BIBLE DIET?
What the Scriptures really say...

"Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, 
and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 
(Philippians 3:19) 

"It is better for the heart to be strengthened by grace than by foods, 
through which those who were thus occupied were not benefitted." 
(Hebrews 13:9) 

"Do you not yet understand, that whatsoever enters in at the mouth, 
goes into the belly, and is cast out into the sewer?"
(Matthew 15:17) 

"It is the spirit that gives life; 
the flesh is profitable for nothing." 
(John 6:63)

"I have food to eat that you know not of." 
(John 4:32)

"My food is to do the will of Him who sent me." 
(John 4:34)

"Man does not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
(Matthew 4:4)

"If you live after the flesh, you shall die, 
but if, through the spirit, you mortify the deeds of the body,
you shall live."
(Romans 8:13)

"Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit... 
therefore, glorify God in your body."
(I Corinth 3:16; 6:19-20) 

"The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking,
but righteousness and peace,
and joy in the Holy Spirit."
(Romans 14:17)

"When you fast, be not as the hypocrites...
who disfigure their faces, so they may appear unto men to fast... 
But when you fast, annoint your head,
and wash your face, so you appear not unto men to fast, 
but unto your Father who sees in secret, 
and your Father shall reward you openly."
(Matthew 6:16-18)

"Daniel made up his mind he would not defile himself
with the king's meat and wine...
"Let us be given pulses to eat, and water to drink..." 
At the end of ten days, their appearance was handsomer, 
and they were stronger, than all the youths 
who had been eating the king's food." 
(Daniel 1:12, 15, 17, 18) 

"If food makes my brother to offend, 
I will eat no flesh-foods while the world stands."
(I Corinth 8:13)

"Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food... 
It is good neither to eat flesh-foods, nor drink wine, 
nor anything by which your brother stumbles, or is offended, or made weak." 
(Romans 14:20-21)

"Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed
which is upon the face of all the earth, 
and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed...
To you it shall be for food." 
(Genesis 1:29) 

"Of every tree of Paradise, you may eat freely."
(Genesis 2:16) 

"Bless the Lord...who heals all diseases; 
who redeems our life from destruction...
who satisfies our mouth with good things; 
so that our youth is renewed like the eagles." 
(Psalms 103:1-5) 

"I bid you put away anxious thought about 
food and drink to keep you alive..." 
(Matt. 6:25) 

Avoid them, for such people are servants not of Christ 
our Lord but of their own appetites..." 
(Romans 16:18)

Food in the Bible 

One may conclude that God originally intended man to be vegetarian. In Genesis 1:29, God tells Adam: 

"Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed which is upon the face of the earth and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food." 

Staple foods in the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were grains (wheat and barley) and legumes, particularly lentils, supplemented by a variety of vegetables and fruits. This diet would have been nutritious and balanced, providing proper proportions of carbohydrate and protein, as well as healthily low in fat. 

Grain was eaten in several ways--the simplest being to grab some heads of grain in a field--anybody's field, since such was not considered stealing if it was done by hand. 

"When thou comest into the standing corn of thy neighbor, 
then thou mayest pluck the ears with thine hand;
but thou shalt not move a sickle into thy neighbor's standing corn,"
(Deuteronomy 23:25)

This practice was still common in Jesus's time, and His disciples were known to eat grain in this manner: 

"At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn;
and his disciples were hungry, and began to pluck the ears of corn,
and to eat." (Matthew 12:1)
{Note the KJV translators did not use "corn" to mean the New World
crop unknown to the Old World in biblical times. "Corn" is a British word for "grain".}

Raw grain was hard to digest, so under normal circumstances grain was cut (by its owner) when ripe and threshed by trampling it with large animals or beating it with sticks. Whole grain was also milled into flour. 

Grain was not always ground into flour. It was also eaten "parched." a process accomplished by toasting ripe ears of grain over a fire for a short time (Leviticus 2:14). 

Both wheat and barley were grown, but while wheat was preferred because of its superior flavor and ability to rise when leavened, barley was more often sown since it was easier to grow in Palestine's poor soil and dry climate. 

While wheat and barley were the principle grains cultivated in Palestine, they were not the only ones. As noted in the story of Ezekiel, millet and spelt were also grown (Ezekiel 4:9). Spelt is mentioned in Exodus 9:32; it is similar to wheat in appearance and taste, but has larger kernels or "berries." Spelt is better tolerated by allergic individuals than wheat, and it contains more protein, fat, fibre, as well as monopolysaccharide carbohydrates which are thought to stimulate the body's immune system. 

Lentils were the most popular legume in Bible times, no doubt due to their ability to thrive in dry, poor quality soil. Lentils are mentioned several times in the chronicles of David, and also in Ezekiel's bread recipe.

Nebuchadnezzar's table would likely have included meat and other rich delicacies. Four hundred years before Daniel's time, Samuel the prophet had predicted "a king who will reign over you.", (1 Samuel 8:11). In the King James Version of the Bible, the king's food is referred to as "meat", but the American Standard Version of 1901 calls these foods "dainties." Babylonian dainties, according to Harper's Bible Dictionary, "may have been delicate meats, rich cakes, or confections". 

Dainties are referred to in Psalm 141:3-4: 

"Set a guard over my mouth O Lord, keep a watch over the door of my lips:
Incline not my heart to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds. 
In company with men who work iniquity And let me not eat of their dainties!"

And in Proverbs 23:1-3:

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
And put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite.
Be not desirous of his dainties for they are deceitful meat.

As for the "pulse" or vegetables Daniel asked for, pulse (from the Latin "puls") specifically refers to legumes such as lentils and beans, but in this instance may have simply been a generic term for vegetables of any sort. "Pulse" may also have been a "trail mix" for long journeys made with dried vegetables, fruit and grains in grape seed oil and walnut oil. Daniel 1:15 states "at the end of ten days it was seen that [Daniel and his three friends] were handsomer and stronger than all the youths who had been eating the king's food." Thus Daniel won his suit, and was permitted to continue eating a vegetarian diet.

In Biblical times, most common people were vegetarians, but more out of necessity than religious reasons. Only royalty and the wealthy could afford to eat meat regularly. And there was no practical way to store meat as salt was also a commodity of the wealthy.

Meat was usually reserved for holiday feasts or receptions when enough people would be present to eat all of the meat. Size may also have had something to do with the Hebrew partiality for veal -- the "fatted calf" mentioned on several occasions (Genesis 18:7; 1 Samuel 28:24; Amos 6:4; Luke 15:25-32). A calf is a smaller, more manageable amount of meat to consume without waste. Goats were also eaten, as noted in the story of Jacob and Esau; and lamb was a fairly common meal since it was the preferred sacrificial offering.

While meat was eaten sparingly in ancient Palestine, at least by regular folk, dairy products were widely consumed. Camels (Genesis 32:15), sheep (Deuteronomy 32:14; 1 Corinthians 9:7), and goats (Proverbs 27:27) were all milked. Goats were reared principly for their milk, which was preferred to that of any other animal. The Hebrews made butter from milk (Proverbs 30: 33) and leben, a runny yogurt. Cheese is mentioned at least three times in the Bible (2 Samuel 17:29; 1 Samuel 17:18; and Job 10:10). As in most traditional cultures to this day, the Hebrews didn't customarily drink milk as a liquid after infancy (1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12-13; 1 Peter 2:2).

Consumption of fowl was permitted under the Levitical code, except for birds of prey and carrion eaters (Leviticus 11:13-19). Old Testament Hebrews ate quail (Exodus 16: 12-13; Numbers 11:31-32), and partridge (1 Samuel 26:20). They also kept domesticated fowl (1 Kings 4:23), perhaps ducks or peacocks, but probably not chickens. Fowling is mentioned in Psalms 91:3, 124:7, Proverbs 6:5, Jeremiah 5:26, and Hosea 9:8. Chickens were introduced to Palestine by the Romans c. 60 B.C. A rooster played a central role in the poignant story of Peter's multiple denials of Jesus. (Matthew 26:74-75).

Under Jewish dietary laws, fish are permitted as food provided they have fins and scales. Jesus's first disciples were fishermen whom He promised He would make "fishers of men." Fish appear many times in the Gospel narratives, eg: Jesus's feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14:19); the feeding of the multitude (Matthew 14:36); and the fish with the coin in its mouth (Matthew 17:27). Twice Jesus leads the disciples to, or miraculously causes, great catches of fish (Luke 5:6; John 21:6-8). Vegetarians promoting the "Bible Diet" as the "original will of God" should consider that Jesus ate fish at least once after His Resurrection (Luke 24:42-43), and perhaps again (John 21:9-13). 

The Greek word for fish (pronounced in English: "ichthus") in a fish logo or graphic, was a popular symbol used by the early Church. The five Greek letters of the word from an acrostic for the five Greek words meaning "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior."

Sweetness in the ancient Hebrew diet was provided mainly by fruit. Figs, dates, grapes, and pomegranates were the most important fruits eaten in the Middle East during Bible times. Dates and figs were prized foods, eaten fresh or dried and pressed into cakes.

Grapes were also dried, as well as eaten fresh in season--but their principle use was for wine-making. Raisins and fig-cakes are mentioned in 1 Samuel 25:18, 2 Samuel 16:1-2 ("summer fruits" are figs), and 1 Chronicles 12:40. In the New Testament, Jesus uses the ripening fig tree as a metaphor (Matthew 24:32), and also curses one (Matthew 21:19).

Wine first appears in Genesis 9:21 when Noah gets drunk, (therefore wine is clearly fermented) and it receives its final mention in Revelation when the "vintage of the earth" is gathered by an angel and cast into the "great winepress"--the wrath of God.

The ceremonial drinking of wine or "strong drink" is prescribed in Deuteronomy 14:23-26. Wine is described in Holy Scripture as both that which "maketh glad the heart" (Psalms 104:15), and as a "mocker" (Proverbs 20:1). Jesus's first miracle was making wine from water at the wedding in Cana (John 2:19). He referred to Himself metaphorically as the "new wine" (Matthew 9:17), and as the "true wine" (John 15:1).

Wine became the mystical symbol of Christ's blood at the Last Supper, and He also implies that wine would be drunk in Heaven (Matthew 26:27-29). Vineyards are mentioned in several of Jesus's parables (Matthew 20:1; 21:33; Mark 12:1; Luke 20:19).

St. Paul also mentions wine: "be not drunken with wine" (Ephesians 5:18); "take a little wine for thy stomach's sake" (1 Timothy 5:23). Wine vinegar, diluted with water, was widely drunk as a beverage in ancient Palestine (Numbers 6:3; Ruth 2:14).

Rev. Steve Holcomb