“The Lord thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy.”Deuteronomy 23:14.
(MH 280.1)
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The distinction between clean and unclean was made in all matters of diet:
(MH 280.2)
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“I am the Lord thy God, which have separated you from other people. Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing, ... which I have separated from you as unclean.”Leviticus 20:24, 25.
(MH 280.3)
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Many articles of food eaten freely by the heathen about them were forbidden to the Israelites. It was no arbitrary distinction that was made. The things prohibited were unwholesome. And the fact that they were pronounced unclean taught the lesson that the use of injurious foods is defiling. That which corrupts the body tends to corrupt the soul. It unfits the user for communion with God, unfits him for high and holy service.
(MH 280.4)
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In the Promised Land the discipline begun in the wilderness was continued under circumstances favorable to the formation of right habits. The people were not crowded together in cities, but each family had its own landed possession, ensuring to all the health-giving blessings of a natural, unperverted life.
(MH 280.5)
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Concerning the cruel, licentious practices of the Canaanites, who were dispossessed by Israel, the Lord said:
(MH 280.6)
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“Ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.”Leviticus 20:23. “Neither shalt thou bring an abomination into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it.”Deuteronomy 7:26.
(MH 280.7)
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In all the affairs of their daily life, the Israelites were taught the lesson set forth by the Holy Spirit:
(MH 281.1)
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“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”1 Corinthians 3:16, 17.
(MH 281.2)
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“A merry [rejoicing] heart doeth good like a medicine.”Proverbs 17:22. Gratitude, rejoicing, benevolence, trust in God’s love and care—these are health’s greatest safeguard. To the Israelites they were to be the very keynote of life.
(MH 281.3)
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The journey made three times a year to the annual feasts at Jerusalem, the week’s sojourn in booths during the Feast of Tabernacles, were opportunities for outdoor recreation and social life. These feasts were occasions of rejoicing, made sweeter and more tender by the hospitable welcome given to the stranger, the Levite, and the poor.
(MH 281.4)
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“Rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.”Deuteronomy 26:11.
(MH 281.5)
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So, in later years, when the law of God was read in Jerusalem to the captives returned from Babylon, and the people wept because of their transgressions, the gracious words were spoken:
(MH 281.6)
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“Mourn not.... Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”Nehemiah 8:9, 10.
(MH 281.7)
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