Prescribed Food For Fitness Here And For Hereafter

LEVITICUS 11:1-2; DEUTERONOMY 8:3-4; MATTHEW 4:3-4, Leviticus 11:1-2

1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, 

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.

Deuteronomy 8:3-4

3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. 

 4 Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

Matthew 4:3-4

3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 

4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

INTRODUCTION 

I welcome everyone of us here and online to the service today and I pray that the impact of the word will be manifest in every life in Jesus name. 

Today, we are looking at something usual and unusual. Something we don’t expect to hear in the church but you should understand that God has made provision for every part of our lives. We are not to take a part of our lives to the church, another fraction to the Nutritionists, another to the Medical Doctor or yet, another to the Psychiatrist. Everything we need has been provided for in the word of God and I pray that the intention, plan and purpose of the Lord for putting everything in the word will be fulfilled in every life in Jesus name. 

Today, we are coming to Leviticus chapter 11:1-2. “And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them” Remember that the children of Israel were in the wilderness and they didn’t have hospitals, sanitary/medical professionals, they did not have the various professionals who would help them in this or that area. Moses and Aaron were their leaders but they were not leading them independent of God because the pillar of cloud and fire was there, leading them in the way. 

In the world, the belief is that for you to be fit and healthy, you need good food, water, and exercises. Now, we have places to learn all these things from, and all their ideas are based on what God told Moses to tell the people. They obeyed the instructions of God for their physical, spiritual, and family lives.

Deuteronomy 8:3-4. When they were in Egypt, they did not know the Manna which had all the nutrients, vitamins and everything their bodies needed. Man is body, soul and spirit, and does not live by physical food alone but also by the word which proceeds our of the mouth of God. You cannot survive on only one, but on all. This was the portion Jesus quoted to counter the devil when he tempted Him to turn stone into bread. He was thinking about the body of Jesus that was hungry, he was not thinking about the needs of the soul and spirit. We must not always focus on the need of the body, but also on the needs of the soul and spirit which are also very important. 

Matthew 4:3-4. When the devil tempted Jesus, He told him, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God”. Why? If he lives by bread (food) alone, the body will be fed, but the spirit will be famished. He needs to prepare his spirit and soul for heaven. 

Looking at Leviticus, it talks about meat from land animals, sea animals and birds of the air. But we need more than this, we need food of different types. This is why we are talking today on PRESCRIBED FOOD FOR FITNESS HERE AND FOR HEREAFTER. That is, the food we take physical and spiritual, for our morals and totality of our lives and all the provision which God has made for us for here and hereafter. We are talking about everything God has given us for fitness here and hereafter to make us fit spiritually, physically, morally and in every way possible so that we can be fit for hereafter. 

1. PRESCRIBED FOOD FOR HEALTHY LIVING HERE ON EARTH. Genesis 9:3; 1 Timothy 4:4-5

God who created us also prescribed what we are to eat to keep strong and healthy. 

Genesis 9:3. “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things”. God is talking to Noah after the flood, he was to begin a new life and generation as he spread out. God said every moving thing shall be food for him, including the green herb – all things which grow from the trees and from the ground. This was the period before the law of Moses which was short. God said He has given them everything.