“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat” (Genesis 1:29).
“And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed” (Genesis 2:8).
“And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat” (Genesis 2:15-16).
God not only is our creator, but He was also the first gardener since He was the one who planted the Garden of Eden according to the verses above. Then, he told Adam and Eve to take care of it and also told them in the Bible what they were to eat and what they were not to eat. Fruits, vegetables, herbs, and nuts and grains were among the first foods he told them would be their “meat” which meant their “food” (see Genesis 1:29 Amplified). After the fall of man, God then added certain “clean” animal meats that were permissible to the list of edible foods, but these were not in the original list. (See Chapter 11 of Leviticus for a list of “clean” and “unclean” meats.)
Organic gardening and eating healthy are the topics of many health food articles today. Those who are seeking to lose weight and feel better are now discovering there is a way to eat that will bring strength and healing to their bodies by consuming more fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts. Many are not aware that the Bible endorses this kind of eating. We are not strictly vegetarians, but we eat more fruits and veggies than we do a meat diet. Jesus cooked, fed and ate fish in the New Testament, so he was not a vegetarian either.
“As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise” (John 21:9-13).
Since God created our bodies, He certainly knows what should go into our mouths and it definitely is not the popular and unhealthy American diet that includes so much junk food and sugar laden drinks. The foods that so many are consuming today are not natural, but rather processed with additives, preservatives, dyes, herbicides, hormones, chemicals, etc. which are responsible for so many people becoming overweight and sick. As Christians, everything we do should be based on what the Bible instructs us to do, so we should be eating according to the Word of God.
Organic Gardening
I have personally gardened organically for years by Bible standards. The photos on this page are actual pictures of our personal gardens from the past, and one of them is a picture o of some of the veggies we harvested. One of the Bible standards we follow is the verse that tells us not to “mingle seed.”
Leviticus 19:19a: “Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed…”
What are mingled seeds? Here is a definition of the different kind of seeds:
- Organic and heirloom seeds: Organic refers to the organic natural way they are grown, while heirloom describes a plant’s heritage. The heritage of these seeds goes back to their beginnings in the Garden of Eden when they were originally created by God.
- Hybrid Seeds: (Hybrids result from man deliberately crossing two different parent varieties from the same species. Generally seed companies do this to encourage what is known as “hybrid vigor” as they believe this will offer greater disease resistance or longer growing times.)
- GMO Seeds: (Genetically Modified Organisms) GMO seeds are genetically modified at the cellular level by changing the DNA and today some big Agro companies are engaged in producing these kind of seeds. An example is an herbicide resistant gene taken from bacteria that is added to soybeans to kill insects. Instead of spraying plants with herbicides, they now contain the herbicides in the seed and ultimately we ingest the fruit of these seeds. There are medical voices rising up against this DNA manipulation as they claim there can be dangerous side effects to eating these foods in the form of life threatening diseases. They refer to these lab created foods as Biotech foods.
There are groups who are protesting the use of GMO seeds and are asking the FDA to label foods that contain GMO ingredients in them. They are also seeking to stop the use of these GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) seeds from spreading any further in the nation’s corn and soybean crops and approval of use in wheat crops as they are concerned about the dangers they pose since there have been no long term testing as to how they will affect the human body. These groups are also concerned about the poison sprays that are being applied to the crops as they feel that many of the gluten intolerance issues, allergies and autoimmune diseases could be attributed to this. The bread that we eat in this nation is not made from the same kind of wheat berries (grain seeds) that Jesus ate in New Testament days as it is from a hybrid seed. They also did not spray with poisons back then. These groups are trying to warn farmers who might not know about the danger of using them. I am thankful for people who are now speaking out and educating people of this potential danger. It makes a lot of sense to eat the organic foods God intended from the beginning.
Our brothers and sisters in many of the foreign countries do not have the diseases of the Western cultures that are brought on by our indulgent diets, as most of them eat organic foods. They instead must overcome not having enough to eat, the bacterial and parasitic contamination of foods, waterborne illnesses, etc.
Knowing that it is man’s tampering with food that makes it harmful, we can conclude that when man alters seeds by genetic engineering, he is actually “mingling them.” The Amplified Bible calls them “mixed seed.” Mingling seeds can also refer to planting some crops too close to one another that would cause them to cross pollinate which can produce deformities in the crops. Therefore, I use heirloom and organic seeds for planting my garden.
Someone gave me some free hybrid seed years ago before I really understood the principle of using heirloom seed and when I used them in the garden I noticed that some of those hybrid seed plants would attract bugs once they started producing. Since I usually had no bugs and did not use sprays, I had to deal with the bugs by picking them off by hand because I do not use poison chemical insecticides. When I prayed and asked the Lord why I had these bug attacks, He revealed that it was because of the hybrid seed that I was using. I am now using heirloom seeds altogether and since the plants are stronger I get better results and now recommend using heirloom seed to other gardeners.
We, of course, must use other good garden principles along with the proper seed for a good garden harvest. These include:
- planting at the proper season (here it is in the spring)
- watering properly
- thinning plants and weeding
- harvesting at peak times
- rotating crops
- keeping the garden clean by promptly removing any dead plants
- using organic fertilizer (after cleaning out all the dead plants in the fall we spread the fertilizer and till it under with any compost we have from that year, this allows it to dissolve over the winter with the rain and snow on it)
- tilling the soil in the fall after the final harvest at frost
- allowing the land to rest (go fallow) every 7th year
“Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard” (Leviticus 25:3-4).
We usually divide our garden in half and let half of it rest one year out of seven and the next year we let the other half rest. Those years we just have a smaller garden. This is to allow the soil to build up properly. Today’s farm lands are being total stripped of their vitality because this principle is not kept in commercial endeavors and the crops become inferior. A good garden does take work (which is one ingredient when left out results in garden failures), but it is worth the wonderful harvests every year.
Since I never use any toxic pesticides or poisons in my garden, you may be wondering what I do use. Here is what I do at the beginning of the season. I dedicate my garden to the Lord and ask Him to bless and protect it from all forms of destruction and since it is the devil who comes to kill and destroy and God who comes to give us life, I declare life to my garden according to this verse:
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
I claim that our garden will be abundant and that we will always have plenty for our use and enough to give away to others. Because of this, we always need help at harvest time since we have such an abundant harvest. I pray that only the good bugs will come to our garden and that no form of destruction like destructive bugs, wind, hail, wild animals and drought will destroy it. I have only used faith and prayer to keep the bugs out of our gardens over the years. I also pray over my garden every year and quote these promises of God from the Bible.
“Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence” (Psalm 91:3).
“There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling” (Psalm 91:10).
By applying and having faith in these two scriptures I have never had to use any poisonous sprays in our gardens since I began gardening in 1984 and I have always had an abundant harvest to feed my family and plenty to give away as well. I realize not everyone can plant and keep up a garden, but you can purchase organic foods and avoid GMO foods. You can also take time to educate yourself in regard to proper and biblical eating. Some people say eating organic is just too expensive, but you can look at it this way – it is more expensive to pay for doctor visits that could have been prevented, as many maladies and diseases can now be traced to wrong eating and drinking habits. If we ask God, He will help guide us in this area of our lives so we can change bad eating habits. We must remember that changing diet alone will not solve our problems with sickness, as we must also incorporate obedience and faith in our spiritual lives to see our victories.
I do not obsess about food, as in this world we just are not going to be able to eat entirely healthy food all the time, because there are times when we eat out or do not know where the food comes from that we purchase. This is why we always bow our heads before we eat and say grace over the food and ask God to cleanse it and bless it to the nourishment of our bodies. We do this when we eat out, as well as when we eat at home. This is one way we can testify to others in public. We trust then God will bless our food and water and if there is anything bad in it, He will sanctify it and it will not harm us. The scripture below gives us this promise as His children:
“They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mark 16:18).
This does not mean we can deliberately drink poison and it will not hurt us, or that we can deliberately pick up a snake and it will not bite us, but rather if we are bitten accidentally or we accidentally drink anything poison it will not harm us, as Paul did on the Isle of Melita (Acts 28:5).
The devil is very crafty and one way he will try to destroy us is through unhealthy eating, which in turn, can destroy our bodies and cut short our work for God in the earth so we are admonished to take care of them and do all for the glory of God. Faith in God’s Word regarding health must be the most important ingredient in the care of our body, but He does want us to do the natural things as well, since our body is the “temple” of the Holy Ghost and we should not defile it by eating and drinking in a lustful way or a way that is against God’s commandments regarding eating.
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19).
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
I know some people say the New Testament allows you to eat anything you want if you pray over it, as they use the scripture below to justify their indulgent eating habits.
“For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: “For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:5).
We should note this scripture says that the two requirements for sanctifying food is to see that it is already approved by the Word of God and that we pray over it in faith. When we do this the Lord will sanctify it and cause it to be proper nourishment for us and cleanse it of any harmful elements that we do not know about. This is why we need to study the Bible to find out what is good and what is bad for us, not only in eating but in every area of our lives.
Additional articles can be found on our Bible Answers page at http://bibleresources.org/bible-answers/
Related Topics
What the Bible Says about Diet
Additional Study
If you desire additional study on the topic of eating according to the Word of God, the ninth book in the Overcoming Life Series, entitled “The Pathway Into The Overcomer’s Walk” discusses this topic and others that an overcomer faces as he presses toward the prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ.
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