To use Grains, or not to use Grains- that is the question!

From a practical standpoint, I have NO grounds to argue this- in fact, I don't desire to argue this at all! I just want to offer a different point of view and something to THINK ON! ;-)

My DH is the one who pointed this out to me some time back and its a verse from the Bible. This first verse doesn't deal specifically with grainss, but its where I want to start.

1 Tim 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
.......1 Tim 4:3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
1 Tim 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving....

NOW, what's interesting here is; you see that word "meats"???? Well, it is translated and defined in the Greek as "that which is eaten, food, meat, victual". If this is "food" then this verse goes on to tell us that "nothing to be refused".

Ok, now, Jesus in a couple of places (John 6:35 and John 6:48) called Himself "the Bread of life". Now I only want you to think about that. If He used bread as an illustration of "life", don't you think bread and what it is made of was pretty important to that day?

And in the Lord's prayer, we are instructed to ASK for daily bread! Not daily meat or daily fruits and vegetables, but daily bread. (Again, I use this to support the notion that grains are not to be forbidden.)

I also was thinking about a verse that cautioned about staying too long at the wine table, but nothing about staying to long at the grain (carb) table. (Ok, I just threw that in to be funny!)

BTW, do you know the word "bread" is mentioned 361 times in 330 different verses? Fruit is mentioned 208 in 184 verses and some of those times it means fruit of the womb. The word "vegetables" isn't mentioned at all. 'Herbs' is mentioned 18 times, while 'herb is mentioned 19 times. 'Plants' is mentioned 8 times. 'Plant' is mentioned 42 times in 41 verses but is a verb in many of those. 'Corn' is mentioned 102 times in 94 verses. 'Wheat' is mentioned 51 times.
(Ok, that gets a little boring to some...)

Let's look at a few verses that talk about grains.
2 Sam 17:28 Brought beds, and basins, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and flour, and parched corn, and beans, and lentiles, and parched pulse,
2 Sam 17:29 And honey, and butter, and sheep, and cheese of kine....
(See the food they brought? Legumes, dairy, and grains. BUT, the word pulse there does mean vegetables. Pulse is only mentioned 3 times in the Bible.)

In Gen 27:28, we see 'blessings' being pronounced and one of them being "plenty of corn". In Gen 27:31, we see him making savoury meat. Then on down in verse 37 we see this; "with corn and wine have I sustained him".

Do you remember what Joseph stored to prevent famine? Grains.
Gen 41:49 And Joseph gathered corn as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without number.
Gen 42:1 Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt,
Gen 42:2 And he said, Behold, I have heard that there is corn in Egypt:
Gen 42:3 And Joseph's ten brethren went down to buy corn in Egypt.
Gen 42:5 And the sons of Israel came to buy corn
Gen 43:2 And it came to pass, when they had eaten up the corn
Gen 44:2 And put my cup, the silver cup, in the sack's mouth of the youngest, and his corn money.
......Let's see, there's a famine, Egypt has corn, they keep going to buy corn...is corn all they are eating do you think? I'm not suggesting that we live off corn, just that it should not be forbidden.
Once Joseph's identity is known, here's what he does;
Gen 45:23 And to his father he sent after this manner; ten asses laden with the good things of Egypt, and ten she asses laden with corn and bread and meat for his father

Here's a little funny but just to illustrate the importance of corn and grain;
Exo 22:6 If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution.
A law was made to protect it!

Corn seems to be recognized as pretty important;
Deu 7:13 And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.
Deu 11:14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
Deu 33:28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.
Ruth 2:2 And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the field, and glean ears of corn
Ruth 2:14 And Boaz said unto her, At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and left.
(Grains were the food she went after to keep her and her mother-in-law from starving.)
2 Ki 4:42 And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat.
2 Ki 18:32 Until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of corn and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die:
Many places they tithed on their corn such as here,2 Chr 31:5.
Neh 5:2 For there were that said, We, our sons, and our daughters, are many: therefore we take up corn for them, that we may eat, and live.
Neh 5:3 Some also there were that said, We have mortgaged our lands, vineyards, and houses, that we might buy corn, because of the dearth.
(They mortgaged their homes to buy corn!?!!?!)

Well, what about wheat?
Deu 8:7 For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;
Deu 8:8 A land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil olive, and honey;
Deu 8:9 A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness,
Judg 6:11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.
Ruth 2:23 So she kept fast by the maidens of Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law.
1 Ki 5:11 And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.
1 Ki 5:12 And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league together.
(Wheat brings peace?!)
2 Chr 2:8 Send me also cedar trees, fir trees, and algum trees, out of Lebanon: for I know that thy servants can skill to cut timber in Lebanon; and, behold, my servants shall be with thy servants,
2 Chr 2:9 Even to prepare me timber in abundance: for the house which I am about to build shall be wonderful great.
2 Chr 2:10 And, behold, I will give to thy servants, the hewers that cut timber, twenty thousand measures of beaten wheat, and twenty thousand measures of barley, and twenty thousand baths of wine, and twenty thousand baths of oil.
(Wheat was part of the payment for the timbers needed to build the Temple!)
Psa 81:16 He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.
Psa 147:14 He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.

As you can see, grains were very important! (There's many more verses!) There were many times in the OT where God would punish through their grains; sending rain on wheat harvest day, sending enemies to destroy their corn.

As you seek to learn how to feed your family, please don't neglect the Word of God.
Prayerfully consider the first verse I mentioned in 1 Tim.4.
May God bless your homes and kitchens!

(I'm posting this link on Laura's blog in response to a question that she asked. Laura's been a great blessing to me! ..I love learning about eating healthier for the sake of my family. And I've loved NT and Eat Fat, Lose Fat and a host of others....but I love the Word of God more. Its authority is higher, therefore I feel it must be considered on this and all issues. God bless!)

Now, to soak or not to soak- leavened and unleavened bread- ....maybe I'll do a part two sometime....:-)