Good health is God’s will for us. – 3 John 2 – Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health; just as your soul prospers.

Satan Destroys; God Restores
The Savior in His miracles revealed the power that this continually at work, in man’s behalf, to sustain and to heal him… Sickness, suffering, and death are work of an antagonistic power. Satan is the destroyer; God is the restorer… the desire of God for every human being is expressed in the words, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 2). MH 112, 113

God promised His people would be disease-free if they followed His instructions. – Exodus 15:26 – And said, “if you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statues, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians for I am the Lord who heals you.”

Obedience Brings Health
Christ had been the guide and teacher of ancient Israel, and He taught them that health is the reward of obedience to the law of God. The Great Physician who healed the sick in Palestine had spoken to His people from the pillar of cloud, telling them what they must do, and what God would do for them… When they fulfilled the conditions, the promise was verified to them. DA 824

We should honor and glorify God even in our eating and drinking. – 1 Corinthians 10:31 – Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

What Christianity Is Not
A mere profession of faith in Christ, a boastful knowledge of the truth, does not make a man a Christian. A religion that seeks only to gratify the eye, the ear, and the taste, or that sanctions self-indulgence, is not the religion of Christ. AA 317

We should avoid anything that defiles or destroys God’s temple. – 1 Corinthians 3:16 & 17 – ¹⁶Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwell in you? ¹⁷If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Once Again God’s Temple
From eternal ages it was God’s purpose that every created being, from the bright and holy seraph to man, should be a temple for the indwelling of the Creator. Because of sin, humanity ceased to be a temple for God. Darkened and defiled by evil, the heart of man no longer revealed the glory of the Divine One. But by the incarnation of the Son of God, the purpose of Heaven is fulfilled. God dwells in humanity, and through saving grace the heart of man becomes again His temple. DA 161

Our bodies are not ours – they are God’s temples, His dwelling places. – 1 Corinthians 6:19 & 20 – ¹⁹Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

All Are God’s Property
All men have been bought with this infinite price. By pouring the whole treasury of heaven into this world, by giving us in Christ all heaven, God has purchased the will, the affections, the mind, the soul, of every human being. Whether believers or unbelievers, all men are the Lord’s property. COL 326

Man’s original diet: grains, fruits, nuts. – Genesis 1:29 – And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.

Clean and unclean animals enter the ark. – Genesis 7:2 – You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and a female.

Vegetables added to diet after the Flood. – Genesis 3:18 – Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.

Flesh food permitted after the Flood. – Genesis 9:2-4 – ²And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea, They are given into your hand. ³Every moving thing that lives shall be for food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. ⁴But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.

The Entrance of Animals As Food
The diet appointed man in the beginning did not include animal food. Not till after the Flood, when every green thing on the earth had been destroyed, did man receive permission to eat flesh. MH 311

Clean and unclean flesh foods defined. – Leviticus 11:1-31 – ¹Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, ²”Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth: ³Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven homes and chewing the cud – that you may eat. ⁴Nevertheless these you shall not eat among those the chew the cud or that have cloven hooves: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; ⁵the rock hyrax, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; ⁶the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven homes, is unclean to you; ⁷and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. ⁸Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. They are unclean to you. ⁹’These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers – that you may eat. ¹⁰But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you. ¹¹They shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination. ¹²Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales – that shall be an abomination to you. ¹³’And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, ¹⁴the kite, and the falcon after its kind; ¹⁵every raven after its kind, ¹⁶the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind; ¹⁷the little owl, the fisher owl, and the screech owl; ¹⁸the white owl, the jackdaw, and the carrion vulture; ¹⁹the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat. ²⁰’All flying insects that creep on all fours shall be an abomination to you. ²¹Yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth. ²²These you may eat: the locust after its kind the destroying locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind. ²³But all other flying insects which have four feet shall be an abomination to you. ²⁴’By these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening; ²⁵whoever carries part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening: ²⁶The carcass of any animal which divides the foot, but is not cloven-hoofed or does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. Everyone who touches it shall be unclean. ²⁷And whatever goes on it paws, among all kinds of animals that go on all fours, those are unclean to you. Whoever touches any such carcass shall be unclean until evening. ²⁸Whoever carries any such carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. It is unclean to you. ²⁹’These also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and the large lizard after its kind. ³⁰the gecko, the monitor lizard, the sand reptile, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. ³¹These are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening.

Clean and Unclean Food
The distinction between articles of food as clean and unclean was not merely ceremonial and arbitrary regulation, but was based upon sanitary principles… There are few who realize as they should how much their habits of diet have to do with their health, their character, their usefulness in this world, and their eternal destiny. The appetite should ever be in subjection to the moral and intellectual powers. The body should be servant to the mind, and not the mind to the body. PP 562

The Best Diet
In choosing man’s food in Eden, the Lord showed what was the best diet; in the choice made for Israel He taught the same lesson. He brought the Israelites out of Egypt and undertook their training, that they might be a people for His own possession. Through them He desired to bless and teach the world. He provided them with the food best adapted for this purpose, not flesh, but manna, “the bread of heaven.” It was only because of their discontent and their murmuring for the fleshpots of Egypt that animal food was granted them, and this only for a short time. Its use brought disease and death to thousands. Yet the restriction to a nonflesh diet was never heartily accepted. It continued to be the cause of discontent and murmuring, open or secret, and it was not made permanent. Upon their settlement in Canaan, the Israelites were permitted the use of animal food, but under careful restrictions which tended to lessen the evil results. The use of swine’s flesh was prohibited, as also of other animals and of birds and fish whose flesh was pronounced unclean. Of the meats permitted, the eating of the fat and the blood was strictly forbidden. Only such animals could be used for food as were in good condition. No creature that was torn, that had died of itself, or from which the blood had not been carefully drained, could be used as food. By departing from the plan divinely appointed for their diet, the Israelites suffered great loss. MH 311, 312

Warning against wine and strong drink – 1 – Judges 13:4 – Now therefore, please be careful not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean.

Warning against wine and strong drink – 2 – Proverbs 20:1 – Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

Evil of Alcohol
Oh, how often has the life of the innocent been sacrificed through the intemperance of those who should have been guardians of justice! He who puts the intoxicating cup to his lips makes himself responsible for all the injustice he may commit under its besotting power. By benumbing the senses, he makes it impossible for him to judge calmly or to have a clear perception of right and wrong. He opens the way for Satan to work through him in oppressing and destroying the innocent. DA 222

Results of using intoxicants. – Proverbs 23:29-32 – ²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? ³⁰Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine. ³¹Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; ³²at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper.

The Curse of Alcohol
No argument is needed to show the evil effects of intoxicants on the drunkard. The bleared besotted wrecks of humanity – souls for whom Christ died, and over whom angels weep – are everywhere. They are a blot on our boasted civilization. They are the shame and curse of peril of every land. MH 331

Drunkard will not enter God’s kingdom. – 1 Corinthians 6:9 & 10 – ⁹Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, no homosexuals, nor sodomites, ¹⁰nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.