07:20 and more potential damage to his body 07:24 than ever before and so we find that God 07:27 added something. What did you add George? 07:30 Well, my memory is he said you can now have 07:33 the herbs of the field. The herb of the field. 07:36 Lets look at that in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 18 07:41 the second diet they were gonna be looking at 07:44 is actually the protection diet. The protection diet 07:49 because it adds extra protection to man now 07:52 in a sinful world says Thorns and thistles shall it bring 07:57 forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the 08:01 field, so now we are seeing, it's not just the seed 08:05 that man has been given, but the actual fleshy 08:07 parts of the plant at the Lifestyle Center we like to 08:10 say the leaf, the flower and the stem vegetables, 08:14 those above the ground vegetables 08:16 that you have heard so much about. 08:18 And these have protective elements in them 08:21 to help to protect against the disease, 08:24 that which we understand to be 08:26 the result of sin in our world. 08:29 Absolutely in fact if you look at scientific studies. 08:33 You will find a thread that runs through diet, 08:36 diet associations and that is that the vegetables 08:41 are basically the most powerful protective 08:45 food for heart disease, for cancer and for even 08:49 stroke perhaps and the green leafy vegetables 08:54 are the most powerful vegetables of the plant 08:58 or the vegetable kingdom. It's the green leafy 09:01 that actually have been shown to be most 09:04 protective against cancer and heart disease. 09:06 Very strong anti-oxygen effect to kind of fight off 09:10 the bad effects that come from our environment 09:14 and I guess our internal environment as well. 09:17 So the good news is that when you have a need 09:20 the creator has something for that need. 09:24 In this case man had a need for further protection. 09:27 Protection from heart disease, cancers, stroke 09:30 and even diabetes, because frankly diabetes is a 09:34 problem with insulin resistance and too much 09:37 of the free radical damage, the oxidative damage 09:40 and so green leafy vegetables can be 09:43 very helpful and protecting us from those diseases. 09:48 So, we have the protection diet and then of course 09:52 the story unfolds was it the man's habit to 09:57 follow the creator and just keep getting closer 10:01 and closer to him as the world turned 10:03 or what happened? My memory is from scripture 10:06 that man's minds became continually evil 10:12 and God said I'm gonna have to destroy it. 10:15 He chose a man by the name of Noah put him 10:19 afloat in a boat and when the flood was over. 10:23 There was a change in the diet. 10:25 Now George how long were individuals living 10:29 at this time, 100 years, a couple 100 years, 10:34 what was the life span? Almost a 1000 years 10:36 if I remember correctly. So, almost a 1000 years 10:40 7, 8, 9, 100 years these individuals were living 10:45 and so there's a bit of a dilemma here, 10:49 we have most of the world very violent in fact 10:54 we are told that that's one of the reasons 10:56 that God decided he needed to destroy the earth 11:00 was that man had become so violent 11:03 and man was living several hundred years 11:07 as you mentioned almost a 1000 years. 11:10 Can you imagine what it must be like to put 11:13 a check on evil, when people who are intensely 11:16 violent are living 7, 8, 900 years, 11:21 so there was a bit of a dilemma here and that's 11:26 what brought us to the next diet 11:29 and of course Noah. How many people got 11:32 on that boat, was that a popular boat there? 11:36 It wasn't a very popular boat there were 11:37 just eight of them. Just his family, 11:39 wasn't it? That and a bunch of animals. 11:41 And a bunch of animals and its very interesting George 11:47 the kind of animals that God told him to put on 11:50 that boat that brings us to the mercy diet. 11:54 Let's go to Genesis chapter 7 and verse 2. 11:58 Genesis chapter 7 and verse 2 gives 12:02 God's instructions, why don't you read that for us 12:04 George. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to 12:08 thee by sevens, the male and his female 12:11 and of beasts that are not clean by two, 12:14 the male and his female. Now these were God's 12:18 direct instructions to Noah as to what kind of animals 12:22 he should put on the Ark. Now, there is a bit 12:25 of a message here. Tell us a little bit about what 12:29 is the implicit message that God has given Noah 12:33 with these directions. It sounds to me like there 12:35 are some of the animals which are safer to have 12:39 around and I think we will see safer to eat 12:42 and there are some animals which are understood 12:45 to be unclean and much less safe to ingest. 12:49 Now, its very interesting if you are Noah and you 12:53 knew that these unclean animals, 12:55 you only had two of them on the Ark once 12:59 you came out of that boat and by the way 13:01 one of the reasons that God gave this mercy diet 13:05 and we'll read about it in just a few minutes was 13:08 that there was nothing for man to eat when he 13:11 came out of that boat. It had been all that green 13:13 vegetation had been totally destroyed. 13:16 Everything was annihilated and it was gonna take 13:20 at least a season to get those seeds in the ground 13:23 and get a harvest and so God changed the diet 13:27 partly because he mercifully provided for man's needs, 13:32 but we are gonna see in a few minutes 13:34 there were some other merciful reasons 13:37 why God provided this different diet 13:40 and why don't we go now and look at Genesis 9 13:43 and verse 3 and 4 to better highlight what was the next 13:48 diet that man was given. Genesis chapter 9 verse 3 13:52 and 4. George would you read that us? 13:55 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for 13:58 you, even as the green herb have I given you 14:02 all things. But flesh with the life thereof 14:05 which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 14:09 So here we see that God has given man the 14:14 flesh also to consume after the flood, 14:18 because there was nothing else to eat, 14:20 but it's very interesting if you were Noah 14:22 and you saw those unclean animals 14:24 and you only saw two of them. 14:25 What would, you think Noah would say 14:28 lets I think he was deciding whether we 14:30 should take the male unclean animal 14:33 or the female unclean animal to eat? 14:35 That would have annihilated them I suppose. 14:37 It would have defeated the purpose for actually 14:39 putting those animals even on the Ark, 14:41 so Noah knew that unclean animals were not to 14:47 be eaten, because there were two of them. 14:49 He eat one you don't have that species anymore 14:53 and so it was God's instruction not at 14:57 the time the Moses, not to with the children 14:59 of Israel, but here just after the flood there 15:03 is a distinction made between clean meats 15:05 and unclean meats. And its interesting Dr. David Macht 15:10 at the Johns Hopkins University did some 15:13 very interesting studies with cell cultures. 15:16 He took cell cultures and he took the flesh 15:20 of the clean animals and then he watched to 15:24 see whether those cell cultures whether 15:27 would have an affect on the cell culture growth 15:30 and sure enough the flesh of the clean animal 15:33 decreased to some extent the growth of those cell 15:37 cultures. Then he took the flesh of unclean animals 15:42 and he added that to the cell culture and lo 15:45 and behold there was an even further 15:48 reduction in cell growth after the addition of 15:52 the unclean animal flesh and what was even more 15:55 interesting is that Dr. David Macht found that 15:58 the blood added to cell culture always 16:01 inhibited cell culture growth more than 16:04 the flesh. And so we see that God had a little 16:08 post script on this new diet. What was the 16:11 post script? Don't eat the blood. 16:14 Don't eat the blood. Now it's very interesting, 16:18 I think you would agree George that red meat 16:20 has not gotten a lot of positive press in 16:23 the scientific literature. We understand that 16:25 it's just not very healthy at all. 16:27 You know even those out of the 16:29 Harvest School of Public Health I shouldn't say 16:31 even those, but I'll say that's one of the places 16:35 where I have seen a lot of studies about red meat 16:39 and how it will increases the risk of diabetes, 16:41 it increases the risk of heart disease, 16:43 it increases the risk of Colon cancer. 16:45 Red meat is really a damaging food and here 16:50 we see that God and even after the flood 16:54 centuries ago warned man that red meat was not 16:59 the way to go. And so that final merciful act by 17:04 our creator was to add the meat and George tell us a 17:08 little bit about perhaps a reason that many people 17:12 may have thought of that the creator added this 17:14 meat diet. What was God having to deal with 17:17 in order to put a check on sin and keep sin 17:21 under control? Yeah, I think you were alluding 17:23 to that earlier. The fact that it tends to shorten 17:26 life and as life was shortened there were, 17:30 there was less time for people to get 17:34 lost in sin and we can put it that way. 17:36 And more time for those who were following God 17:39 to actually have a greater influence and so God 17:43 did something merciful, it may seem a little negative, 17:46 but when you think deeper about it, 17:48 he was merciful, he was putting a check on evil 17:50 to give his plan of salvation for this world 17:54 a better chance. Well, you know, the story 17:58 of children of Abraham swear basically the only 18:03 people that were following God and God had to 18:06 move with his family line in order to continue 18:10 his plan of salvation and they got stuck down in 18:13 Egypt under slavery and finally Moses was raised 18:19 up to deliver these people and they were brought 18:22 from Egypt to Canaan and they went through a 18:26 number of experiences on that journey and 18:30 its interesting that those experiences we're told have 18:35 lessons for us. So lets read about it in 18:38 First Corinthians 10 and verse 6 and verse 11. 18:45 Now these things were our examples to the intent 18:51 we should not lust after evil things as they 18:54 also lusted. Now, all these things happened 18:59 unto them for examples and they are written 19:02 for our admonition upon whom the 19:05 ends of the world are come. So, here we see that Paul 19:09 is actually giving us very important information, 19:15 he is saying look at the children of Israel, 19:17 they went through a number of experiences 19:19 and if you watch them you will know what you should 19:23 do or what you shouldn't do and its interesting, 19:26 list five different things that they were doing 19:28 that he would not recommend people living at the 19:31 end of time to do, the every first one is that 19:35 they were craving or lusting after things that were 19:40 not for their best interest, in fact Paul calls them 19:43 evil things and lets go now to numbers 19:47 and actually look at what was it that these 19:52 children of Israel were lusting after that we're 19:55 told not to lust after in these last days. 19:59 Numbers chapter 11 and verse 4 and 5. 20:04 Numbers go ahead George. And the mixed multitude that 20:07 was among them fell a lusting and the 20:10 children of Israel also wept again and said 20:14 who shall give us flesh to eat? So we remember 20:19 the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely. 20:22 The cucumbers and melons, the leeks 20:25 and the onions and the garlic. 20:26 And so here we find that Paul in the 20:31 Corinthians is saying to people living at the end 20:35 of time don't follow the example of the Israelites, 20:40 the children of Israel, they were lusting after 20:42 evil things and we find that they were lusting 20:45 after a stimulating diet which it says specifically 20:50 they were lusting after flesh and its interesting 20:52 George that the flesh that they were most 20:54 interested in was the fish of course they lived 20:57 on the Nile River, that was really the flesh of 21:01 their vicinity. There were also lusting after 21:04 some of those important herbs and spices 21:08 you might say. What kind of diet did God 21:11 provide these people why did he provide such a diet? 21:15 What he provided them was something 21:17 that they called Manna which means 21:20 as I understand what is it? That is they weren't 21:23 exactly sure what it is and my understanding 21:26 is that while it was tasty it didn't vary very much. 21:29 Each morning they picked it up. It was always the 21:33 same flavor, no vanilla and no strawberry 21:36 and no chocolate. Yes, it was actually a very 21:39 simple diet and that's actually the point. 21:42 God knew that those people needed and that 21:45 we needed a simple unstimulating diet that 21:49 we might have the best opportunity for 21:52 advancement of character. So, God wants us to move 21:56 to a more simple more plain diet, 21:58 but the good news is that he promises taste 22:02 and see that the Lord is good. 22:05 Now, this preparation diet. Preparation to enter 22:10 the Canaan and our preparation for the 22:13 heavenly Canaan is exemplified by of one 22:17 individual in particular. George who was that 22:21 individual, who so well adopted this preparation 22:26 diet and we find his story in Daniel? 22:29 Oh that was a good clue. Daniel had the choice 22:33 to make in Nebuchadnezzar's court he choose to 22:37 have a simple diet rather than the more 22:40 stimulating complex diet. The simplicity led to 22:44 him being ten times wiser. Let's look at that choice 22:48 that Daniel made in Daniel chapter 1 and verse 8. 22:53 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would 22:56 not defile himself with the portion of the King's meat, 22:59 nor with the wine which he drank. 23:03 Therefore he requested of the prince of the 23:06 eunuchs that he might not defile himself. 23:10 So, here we see that Daniel made a very 23:14 important decision. He decided for God's simple diet 23:19 and it's very interesting George that words, 23:22 the word pulse here that's used in the 23:25 King James Version actually is related to the word 23:29 seed. In fact it means to be planted. 23:32 So, Daniel actually choose the seeds diet 23:35 and this is the diet of fruits, grains, nuts, beans 23:41 and probably vegetables, but this is the diet 23:45 that has been shown by the medical science to 23:48 reverse heart disease, to lower your risk of cancer, 23:51 you risk of stroke and to give you a clear mind. 23:54 Daniel choose that, he did not choose the wine, 23:56 he did not choose the stimulating diet as 23:59 George mentioned he was found ten times wiser 24:02 than the magicians and astrologers all of those 24:05 in the Nebuchadnezzar's court, his think tank 24:10 if you will, he was much wiser than those individuals 24:13 and he was prepared using these simple diet 24:17 to stand through some very difficult experiences 24:21 which are stories and examples for us 24:24 who will also be facing similar experiences in the 24:28 future. Well, let's move on to the friendship diet 24:32 and we find this diet actually spelled out by 24:37 Paul to the Romans. Romans chapter 14 24:40 and verse 15 and 16. But if thy brother be 24:45 grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not 24:49 charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, 24:52 for whom Christ died. Let not then your good 24:57 be evil spoken of. So, here we see a balancing 25:00 principle. If the diet you have chosen, 25:03 if the food you have chosen is driving someone 25:05 away from the savior then you are on the wrong 25:09 track and so that's why we see Christ example 25:12 given in Luke chapter 24 verses 42 and 43. 25:18 he didn't let food get in the way of leading others 25:22 to the Savior. And they gave him a piece of 25:24 boiled fish and of an honeycomb. 25:27 And he took it and did eat before them. 25:29 So here we see that Jesus followed his own advice. 25:33 People were important than food. 25:36 And sometimes we need to air on the side of 25:39 people in order to bring them to the Savior. 25:42 Now we wanna look at the Restoration Diet 25:44 because as we have mention the creator is trying 25:46 to bring us back to his original diet. 25:48 Let's go to Revelation 2 and verse 7 to see 25:52 what kind of things we'll be eating in heaven. 25:55 He that hath an ear let him hear what the 25:58 Spirit saith unto the churches to him that 26:01 overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, 26:04 which is in the midst of the paradise of God. 26:07 And so we are going to be going back 26:09 and eating that fruit of the tree of life 26:11 which will allow us to live forever. 26:15 Another principle, another principle of these 26:18 final Restoration diet is given in Revelation 21 26:22 and verse 4. Revelation 21 and verse 4. 26:25 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes 26:28 and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, 26:31 nor crying, neither shall there be any more 26:34 pain for the former things are passed away. 26:36 And so if there is no more pain, if there is no 26:39 more sorrow probably there will not be anymore 26:43 butcher shops or animal husbandry industry. 26:47 Finally let's look at Isaiah 65 and verse 21. 26:52 And they shall build houses and inhabit them 26:55 and they shall plant vineyards and eat the 26:58 fruit of them. And down to verse 25. 27:01 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together 27:05 and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock 27:07 and dust shall be the serpent's meat. 27:10 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all 27:13 my holy mountain, saith the Lord. 27:16 So, here we see that God wants to bring back 27:19 his original order where there is no death, 27:22 there is sorrow, there is no pain, there is cry, 27:25 not only in the human family, 27:26 but also in the animal family and it's a diet 27:30 the seeds diet, the vegetables added that 27:33 will give you the very best health possible. 27:36 And so when ever we had a need throughout 27:39 history God had a diet to meet that need 27:43 and now he wants to bring us back to his 27:45 original diet of plants. Plant foods, they will 27:49 bring you health, health like you have never 27:52 experienced before, but just remember be sure 27:56 and take your Vitamin B 12 with those plant foods. 27:59 And so here again we see how wonderfully we are made. |
Revised 2014-12-17