Our previous lesson closed with a statement of the fact that the stimulating properties in flesh-meats cause them to be not the best food; and that these stimulating properties are greatly increased by the multiplication of impurities in them. The fewer impurities, therefore, the less of a stimulant.
There was a time when some flesh-meets were eaten without special harm. At the same time there were, and are yet, certain flesh-meats which were not, and are not, to be eaten at all, because they were not, and are not, fit to be eaten.
This distinction between flesh-meats which might be eaten and those which must not be eaten, is laid down in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. The distinction is made so clear, and by tests so easy to be applied, that everyone who can get hold of the Bible is without excuse in not understanding the subject.
As to beasts, the rule is: Whatever is cloven-footed and chews the cud may be eaten. But they must have both of these requirements. Anything that chews the cud only, or is cloven-footed only, or that goes on its paws, is not to be eaten, and never was fit to eat.
As to things that are in the sea, the rule is: Whatever has both fins and scales may be eaten. If it has not both fins and scales, it is not, and never was, good for food. Of winged creatures those that are not good are named, and all others may be eaten.
Yet the fact that these things were once eatable does not prove that in all times, and under all circumstances, the same things are good for food. The truth is that the time will come when not a single earthly thing will be good to eat. When the plagues of the wrath of God are poured out upon the earth, and the curse is devouring the earth, death will be in everything that is in the earth; and to eat of any earthly thing then will be only to partake of the elements of death. At that time the Lord Himself will supply His people with bread and water, as He did Elijah when he was persecuted and had to flee for his life.
As we come nearer to that time, the people of God, under His guidance and instruction, will drawn nearer to the original diet of man. And before probation closes, we shall exclude from our dietary everything that has come into the dietary of man since sin entered. And under the influence of this way of living, this people will reach the point, before probation closes, at which, when every earthly thing becomes tainted with death, all can be dropped, and the change made, without inconvenience, to that which the Lord himself will supply.
God now gives us instruction and opportunity by which we can fully prepare for this time which we all professed to believe is coming soon, and which is coming soon, whether we profess it or not. Many, at least, of the children of Israel were not prepared for the change from their regular diet in Egypt to that which God supplied in the wilderness. They therefore lusted for the flesh-pots of the Egypt, grew impatient with what they decided was a hard way, murmured against the Lord, and were destroyed by the destroyer. And this was written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.
Those who will now disregard, all through this time of preparation, the careful instruction that the Lord has so long and so patiently set before us, to fit us for this all-important time that is now so near,--those who will disregard all this, and live on just what they please, expecting to continue so through the plagues, or expecting suddenly to drop it all, and change to the other in a day or an hour, will, as surely as did the children of Israel, long for the flesh-pots of the former time, grow impatient with "the hard way," murmur against the way in which the Lord is leading and at what He is giving, and will, as certainly as were they, be destroyed by the destroyer, and that irrecoverably.
If beef were as nearly pure as it was in the time when it could be taken quietly, and fresh from the herd, as by Abraham (Genesis 18:7-8), it would now, in itself, be no more objectionable than it was then. But this can not be so now with one person in a hundred of those who eat it. On the contrary, the beef that is used, except in very few instances, is put through the market in the way, and with the results, described in a previous article. The Testimony says even as much. Here are the words:
Could we know that animals were in perfect health, I would recommend that people eat flesh-meats sooner than larger quantities of milk and sugar. It would not do the injury that milk and sugar do.[1]
Instead of meat being of this character, however, it is the opposite. The animal creation is diseased. Flesh-meat is diseased. And even though it was not diseased when in the herd in the field, by the time it has been put through the course of the market, it is laden with impurities.
And the nearer we come to the end, the nearer we come to the time when none of it will be eatable, because of the impure and injurious properties that will abound in it. For this reason, and for the further reason that a change will have to be made, and that suddenly, at the beginning of the plagues, it is now time to take up the instruction that the Lord has given in this matter, and apply it faithfully; that is, in a way full of faith.
When the Lord tells us a thing is not good now, and that He does not want us to eat it now, it is not a sufficient answer to say, as many do:
"It was eatable once, and was allowed in the Bible, and why is it not now?"
This is no answer at all, for the simple reason that what was eatable and allowable once may not be so now; and what is now good will not be eatable in the time of the plagues; in fact, cannot then be eaten at all.
Whether we can see why these things are not good, or whether the Lord ever tells us why, can have no proper bearing in the case. The Lord says such and such things are not good food in this time; and if we are willing to allow that He knows more than we do, we shall be willing to take His word for it, and drop the use of that which He says is not good, taking, in its place, that which He says is not only good, but the best.
And where the reason is given as to why certain things are not good food, do not try to offset it by saying:
"If that is so, why does such and such a person use it?"
Just leave out all that part of it, and accept it or reject it for yourself alone. Do not try to regulate what the Lord would have you do, by citing what somebody else does. Do not forget that the health reform work is an individual work, and each one is to apply it in his own case, for himself alone. This is what you and I are to do; and whether other people do it or not is for them, not for us, to decide.--Advent Review, June 21, 1898.
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