Apparently there is a close connection between holiness and dietary habits. Holiness therefore includes obedience to the laws of God that relate to the physical being.

By some it is thought beneath the dignity of God to stoop to give directions in regard to man’s diet. Why should God be concerned about what we eat?

 We might enlarge that conception by inquiring why God should be interested in man at all. “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” wondered the psalmist of old (Ps. 8:4). Christ answered that question, informing us that God is interested not in man alone but in many things of even less value (Luke 12:7).

 Man is made in the image of God. Sparrows are not. Man is said to be precious in the sight of God, and of more value than “fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir” (Isa. 13:12; 43:4). The measure of God’s estimate of man is shown in the fact that He identifies Himself with man. “He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye” (Zech. 2:8). The further fact that God paid such a tremendous price to redeem man, is, to the Christian, indicative of the value God places on him. We may therefore be confident that anything concerning man is of interest to God.

 God’s dietary laws are not, as some suppose, merely negative and prohibitory. God intends that man shall have the best of everything, the “finest of the wheat” (Ps. 81:16; 147:14). He who created all things knows what is best for the creatures He has made, and according to His knowledge He gives counsel and recommendations. “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Ps. 84:11). What God forbids is not withheld in arbitrariness, but for the good of man. Men may disdain God’s counsel, but experience and results ever demonstrate His wisdom.

God gave man a wonderful body with almost unlimited possibilities, and also with many delicate parts that must be carefully shielded from abuse if they are to function properly. In the body itself He has provided for the care and maintenance of the parts, and even for their renewal if His directions are followed. In many cases it is possible to begin a process of rehabilitation even after the body has been misused for years. The recuperative powers of nature are amazing. The moment an injury comes to any part, the life forces of the body immediately go to work to repair the damage. Physicians may assist and do much good, but they do not have healing power. All they can do in many cases is to stand aside and let God work.

Some insist that God is more interested in the soul of man than in his body, that spiritual values are superior to the physical. This is true, but it should be remembered that body and soul are closely interrelated, that the one powerfully affects the other, and that it is not always easy to tell where one begins and the other ends. Though we agree that the spiritual man is of supreme importance, we do not think that therefore the body is to be neglected. Such, indeed, was the philosophy of certain medieval “saints” who mortified the body for the benefit of the soul; but that was not God’s plan. He put body and soul together for the mutual benefit of each.

 The statement that as a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7) touches the fundamental issues of life. A man is what he thinks. Is thinking a physical process? Can there be thought apart from a mechanism of some kind to do the thinking? Whatever thinking may be, it determines conduct. If a man thinks along right lines, his conduct is likely to be right. If his mind dwells on evil things, his deeds will likely be evil.

 Does the body have any influence on a man’s thinking? Most decidedly. All know that the use of intoxicating liquors affects a man’s thinking as well as his actions. It warps his judgment and tends to make him irresponsible. His mind does not function as when he is sober, his faculties are not working normally, all his reactions are retarded. If he drives an automobile he becomes a menace to others, and a potential killer (see on ch. 10:9).

Most men admit that drinking has bad effects. May wrong eating habits have similar effects? Yes, even if not in the same degree as alcohol. Food affects a man’s behavior as well as his thinking. Many a boy has received a whipping because father’s toast was burned and his coffee weak or cold. Many a divorce can be traced to the culinary department of the house. Salesmen do not expect big orders from dyspeptic prospects. The shrewd lawyer knows that there is a right time to approach a venal judge for favorable consideration; and diplomats and statesmen know the value of a sumptuous banquet. If wine and food are cunningly combined, agreements may be arrived at that would never have been signed had the contracting parties been in possession of their normal faculties. Such agreements have cursed the world for generations.

Does food affect the mind? Do eating and drinking affect the spirit? Most assuredly. A sour outlook on life often comes from a sour stomach. Right eating will not necessarily produce a sweet disposition; but wrong eating makes it hard to measure up to the standard set by God.

God’s dietary laws are not arbitrary enactments that deprive man of the joy of eating. Rather, they are sound, sensible laws that man will do well to heed if he wishes to retain health, or perhaps regain it. On the whole it will be found that the food God approves is the same food men have found best, and that disagreement does not come in the things approved, but in the things forbidden.

 These dietary statutes were given to Israel of old, and were adapted to their conditions. Most Jews still adhere to them, and they have served well for more than 3,000 years. The physical condition of the Jews bears witness to the fact that these rules are not obsolete and outdated, if their purpose is to produce a people singularly free from many of the diseases that plague men today. Despite the persecutions and hardships suffered by the Jews, above those suffered by any other nation on the face of the earth, and over a longer time, they are, generally speaking, a virile race. This fact is at least partly explained by their obedience to God’s dietary laws set forth in Lev. 11.

The laws imparted to Israel at Sinai dealt with all aspects of their duty toward God and man. These laws may be classified as follows:

 1. Moral. The principles expressed in the Decalogue reflect the divine character, and are as immutable as God Himself (see Matt. 5:17, 18; Rom. 3:31).

 2. Ceremonial. These laws were concerned with a system of worship that prefigured the cross, and accordingly expired at that time (Col. 2:14-17; Heb. 7:12).

 3. Civil. These laws applied the broad principles of the Ten Commandments to the economy of ancient Israel as a nation. Though this code became inoperative when ancient Israel ceased to be a nation and has not been reinstated as such in the modern, nontheocratic state of Israel, yet the fundamental principles of justice and equity involved are still valid.

 4. Health. The dietary principles of Lev. 11, together with other sanitary and health regulations, were intended by a wise Creator to promote health and longevity (see Ex. 15:26; 23:25; Deut. 7:15; Ps. 105:37; PP 378). Based as they are upon the nature and requirements of the human body, these principles could in no way be affected either by the cross or by the disappearance of Israel as a nation. Principles that contributed to health 3,500 years ago will produce the same results today.

 The sincere Christian considers his body to be the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16, 17; 6:19, 20). Appreciation of this fact will lead him, among other things, to eat and drink to the glory of God, that is, to regulate his diet according to God’s revealed will (1 Cor. 9:27; 10:31). Thus he must, to be consistent, accept and obey the principles set forth in Lev. 11.