~Revelation 18.3

For all the nations have fallen because of the wine of [Babylon's] passionate immorality. The kings of the world have committed adultery with her.

~Revelation 18.13

[Babylon, the great city] also bought cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots, and bodies—that is, human slaves.

In Revelation, Babylon represents world systems which are against God. I think wine is used here to symbolize how intoxicating those systems can be.

Cinnamon, spice, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep are listed among the luxuries enjoyed by Babylon.

Food Rules, not

~Hebrews 13.9-10

Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them. We have an altar from which the priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat.

In my search for principles of good eating from the Bible, the book which the creator of my body has out, here's another verse that says not to worry about rules for eating. sigh. But there is a difference: I'm looking for good health policies, not strict rules based on whether or not the food was first sacrificed to an idol. :-]

Receive with thanks.

~I Timothy 4.3-5

[Some] say it is wrong to . . . eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth. Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.

~I Timothy 6.8

So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

Self explanatory.

No Water Until He's Dead

~Acts 23.12-14, 16, 20, 22

The next morning a group . . . bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. There were more than forty of them in the conspiracy. They went to the leading priests and elders and told them, “We have bound ourselves with an oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. ” But Paul’s nephew—his sister’s son—heard of their plan and went to the fortress and told Paul [who sends him to the commander]. Paul’s nephew told him, “Some Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the high council . . . . They have vowed not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him.” . . . . “Don’t let anyone know you told me this,” the commander warned the young man.

In II Corinthians 8 and 9 and in Romans 15 we learn that Paul is collecting an offering from the new outlying churches for the central church in Jerusalem. In Acts 20 and 21 we see him determined to take this gift to Jerusalem himself, despite great personal risk. Some Jewish radicals in Jerusalem are so hostile to Paul's message they vow not to eat or drink until they have killed him. As the human body can only go a few days without water, that's a serious intent. Do you suppose any of these guys actually died after Paul was safely whisked away under guard of Roman soldiers?

Does ice cream hesitation make it sin?

~Romans 14.22b-23

Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.

For me, this verse is different. Since it's linked to the verses about causing others to stumble, I assume Paul is carrying through on the same thought here. BUT to me this is about looking at a a carton of Bryers Rocky Road and thinking, "hmmm. I already had some chocolate today. Probably I'd be better off to pass this up." I'm not thinking of others at all. Indeed, I don't know of anyone who would tell me that I shouldn't eat several servings of chocolate a day if I want to, given that I'm in good health. No. For me the issue is that I know that an abundance of desserts is not a great nutritional choice; my grandpa died of diabetes; my bones need more alkaline and less acidic food. So I know that the ice cream is not the best choice and I hesitate. Paul is saying here that given these doubts, if I indulge that's sin.

Death like a wheat seed

~I Corinthians 15.35-38 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.

I don't understand why Paul thinks this is a foolish question. But he answers with an analogy of wheat.

God cares about our bodies.

~I Corinthians 6.13 You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies.

I want to take good care of this body God has given me responsibility for. Part of that is fueling it wisely.