Barley

How do you decide what you are going to feed your family? Do you have a set of guidelines that you use in making decisions about what is best for your family? If we listen to the media we can never be sure of what is healthy or not. Everything is an advertisement for some product to buy. Even if it is in the news it seems that what is considered a “healthy” food changes from year to year.

I use the Bible as my guideline. I believe that God has given us everything we need to know through His word. We are not legally bound to the dietary laws God gave the Hebrews for our salvation but we can still benefit from following His guidelines for better health.

In Exodus 15:26 the LORD says to the Israelites, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”

The law God gave them was a way to protect them from the diseases in their time. It is a historical fact the Jews who follow the law have been free from many of the diseases that plague the cultures in which they lived.

It is hard to find recipes for foods that our ancestors ate but I believe that if we eat the foods God has suggested prepared in a way that makes the nutrients available to our bodies we will make major strides in having a healthier life. We are able to determine what God has given us to eat by his specific word of items being given to us as food, what he gave as gifts to his people to eat and examples of what Jesus ate.

Here is a partial list of acceptable foods found in the Scriptures:

Food	Scripture	Foods	Scripture
Almonds	Genesis 43:11	Grasshoppers, Locusts, Crickets	Leviticus 11:22
Barley	Judges 7:13	Herbs	Exodus 12:8
Beans	Ezekiel 4:9	Honey	Isaiah 7:15
Beef	1 Kings 4:22,23	Lentils	Genesis 25:34
Bread	1 Samuel 17:17	Meal	Matthew 13:33 (KJV)
Broth	Judges 6:19	Nuts	Genesis 43:11
Cakes	2 Samuel 13:8 (KJV)	Oil	Proverbs 21:17
Cheese	Job 10:10	Olives	Deuteronomy 28:40
Cucumbers, Onions, Leeks, Melons, Garlic	Numbers 11:5	Pomegranates	Numbers 11:32
Curds of Cow’s Milk	Deuteronomy 32:14	Quail	Numbers 11:32
Cow’s Milk	Genesis 18:8	Wheat	Exodus 29:2
Figs	Numbers 13:23	Raisins	2 Samuel 16:1
Fish	Matthew 7:10	Salt	Job 6:6
Fowl	1 Kings 4:23	Sheep	Deuteronomy 14:4
Fruit	2 Samuel 16:2	Sheep’s Milk	Deuteronomy 32:14
Game	Genesis 25:28	Spices	Genesis 43:11
Goat’s Milk	Proverbs 27:27	Vinegar	Numbers 6:3
Grain	Ruth 2:14	Wild Honey	Psalm 19:10
Veal	Genesis 18:7,8	Wine	Genesis 27:28
Vegetables	Proverbs 15:17	Eggs	Luke 11:11-13
Grapes	Deuteronomy 23:24	Water	John 4:14

Warnings against Some Foods:

1. “Do not eat any of the fat of cattle, sheep, or goats” (Lev. 7:23).

2. “You must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water” (Deut. 12:16).

3. “Do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts” (Exod. 22:31).

4. You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten” (Lev. 11:47).

5. Camels, Pigs, Hares, Badgers, Shellfish, and Birds of Prey are not to be eaten. (See Lev. 11:1-47 for a more complete list of foods to be avoided.)

Expanding the Lists

“Neither the healthful nor the unhealthful foods on the list are all inclusive. Many plants fit into the categories of Genesis 1:29a: wheat, rice, oats, barley, millet, rye, and other grains; legumes of all kinds (e.g. peas, beans); bush and vine-bearing fruits and vegetables (melons, grapes, berries, squash, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, etc.).

In Genesis 1:29b (KJV), God gave us:

Every tree, in which the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for [food].

This includes every conceivable fruit (apples, pears, apricots, plums, mangoes, avocado, etc.), as well as all nuts, both large and small (coconuts, walnuts, almonds, cashews, etc.).”

As our science has expanded we can now see many of the reasons for the laws God gave the Israelites to avoid certain foods.

We can also find out how people used to eat through many scientists that study the eating habits of our ancestors. Dr. Weston A. Price was one of those great men who went throughout the world looking at groups of people who had not adopted our western, processed way of eating. He discovered that people who did not eat the refined foods we do were free from diseases such as diabetes, cancer and heart attacks. Nourishing Traditions is a great book that goes into the scientific as well as practical principles of eating the way our ancestors did. The WAPF website is also a wonderful source of information that I greatly encourage you to read.

As a family we have not fully converted our diets to eating only these things but it is our goal that the majority of the foods we eat meet these guidelines. We are also careful not to offend others who may serve us foods that we would normally not eat. Above all we are to love one another and when we are guests we should act accordingly.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

Nourishing Traditions

By Sally Fallon with Mary G. Enig, Ph.D.

The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats

This amazing cookbook/encyclopedia has been a wonderful addition to our library. It is filled with information about the kinds of foods that sustained generations before us. This book has over 700 recipes and an education on what to eat and how to prepare it. I highly recommend this book if you want to be challenged in your quest to feed your family healthy foods that will sustain them and generations to come.

Sue Gregg’s Main Dishes & Breakfasts Cookbooks

These wonderful cookbooks give a ton of background information on the foods that we should eat. She has Biblical references throughout them as well. The recipes are wonderful and include full menu plans. I highly recommend these cookbooks if you are looking to feed your family whole foods.