Today I want to talk about food in biblical times, and what can inspire us from that time, what we can learn about food from the Bible. First I’m going to talk about what foods are mentioned in the Bible. It’s very interesting to see what they ate and what it talks about. I think one of the most well known of those is bread – “the Bread of Life”, “give us this day our daily bread”. Bread in those times was a real staple. I think of verses where people who didn’t have food would walk the fields and gather grain after the main harvest had been picked, or beforehand.
It would definitely have been a much healthier bread than a lot of bread we get today. There would have been no yeast, so they would have used sourdough, perhaps sharing the sourdough starter among friends, or starting their own one. Then they would have made sourdough bread, and they would have ground their grain freshly. It would have been stone ground, so there would have been a lot more nutrition in it, and the whole grain would still be present.
So, this was really good bread we were talking about. It would have been a lot tougher than the bread we eat today. We’ve got the sourdough starter, and we’ve got the freshly ground whole grains, even freshly gathered from the fields. There would have been no pesticides or horrible roundup on the grains, and it would have been good nutrition, especially for poorer families. You can make a lot of bread if you’re doing it regularly. Also, the bread would have been made from probably barley or spelt, or maybe a combination, and would have wheat that hadn’t been hybridized.
Have you heard of the Ezekiel bread? It says in Ezekiel, “take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt” – those are the six grains, and then mix them together and grind them. Some people do that to make Ezekiel bread. I think the original verse talks about bread being made during a siege. This sort is easier to make, because the best bread would be with honey and other things. But either way, it’s great to use a combination of grains. These ancient grains are so much healthier and better for us, and easier to digest. So bread was a big one in Bible times.
Then olives and olive oil were very common. Olive oil was used for lighting lamps and anointing, as well as for cooking. It was probably just poured onto whatever they ate and used to dip the bread into. Olives would have been eaten regularly, so that would be a really common thing in Bible times.
And then figs and dates are often mentioned. There were figs on a fig tree that they could just pick and enjoy – such a lovely sweet fruit.
The Bible also mentions grapes, the biggest grapes I’ve ever heard of. When the promised land is being explored, the spies bring out these grapes that they’ve got suspended from huge pieces of wood over their shoulders, because the bunches of grapes were so huge. We know a friend who does exporting of grapes, and those grapes are also bigger than any I’ve ever seen in the supermarket. They had big grapes and lots of wine – they would have used alcohol to preserve it. That wine was probably lower in alcohol than the wine we have today. And again, there were no pesticides, so it was much healthier, but that would have been something they enjoyed.
Then also raisins – grapes would have been dried as raisins.
They also had pomegranates, and would eat the pomegranate seeds. There was lots of good fruit.
And then this one is very interesting. When the Israelites were preparing to leave Egypt, God told them for their last meal to eat lamb, and they all ate a lot of lamb. They slaughtered and cooked it. Lamb is supposed to be one of the best proteins to really give you energy, endurance, and to put you into top condition. They were all well fed with lamb when they started the long journey out of Egypt, across the Red Sea and into the wilderness, and this would sustain them in many ways. They probably even were able to take some with them for sustenance at the beginning of their journey.
Then another huge one, of course, is fish. Jesus ate fish, a lot of the disciples ate fish, and in fact were fishermen. They ate wonderful, freshly caught fish. They would cook it over a fire, and that was so good for them.
The fat of the ram is mentioned at one point. We sometimes use goat’s tallow, or lamb tallow, which is a really good fat to cook with.
Then butter, and other dairy products too, like milk and cheese, are mentioned. Those would primarily be from sheep and goats.
Lentils, pulses, legumes, chickpeas, beans – these are mentioned. I think of Esau selling his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew.
Then things like almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, and sesame. There were lots of good healthy nuts, seeds, legumes. Then salt and spices – I’ll definitely mention things like cinnamon, cumin, dill, mint, and coriander even.
You wouldn’t have seen pork and shellfish because of the Jewish dietary laws. So, they had lots of wholesome food that they ate in the Bible. And we don’t see anything mentioned like lettuce, broccoli, or cauliflower. We do see kinds of leaves – the herbs of the field. That could have been a form of lettuce, but it wouldn’t have been the kind of washed out bland lettuce like you get today. It would have been rich herbs that they ate, maybe to help with digestion. I know the French like to take some greens, add a little salt and olive oil, and eat that in between courses because it definitely helps with digestion. So, obviously there’s a lot of wisdom in this kind of diet.
Also the Jewish people had lots of laws and guidelines that helped them to be really healthy, like the washing of hands before eating. There’s a lot that we can be inspired by and learn from the way they ate. A couple more things that are mentioned in the Bible are cucumbers and melons in Egypt, and then leeks, onions and garlic. Yay, we can use those!
So, other meat, besides fish, was not eaten very often – at least not every day for most people. It was more for special occasions. That would be lamb, goat, sometimes beef, and sometimes poultry. Fish would have been much more common.
The Bible also teaches us that food is a gift from God. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and the plants for the people to cultivate, bringing forth food from the earth. God is the provider of good food, and food is a blessing. When you’ve eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you.
And then we see the importance of moderation. We see warning verses showing that we should honour our bodies as the temples of the Holy Spirit, and not to drink too much wine, not gorge ourselves on meat, et cetera.
Also, sharing food was an essential part of early Bible times. There was fellowship, there was unity, and there was mutual care, and looking after each other and each other’s needs with food and meals together. We learn that the food is meant to nourish our bodies, to be a blessing to be received with gratitude, and a means to practice generosity and care for others with moderation and discipline in our own eating habits, and a way to gain strength and be healthy.
I want to read a part from the original Trim Healthy Mama book by Serene and Pearl Barrett. It’s a very interesting section about their perspective on God providing all the different food groups for his children:
“The Bible depicts the abundance of all food groups in Deuteronomy 52, where it describes God taking care of his people. In this beautiful passage of Scripture He called the children of Israel the apple of his eye and described Himself as an eagle flattering over his young in the way He looked after them. As a way to elaborate on how God took such good care of them, He mentions the foods he gave them. We can see that God, depicting Himself as a caring parent eagle, was careful to leave nothing out of their diet.
The passage, starting at verse 13, mentions how He gave the children of Israel the increase of the field, which they say is grains and greens, honey from the rock, oil from the flinty rock, fats and oils, the fat of the ram, so meat and animal fat, butter of kine, The butter from cattle, the milk of the sheep, dairy, and the pure blood of the grape, which is referring to fruit and wine, obviously.”
So, it’s fascinating to see all the different things that are meant to be nourishing for us. I think we can get hung up on low carb, or no grains, or no fruit because supposedly it’s high in sugar, but it’s a good kind. It’s the right kind of sugar, and it’s in the context of lots of fiber in the form that God made it. All these things are so good for us, in the right context and in moderation. I love that.
Also, at the beginning of Genesis in the Garden of Eden, God provides fruit and plants for Adam and Eve to eat, but then, interestingly, after the flood, he says, “These are the beasts which ye shall eat. The ox, the sheep, and the goat.” And the word shall is very interesting. It’s not could eat, it’s shall eat. Plant foods are not superior. They are part of a healthy diet – fruit and herbs, but we also need meat. God says we shall eat it. I think most of us have had seasons of being vegetarian – I certainly have – and it’s so good to know that we’re supposed to eat meat. Obviously, a lot of the meat we eat these days is from unhealthy animals in feedlots, and that’s not what we want. We want free range, healthy, happy animals that God gave us for food.
I was vegetarian before I was pregnant with my second child, and in the middle of the pregnancy I just craved lamb. I couldn’t stay away from it. He knew! I also lost a tooth during my first pregnancy, so I’m no longer vegetarian. I do enjoy meat in moderation, and I find it’s very satisfying. I enjoy a small amount of steak. I enjoy fish. I enjoy pork in the form of ham and gammon. I enjoy beef, and I like to balance it with good fruit, salads, and some vegetables.
Perhaps something else that we can learn is to not necessarily have a whole bunch of lettuce in our salads, but to have a kind of a salad platter bowl. You could have some chopped cucumber, some chopped tomatoes, chopped cheese like feta or cheddar on the side, and then a little bit of fruit, some figs, some grapes, or some chopped up apple, and then some protein chopped up, maybe a little bit of chicken. Then perhaps you could have a little bit of chopped or grated carrot, and some seeds or nuts. It’s nice to have a variety of things like that that you could mix into a salad but, to leave out the huge amount of lettuce below. Then you can add a bit of olive oil to whatever parts you like. The olive oil is very high in polyphenols, which is very good for us. It helps with all kinds of things; it antioxidizes and helps with inflammation. The olive oil is a very important part of that, and also the fat from the olive oil makes all that raw stuff easier to digest.
In biblical times, they didn’t have breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as we do today. There were only two regular meals, which were eaten in the morning and the evening, according to a verse in Exodus. Breakfast was eaten between nine and noon, and was a light meal, including bread, fruits and cheese, so there wasn’t really any cooking to be done. It also could have included olives, onions, or any other vegetables or fruits that were in season.
Something I should mention as well is that obviously they only ate what was in season, because that’s all that was available. They would get it directly from the tree or the ground. Perhaps they also stored winter vegetables during the winter and then used them up slowly.
Then the evening meal would be the main meal of the day, and that would be heavier after a hard working day. The weather would be cooler, and people would be more relaxed and ready to eat. That would often have meat or fish, and then more bread, butter, wine, and perhaps some vegetables or fruit.
Then there were the special meals; the celebrations, like the end of a harvest season or sheep shearing season. Those would be a feast which included all kinds of wonderful fruits, meats, breads, and dairy. Of course, they didn’t eat with utensils as we do today. Utensils didn’t exist, so bread was often used to scoop up things from a plate, or to soak up extra bits of gravy from a stew. Food was served in a bowl, and often eaten with the hands. The bread dipping would happen whether it was juices from meat or olive oil, etc. Bread was used to sop up the soup or broth, and then the other parts of the meal were eaten with the fingers.
Often people would eat outside – I guess there was less space inside, and it was hot. Then people would sit on leather placed on the floor, or on stools, or they reclined on cushions. Guests would lean on the table with their left elbow and eat with their right hand. Often the host would serve his guests by dipping bread into the fat of the meal and offering it to them.
So, in the Bible, eating is a sign of rejoicing and celebrating, and eating is an opportunity to share food, and fellowship through conversations – this was more special because it was done over a meal. Eating was a sign of contentment, peace, and provision. They ate what they had produced in their gardens after planting and harvesting, and it was very satisfying. So, some of the things we can learn from eating in biblical times are: eat nourishing, nutritious food, like the good bread they ate. Eat all the food groups, don’t leave out any. Eat in moderation, in balance. Enjoy eating as a way to fellowship. Eat in season when you can, enjoy your food, and know that it’s a blessing.
