Is Your Diet Built Upon the Proper Foundation?

We read in the Bible about the importance of foundations:

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." ~ Matthew 7:24-27

In the verse above, Jesus was obviously talking about foundations upon which one can build a house. One is “rock” and the other is “sand.” In this text, the house built upon “sand” was not able to withstand the storms that came its way, and thus fell, whereas the house which was built on “rock” endured the storms! It is also clear, however, that Jesus was talking about spiritual foundations, and the Bible makes it abundantly clear who that spiritual foundation is — upon whom we should build our spiritual life. That “rock” is Jesus Christ.

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” ~ 1 Corinthians 3:11

Now I want to use this same scripture as a springboard text to talk about a physical foundation regarding what we eat in order to nourish our God-created physical bodies.

I Have a Question for You

Let me begin the thought process by asking a question: Have you ever considered the foundation of the diet you consume for the nourishment of your body each and every day of your life? Is your diet based on a solid foundation? Personally, for nearly 40 years of my life, I have based my diet on the very clear teachings of the word of God, a diet called The Hallelujah Diet. The effect on my health has been amazing. To understand why, let’s take a few moments to look at this Hallelujah Diet and evaluate it, comparing its teachings with the teachings of the Bible.

The Hallelujah Diet Foundation – Rock or Sand?

The Hallelujah Diet is founded upon Genesis 1:29. The verse tells of a diet God gave Adam immediately after He created him. My objective in this article is to establish that the diet God gave Adam in Genesis 1:29 was not a diet limited to Adam and Eve during their time in the garden, but was meant by God to be the exclusive diet of all mankind for as long as man walked this earth. As I write this, I am fully cognizant of the fact that if The Hallelujah Diet does not have the proper foundations, like the house build upon sand, it, too, will fall. But, if The Hallelujah Diet we teach at Hallelujah Acres is built upon a solid foundation, it will withstand all the storms that could ever come against it.

Storms Rage Against The Hallelujah Diet

Ever since Rhonda and I established Hallelujah Acres on February 21, 1992, the storms have raged against us...or should I say against The Hallelujah Diet we proclaim. But against great opposition and “raging storms,” we continued to proclaim God’s original Genesis 1:29 diet, a diet that excluded all animal source foods. Most of the storms have come from within the Christian community, in general, and from preachers, in particular, as they vehemently protest our teaching concerning the consuming of animal flesh. These naysayers attempted to challenge that what we teach at Hallelujah Acres is not biblical. Oh, they acknowledge that the Genesis 1:29 diet excluded meat, but they go on to tell us that we need to read the rest of the Bible, because later on in Genesis 9:3, God said that it was okay to eat the flesh of animals. When we started Hallelujah Acres, just over 21 years ago, it was just Rhonda and me, proclaiming a health message that no one wanted to hear.

Spread the Word: People Are Getting Well

Gradually, a few people did listen. They applied what we were teaching, got well, and they could not keep the good news to themselves. Slowly, through the years, more and more people told and more and more people heard healing testimonies of those who had applied the principles of The Hallelujah Diet until people around the world were hearing and applying its teachings. Today, there are millions of people that follow The Hallelujah Diet in virtually every corner of the globe. They have written to us by the tens of thousands, over the years, to tell us that after applying the biblical diet principles we were teaching, they also got well from all their physical and even psychological problems. In total, our global Hallelujah Acres family has reported recovering from over 170 different physical problems and they don’t get sick anymore. So what is it that Hallelujah Acres believes and teaches? What is the biblical foundation upon which Hallelujah Acres and The Hallelujah Diet rest?

God’s Plan for Man’s Proper Nourishment

I do not believe for a moment that God designed the human frame to ever experience sickness. To do so would be totally out of character for Him. But if God did not design or intend for us to be sick, why do most people, including the best Christians, experience sickness today? Let’s go back to the beginning for a few minutes and let us see what steps God took in the beginning to prevent sickness. And if those steps did prevent sickness, should we not take a lesson from what God showed us in the beginning? In Genesis 2:7 we read how God created that very first human, Adam. This is Step 1:

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul.”

Step 2 – God Places Man in a Garden

Next, God takes Adam and places him in a garden; a garden for which God had spent the previous four days of creation laying the groundwork. God designed this garden to provide all the nourishment needed to sustain Adam and all humans that would follow Adam in excellent health. (See Genesis 1:1-19). Let’s pick up the text at this point:

“And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.” ~ Genesis 2:8

Step 3 – God Gives Man a Diet

So, after God finished creating this gorgeous garden, He created man on the sixth day (Genesis 1:26-27) and places him in this garden that the Bible calls “Eden.” And what does God tell His human creation Adam? He tells Adam that all of the food needed to properly nourish his physical body was to be provided by the plants in that garden. You can read exactly what that diet consisted of in Genesis 1:29:

“AND GOD SAID, behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed (vegetable), which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food (meat).”

I believe that this diet, which was devoid of all animal source foods, was not only the diet that God, the Creator of man in His infinite wisdom, knew would properly nourish Adam and then Eve, but would also be the very diet that would properly nourish and sustain human physical life as long as man walked this earth. I also believe that God knew this diet was the very diet that would prevent His human creation from ever becoming sick. And sure enough, there is not a single recorded instance of sickness while Adam and Eve remained in the garden eating those garden foods.

Sin, But Not Sickness

We read in Genesis 3:1-24 that at this time Eve was deceived by the devil and partook of the forbidden fruit; Adam partook, also. The result of their disobedience was that sin entered the human race and they were driven from the garden. But notice that it was sin and not sickness that entered the human race at the time of the fall. Adam and Eve’s banishment from the garden did not bring about a change in diet, nor did it bring sickness. In fact, the Genesis 1:29 diet continued to be the exclusive diet of mankind for the next 1,700 years...right up until the time of the flood. And during those 1,700 years on this 100% plant-based, Genesis 1:29 diet — devoid of all animal source foods — there is not a single recorded instance of sickness, while man lives to an average age of 912 (average age of the patriarchs at death prior to the flood).

Then Came the Flood

In Genesis chapters 7 and 8, we read about a flood that covered all the earth:

“And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills that were under the whole heaven, were covered.” ~ Genesis 7:19

The flood covered the earth and its gardens. These gardens contained the foods God had told his human creation to consume in Genesis 1:29, the very foods that had sustained man in health for the previous 1,700 years. God, not wanting all human life to be wiped out by starvation because all plant foods had been destroyed by the flood, in Genesis 9:3 gives man permission to consume the flesh of the clean animals that were on the ark. I believe God allowed this for man’s survival purposes until the flood waters receded and garden foods were once again available. Here is what God said in Genesis 9:3:

“Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat (food) for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.”

This is the verse our critics use against us more than any other. They tell us that God gave man permission to consume animal flesh right here in Genesis 9:3, and thus there is nothing wrong with eating animal flesh. But once man got a taste of flesh, he could not leave it alone and began to eat it with increasing frequency even after gardens were restored and garden foods available. And later, when God was bringing the Israelites out of Egypt, what was their primary complaint?

“And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots. . .” ~ Exodus 16:3

40 Years in the Wilderness

When God was the dietician during the 40 years of the Israelites’ wilderness wandering, what did He provide them for food? Was it not “manna,” a pure vegan food?!

“And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.” ~ Exodus 16:15

But were the Israelites happy with this plant based manna? No, they demanded flesh:

“Who shall give us flesh to eat?” ~ Numbers 11:18

Now listen to Moses as he talks to the Lord concerning the Israelites demand for flesh:

“Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? For they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh that we may eat.” ~ Numbers 11:13

And God gave them flesh in the form of quail:

“And there went forth a wind from the Lord, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp . . . and they gathered the quails . . . And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague." ~ Numbers 11:31-33

Do You Know the Cause of Most Physical Problems?

What few people understand today is that animal source foods are the primary cause of almost every physical problem man experiences. If man would stop consuming animal source foods, he could almost totally eliminate any fear of ever having a heart attack, stroke, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, arthritis, allergies, asthma, osteoporosis, heartburn, acid stomach problems... and the list goes on. There is nothing more dangerous to our health than animal source foods! And yet, there is nothing Hallelujah Acres is criticized for more than our attempt to warn Christians of the inherent dangers found in them. Sadly, these same animal source foods are the root cause of almost every physical problem we ask God in prayer to remove. No wonder, the Bible tells us in Hosea 4:6:

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge . . .”

And what could that knowledge possibly be?

“Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth (eateth), that shall he also reap.” ~ Galatians 6:7

Christians seem to think that all they have to do is pray a spiritual prayer over something they are about to put into their mouth, and that spiritual prayer is going to remove any harmful effects that substance could have on their body. Sadly, the average person never associates the physical problems they experience with the foods they eat.

Daniel’s Story

In the first chapter of Daniel, we learn that Daniel, along with three Hebrew children, were taken into the king’s palace to be prepared for service to the king. Part of that preparation was to be nourished with the foods that came from the king’s table. In Daniel chapter 1:8 we read:

“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”

Daniel requested that he and his companions not be required to eat the “meat” or drink the “wine” but rather be given only “pulse” (vegetables) and “water." The eunuch protested, saying that if he gave them only veggies and water, they would not be as healthy as those eating the king’s food and that he could lose his head for not obeying the king’s orders. Daniel responded:

“Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse (veggies) to eat, and water to drink.” ~ Daniel 1:12

The eunuch granted their wish for 10 days. And what were the results?

“And at the end of the ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king’s meat!” ~ Daniel 1:15

By the way, there is something about this story that many people fail to recognize — Daniel 1:16 says that because the 10-day experiment worked so well, Daniel and his friends were allowed to continue eating this way!

Conclusion

Friends, "If the foundations (the diet our bodies were designed to be nourished with) be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3) The answer is we can get sick, or we can return to eating the foods God designed these physical bodies to be nourished with. And what is so amazing to me is that upon returning to that Genesis 1:29 diet, the very diet that God, our Creator, gave Adam some 6,000 years ago, almost everyone who applies God's original diet to their body gets well from almost every physical problem they were experiencing. They usually don't get sick anymore, and they die of old age, rather than disease!

With regard to a proper spiritual foundation, I will leave you with these verses from the Bible:

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. . . But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.” ~ 1 Corinthians 3:11 & 10

Next week, the good Lord willing and if the creeks don’t rise too high, we will return with another exciting issue of the Hallelujah Acres Health Tip. Trust you will join us and that you will share these Health Tips with friends and loved ones.