Every morning I post a health tip on facebook. Yesterday, I posted "HEALTH TIP OF THE DAY: Eating pork produces scrofula, leprosy, & cancer. CD 393. Do you know what scrofula is? It is sometimes referred to as "The King's Disease or the King's Evil". Scrofula is a form of tuberculosis affecting the lymph nodes, especially of the neck. In old times Kings would get this disease in the lymph nodes because they were eating lots of pork! You know the picture--a whole pig with an apple in his mouth. Did God ever give humans permission to eat pigs?

      In Genesis we are told that God made man in His own image and likeness (Gen. 1:26) and immediately gave man the following dietary guidelines: "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 [or food]." (Gen. 1:29).
     Man's first diet did not include any animal products or dairy products, but only plant foods like fruits, seeds, nuts, and grains from the garden. After man sinned, he was driven out of the Garden of Eden and the herb of the field (vegetables containing  chlorophyll minerals, antioxidants, & phytochemicals) were added to his diet (see Gen.3:18).

     In Genesis 9:2, 3, since "every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground" because of the great flood (see Gen 7:23), God made a provision and gave man permission to eat "every moving thing that liveth ... even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." (Gen. 9:3). God, as noted by the language, added flesh to man's diet after the flood, just as He added vegetables after the fall. However, the provision gave man only permission to eat "clean" animals, and never their fat or blood. Leviticus 11 lists the specific "clean" animals God allowed for food and the "unclean" animals he forbade man to eat, most of which are scavengers.     
      In Leviticus 11:2 God told Moses to "speak unto the children of Israel, saying, these are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. ... And the swine, ... he is unclean unto you." Here the Lord prohibited man to eat swine's flesh--things like pork chops, ham, bacon, pepperoni, salami, and Jimmie Dean Pure Pork Sausage, fish that did not have fins and scales like crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and oysters, and a number of other creatures such as birds of prey, etc. Why did God forbid His people to eat these "unclean" animals?
      I believe the main reason was for sanitary or hygienic reasons. These creatures are scavengers and feed on the waste and filth of the earth, whether in the waters or on the land. Take the pig, a vacuum cleaner of the earth, for instance. The animal is truly a scavenger and it will eat just about anything--from garbage to dead rattlesnakes; from mud to feces. I have read that the pig doesn't sweat and tends to be frequently infested with the trichina worm. The trichina worm has the ability, science has discovered, to cross the blood-brain barrier. If it does and gets into your brain, the symptoms can be similar to that of a brain tumor. Misdiagnoses of a brain tumor rather than a trichina parasite have been reported. One of my own employees was having headaches and had a brain scan taken at U.C. Davis Medical Center. The scan which was done to rule out a tumor actually revealed two worms in her brain. Yuck! Now think for a minute--have you ever been told to cook pork well? For what reason?  The answer is to kill the trichina worms. Well, who wants to eat dead ones?

      Years ago in an issue of Health and Life, there appeared an article by T. C. Desmond--chairman of the Trichinosis Commission of New York. The article was entitled, "One in Six is Infected with Deadly Pork Parasite." In the article Desmond stated, "One out of twenty-five pork products purchased over the retail counter was found by the commission to contain parasites. It has been estimated that our present hog crop may provide us with 60,000,000 trichinae-infested meals. Another article stated: "The worms enter the human digestive tract as tiny, almost invisible cysts which digest and release the worms, so that they burrow through the walls of the stomach or duodenum to the bloodstream. The symptom is similar to food poisoning if the number of parasites is sufficient. Later may come rheumatic-like heart pain because of worms settling temporarily in the heart. Inflammation in the cardiac region may follow. In some cases the brain or nervous system may be disturbed. as though worms had invaded the brain or nerves, which possibly they do. Even invasions of the muscles may be fatal if the worms are numerous enough." Illinois Health Messenger. 
      A friend of mine who worked at a meat packing plant once told me that he would get infections in his finger followed by a red line was running up his arm just from handling bacon and ham. He also said, "On one occasion, hams were turning green and I was ordered to smoke them and package them for sale back East." He continued, "Another time the bacon was outdated and I was told to repackage the bacon and stamp a new date on the package and resell it." How gross and deceptive! Is it any wonder why the Lord said, "And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud, he is unclean to you.  Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcass shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you." (Lev. 11:7,8). 
      If you carefully examine the front foot of the pig, you will find a small abrasion. If you then press the pig's leg just above the abrasion, you will squeeze out a teaspoon of filthy matter. Some have called it "pork gravy." It is actually an outlet or drain for the dirty filth of which the pig's lymph system is filled. That opening is the outlet of a sewer. If you then carefully examine this filthy scrofulous serum, you will find that it contains many diseases, bacteria and viruses. What must be the condition of the body of an animal so foul as to require a regular system of drainage to convey away its teeming filth? John Harvey Kellogg said: "Sometimes the outlet gets closed by the accumulation of external filth. Then the ichorous stream ceases to flow, and the animal quickly sickens and dies unless the owner cleanses the parts, and so opens anew the feculent fountain, and allows the festering poison to escape."  Pickled pig's feet anyone?
      God commanded us not to eat, or even touch, the dead animal, because pigs are high in fat, cholesterol, deadly diseases, and trichina worms! John Harvey Kellogg gives another warning about eating lard: "Just under the foul and putrid skin we find a mass of fat from two to six inches in thickness, covering a large portion of the body. Now what is this? Lard, says one; animal oil; an excellent thing for consumptives; a very necessary kind of food in cold weather. Lard, animal oil, very truly; and, we will add a synonym for disease, scrofula, torpid liver. Where did all that fat come from, or how happened it to be so heaped up around that poor hog? Surely it is not natural; for fat is only deposited in large quantities for the purpose of keeping the body warm in winter. This fat is much more than is necessary for such a purpose, and is much greater in amount than ever exists upon the animal in a state of nature. It is evidently the result of disease. So gross have been the habits of the animal, so great has been the foulness of its body, that its excretory organs--its liver, lungs, kidneys, skin, and intestines--have been entirely unable to carry away the impurities which the animal has been all its life accumulating." The pig is one big fat animal.

     Yet, even with all the bad publicity about pork and the health dangers of eating the pig, the devil smiles as Americans feast on their dead bodies from head to toe. The pigs head is turned into head cheese (ears and tails inserted), his stomach is transformed into tripe, his intestines are used for sausage covers, his heart, liver, and kidneys are eaten, and his feet are pickled. Even his bristles are used in brushes and his skin for wallets and purses. In the end, men and women "squeal and grunt" from the pain caused from their perverted appetites and for eating what God said not to!   
      In the January 22, 1996 issue of U.S. News and World Report, the popular news weekly had an interesting article entitled, "Hog heaven and hell--Pig farming has gone high tech." The article said, "Last June 21, after heavy rains some 25 million gallons of feces and urine flushed from the buildings where pigs were confined...The reddish-brown tide, more than twice the volume of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez, poured knee-deep for two hours across the highway between Whaley's re-brick bungalow and the First Church of God....The stinking slumgaullion drained into the New River where it killed virtually all aquatic life in the 17-mile stretch between Richlands and Jacksonville and left a stench for several days. ... Wastes from big pig farms also threaten well water and surface water with parasites, bacteria, and viruses. These include salmonella, streptococcus, giardia, listeria, along with avian botulism and cholera." Would you like ham, bacon, or sausage with your eggs? This is the same reason fish were dying in Lake Erie years ago which authorities called "Fishteria." In fact, it so happened that I was seated next to a Federal Inspector who just got back from inspecting the lake and shared his findings with me. 
       God made scavengers of the sea just as He made pigs and birds of prey to be the scavengers of the land. I remember at one of our cooking schools while I was addressing the subject of unclean meats, a man seated in the back row started waving his hand. After calling on him, he anxiously shared the following story. He told us how he used to catch crabs for a living and that his greatest catch was early in the morning right in the docks where the boats were kept. He soon realized the reason for the quantity of crabs in this location was because the boats were dumping their toilets filled with human waste into the water and the crabs were enjoying the feast! 

       No wonder the Lord refers to fish without fins and scales as "abominations". I refer to crabs, shrimp, and lobsters as the cockroaches of the sea and shrimp as little garbage-gulpers that swim approximately six inches from the surface of the ocean to feed on the scum and waste that floats to the top. Certain shellfish, if caught and eaten during the months that end in "R" (September, October, etc.), can kill you. I can safely say the 21-Shrimp Special at Red Lobster for $7.99 is NO BARGAIN, and you can be certain I avoid Long John Silvers like the plague. Some people say they actually serve fish with their grease. One writer referred to shellfish as insects of the ocean. "After all, he said, "They have way too many legs."  
      Then there are the other little creatures that God has told us not to eat. As far as snails, I don't think I really even need to comment. We cringe whenever we crush them under our shoe or see them in the garden, but somehow they become a delicacy when these little snot balls are saut�ed in wine and butter. All of these foods are high in fat and cholesterol and can contribute to arteriosclerosis.

      What will the Lord have to say about are food choices when He comes? One vivid answer is at the Second Coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ and has been recorded by the prophet Isaiah: "For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and with His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.  They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together saith the Lord." (Isaiah 66:15-17). Strong words! Evidently those slain of the Lord will be the ones hiding in the garden just like Adam and Eve because they had eaten what the Lord said not to! Will we do the same?

     It would be so much better to eat the diet of Eden with all the colorful and nutritious fruits and vegetables from the garden rich in phytochemicals that prevent rather than cause disease. If you would like to read my Health Tips of the Day on facebook, just send me a friend request and I will sign you up.

     Here is a link if you missed my interview on Jewish Voice Ministry this week so you can watch it now. I gave one of the most powerful messages on the dangers of eating animal foods and the benefits of following God's health plan. Drop me a line and let me know what you thought of the show at danny@modernmanna.org. Praise God we reaching the Jews with the health message. Soon I will be reminding the Jews of God's prohibition on eating unclean meats like pigs!

     Until next issue of The Elijah Prophecy, have a healthy and spiritual week,

Danny Vierra

 Dwight turned his back on lucrative job offers and an extravagant lifestyle to seek God's purpose for him, abandoning the fast-moving culture and trading it for a simpler way. There he learned to walk with God, and discovered his true purpose.

  In 1985, on a shoestring budget and a sure faith, Dwight founded Remnant Publications, a ministry dedicated to sharing the gospel through the printing and distribution of Christ-centered literature. He has also traveled the world speaking to others about his transformation from a drifting lost soul to a dedicated soul-winner. Dwight's story can been found in his book Learning to Walk With God. Dwight hosts a weekly TV program called The Bible Alive on 3 ABN.