Longevity, three Biblical keys to a very long, enjoyable life.
Longevity, in 2008, Tomoji Tanabe was the oldest man alive and he had the necessary papers to prove it. At 113 years old, he lived on the island of Kyushu, Japan with his fifth son, who was 68 years old. Reporters wanted to know if Tamoji was tired of living, so they asked him, “How much longer do you want to live?”, thinking that he can’t possibly have much quality of life at 113. Tamoji simply replied “I don’t want to die.” Tomaji was still getting enjoyment out of life. Tamoji said that he drinks milk every day. Actually, he was known to “guzzle” milk. He credited his diet with extending his life. There are a lot of “experts” that warn people of the dangers of milk. Evidently, milk didn’t hurt Mr. Tanabe too much, since he out-lived all the non-milk drinkers in Japan and the rest of the world. Tamoji also said he ate fish and did’t smoke or drink alcohol. He had eight children — five sons and three daughters. He also had 25 grandchildren, 53 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren. He passed away in 2009.[1]
Somebody’s going to live sickness free and happy past 100, might as well be you!
Exodus 23:25-26 says God will… “take away sickness from among you” and he will… “give you a full life span.”
So, what is a “full lifespan”, according to God?
Genesis 6:3 says… “And the Lord said, ‘My spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” NKJV
Deuteronomy 34:7 “Moses was a hundred twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.”
After the flood of Noah, God said that people would not live as long as they had before the food. Longevity, according to God, is 120 years, and even at that age you can enjoy life with good vision and strength. So, what does God say you have to do to acquire a full and enjoyable lifespan?
Deuteronomy 6:2b-3a “so that you may enjoy long life. Here, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey,”
Exodus 23:21, 25-26 “Pay attention to him (the angel of the lord) and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him…Worship the Lord your God and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.”
Over and over again, Moses tells the people that the key to longevity is to worship the Lord and obey God’s commandments. Moses says that if they do they will enjoy a full lifespan. One of the key words here is “enjoy”. There are a lot of people in nursing homes, who are not enjoying their lifespans. The above passages are just two of many, that repeat the same idea. Moses also says over and over, that long life will be in a land flowing with milk and honey. So, according to God, what are the keys longevity that is enjoyed?
Key #1 If you and I are going to enjoy 120 years of disease free living, we will have to obey God and eat what He says to eat and abstain from the foods He says not to eat.
You can find a complete list of those foods in chapter 2 or our book “God’s Guide To Biblical Health and Healing”. http://tinyurl.com/zvkbfau In that book we also share the Bible verses and the science that backs up these claims. For now, here is a good starting point, one food God recommends over and over again is milk. Tomoji Tanabe drinks milk every day.
I read an article years ago, about an Indonesian man who was claiming to be over 140. I think his name is Mbah Gotho. As I remember the story, he did not make it into the Guinness Book of World Records, because he did not have the proper paper work to prove his age. His longevity was pretty believable though, he had a son who took care of him that was over 100 years old. Mbah Gotho remembers watching a local sugar factory being built when he was about 10, that factory was built in 1880. Gotho had a burial vault made for himself with a cross on it, over twenty years ago, but so far has not needed it.[2][3] All that to say this, it is very likely that he is way over 100 years old and he claimed to drink close to a gallon of goats milk every day. Evidently, the milk didn’t hurt his longevity either.
I had an experience a few years ago that had me doubting my milk consumption was helping me. I went to the dentist to have my teeth checked, I was told that I had a lot of cavities and that it would cost thousands of dollars to have them all filled. I told the dentist thanks, but no thanks. During that checkup, the dentist seemed a little incompetent and I didn’t have that kind of money at the time anyway, so I waited. Later, a friend told me that dentist wasn’t altogether honest either. When I had saved enough money to do one or two of my teeth, I went to a different dentist, one that was recommended by a friend, who is a dental hygienist. I told the new dentist what the other dentist had said, and explained to him that I only had enough money for one or two of the worst teeth. He looked at my teeth and then did some x-rays. He brought the x-rays in to the examining room to show me what he had found. I once again explained my financial situation, he turned to me smiling and said, Chris, you don’t have any cavities. I was in shock, I ask him if he was sure. He said, you could use a good cleaning, but no cavities and not only do you not have any cavities, the x-rays show the calcium in your teeth and jaw bones is unusually dense. Why are my bones and teeth so dense? The doctor said it was especially unusual for someone my age. You guessed it, I drink a lot of milk, milk loaded with calcium.
Other symptoms of a calcium deficiency are joint problems, insomnia, poorly functioning immune system and irritability, to name a few. According to Dr. Joel Wallach, 85% of hypertension is due to a calcium deficiency. [4] The calcium in milk helps protect us from all of these common ailments.
I drink milk every day, lots of it. If you have been told that milk is for kids, just say you would like to feel like a kid again and are going to start drinking lots of milk. Seriously, If you don’t drink milk, what do you drink? Most people drink soda pop, fruit drinks, coffee or tea. All that stuff is going to make you old fast, especially the soda pop. Soft drinks contain phosphorus, and prosperous leaches calcium out of your bones. Even if you replace milk with good clean water, you will not be meeting your calcium needs. Some people believe that cows milk was only made for cow babies, and goat’s milk was only intended to be consumed by goat babies. But what does God say about that?
I Corinthians 9:7 “who tends the flock and does not drink of the milk?”
So, according to the Bible, goats’ milk and cows’ milk is for the humans that tend the flocks and herds. There is one caveat or exception to this; if you happen to be lactose intolerant or have some kind of food allergy, but there is a solution. It is fairly common, when people eliminate bad food, stress, or put some other essential nutrient back into their diet, like omega 3 fatty acids, the allergy will go away. Under normal circumstances, milk is undoubtedly the best longevity producing drink on the planet.
Our daughter Leah developed an allergy to milk while going to college. She had an athletic scholarship at Oregon State University. Her sport was crew, which required many, many hours of rowing and many hours away from school to compete. Getting good grades was super important to Leah, and competing at the Pac 10 level created a lot of stress for her. As soon as she graduated, her allergy to milk disappeared. She now tends a herd of goats, and she and her family drink a lot of milk. She is soooo Biblical!
Key #2 You will need to find a way to regularly and effectively, worship the Lord.
Worship the Lord your God and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.”
One of the habits required for exceptional longevity, that is to enjoy 120 healthy years, is time spent worshiping God. Reverend Otis Clark did not wear glasses, had all of his own teeth, and was still driving a car at 105. He spent time each day worshiping God by himself and attended church each week to worship God with others. Spending time with our creator has a measurable effect on our health and happiness.
T. M. Luhrman, a professor of anthropology at Stanford, reported in the New York Times, “one of the most striking scientific discoveries about religion in recent years, is that going to church weekly is good for you. Religious attendance, at least – religiosity – boosts your immune system.” [5]
Some suggestions for effective worship.
- Attending a Bible believing church each Sunday is a great start. A good church loves God and loves people. A good church doesn’t just sing, they worship God though music.
- Take some time each day to stop, relax and talk to God.
- Take some time each day to read or listen to God’s word, it will calm you down.
Key #3 don’t cut your own throat. Gluttony will shorten your life.
Proverbs 23:1-2 When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what[a] is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.
Gluttony is simply eating more food than you can burn off. I used to secretly hold a friend in contempt because he was always shoveling food, then I started doing it, too. It is embarrassing, especially when I eat popcorn. I really love that stuff, and stuff is what I do. The grand kids and I really make a mess at the theaters. I think it is called gluttony and gluttony will dramatically hinder your longevity.
Don Pellman had something to say about gluttony. At 100, he still has a sense of humor. Don says, if you want to live long and healthy (he is still pole-vaulting at 100) the most important exercise you can do, is to push yourself away from the dinner table. That is still hard for me, though I do find that when I am busy I rarely think about food. It is when I am bored that I struggle to stop eating. In Proverbs 23:1-2 we are told that if we have too big of an appetite and are given to gluttony, we might as well cut your own throats.
Jack LaLanne, remember he is the man who at 70, towed 70 boats more than a mile against the wind? Jack LaLanne has been called the founder of the modern fitness movement. He is one of the most famous health and fitness gurus of our time. He was the first to produce a fitness television program, the first to open a fitness club. The jumping jack is named after him. Jack LaLanne says that you can’t trick the laws of nature; you have to burn more calories than you consume. God made the laws of nature and unless you can get Him to suspend those laws, you and I will have to consume less, or burn more, if we want to maintain a healthy weight. Yes, some people’s hormones help them rev up their calorie burner, and maybe that doesn’t seem fair. Even so, at the end of the day, you and I will still have to burn those calories we consume. If you need to lose weight in order to achieve God’s idea of longevity, then you will have to exercise more. If you are going to eat a lot, you are going to have to move a lot, it is just simple physics.
Otis Clark at 104, felt that chewing more helped him enjoy his food and eat less. He recommended we chew our food more than 20 times per bite, his daughter says he probably chews each bite more than 30 times. I have found that when I do this I enjoy my food more, and eat less.
Cautionary note. The Bible does not say being skinny is a positive trait. As a matter of fact, it commends a reasonable amount of reserve fat. Proverbs 13:4 NKJV “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat“. Too bad God didn’t give us the perfect body/fat ratio. Suffice it to say too skinny or too fat is not healthy. God created fat as a reserve, we need a little to survive, during lean times.
Summary of key #3 Stay busy and eat slowly.
- Remove all snack food from your house and work.
- Don’t take food with you in the car or your pockets.
- Eat small portions, chew a lot on each bite and avoid seconds and thirds. (my wife is such a great cook, seconds and thirds are my biggest problem, so maybe it’s her fault I struggle with this)
Once again, somebody’s going to
live a sickness free, happy life past 100, might as well be you!
If you believe God knows best what will produce optimal longevity, join us and the Wellness Gospel team; register for our weekly newsletter, then spread the word by sharing this with your friends on social media and may God bless you richly.
If you want to keep improving your health, and enjoy this kind of biblical scientific information, then I would like to recommend three must-read books.
- “None of These Diseases” by S. I. McMillen, M.D. and David E. Stern, D http://tinyurl.com/hh7ezs2
- “Let’s Play Doctor” by Dr. Joel Wallach http://tinyurl.com/j8ybt8r
- “God’s Guide To Biblical Health and Healing” by Rev. Chris & Shary Schauermann http://tinyurl.com/zvkbfau
You can get all these books at Amazon.com or simply click on the URL under each book title.
References
- http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-tomoji-tanabe20-2009jun20-story.html
- http://regional.kompas.com/read/2016/08/30/14120581/sudah.beli.nisan.sejak.1993.mbah.gotho.selalu.resah.tiap.kali.ada.berita.duka
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbah_Gotho
- “Dead doctors don’t lie” Dr. Joel Wallach
- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/opinion/sunday/luhrmann-why-going-to-church-is-good-for-you.html