Some people have come to understand the
Word of Wisdom as ‘moderation in all things’. This phrase or concept is
not part of the Word of Wisdom nor part of God’s plan. God’s plan is a
plan of excellence and we receive blessings commensurate to the level that
we follow His instructions. God’s prophets have all urged us to live God’s
laws on a higher level, including God’s laws pertaining to health …i.e.,
DC 89 - the Word of Wisdom.
God’s instructions to his children here on earth
are given because he loves us so much. His is a house of order. Instructions
given to us through his prophets do not change in different dispensations.
They are eternal principles and are given to enhance our lives. He wants
us to be happy and well and to have joy….eternally. Today, health care
or assisted-living care is the fastest growing industry in America and
is growing bigger at an aston-
ishing rate. Stress and violence increases, diseases
ravage every age, race and economic level. I began to study, in depth,
the Word of Wisdom, the scriptures, and the prophets’ writings to find
out the reason for society’s poor health so prevalent today. I came to
realize that in studying the Word of Wisdom church members tend to concentrate
on the ‘don’ts’ listed in the first verses rather than studying and coming
to truly understand the beautiful and marvelous promises stated at the
end of that revelation. If properly under-
stood most members would endeavour to live
it on a much higher level.
Pres. J. Reuben Clark, Jr. - “The Word of wisdom
is not a rule of conduct; it is a law - the Lord’s law - of health.
It was promulgated by Him. The law existed before He told it to us; it
would exist if the revelation were blotted from the book. The Church authorities
have nothing to do with the law. God, speaking through the forces of the
physical world, has prescribed it, and so long as those forces exist the
law will remain.”
Genesis 1:29-30 - “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.
And to every beast of
the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth
upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for
meat: and it was so.
And God saw everything that
he had made, and, behold, it was very good.”
God gave us the Ten Commandments…plain, simple,
direct and very emphatic. One that many people no longer seem to understand
and obey is “Thou shalt not kill.” To most it means only to not kill
people but God did not say that. He said, “Thou shalt not kill”!
He has never rescinded that commandment so it
is still in effect. Prophets have told us in all ages and in many ways
to heed this advice. We need to understand why.
To ‘kill’ something is to take away its life.
Simple reason tells us that “dead” equates to “death”. Anything “living”
denotes that it has “life”. Anything ”dead” denotes ‘no life in it’ and
thus can only occupy space and/or be acted upon by something living. Something
living can initiate actions and fulfill its measure of creation. Now ask
yourself, “Which of the two, life or death, when taken into our body,
would promote good health and healing? Life, of course! It is just that
simple! When our body’s immune system becomes overwhelmed by the amount
of ‘death’ in our bodies and cannot rid our system of it, then sickness,
disease and suffering ensues for our body is overoaded with ‘death’, not
‘life’.
Any animal or dairy product eaten is dead
(presumably) whereas ‘fruits and vegetables, in the season thereof, (raw)
are filled with life. Satan wants to destroy us and is doing so through
what we take into our bodies. He is very successful for most people have
not made the connection between eating animal products and their poor health.
God told Cain “…if thou doest not well sin lieth
at thy door.” To sin is to depart from Christ’s teachings to whatever
degree. Thus we can sin through our ignorance or by being taught false
doctrine or traditions that lead us astray. To sin under such circum-
stances is not the same as to intentionally do
evil.
D&C 93:39-40 says to us today -
“And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light
and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because
of the traditions of their fathers. But I have commanded you to bring up
your children in light and truth.”
D&C 89 - God’s Law of Health - is simple,
straight forward and its promises beautiful. When we do not heed the counsel
of God’s prophets we do not receive the blessings he promises us and we
tend to lead our children on our own mistaken paths (false traditions)
so our children are denied those wonderful blessings,
too.
Romans 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin
is death;but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ,
our Lord.”
1 Cor. 15:21 says,“For since by man came
death, by man came also the resurrection
of the dead.”
1 Cor. 15:26 tells us, “The last enemy that shall
be destroyed is death.”
God’s laws are eternal - unchanging from beginning
to end. He sent his son, Jesus Christ, to teach us how to heal, how to
‘doest well’, and to redeem us from death, literally, for
no one dies from good health.
DC 89:21 contains this beautiful promise:
“And I, the Lord, give unto them (those who truly obey his health law)
a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children
of Israel, and not slay them.”
Consider these quotes from talks our prophets
and leaders have given us over the years -
Bruce R. McConkie, Millenial Messiah, p. 658 -
“Isaiah gives us these poetically phrased particulars
about animal life during the Millennium, “The wolf and the lamb shall feed
together,” he says, “and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock.”
Implicit in this pronouncement is the fact that man and all forms of life
will be vegetarians in the coming day; the eating of meat will cease, because,
for one thing, death as we know it ceases.”
Ezra Taft Benson,-“Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson”,
SLC Bookcraft, 1988,p.476-7.
“To a great extent we are physically what we
eat… What needs additional emphasis are the positive aspects - the need
for vegetables, fruits, and grains, particularly wheat. In most cases,
the closer these can be, when eaten, to their natural state - without over
refinement and processing - the healthier we
will be. To a significant degree, we are an overfed and undernourished
nation digging an early grave with our teeth, and lacking the energy that
could be ours because we over-indulge in junk foods…we need a generation
of young people who, as Daniel, eat in a more healthy manner than to fare
on the ‘king’s meat’ - and whose countenances show it.”
Ezra Taft Benson: - “In His Footsteps,
Ensign, 1988, p. 5.
“We need a generation of young people who, as
Daniel, eat in a more healthy manner than to fare on the ‘king’s meat’,
and whose countenances show it. But what needs additional emphasis are
the positive aspects… the need for vegetables, fruits, and grains, particularly
wheat …We need a generation of people who eat in a healthier manner.
In general, the more food we eat in its natural state and the less it is
refined without additives, the healthier it will be for us.”
(Daniel and friends lived on a pulse diet [Bible
dictionary: …a diet of grains and seeds]. After just ten days on it they
stood out above the others in every way…countenance,
intelligence, brilliance). The Word of Wisdom
infers the same diet ‘…every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit
in the season thereof.’ Verse 17 sums it up when He says “Nevertheless,
wheat for man …” Nevertheless means ‘regardless of what has already
been said’, so that eliminates any question…wheat for man. In the
KJV bible diction-
ary, it defines meat or meat offering as an offering
made of grain, etc. but that no meat is involved. Under ‘meat offering’
is meal offering.
Gordon B. Hinckley - 8 Oct.1993 Gen. Confer. Priesthood
Session -
“It proscribes alcohol and tobacco, tea and coffee,
and emphasizes the use of fruits and grains. This Word of Wisdom came to
us from the God of Heaven, for our blessing. I regret that we as
a people do not observe it more faithfully.”
Hyrum Smith, Times and Seasons, - Vol. 3, p. 799
-
“Everything has become degenerated from what
it was in its primitive state; ‘God made man pure, but he has found
out many inventions.’ His vices have become innumerable, and his diseases
multiplied; his taste has become vitiated, and his judgment impaired; he
has fallen - fallen - fallen, from that dignified state that he once occupied
on the earth; … he knows where disease is seated, and what is the cause
of it; - he is also acquainted with the spring of health; the balm of Gilead
- of life; he knows what course to pursue to restore mankind to their pristine
excellency and primitive vigour, and health; and he has appointed the Word
of Wisdom as one of the engines to bring about this thing, to remove the
beastly appetites, the murderous disposition and the vitiated taste of
man; to restore his body to health, and vigour, promote peace between him
and the brute creation, and as one of the little wheels in God’s designs,
to help to regulate the great machinery, which shall eventually revolutionalize
the earth, and bring about the restoration of all things, and when
they are restored he will plant ‘the tree of life, whose leaves shall be
for the healing of the nations.”
Brigham Young - Jrnl of Disc., Vol. 2, p. 269-71.
“When men live to the age of a tree, their food
will be fruit. If the people were willing to receive the true
knowledge from heaven in regard to their diet they would cease eating swine’s
flesh…” (Note:Ether 8:19 -“…neither doth he will that man should
shed blood,
but in all things hath forbidden it, from the
beginning of man.”
Brigham Young - Jrnl of Disc., Vol. 2, p.
“If you observe faithfully the Word of Wisdom,
you will have your dollar, your five dollars, your hundreds of dollars,
yea, you will have your hundreds of dollars to spend for that which will
be useful and profitable to you. Why should we continue to practice
in our lives those pernicious habits that have already sapped the foundation
of the human constitution, and shortened the life of man to that degree
that a generation passes away in the brief period of from twenty-seven
to twenty-nine years?
The strength, power,
beauty and glory that once adorned the form and constitution of man have
vanished away before the blighting influences of inordinate appetite and
love of this world. Doubtless we are about the best looking people
today upon this footstool, and about the healthiest; but where is the iron
constitution, the marrow in the bone, the power in the loins, and the strength
in the sinew and muscle of which the ancient fathers could boast? These
have, in a great measure, passed away; they have decayed from generation
to generation, until constitutional weakness and effeminacy are bequeathed
to us through the irregularities and sins of our fathers. The health and
power and beauty that once adorned the noble form of man must again be
restored to our race; and God designs that we shall engage in this great
work of restoration. Then let us not trifle with our mission by indulging
in the use of injurious substances. These lay the foundation of disease
and death in the systems of men, and the same are committed to their children,
and another generation of feeble human beings is introduced into the world.
Such children have insufficient bone, sinew, muscle, and constitution,
and are of little use to themselves, or to their fellow creatures; they
are not prepared for life, but for the grave; not to live five, six, eight
and nine hundred years, but to appear for a moment, as it were, and pass
away.
Now, when a person is fifty
years of age he or she is considered an old man or an old woman; they begin
to feel decrepit, and think they must feel old, appear old, and begin to
die. Premature death is in the marrow of their bones, the seeds of early
dissolution are sown in their bodies, they feel old at fifty, sixty, and
seventy years, when they should feel like boys of fifteen, sixteen, and
seventeen. Instead of feeling decrepit at those years they should
feel full of strength, vigor, and life, having attained to early maturity,
prepared now to enter upon the duties of a long future life, and when two
hundred years have been attained, they should then feel more vigorous than
the healthiest of men do in this age at forty and fifty years…”
Brigham Young, Jrnl of Disc., Vol. 15, p. 193-5,
Oct. 8, 1872 -
‘I refer to a revelation given in the year 1833,
called the Word of Wisdom. We fail to obey it today, and we shall
fail tomorrow unless we make a short turn and determine in our own minds
that we will obey it. How many of us have disregarded that revelation,
in every particular? It…shadows to me that a time will come in the midst
of this people when a desolating scourge will pass through our ranks, and
the destroying angel (death and misery) will be in our midst as he was
in Egypt when he slew all the firstborn of the Egyptians. God says ‘The
destroying angel shall pass by’ and shall not harm you if you will observe
to do these things. Now if we believe this revelation, and I take
it for granted that we do, though I may choose to doubt it in my own case
and some others, yet I assume that as a people we believe it; but what
assurance have we that that angel will pass us by unless we do observe
it? No more than the children of Israel would have had if they had failed
to mark their doors and lintels with the blood of a lamb, as Moses had
commanded them. What effect would a failure to comply with this commandment
have had on them? Would the Destroyer have passed by the firstborn of Israel?
I know not; I think the firstborn of Israel would have been slain as well
as the first born of Egypt. That was a revelation given by the Lord
to Moses for the salvation of Israel; the Word of Wisdom is a revelation
given by the Lord to Joseph Smith for the salvation of this people,
and if we disobey we have no more assurance than Israel had that the destroying
angel will pass through our ranks and leave us unscathed.”
Lorenzo Snow - Jrnl.Hist., 5 May 1893, p.2-3 and
March 1897, p. 2.
“Thought the time was near at hand when the Latter-day
Saints should be taught to refrain from meat eating and the shedding of
animal blood.”
Joseph F. Smith - “The Destruction of Life”, Juv.Instr.,1913
48:309 -
“I do not believe any man should kill animals
or birds unless he ‘needs’ them for food …love of nature is akin
to love of God…”
Joseph F. Smith -1915 - instructed church members
to store a one year supply of wheat.
(implying that we should learn to use it and
use it!)
Heber J. Grant - 1936 Conference Report -
“The Word of Wisdom would solve the economic
problems not only of our country but of every other country if it were
obeyed by the people of the world.”
Joseph Fielding Smith - “Is It a Sin to Kill Animals
Wantonly?” - Improvement Era, Aug. 1961, p. 568 -
“My husband doesn’t eat meat (but rather) lots
of fruit and vegetables.”
D&C 42:18-19 -
“And now, behold, I speak unto the church.
Thou shalt not kill: and he that kills shall not have forgiveness in this
world, nor in the world to come.
And again, I say, thou shalt not kill:
but he that killeth shall die.” (How? Sickness.)
v.18 - “…And whoso forbiddeth to abstain from
meats, that man should not eat the same, is not ordained of God.”
(The one ‘forbidding’ is the transgressor in
not allowing others to not eat meats if that is their choice. The
one forbidding would take away one’s agency to choose for himself.) v.21-
“And wo be unto man that sheddeth blood or wasteth flesh and hath no need.
D&C 59:6 -
“…thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery,
nor kill, nor do anything like unto it.
JST, Gen. 9:11 -
“And surely, blood shall not be shed, only for
meat to save your lives: and the blood of every beast will I require
at your hands.”
Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., - Quoted by Boyd
K. Packer -
“I have tried …years to get the minds of the
Saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we frequently see some
of them, after suffering all they have for the work of God, will fly to
pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions:
they cannot stand the fire at all.”
Joseph Smith, Jr. - “Doctrinal Hist. Of the Church”
- Vol.2:71, 26 May 1834 -
This incident occurred in Zion’s Camp, marching
from Kirtland to Missouri -
“In pitching my tent we found three massasaugas
or prairie rattlesnakes, which the brethren were about to kill, but I said,
“Let them alone - don’t hurt them! How will the serpent ever lose its venom,
while the servants of God possess the same disposition, and continue to
make war upon it? Men must become harmless before the brute creation,
and when men lose their vicious dispositions and cease to destroy the animal
race, the lion and the lamb can dwell together, and the sucking child can
play with the serpent in safety. The brethren took the serpents carefully
on sticks and carried them across the creek. I exhorted the brethren
not to kill a serpent, bird, or an animal of any kind during our journey
unless it became necessary in order to preserve ourselves from hunger.”
Isaiah 66:3-4 -
“He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man;
he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog’s neck; he that offereth
an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as
if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their
soul delighteth in their abominations:
“I will also choose their delusions, and
will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer;
when I spake, they did not hear; but they did evil before mine eyes, and
chose that in which I delighted not.”
D & C 133:71-72 - Keep in mind that the D&C
was given to and for us today.
V.71 -“Behold, and lo, there are none to deliver
you; for ye obeyed not my voice when I called to you out of the heavens;
ye believed not my servants, and when they were sent unto you ye received
them not.
V.72 -“Wherefore, they sealed up the testimony
and bound up the law, and ye were delivered over unto darkness.”
Consider now - have we ‘obeyed’ his word? have
we believed his servants? have we received them or not? We
were given the Word of Wisdom with its marvelous instruct- ions and promises
through the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1833. Pres. Joseph F. Smith, in 1915
instructed us to store wheat. Do we know how to use it in our diet?
President Spencer W. Kimball, in the 1970’s, instructed
us to plant gardens and to not hunt and kill animals unless we needed the
meat for food. Are we living from our gardens? Do we truly ‘need’ to kill
animals to feed ourselves - no other food available?
We can realize some of the Prophet Joseph’s frustrations
in his not being able to share with the church members more of what
he knew when we read the 5 Febr.1844 entry in his personal journal - .
“…evening with Hyrum and Sidney and the Twelve
and their wives at John Taylor’s at 5pm at supper - very pleasant time
- I prophesied at the table that five years would not roll round before
this company would all be able to live without cooking.”
(L.D.S. Church Archives, SLC)
Most people have not made the connection between
consuming animal products and their health problems. In this respect the
very elect have been deceived and are paying such an enormous price. In
D&C 89:13 God said, referring to using flesh “…and it pleaseth me
that they should not be used, only in time of winter, or of famine, or
of cold.”
Ether 8:19: “For the Lord worketh not in secret
combinations, neither doth He will that man should shed blood, but in all
things hath forbidden it, from the beginning of man.”
In Book of Mormon times, Alma 46:40, we
read -
“And there were some who died with fevers, which
at some seasons of the year were very frequent in the land - but
not so much so with fevers because of the excellent qualities of
the many plants and roots which God had prepared to remove
the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate.”
If God prepared cures for diseases in Book of
Mormon times would not God have done it for his children of these latter
days? This he did in 1833 - DC 89 -The Word of Wisdom.
1 Cor. 3:16 -17
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and
that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
“If any man defile the temple of God, him shall
God destroy; for the temple of God is
holy, which temple ye are.”
Destroy us? How? By allowing us the choice of what we take into our
bodies - life-giving foods [would have to be living] or empty-calories
food [which would be dead calories] or ‘destroying’ foods that cause
sickness and death.
We can break the sickness cycle in our lives
by living a higher level of God’s health laws. The restoration of
all things surely includes restoring God’s laws of health.
God’s promises in the Word of Wisdom are listed
at the end. Are you receiving them?
v 18 - “And all saints who remember to keep and
do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive
health in their navel, and marrow to their bones;
v.19 - And shall find wisdom and great treasures
of knowledge, even hidden treasures, v.20 - And shall run and not
be weary, and shall walk and not faint.
v.21 - And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise,
that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel,
and not slay them. AMEN”
D&C 93:36 - “The glory of God is intelligence.”
(But only if we exercise it to bring to pass the things of God in our lives.)
(There are only two forces in the world today, or ever, whatever period
of time from the beginning.
In the temple creation account Lucifer told Eve,
I want you to partake, that you may know the difference between virtue
and vice, good and evil, health and sickness, pleasure and pain, light
and darkness. He presents two plans to Eve in that statement.
God’s plan
Lucifer’s plan
for us
for us
______________________________
Virtue
Vice
Good
Evil
Health
Sickness
Pleasure Pain
Light
Darkness
It is important to note which side each category
falls on, God’s plan or Lucifer’s.
2:Ne 2:25 - “…men are, that they might have joy.”
Thus, using our ‘intelligence’, we see that God did not intend that
his children be sick, helpless, or unhappy. No truly loving parent would
do so but, instead, would teach and provide for our own children those
things listed under God’s plan.
Gen. 4:7 - “…and if thou doest not well,
sin lieth at they door.” (To sin is to depart from Christ’s teachings to
whatever degree, so we must study more deeply the teachings of Christ
and live them on a higher level to ‘…doest well’ [to receive greater
blessings] in any aspect of our lives - family relations, marriages, job,
school, interests, in our health - whatever!)
D&C 130:18-19 - “Whatsoever principle of intelligence
we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.
And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence
in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will
have so much the advantage in the world to come.” (‘world to come’ is simply
our future!)
Isaiah 1:10-20 - In v. 10-18 He emphatically
condemns animal sacrifices, tells them that he does not require it, and
that their hands are full of blood. Then He continues in
V. 19-20 - “If ye be willing and obedient ye
shall eat the good of the land.
But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured
with the sword, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”
Rev. 13:10 - “…he that killeth with the sword
must be killed with the sword.”
(We kill by buying it and die from the consequences
of eating it.)
There is so much to learn. We can do just that
`…precept upon precept’ as we really begin to ponder and study Christ’s
words and think them out. Understanding and following God’s health
laws yield great ‘hidden treasures of knowledge’ as promised. The results
speak for themselves. We come to recognize that we do, literally, live
and die by the sword. This helps us to understand why we need to be washed
clean from the blood and sins of the world.
Killing anything departs from Christ’s teachings.
He said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” This includes our treatment
of animals though we have departed from thinking in those terms. We pay
the consequences when we unknowingly take ‘death’ into our bodies
instead of ‘life’. Truly realizing that ‘life heals’ and ‘death kills’,
that if I eliminate ‘death’ in my body it has to be replaced with light
[only two forces out there] has changed my life. With more
light comes more inspiration because it enables us to see or discern more,
to have greater understanding. There is an abundance of wonderful living
foods available to us that build good health. D&C
89:11 - (…in the season thereof) Fresh, raw fruits and vegetables have
more calcium iron, protein, per same size serving, than do animal foods.
Lucifer’s forces constantly try to put over falsehoods, to deceive us and
destroy us. Convenience is so often Lucifer’s tool. There is so much nutritional
research data available to us today that confirms this if we are willing
to check it out for ourselves instead of relying on media, false traditions
[family habits/teachings for generations] advertising or such.
A fresh, green salad every day is a very good
start in the direction of sickness-free living. Juicing raw fruits and
vegetables, learning to sprout wheat allows one to take life into our bodies.
Wheat sprouts blend with most any recipe and is a very inexpensive way
to improve health and healing to reap the promised blessings. Sprouting
wheat and other seeds begins the enzymatic process and thus becomes many
times more powerful and beneficial. People allergic to wheat can often
tolerate it sprouted.
1 Nephi 3:7 - “…I will go and do the things which
the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments
unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they
may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.”
God provided food for all of his creatures and,
man, being his crowning creation, must surely have been provided for as
well and has been. It is up to each of us to learn for ourselves how to
overcome the ignorance and false traditions of the past, even though it
may have been done most innocently. God loves each of us and intends for
every one of us to be healthy and well, all our lives long, and our posterity,
so that we might truly have joy. Of this I, and many, many others today
bear witness.
Vonda J. Thorpe
Kaysville, Utah
September 2002
LDS
Vegetarian Authors: Vonda Thorpe