Does Food have any Place in the Fulfillment of Destiny?
During creation, God gave man instructions on what he should eat, which at that time consisted of the products of plants and trees. After the flood, God, in his infinite wisdom, expanded that list to include animal protein. What we eat and how we eat it can play a determining role in our ability to fulfill our God-ordained destiny. The Bible is replete with examples of people who either succeeded or failed to fulfill their destinies for reasons bordering on their dietary behavior. This article has become necessary in light of the rise in the consumption of junk foods across the world today and the need to redirect the attention of Christians towards the central place of food in living the fullness of life God has marked out for them in this realm.
Early on in Scripture, we were meant to understand that it was the inability of Adam and Eve to adhere to the dietary stipulations provided by God that led to their fall. Humanity fell off the pinnacle of glory originally intended for them because the very first ancestors mutated their DNA by eating a forbidden fruit. Whether or not this was a figurative fruit, scientific research has established a strong connection between DNA and a person’s dietary behavior: “epidemiological studies show how certain exposures have shaped the health of specific populations over time.”
It's therefore tenable to argue that the DNA that predisposed humanity to sin was introduced through food. Every other descendant of those two first humans, dead or living, has carried that DNA ever since. When Jesus came to redeem humanity, He introduced himself as the bread of life. Again, we see Jesus saying that we can transform our DNA by having a diet of his body and his blood in the form of the Holy Communion. Christians often observe the practice of Holy Communion as Jesus instructed while on earth.
The first murder in the Bible revolved around food. Cain could not bring himself to part with the best of his produce. His mouth watered at the thought of the freshest looking of his crops, prepared and set at the table before him. He relented from offering his best to God as a sacrifice. On the other hand, Abel chose to forego the fattest of his flock in order to give God the best in sacrifice. He had so much regard for God that he brought out the best and offered it as a burnt offering to his maker. God accepted Abel’s offering but not Cain’s. Rather than turn to his brother to learn the principles of overcoming gluttony and placing reverence for God above his stomach and esophagus, Cain’s jealousy drove him to murder his brother.
Abraham, the father of faith, received the promise of Isaac after he treated three strangers to a sumptuous meal. Abraham gave instructions for the finest wheat to be used in making bread while he carefully selected “a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.” Abraham had no idea that they were heavenly beings. After benefiting from his exceptional hospitality, one of the extra-terrestrial visitors said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah, your wife, will have a son.” That statement brought an end to decades of barrenness for the couple, significantly changing the course of their destiny and that of generations after them.
Isaac, Abraham’s son, demanded his favorite food from his firstborn son Esau before he could release his final blessings on him. Unknown to Isaac, however, Esau had already sold his birthright to his younger brother, Jacob, for a plate of porridge. When Rebecca, Isaac’s wife, overheard her husband’s request for his favorite bushmeat soup from Esau prior to a final blessing, she ran to tell Jacob, his favorite son. For Jacob, Isaac’s blessing of Esau as the firstborn entails the snatching of the birthright that had been sold to him by his brother.
Rebecca would quickly prepare her husband’s favorite food and place it in the hands of Jacob. The smell of food awakened Isaac’s innermost spirit. Despite his deeply felt suspicions, as to how quickly the food was prepared, as well as the voice of the person serving the food, Isaac went ahead and dug into the plate. His deep feeling of satiety opened up his spirit and from the depths of his soul, he heaped blessings on Jacob. By the time Esau returned from his hunting and took his time to prepare his father’s favorite dish, there were no more blessings left for him. When Isaac learned that he had blessed the wrong son, he trembled violently. Esau wept bitterly in a loud voice on hearing that he had been tricked out of his rightful inheritance.
Imagine if we took the influence of food out of the story of Jacob and Esau. If Esau had chosen to stay hungry rather than accept Jacob’s heavy-yoke plate of porridge. What if something else, other than food, had held the power to open up Isaac’s spirit to release his blessings on his rightful heir? Perhaps, the story would have taken a different turn.
The place of food in the Abrahamic lineage continued with Jacob’s son, Joseph. In the prison, where he had been wrongly sent on false accusations of attempted rape, Joseph interpreted the dreams of two people who served Pharaoh food and drink. It was on account of this interpretation that Joseph was invited much later to interpret Pharaoh’s dream. Pharaoh’s dreams turned out to be all about food, as well: seven years of abundance of food shall be followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh appointed Joseph as the prime minister, next only to Pharaoh in command of the world’s greatest civilization at that time.
But for the need for nourishment, it is unlikely that Joseph and his brother’s paths would have ever crossed again. Food brought the sons of Jacob face-to-face with the brother they sold years earlier into slavery. It was when hunger drove Joseph’s brothers to Egypt to buy grain that they met with Joseph. The result was the relocation of Joseph’s entire family to Egypt, where they lived for 400 years before God saw the oppression and tyranny they lived under the Egyptians and decided to take pity on them.
To deliver the descendants of Abraham, God raised Moses to wring the hands of Pharoah until he let God’s people go. One of the last things the Israelites were required to do on the night of their departure from Egypt centered on food and how it should be eaten: “That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left until morning, you must burn it. This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover” (Exodus 12: 8-11). Were the Israelites not fully obedient to God’s instructions regarding food, perhaps the departure from Egypt would have been scuttled.
In yet another example, the three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, refused to defile themselves with the King’s sumptuous food. They requested a vegan and water-only diet, which surprisingly caused them to look even healthier than the rest of their mates. The king ended up finding them to be of uncommon intellectual strength and choosing them as some of his closest staff.
When Ezekiel was asked to confine himself to one spot for many days, as a warning to the children of Israel, God was careful to give him specific instructions on what to eat to sustain his life in the days of his confinement.
John the Baptist’s diet was stated clearly as locusts and wild honey. The Bible states that of all men born of women since the beginning of time, none was greater than John the Baptist. There is no doubt that this divine dietary instruction played a significant role in John the Baptist's fulfillment of his destiny.
Fasting is an exercise much extolled by Scripture. The two greatest figures in the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah, fasted for 40 days. Jesus Christ fasted for 40 days, as well. Christians who practice fasting as a form of regular spiritual exercise stand to benefit a lot from it. More and more scientific evidence is coming together to confirm that fasting comes with numerous health benefits.
We could go on to make further connections between what people ate and what became of their lives. Christians interested in following their God-given destiny must take great care to ensure that their diets are healthy, nutritious, and able to sustain their bodies in this realm of eternity. Specific instructions can also be given by God for a particular individual’s dietary needs. We must be open to receiving such and acting accordingly. In this age of ultra-capitalism, where Mammon, the god of money, coupled with consumerism, is inspiring many to develop and market swathes of unhealthy food, Christians must be alert in saying no, and in teaching their children to say no to this threat to the destiny of humanity.