| “If thou wilt
diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord
thy God, and wilt do that which is right in
his sight, and wilt give ear to his
commandments, and keep all his statutes, I
will put none of these diseases upon thee,
which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for
I am the Lord that healeth thee” (Exod.
15:26). The promise of immunity
from Egypt’s diseases was given to the
children of Israel soon after they left
their captivity. Yet, this promise wasn’t
based simply on supernatural intervention;
it was based also, maybe even especially, on
the natural laws of health. If they followed
what the Lord commanded them to do in the
area of health and sanitation, as opposed to
what their captors did (for instance, while
the Egyptians used human excrement for
medicinal purposes, the Hebrews were to bury
theirs outside the camp), they would be
spared the ailments that afflicted the
Egyptians.
Even here, then, we can see God’s concern
for not just the spiritual well-being of His
people but for their physical well-being,
their health, as well. This idea also is
found in the Hebrew word shalom, commonly
translated as “peace.” Yet, the word conveys
a deeper sense, that of a completeness, of a
wholeness and a fullness that involves the
total person, physical health included. The
first use of the word shalom in the Old
Testament appears when Jacob, inquiring
about Laban, the grandson of Abraham’s
brother, asks: “And he said unto them, Is he
well? And they said, He is well . . .” (Gen.
29:6). In both instances, the word
translated “well” comes from shalom.
Of course, it makes perfect sense that
God would care about our physical health.
After all, He created us as physical beings.
Before sin, before the Fall, we were already
in the flesh. We were made as fleshly
beings. Our fall wasn’t to the flesh; it was
a fall in the flesh. Our bodies aren’t evil,
or bad, the prison houses for the soul or
the like (as some religions have taught).
Our bodies are wonderful gifts from a loving
God who created us in His image and who
wants us to enjoy our physical existence, at
least as much as possible in this fallen
world.
Thus, this quarter we are going to look
at what’s often been a neglected aspect of
the wonderful truths God has given us as a
movement, and that is the health message.
The Lord revealed these principles to us for
the same reason He died for us, because He
loves us and wants what’s in our best
interest.
Of course, we all are mortal, we all face
sickness, and, unless Christ comes in our
lifetime, we all die. Nothing is going to
change that now, and certainly not healthful
living. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t
do our best to take care of ourselves; that
doesn’t mean we aren’t under a divine
obligation to take care of our body temples.
As Paul expressed it: “Or 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? For you were
bought at a price; therefore glorify God in
your body and in your spirit, which are
God’s” (1
Cor. 6:19, 20, NKJV).
This quarter’s lesson on healthful
living, written by the General Conference
Health Department in Silver Spring,
Maryland, USA, was produced with the desire
to help us enjoy all the shalom we possibly
can now, until that final day in which we
receive, once and forever, “the redemption
of our bodies” (Rom.
8:23, NIV).
Contributors from the Health and
Temperance Ministries Department of the
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
were Allan Handysides, Kathleen Kuntaraf,
Peter Landless, Stoy Proctor, and Thomas
Zirkle.
Contents: (all
lessons may not be posted)
Giardina Sabbath
School Study Helps
Jerry Giardina of Pecos,
Texas, assisted by his wife, Cheryl,
prepares a series of helps to accompany the
Sabbath School lesson. He includes all
related scripture and most EGW quotations.
Jerry has chosen the "New King James
Version" of the scriptures this quarter. It
is used with permission. The study helps
are linked from each lesson and links to the
whole quarter's Helps are provided here. in
two versions: wordprocessing as an RTF
file and
HTML (Web Pages).
Last updated on January
22, 2010
Editorial Office: 12501 Old Columbia
Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904.
|
Principal
Contributors:
Allan Handysides
Kathleen Kuntaraf
Peter Landless
Stoy Proctor
Thomas Zirkle
Editor:
Clifford R. Goldstein
Associate Editor:
Soraya L. Homayouni
|
Publication Manager:
Lea Alexander Greve
Editorial Assistant:
Sharon Thomas-Crews
Pacific Press Coordinator:
Paul A. Hey
Art Director and Illustrator:
Lars Justinen
Concept Design:
Dever Design |
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2010 by the Office of the Adult Bible Study
Guide, General Conference of Seventh-day
Adventist. All Rights Reserved.
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