Section 17

Health and Temperance

Chapter 191.

True Temperance Reform

1. WHAT was the original food provided for man?
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, 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 meat." Gen. 1:29.

NOTE.-In other words, vegetables, grains, fruits, and nuts.

2. After the flood what other food was indicated as permissible?
"Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things." Gen. 9:3.

NOTE.-From this it is evident that flesh food was not included in the original diet provided for man, but that on account of the changed conditions resulting from the fall and the flood, its use was permitted.

3. When God chose Israel for His people, what kinds of flesh food were excluded from their diet?
Those called unclean. See Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14.

4. What special food did God provide for the children of Israel during their forty years' wandering in the wilderness?
"Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you." "And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited." Ex. 16:4, 35.

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5. At the same time what did God promise to do for them?
"I will take sickness away from the midst of thee." Ex. 23:25.

6. What testimony does the psalmist bear regarding their physical condition?
"There was not one feeble person among their tribes." Ps. 105:37.

NOTE.-When they complained at God's dealings with them, and longed for the food of Egypt, God gave them their desires, but sent "leanness into their soul." See Numbers 11; Ps. 106:13-15; 1 Cor. 10:6. Like many today, they were not content with a simple but wholesome and nourishing diet.

7. Where, above all, should true temperance reform begin?
In the home.

NOTE.-Unless fathers and mothers practice temperance, they cannot expect their children to do so.

8. What classes of men especially should be strictly temperate?
"Be thou an example of the believers." 1 Tim. 4:12.

NOTE.-Of all men in the world, ministers and physicians should lead strictly temperate lives. The welfare of society demands this of them, for their influence is constantly telling for or against moral reform and the improvement of society. By precept and example they can do much toward bringing about the much-needed reform.

9. Can the fact that the liquor traffic brings in a large revenue to the state justify men in licensing it?
"Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity." Hab. 2:12.

NOTE.-In all the walks and relationships of life, whether in the home, the medical profession, the pulpit, or the legislative assembly, men should stand for temperance. To license the liquor traffic is to legalize and foster it. It cannot exist nor thrive without the patronage of each rising generation, a large number of whom it must necessarily ruin, body, soul, and spirit. For the state to receive money from such a source, therefore, must be highly reprehensible. The practice has fittingly been likened to a father catching sharks, and baiting his hook with his own children.

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