The Natural Congregation of Yahweh is what the secular world, modern traditional 'Christians',

and the modern 'Jews', would phrase as, "The Natural Church of God"

NATURAL FOODS

The information in this section was in part graciously provided by the founders of "Super Organics^TM Natural" food production and marketing methods and offers a full explanation of what Natural Foods really are. For another great information source on related topics, you might visit the "Soil and Health Library", found at: http://www.soilandhealth.org/index.html

In our modern world, we are even NOW, living in the nutritional “famine” that Yahweh promised mankind would suffer, as an aspect of His punishment for universal disobedience!

Natural Agriculture is a complete ecological production management system that fully utilises nature’s biodiversity, naturally occurring biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is premised on the use of natural soil management, and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance natural ecological harmony, as well as facilitating the use of natural off-farm inputs to nurture harmonious interaction with our urban markets.

Natural Health and Nutrition Education:

To begin with, we must all do our best to enjoy proper physical health. For more valuable information to help you maximize your good health, try visiting some of the excellent health related sites found on our links page. 

Natural production methods recognize the natural Nutrient Ratio Regulators (“NRR”) found in all plants to ensure that Nature’s perfect balance of nutrients is both complete, and intact. All plants grown using Natural production methods are found to be 100% nutritionally complete with an exceptionally high resistance to traditional ‘pestilence’. In turn, these totally balanced, nutritionally complete, disease free plants are a direct cause of nutritional wholeness, and disease resistance in both the animals and humans that consume them.

Traditional organic food production methods have helped us to remove chemical and other contaminants from our food, but have done little if anything to ensure a proper balance of macro, micro and trace nutrients within those same food products. Research proves that traditional and most organic production methods can cause a serious ‘tricking’ effect on the NRR operating in plants. This tricking of the NRR results in a serious imbalance of nutrients by distorting the natural ratios within the plants’ makeup. These nutrient imbalances within the plant are the direct cause of plant disease and plant susceptibility to pests (moulds, fungi, bacteria, insects, etc.). In turn, these imbalanced, deficient and diseased plants are the direct cause of nutritional deficiencies and disease in both the animals and humans that consume them.

When man ‘fertilizes’ his plants, by adding two or three macro components such as nitrogen, phosphate or potassium to his soil, whether in chemical or ‘organic’ form, man immediately causes a serious imbalance in the available nutrient balance in that soil. Research proves that when such an imbalance in the soil nutrients available for plant uptake occurs, that there is a universal ‘tricking’ of the NRR within all of the plants grown on that soil.

This traditional or even the conventional organic method of fertilizing is basically an ‘artificial stimulation’ of the plants’ NRR. Even ‘certified organic’ fertilizers can act as artificial stimulants because they are often typically a combination of the same three macro nutrients used by conventional farmers. Naturally occurring plant nutrients in soil are made up of hundreds and thousands of macro, micro and trace elements including a myriad of enzymes, all of which work in an harmoniously balanced ratio and mutually interdependent manner to support healthy plants.

The temptation to add these macro component style fertilizers is overwhelming due to the increased plant yields that it will cause. Such fertilization has for many years proven to dramatically increase yields and in many cases, even improve the ‘appearance’ of plants grown. Recent nutrient analysis methods have also proven that these increased yielding plants suffer from serious nutrient deficiencies and imbalances due to their NRR having been tricked by the macro component fertilizers. What has been produced is ‘hollow’ food, with too much emphasis placed on the ‘size and appearance’ while not giving due consideration to the nutritional ‘substance’ of this food.

What constitutes Natural production methods? Only Nature is capable of properly regulating itself. This is vitally true within the makeup of all plants. Natural production methods are beyond simple organic farming. All artificial stimulation of plant growth is eliminated with Natural production, and the plants’ NRR are allowed to regulate their growth function naturally. Only 100% natural humus components and/or naturally ‘digested’ organic wastes can be added to soil without compromising Natural production methods. Nothing can be done to ‘stimulate’ plant growth aside from the building up of naturally healthy, humus rich, living soil, as evidenced by the workings of Nature itself. TOP ^

Humus in Soils Managed Naturally:

Selman Waxman, one of the world’s foremost microbiologists, stated: “The importance of humus in the human economy seldom receives sufficient emphasis. Suffice it to say, that it probably represents the most important source of wealth on this planet!”

Sir Albert Howard (Knighted for his work in organic agriculture), wrote: “Nature [Yahweh] has provided a marvellous piece of machinery of conferring disease resistance on the crop [and on livestock and people that consume it]. This machinery is only active in soil naturally rich in humus; it is inactive or absent in infertile land and in similar humus-rich soils fertilized with chemicals...I have several times seen healthy, well fed animals [or people], on diets grown on naturally fertile and humus-rich soil react to exposure to disease exactly as suitable varieties of crops, when properly grown, did to insect and fungus pests - no infections took place [even when deliberate contamination of soils, plants and animals was attempted]. Nothing was done in the way of disease prevention beyond good natural farming methods and the building up of a fertile, humus-rich soil.”

Extensive research conducted by world-renowned experts, has proven unequivocally, that only those plants grown on naturally humus rich soil, without any artificial stimulation will produce a naturally disease free, totally nutritionally balanced food. Roughly speaking, there are some sixty to seventy known macro-elements in healthy soil, plus some several thousand micro and trace elements. These nutrients are derived solely from the activities of microbial soil life that cause the decay and breakdown of dead and dying vegetation - humus. Soil types, climate, historical land use and naturally occurring plant, animal, soil insects, and soil macro and micro-organisms, all play a part in this array of soil nutrition - humus.

Soil nutrients from this humus are available and identifiable in all soils in varying quantities; however, by necessity of design, that proportion of these nutrients that can be utilized by plants, must all be in a very precise ratio of freely available form, for intake by these plants. Add or remove 40% of any one of the macro or micro-nutrients and you will find that the plants grown will naturally regulate their growth by about 40% of what they would have been if the element was not added or removed. In other words, the limiting factor to naturally regulated, healthy plant growth, is the plant’s own internal measurement (NRR) of the least available nutrient within the total spectrum of nutrients found in the soil that are required for that plant.

Man has discovered that by adding three basic fertilizer components; the macro-elements of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium, he can often double and triple plant growth and crop yield.

What man has concurrently failed to appreciate however, is that in so doing, the plants’ NRR have been tricked by this artificial stimulation, and the resulting plants are seriously deficient in most every other macro-nutrient and almost every micro or trace element by volume; the very things necessary to provide properly nutritionally balanced food. These deficient plants are also very susceptible to disease. Animals that eat these plants are also very susceptible to disease because they do not have the nutritionally balanced intake of macro and micro-elements to resist disease. Humans that eat these plants or these animals are likewise deficient in their nutritional intake and susceptible to disease.

Long term financially viable agriculture, purposefully designed to enable self-sufficiency, together with good, natural farming practices are tantamount to the improved disease resistance and sustainable health of our citizens. Even most farmers do not recognize the overwhelming significance of the forgoing statements. Most urban North Americans either do not know or do not care that the fundamental driving force for the health and wealth of our nations is our farmers and their farming methods. They also are not generally aware that in the past two decades, the prices received by farmers for most of their agricultural produce have dropped by about forty to sixty percent, whereas the costs of almost every aspect of production have risen by well over two hundred and twenty per cent!

During this period, “consumer” demand for “cheap” food has forced the farmer to find ways to become more “efficient” in order to survive. As a result, there has been a corresponding increase in the use of chemical and organic macro-component fertilizers to increase plant yield, herbicides and insecticides to protect the imbalanced and fragile plants, growth hormones and genetic engineering to increase production volumes of animals and plants, and massive amounts of antibiotics and pharmaceuticals to protect the imbalanced and fragile animals.

“Quantities” of production have indeed increased. “Quality” however, has decreased in direct proportion to the decrease in our overall physical health (as evidenced by statistical increases in numbers and severity of new diseases and disease epidemics in developed countries), both of which are also in direct proportion to, and in perfect co-incidental timing with the increase in our immense health care costs, as borne out by current statistical data.

Our plants, our animals and our people are all suffering from nutrition deficiency diseases simply because there is no naturally balanced humus rich soil left to support them. Many would like to believe that eating only “organic” food is the answer. Others feel that by relying on “health-food supplements”; herbs, vitamins and minerals, that they will be healthy and disease resistant. Again, statistical data proves they are wrong! Infectious diseases including common colds and influenzas have increased across the board, with no significant difference in frequency in those segments that regularly consume vast amounts of these supplements. Sadly, almost 97% of all organic food grown for the herbal, vitamin and mineral supplements, has also been grown under conditions where the NRR has been artificially stimulated (tricked) with the three macro-nutrient fertilizer components of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium.

This unnaturally growth-regulated organic food, including most of what is produced for our herbal and vitamin supplement market, is all devastatingly nutritionally deficient, imbalanced in its nutrient make-up and disease promoting just like the other commercial foods. We are unhealthy and ailing from the ground up!

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Clean and Unclean Foods:

On Biblical topics such as clean and unclean meats, the issue is not what we or any other group may profess to believe, rather it is purely and simply, "what does the Bible say on the matter". 

Without getting into an exhaustive review of the many passages that use the same words and or similar contextual phrases as when referring to unclean or clean foods, it is reasonably easy to deduce that the English terms "clean" and "unclean", might more correctly reflect the intent of the original Hebrew language if they were replaced with "disease inhibiting" and "disease promoting", respectively. For example, it was deemed to be disease inhibiting if certain illnesses were in part, treated by quarantining victims. The same Hebrew terminology may be used to express this, but it would not make as much sense to state in English that quarantining the victims would be a "clean" act, although it did/does serve to "cleanse" the affected population.  

When taken in the context that Yahweh has deemed the various foods to be either "disease inhibiting", or "disease promoting", the matter tends to become clearer, than when read as clean or unclean. We find no evidence that anything has happened either naturally, or by Yahweh's intervention, that could in any way have caused any changes to the disease inhibiting or disease promoting qualities of the various foods since Yahweh inspired the original words on the matter. Thus it stands that these various foods remain either disease inhibiting, or disease promoting to this day. 

This is not entirely difficult to appreciate, inasmuch as we are all generally aware that some foods are considered "healthier" than others. Further, when taken to the scientific extreme, a great deal of research by secular scientists has inadvertently proven the matter. With regard to swine for example, science has finally “proven” the reason it is deemed “unclean”, or disease promoting as Yahweh decreed. In writing “Study of Blood in Cancer”, O.C. Gruner, a world renowned cancer researcher, stated: “a meal which features pork will produce a microscopic blood picture [of cancer micro-organisms] indistinguishable from that of a cancer patient, though of course, normality appears to reappear after eight or nine hours”. Seems to be a pretty clear cut reason for staying away from pork. In short, Gruner's study established beyond any doubt that eating a meal containing normal portions of pork causes short term cancer, which if repeated often enough, leads to long term or terminal cancer. Thus it could be expressed that "pork is disease promoting", or "unclean" according to Biblical terminology. 

Although similar research has established the presence of carcinogens and or many disease promoting qualities of other "unclean" foods such as shell fish, non-ruminant mammals, unscaled fish etc., modern science also has many devious ways to present information that supports its "sponsors". "Money"; the driving force behind most of our agricultural and food industry, fairly well dictates what we eat, regardless of whether it is known by the scientific community to be good for us or not.  

The quick answer to the issue of clean and unclean foods, is that we believe the Bible says that certain foods are indeed disease promoting and certain other foods are disease inhibiting, and we believe that these statements were made for the very good reason of providing us with sound advice on maintaining our good health. We also believe that they apply today just as much as when they were originally penned, and we find it interesting that modern science has finally proven the truth regarding some of these Biblical issues surrounding clean and unclean foods.  TOP ^

ISRAELITE LOGIC: PART I

MANAGING LIFE - THE DUST OF THE GROUND!

To help us avoid being further deluded by Satan’s temptations of SELF-CENTEREDNESS, Isaiah reminds us: “But now, O Yahweh, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand” (64:8).

Try to see ourselves and our planet as Yahweh does. Imagine looking down from outer space, seeing nearly 6 billion little human creatures orbiting on this tiny “ping-pong ball”, spinning like a gyro at over 1,000 miles per hour, circling a giant ball of fire at precisely one revolution per year.

The sun - our energy source, keeps us warm and produces our food. Yet unlike man’s efforts, there is no “energy crisis” in this relationship. If there were, it would be fatal to all life forms! If this little sphere of ours, wandered ever-so-slightly off course, we would either be frozen to death, or fried to a crisp by the sun’s white-hot inferno of flames that leap out hundreds of thousands of miles in every direction!

Further out into space, our planet would appear as no more than a pin-point of reflected light in the heavens. Have we ever asked ourselves what causes these countless billions of celestial bodies to stay in place relative to each other and to the rest of the universe? Is it likely that such astronomic precision continues to function smoothly of its own accord? These are interesting and challenging questions to those with an open mind.

Where did planet earth come from? Is it just a coincidence that it exists, and another, that it perfectly matches and supplies the needs of every living species? The oddest phenomenon of all - life; in multiple forms, some plant, some animal, all living together under the daytime energy of just one distant ball of fire!

It is truly amazing that all life exists, reproduces and dies - without any input from man! Yet myriads of life forms do exist, or rather, co-exist - live, grow, reproduce, die and decompose to perpetuate the cycle. All in one miraculously conceived and fantastically complex symbiotic relationship! Literally hundreds of thousands of mutually INTER-DEPENDENT, mutually beneficial life forms exist. There is NO WAY these life forms could have survived, had their original existence or their respective development been delayed for days or weeks, let alone millions of years!

These marvels are beyond man’s comprehension, yet millions never even raise their heads to question them, or their own improvable “theory” of evolution, or to ponder the magnificence of our planet, the infinity of the universe, or the wonder of how it all continues to function without man - and to a considerable extent, in spite of man!

This vast delicate balance is something over which puny little man has absolutely NO control whatsoever - which is just as well, judging by our performance in other areas! But by a combination of intellectual arrogance, ignorance, and REBELLION THROUGH DECEIT (of Satan), man has formulated the crazy belief that all of the orderliness and precision of the planets, the galaxies - the universe and its very existence “just happened”!

To support the anti-God theory of evolution, one must first ignore Darwin’s recanting of his own theory, plus overlook the fact that “scientific evolutionists” themselves, toss figures around that vary by tens of millions of years! So much for their ridicule of Creation, and their claim to be scientific! Their “theory” (which they admit is not provable - but that we should merely “accept it”) is full of holes, and to believe it is an act of UNPARALLELED BLIND FAITH!

This is the ultimate insult to the Potter from the clay! But then clay is not all that intelligent! (And obviously, very easily deceived!) And we are, in our present form, nothing more than “clay”, “formed...of the dust of the ground” (Gen. 2:7)!

Notice Isaiah’s dramatic contrast between Yahweh and man: “To whom then will ye liken Yahweh...It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers ...Behold, the nations are as a drop in the bucket, and counted as the small DUST of the balance...All nations before Him are as nothing” (40:18,22;15,17).

This is true, but Yahweh is still very mindful of man, whom He made in His own image and for a very special purpose! As part of His plan, He tells us, “The heaven, even the heavens, are Yahweh’s: but the earth hath He given to the children of men” (Ps. 115:16).

But in his rebellion, man refuses to believe this, and does not want to be responsible to anyone but himself!

As viewed from space, man and every “little” thing that he has created, are as nothing when compared to the celestial wonders, the earthly clouds, the snow, the rain, the mountains, animals, forests and farmlands GIVEN to us by Yahweh!

Yahweh also GAVE us dominion over every living thing on this planet! With instructions on how to manage it! In his ignorance, carnal-minded man has rebelled against every Word of Yahweh! And what has this rebellion produced? How about starting with millions of acres of man-made deserts, smog-laden cities, towns, traffic jams; air, water and soil pollution; crime, violence, sickness, disease and war, not to mention millions of starving people every year, or thousands of extinct animal and plant species!

Do we believe Yahweh, when He says: “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death”, or that man is, “ever learning [his own wisdom], and never able to come to the truth [of Yahweh’s wisdom]” (Prov. 14:12;16:25; 2 Tim. 3:7). Science fulfills these proverbs. It has systematically ridiculed and resisted the existence of Yahweh and His role as Designer, Creator and Sustainer of the creation - the universe. It has therefore placed human intelligence ahead of what Yahweh teaches, based on its own experimentation. It usually looks good, but being based on human reasoning, will invariably come unstuck, as it fails to take Yahweh’s REVEALED KNOWLEDGE into consideration.

THIS IS THE CAUSE OF ALL OF OUR CURRENT SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS! Let’s look at this from the perspective of modern farming practices, as an example. Albeit farming represents a simple industry, it nonetheless plays vital economic and provisional roles for everyone in our society. And as I personally have a background in farming, it makes the many points of interest easier for me to relate.

Each of us has been born into this complex living environment. We had no choice. At the same time, we do have a Yahweh-given responsibility to manage it. We were given “dominion” over it, with instructions to “dress it and to keep it” (Gen. 2:15). This is for our own benefit, and more importantly, for the ultimate good of future generations.

This is where the SELF-CENTEREDNESS of Satan’s influence has come into play. Does mankind really care about future generations, or just his own survival? A general analysis of the demands we regularly make on the environment should answer the question! We are the most materialistic, greed-filled generation in human history. And ironically, through scientific and technological “progress”, we have developed the greatest all-time capacity for destruction - of anything and everything!

Scientists and the vested interests that bankroll their experimentation, justify their agro-chemical based system by claiming they successfully feed much of mankind. The industry does feed much of the world, but that does not mean they are doing it “successfully”. Are scientists loving their neighbor when they are helping to destroy the environment, genetically manipulating plants and animals and harming our own health?

As a farmer, are we loving our neighbor, if we grow food simply out of motivation for money - regardless of nutritional value? What if we operate a tractor mounted boom sprayer, polluting the food crops we grow with chemicals so poisonous that we ourselves wear protective “spacesuits”? What if we feed our livestock great varieties of toxic growth hormones, anti-biotics and other chemicals?

As a food processor, are we loving our neighbor, if we refine the nutrients out of otherwise healthy, nutritional foodstuffs? How about when we chemically treat it with unwanted and unwarranted preservatives for so-called extra shelf-life, or if we chemically alter the food with all kinds of deadly, flavor enhancing additives and carcinogenic coloring and modifying agents?

As a food distributor, are we loving our neighbor when we promote or sell nutrition less food that has been contaminated with doubtful chemical residues and/or deliberately adulterated with chemical enhancing agents known to be harmful?

As a consumer, are we loving our neighbor, or our family, or our guests, when for the sake of saving a few dollars, we knowingly purchase and serve this tasteless, intensively advertised, unnecessarily refined, overly processed, chemically treated, factory manufactured “food”?

Are we loving our neighbor, if we are involved in the highly profitable area of research into finding the “ever-newer and better” methods to grow crops, or raise livestock, or to manufacture harmful agro-chemicals or food additives?

Are we loving our neighbor, if we are involved at any level in the gigantic medical, veterinary, pharmaceutical, or agro-chemical industries, that perpetuate their very own existence by treating symptoms and effects, rather than the causes of problems - even if, and when this is known to produce far worse problems?

Are we loving our neighbor, if we are investing in shares, or work for any company, bank or financial institution that lends to, or promotes any level of these activities?

The point behind all of these examples is not to condemn everyone, but to demonstrate that everyone, either directly or indirectly, is involved in this system. We all play our part whether we like it or not. Certain things we can avoid, but we cannot deny that the entire system, from the top to the bottom, has been corrupted by Satan! It is full of greed and selfish motives, with little if any, genuine concern for the health and welfare of others.

Modern agriculture has historically proven to be the single greatest negative factor on damage to the earth’s environment, mostly within the last 40 or so years. In this century we have seen the development and expansion of giant agro-chemical/food distribution companies around the world. Their phenomenal growth and huge amounts of investment capital have resulted in their effective monopolizing of mankind’s food supply, and its production methodology.

These companies control seed and livestock breeding programs, together with chemical pesticide and feed supplements, that are all intricately and inseparably linked, in a fashion that allows them to create and capitalize on a totally artificial supply/demand feature. This in itself, should almost be sufficient warning! We must begin to realize that it is WRONG for ANY company to totally control access to whole seed varieties, and then sell them only to farmers willing to utilize that same company’s system of chemical fertilizers and pesticide controls! This happens in most every facet of our modern farming arena!

Our food producers - our farmers and their families, have been driven from their land and way of life on a scale never previously thought possible! Modern farming has proven to be a “treadmill” where one has to run faster and faster to maintain an even position. Millions who could not stand the pace, lost their farms and their way of life. The few that remain, have completely lost control of their own industry and their financial independence. They have become bondservants to the various agri-business corporations and money lenders, owing total dependence on suppliers of hybrid seed and breeding stock; on manufacturers of fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, pesticides, heavy equipment, pharmaceutical and other supplies.

Such dramatic social and environmental upheaval has not occurred since the Industrial Revolution! What man did not foresee in this “industrialization” of farming, was the impact on our soil, plant and animal species, forests, rivers, oceans, underground water sources, the atmosphere, our physical health and our social well-being. Even city-dwelling consumers, who at first welcomed the “cheap” food, have recognized its futility, when compared to our recent spiraling health care problems and related costs.

Some might argue that we actually “need” certain aspects of these so-called modern farming practices, but this comes only from the minds of those that desire to perpetuate this myth for their own selfish greed and/or the need to bolster their own self-inflated “scientific” ego. It is absolutely not based on any credible facts, and as we will see later, is very easily disproved.

Yahweh says through the apostle John, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth...I have no greater joy than to hear My children walk in truth” (3 John 2,4).

Yahweh’s wishes, and His warnings have been habitually ignored: “Trust in Yahweh with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes” (Prov. 3:5-7).

In exercising his “dominion” over this planet, man has never consistently followed Yahweh’s simple instructions on how to “dress it and to keep it”. When Yahweh gave these simple instructions, the earth was an example of a perfect environment with great potential for development. We were to “keep” it, which means, to guard, protect or to preserve it. Instead, we have robbed, plundered, exploited and fought to try and conquer it!

Most people have little, if any real idea, why it is so important that we “dress and keep” our environment. It goes far beyond the simple aspect of sustenance.

Why has so much of man’s activity been centered around farming; around animals, crops, gardens, orchards, fishing and so on? Why a support system with all these food sources totally dependent on water, healthy soil, sunshine and a symbiotic relationship with insects, earthworms, and micro-organic life? Why not something simpler?

Consider bread, long regarded as a staple of life. Its production and use, involves soil tillage, seed planting, weeding, a year’s delay between harvests, threshing, cleaning, storage, milling, marketing, kneading, baking, packaging, distribution, retailing and finally, eating! As all things are possible with Yahweh, surely a continuously bearing “bread” tree would be simpler and much more efficient! Come to think of it, Yahweh could have pre-fueled us for life - sort of like a nuclear reactor!

Careful analysis of Yahweh’s plan for man and His system of food production REVEALS several major reasons for its design, aside from sustenance. These reasons all tie in with building a righteous, holy, perfect character within ourselves.

The first, and most obvious, is to create in man, the AWARENESS of a Creator God! “For the invisible things of Him [Yahweh] FROM THE CREATION OF THE WORLD ARE CLEARLY SEEN, being understood by the things that are made” (Rom. 1:20). Though man shows little consciousness of it, everything in the creation around us reflects the incomparable mind of Yahweh! Its fathomless complexity on the one hand and its dumbfounding simplicity on the other, make this planet an ecological masterpiece. It should impress on every human, the glory, power and majesty of Yahweh.

Secondly, is to create in man, an awareness of our DEPENDENCE on Yahweh and the environment! The necessity of maintaining the environment by which all life is sustained is meant to help us understand and appreciate our dependence on it and on Yahweh. Man needs a constant reminder of who really is in charge of things! Complete dependence on Yahweh and His laws has always been the key to joy, harmony and the abundant life Yahweh wants for all of us.

Thirdly, is to provide evidence of this most grand Creator, that would instill in man an inherent appreciation of the “laws of nature”, and desire to be OBEDIENT to their Creator! Obedience is the key to receiving every blessing promised by Yahweh. Our natural desire to receive these blessings is bolstered by our witness to the evidence of Yahweh’s laws of nature, and to Yahweh Himself.

Fourthly, is to provide OPPORTUNITIES for teaching, learning, sharing and growing in relationships with friends and families. “Farming”, was originally given to us as Yahweh’s most honored profession. It is a means of occupation, requiring vast amounts of time and cooperation by families and entire communities. It was essential, and thereby could not be ignored.

The systematic production of food, maintains our AWARENESS of the source of our food, requiring a fundamental understanding of the very creation itself, which in turn, reminds us of our DEPENDENCE on the Creator, leading us to OBEDIENCE to the laws of creation, which we understand will provide us OPPORTUNITIES, leading again to AWARENESS, and so on.

A fifth, and somewhat more subtle, but no less significant reason why Yahweh made our system of food production the way He did, is to humble us before our Creator. Yahweh knew, that we, like Satan, would be seduced by SELF-CENTEREDNESS and over-inflated egos. He knew that we would desire to do it “our way”. He therefore made it so utterly impossible to improve upon His system, that we would humbly accept “His way”, as being the only way! Unfortunately, many are still out there “banging their heads on the wall”, and still have not - and may never in this lifetime, “get it”!

It is after all, most humbling, when you realize that in order to best our Creator, we would literally have to make and sustain life out of dust! “And the Lord Yahweh formed man out of the dust of the ground...and out of the ground...formed every beast of the field, and every foul of the air” (Gen. 2:7,19).

Elsewhere we read that, “All flesh is grass” (Isaiah 40:6). For the purpose of better understanding our Yahweh-given environment, we also need to know that all grass is SOIL! “Grass” is therefore Yahweh’s fundamental link between man and the “dust of the ground”. And we will go on now, to explain just how important the farming (dressing and keeping) of this “dust” is!

When Satan tempted Adam and Eve to rebel, they were expelled from the garden of Eden, thereby deprived of the fantastic opportunity of living and working with the laws that create and maintain a perfect environment, with its perfect productivity. Yahweh’s curse was to eject them into a hostile environment that would physically plague them with problems for life (Gen. 3:17-19)!

They also produced the first murderer. But even before killing his own brother, their son Cain openly rebelled against Yahweh! It involved the type of offerings he made to Yahweh. Yahweh’s rejection of Cain’s offerings lies in the absence of animals!

Cain could not accept Yahweh’s rejection of his offering, so he “got back”, so to speak, by striking a death-blow to his blessed brother. He was then cursed by Yahweh: (Gen. 4:12,13). The kind of curse was no mere coincidence! As well as being a curse for murder, it underscored Yahweh’s rejection of his offering.

We must realize it is highly significant that his curse and that of his parents, both related directly to PRODUCTIVITY OF SOIL! An offering of fruit, instead of the flock, was man’s second act of rebellion, and has set the pattern until this day. By requiring animal sacrifices, Yahweh forced any OBEDIENT man to maintain an animal breeding program! (Physical offerings are now obsolete under the New Covenant. For more details, see chapter 18.)

It is not just that Yahweh has designated certain animals as fit for human consumption (see Leviticus 11:1-47), and others unfit. It is that there are some astonishing fundamental links regarding the healthy maintenance of plants, animals, the soil, and man, within a system of food production that includes animal husbandry, versus one that does not.

This is a classic example of Yahweh not spelling out the consequences of wrong behaviour. Like children, we sometimes have to discover these penalties for ourselves. All we have to do is OBEY - the blessings will follow! We are Yahweh’s children; and as with our own little children, we don’t always feel compelled to spell out all the consequences for disobedience. Sometimes we just say “obey”! If they don’t, they find there are penalties.

We do not yet, even begin to understand the intricacies involved in the delicate balance of nature. We do know that many plant and animal species, as well as soil fertility, and air and water quality, are all somehow inter-dependent. The imbalanced use of soil fertility, crop or animal production, is like a transfer of past capital and of future possibilities to enrich a dishonest present. It is theft!

We do know, that following modern mono-culture farming practices, requiring by their very nature, the use of excessive amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, often resulting in serious soil loss due to erosion, is WRONG!

Just as WRONG as genetically altering plants and animal species! These activities are precisely what our modern agri-business industry is all about!

We should also know that the indiscriminate harvesting of many types of “unclean” shellfish and other seafood, is inextricably linked to the “balance of nature” within our water systems, and is WRONG!

We should also know, that wasting vast amounts of wholesome grain, otherwise fit for consumption by untold tens of millions of undernourished and starving humans, on feeding swine is WRONG!

So is the wasteful feeding of all other types of animals Yahweh has told us are “unclean”, WRONG!

Yahweh did not explain the reasons “why” for all of the points contained in His instructions, nor for example did He say “why” swine are unclean. In many cases, the explanations are still well beyond our comprehension. We were told simply to OBEY!

With regard to swine for example, science has finally “proven” the reason it is deemed “unclean”! In writing “Study of Blood in Cancer”, O.C. Gruner, a renowned cancer researcher, stated: “a meal which features pork will produce a microscopic blood picture [of cancer micro-organisms] indistinguishable from that of a cancer patient, though of course, normality appears to reappear after eight or nine hours”. Seems to be a pretty clear cut reason for staying away from pork!

The Messiah said: “If anyone will DO HIS WILL, he shall KNOW of the doctrine, whether it is of Yahweh” (John 7:17). Yes, if we follow all of Yahweh’s instructions, even our own common-sense tells us, that all of our problems would be solved! Certainly, THEN, we would KNOW that the instructions (doctrine) are from Yahweh! We may not always know WHY, but if we know its right, does “why” really matter?

The book of Genesis is a beautiful illustration of the love of Yahweh. Several thousand years ago, in their “childlike” appreciation for the story, our ancient forefathers found it EASY TO UNDERSTAND! That’s why Moses chose to write it this way - simple! Yet somehow, with all of our “advanced” education and “progress”, most of modern man just can’t “get it”!

The symbology of the Garden of Eden story is still just as EASY to understand as it ever was - any child can quickly grasp its meaning! It seems that it is time for “adults” to put off their arrogant “know-it-all” attitudes, and re-read this simple story.

“Put off concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt...and be RENEWED IN THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND” (Ephesians 4:17-24).

Yahweh placed us in a perfect environment - the earth, with perfect, simple instructions on how to “dress and to keep it [perfect]”! And He GAVE us our own FREE WILL. In other words, if we chose to “DO HIS WILL” - to be OBEDIENT, following HIS instructions on how to “keep” the earth, it would remain a perfect environment, and our DEPENDENCE on it would be perfectly fulfilled.

Conversely, if we chose to be DISOBEDIENT, and manage the earth “our way”, it would AGAIN become an imperfect environment, and our dependence on it could never be totally fulfilled, and we would be plagued with physical problems for life (Gen. 3:17-19)!

Yahweh desired us to follow His “farming” instructions for obvious reasons. As food was/is vital to life, it cannot be ignored, and its production was (and should still be) our primary occupation! Farming is loaded with OPPORTUNITIES, from learning to work together, to sharing with one another, to learning to accept our limited understanding and total DEPENDENCE on the creation, which reminds us of the Creator, which reminds us to be OBEDIENT to His laws, in order to be blessed with the OPPORTUNITIES, and so on!

Satan has his own selfish reasons why he wants us to continue to ridicule and resist REVEALED KNOWLEDGE! Satan does not care how many, or which of Yahweh’s laws we break, so long as we do not totally submit to the government of Yahweh! Through SELF-CENTEREDNESS, Satan has deceived us into believing that “we”, actually know better than Yahweh! In this, our societies have universally obeyed Satan, almost without fail!

Yahweh says “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...Because you [the dust of the ground] have forgotten the law of your God” (Hosea 4:6). Our ancestors obviously made some wrong choices, which we, unfortunately, stubbornly continue to make!

Yahweh’s laws have long been ridiculed by many as “outdated”. His environmentally sound management principles have been resisted to the point of nearly bringing this planet to extinction.

THE SELF-EVIDENT TRUTHS REVEALED IN GOD’S LAWS AND INSTRUCTIONS WERE FREELY GIVEN TO US - FOR OUR BENEFIT!

Yahweh FREELY GAVE us instructions on WHAT foods to produce domestically, HOW to produce them, and WHICH foods were “clean” and safe to be eaten, and which were “unclean” - to be left in the wild. (See parts of Genesis, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Leviticus and specifically Deut. 14 and Lev. 11 for details.)

These laws and instructions are just one more simple example of how Yahweh’s Word is TIMELESS! It applies today, just as it would have thousands of years ago, and just as it will thousands of years from now! We cannot change any of Yahweh’s laws, any more than we can change HIS Law of Gravity!

Yahweh’s Word can be applied to every occupation, not just farming. Read your Bible with a determination to apply Yahweh’s timeless instructions to your lifestyle - without getting all caught up in “why” each of these instructions are meant to apply.

We may eventually understand all of the reasons “why”, but for now, DOING GOD’S WILL, will simply prove to be the most rewarding experience any of us could HOPE for!  TOP ^

ISRAELITE LOGIC: PART II

MANAGING LIFE - FROM THE GROUND UP!

            "In the beginning was the spoken word, and the words were from Yahweh, and the words were Yahweh’s. It was in the beginning from Yahweh. All things were made through Yahweh’s word, and without it nothing was made that was made. In Yahweh’s word was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:1-4).

"LIGHT" is the key to life! In the physical, as well as in the spiritual sense. There is a duality to almost all Biblical revelation. The opening verses of the book of John are a perfect example of Biblical duality. In them it is revealed that Yahweh - by His Word, provides us with spiritual "light", to guide us in our understanding of the mysteries of the "Kingdom of Yahweh", and these verses also reveal that physical "light" is the source of "life", in the physical sense.

We are instructed in many places in the Bible, that our physical life is an image of the spiritual life to come. In Hebrews 8:4, when speaking of the physical as compared to the spiritual, we are instructed that the physical is merely "a copy and shadow of the heavenly things".

We are to use our experiences in this "physical" life, coupled with our Yahweh-given instructions in righteousness - to build the righteous, holy character, required for us to be worthy of being called one of the "children of Yahweh", in Yahweh's future "spiritual" Kingdom.

How are we to do this? Ironically, one of the very first instructions given to us by Yahweh (Elohim - "the two"), reveals that we were to do this by becoming successful "farmers"! Yahweh took the man (Adam), and placed him in the garden to "tend and keep it" (Gen. 2:15).

In other words, our physical life, is meant to be a study of our physical environment - the environment that we are to "tend and keep" in order to produce the food required for our very survival. (For the "trendy" reader, who may not find it appealing to be labelled as a "farmer", you might say that Yahweh instructed us to be "food producing environmentalists"!)

Yahweh gave us our physical environment, that we might have a simple and obvious need (our very survival) to learn an awareness of, and an obedience to its physical laws. This physical learning process is to be an example, or a "copy and shadow" of the spiritual learning process that we also need to undergo, in order to learn an awareness of, as well as an obedience to Yahweh's spiritual laws, prior to entering His Kingdom.

Yahweh commanded us to manage our environment, and to "replenish the earth" (Gen. 1:28), and to have dominion over every living thing that moves upon it! That has been man's responsibility from the beginning. In fact, this environmental management IS OUR LIFE, because it reveals the way we relate to Yahweh and to His physical laws in every area of our human existence! These are physical laws and responsibilities, but they will not be correctly executed by man without spiritual understanding. That spiritual understanding must exist, not just among farmers, but with all humanity and in every generation - if you hope to be in Yahweh's Kingdom!

As a farmer (sorry - "environmentalist"), we must first recognize that our survival is totally DEPENDENT ON OUR PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT. Further, we must recognize that ALL LIFE that exists in our physical environment is totally DEPENDENT ON LIGHT. It becomes obvious, that the vital link in our food chain that is responsible for converting this light into food energy is "soil"! That is why we were first instructed to "tend and keep" the garden - the earth - our environment!

Healthy soil is the most vital link in the food chain. Yet, soil mismanagement has long been one of man's most fundamental abuses of the environment! We have long since forgotten the importance of our soil in converting the vital light-energy into life-giving food products. This is Yahweh's way of "testing" us in this temporary "physical" life, prior to granting us eternal life in His Kingdom. "All things" physical can be replaced and will be replaced, once Yahweh has finished "proving" the human race on this earth - "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away" (Rev. 21:1).

When we speak of our environment, we often refer to what we call the food chain. Our society also has a saying: "a chain is as strong as its weakest link". What then are the links of the food chain and which is the weakest link?

The links are the various parts of the environment involved in human nutrition and therefore human survival. There is only one weak link and that weak link is man! That is why there is only one link being "tested" by Yahweh! MAN IS THE WEAK LINK, because man is the only element of the living physical environment with free moral agency - the freedom to choose his own course of action!

This requires by its very design, that man develops and exercises character in the choices he makes! It allows us to lean to our own understanding, but does not force us to. It offers us the option of following Yahweh's freely given instructions, but again does not force them upon us.

Man, then, by his very nature, is the weakest link. And man, has historically been responsible for managing our environment - from the ground up! This ground, or soil, is the MOST VITAL LINK; it is the key to converting "light" into "life"! So the decisions made by the weakest link - man - have the greatest impact on the most vital and sensitive link - the soil!

Think of soil as the foundation of life. It comes mainly from eroded rocks, and from humus from the return of dead organic matter, which is broken down by various soil macro and micro-organisms, which in turn support oxygen-giving plants, which support animals, both of which support man - who tends the soil.

Man's abusive soil management decisions have been critical, because they have produced domino effects on all species in the environmental and food chain links - from the ground up! This is why the condition and management of our food-producing soil is so fundamental. Ultimately, it is our health and survival that are being managed - or "mis" managed!

Our health is currently being undermined by agri-business concerns, who, for the sake of money (dead trees with ink on them), purport that huge applications of chemical fertilizers and great varieties of chemical pesticides are the answer to our "survival"! Many will agree with these industrial concerns, simply because they have access to more food than in times past.

But this helps to prove, rather than disprove the point, if we consider what nutritional value is in the food.

In almost every group of shops today, at least in the English speaking world, we find one displaying the sign, "health food". Does it ever occur to us that we never see the sign that says, "unhealthy food"? However, people are now slowly coming to suspect that every food shop and supermarket sells what to some extent, should be labelled as "unhealthy food".

If you consider that to be an exaggeration, just stop and ask yourself: What are the main products sold in "health food" stores and why? You know very well their main products are vitamins, minerals and other nutritional supplements. In the last 20 to 30 years they have become a multi-billion dollar industry. Why? What are they supplementing? Shocking as it may sound, they exist to supplement the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients found ONLY NOW to be missing in the food we buy in the shops next door!

Why? Partly because of processed foods, but mainly because the plants and animals from which the food is derived, are themselves deficient. Why are the plants and animals deficient? Partly because many of them have been genetically manipulated (a topic which deserves a chapter unto itself), but mainly because the soil on which they were raised did not adequately supply their nutritional needs.

Why does the soil no longer provide these nutritional needs? Because of man's arrogant abuse of the soil! Wrong farming methods (poor environmental management), has reduced the soil's ability to supply proper plant nutrition. Loss of soil fertility has resulted in lower yields and increased plant diseases. Soil fertility can easily be replenished naturally, using Biblical principles of crop rotation - alternating cereals, legumes, and others, together with grazing and fallow (rest) practices. However, this natural process, is time-consuming and in consideration of large, industrial-scale farming operations, not entirely economically viable.

For these agro-chemical based companies, the solution has been obvious - apply artificial chemical fertilizers and pesticide controls! The "quick-fix"! These artificial means do perform. The "farmer" can see it before his very eyes. They dramatically increase his yields, especially on soil that has been badly depleted. What they don't see, is that the two or three nutrient components of the fertilizer chemicals added (that appear to cause the increased yield), do not include allowances for the other three or four dozen trace elements, concurrently deficient in that same soil! This results in food that "appears" to be bigger and better, but in reality, it is in itself, deficient in many elements vital to our own complete and balanced nutrition!

The truth is, only nature itself, is capable of fully maintaining its proper balance. Many, especially those with vested interests, hotly deny this and will continue to do so. What they cannot truthfully deny, is the huge increase in nutritional deficiency diseases in plants, animals AND MAN! Neither can they truthfully deny the rapid expansion in the western world of feeding protein and mineral supplements to farm animals and sales of vitamins, minerals and other supplements to humans! Nor can they truthfully deny the fact that these trends have taken place in precise proportion to, and in perfect coincidental timing with the increased usage of chemical fertilizers and pesticides!

This is simply another costly example of treating the effects rather than the cause! Small wonder that many of these large agri-businesses are controlled by the same interests that own the fertilizer, pesticide and strangely enough, even many of the vitamin, mineral and nutritional supplement manufacturers! Seeing that "money" is their sole motive, they have succeeded in manipulating our food production, processing and distribution networks in such a manner that they "reap" from every angle!

"World on edge of food crisis", was the headline for an article appearing in the January 17th, 1994 issue of "The Australian". Despite the efforts of our industrial food producing giants, many experts agree that we cannot continue to expect our soils to feed our ever-growing population without major changes in farming methods.

Here are just a few simple thoughts based on Biblical principles, that many of these same experts agree, will one day be absolutely necessary for our survival. We'll start with humus.

Good structure and high fertility of soil always depend on regular and adequate return of organic residues. This is the principle that has been producing the forests of the world for thousands of years - and it is the same principle that must apply to food production.

In humus, Yahweh has provided a nutritional storehouse within the soil, upon which plants may draw throughout successive generations of crop production. It is the most important of all substances contributing to the fertility of the soil. If it is allowed to become exhausted, the soil will be ruined as a natural medium for plant growth.

Humus; dead organic matter, is a first and vital step in the soil's cycle of life. Earthworms, bacteria and a host of other soil organisms are constantly waiting to spring instantly onto the stage of life. They are ever-ready to jump in and fill any ecological gap in the soil's health, if only man will temporarily remove his grasping hand and FEED THEM!

Soil texture is rapidly improved by these agents of organic decomposition. Water no longer hurries past on the quick journey to the sea. Soil which was impervious becomes porous, while that which was all too porous and prone to leaching, becomes more absorbent. New-found moisture retention ushers in multiple benefits for the wise food producer, making more efficient use of available rain.

Humus-rich soil provides a tremendous breeding ground for multiple life forms. Few of us have any consciousness of the activity beneath our feet, through multiple forms of macro-organisms - earthworms, eelworms, centipedes, millipedes, springtails, spiders, mites, and many other insects, as well as micro-organisms - bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, algae, and protozoa.

These life-forms are incredible fertilizer "factories". The humble earthworm for example, contributes as nature's aeration expert, with its ceaseless tunnelling within the soil and the resulting annual top-dressing of castings which can range up to 20 tons per acre!

Man on the other hand, really thinks he is accomplishing something when he adds a measly 200 to 500 pounds of fertilizer per acre, usually comprised of roughly equal amounts of nitrate, phosphorous and potassium. This man-made fertilizer is extremely expensive, and not readily available for plant consumption until first exposed to the elements for varying periods of time.

Earthworm castings on the other hand, contain abundant, FREE and readily available plant nutrients! When compared to the surrounding soil, they are over 5 times as rich in nitrogen, 2 times in exchangeable calcium, 3 times in exchangeable magnesium, 7 times in available phosphorous and 11 times in exchangeable potassium, as well as many times richer in a host of other trace elements!

A difficult aspect of the study of soil micro-biology is mentally adjusting to the size and number of organisms concerned. One gram of soil can contain as many as one thousand million bacteria, plus a kilometre of fungal hyphae (thread), as well as many hundreds of thousands of protozoa and algae! These soil life-forms occupy relatively little of total soil space, yet proportionately speaking, they affect large areas around them. Studied microbiologists say of them, that it is as if a tree could affect all other plants growing within a kilometre of itself!

Selman Waxman, one of the world's foremost microbiologists, stated: "The importance of humus in the human economy seldom receives sufficient emphasis. Suffice it to say that it probably represents the most important source of wealth on this planet"!

Sir Albert Howard (knighted for his work on organic agriculture), wrote: "Nature [Yahweh] has provided a marvellous piece of machinery of conferring disease-resistance on the crop. This machinery is only active in soil rich in humus; it is inactive or absent in infertile land and in similar [humus-rich] soils fertilized with chemicals"!

Elsewhere, he wrote: "I have several times seen my cattle rubbing noses with foot-and-mouth cases. Nothing happened. The healthy, well-fed animals [on diets grown on NATURALLY FERTILE AND HUMUS-RICH SOIL] reacted to this disease exactly as suitable varieties of crops, when properly grown, did to insect and fungus pests - no infection took place. Nothing was done in the way of prevention beyond good farming methods and the building up of a fertile soil"!

THE SOIL'S LIVING ORGANIC CONTENT, DEPENDENT ON MAN'S FARMING PRACTICES, IS A VITAL KEY TO THE SUCCESSFUL MANAGEMENT OF OUR ENVIRONMENT. Unfortunately, modern farming practices are killing ALL SOIL LIFE, thereby destroying - from the ground up, the very environment upon which we owe our total dependence!

For years, farmers the world over, BURNED off all of the crop "residue", after harvesting, calling it an inconvenient "waste"! This practice literally starved the soil organisms to death! They then further depleted the soil life by poisoning it with chemical fertilizers. This prompted tremendous imbalances in the natural order of soil life, resulting in harmful but otherwise scarce soil "pests" (rare fungus, bacteria and insect varieties) taking over, and diminishing yields. Of course, chemical pesticides were brought in to "save" us from this man-made disaster.

It's as if each time man creates a "problem", instead of falling back on Yahweh's principles of environmental management, he creates a "band-aid" solution, which turns out to be the next "problem", and so on, and so on! Admittedly, it has taken man a long time to come anywhere close to understanding even basic environmental practices outlined in the Bible. Some of the reasons behind Yahweh's instructions, we concede, may never be within our limited human understanding! But we are still meant to OBEY them!

Yahweh gave us the forests as an example of perpetual, self-sustained growth, to use for our farming methods. They obviously worked - even though He did not tell us WHY they worked! We have learned at least something about two obvious reasons why they work - one is that a great variety of plants and animals co-exist, providing a variety of naturally recycled decaying matter for active soil life. And two is, that somehow this varietal co-existence maintains a natural balance of defence against disease.

Yahweh also gave us instructions on grazing certain animals, requiring by its nature, the rotating of land out of crop production. Animal grazing also contributes animal droppings - a rich source of nitrates and other valuable food for soil life.

Again, experience has "proven" that the practice of periodically grazing crop land will increase its productivity - if the farmer can afford the transition.

Yahweh also gave us instructions on letting land "rest", or leaving it fallow. He designated each seventh year as "a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land" (Lev. 25:2-7), and in Lev. 25:8 through 17, He further instructs us that in addition to the seventh year land Sabbaths, a Jubilee will occur each 50 years, in which the land is also left fallow.

Ask any prairie farmer, and he will quickly confirm that periodically leaving land fallow, is probably the single greatest factor contributing to the high productivity in our North American grain belt region.

This chapter only deals with a small aspect of the fragile balance of soil life. There is a certain "scientific" logic behind every aspect of our environment. There is also a certain Yahweh-given logic behind each of Yahweh's farming instructions! Yahweh has not forced us to follow His methods - He gave us our free will to choose. Unfortunately, we have stubbornly chosen to pursue the scientific approach, and to "do it our way", in almost every instance, until we were finally, and usually out of desperation, driven to acceptance of His ways.

Ironically, science has turned out to be our biggest obstacle to real progress! It has literally "blinded" us to the guiding "light" offered only in the pages of the Bible. Man has been so pre-occupied with finding out "why" things are the way they are, that he has forgotten to OBEY the simple and practical instructions given to him by Yahweh!

In his arrogance man has completely lost sight of the purpose of this life - it is, whether we like it or not, a life designed by Yahweh, for Yahweh's purpose - not ours! Yahweh merely wishes to establish which of us will humble ourselves to the point of being OBEDIENT TO HIS LAWS IN THIS LIFE - WHETHER WE KNOW "WHY" THEY WORK, OR NOT!

With respect to our Yahweh-given opportunity to learn obedience to His spiritual ways, through practical application of our experience with the physical laws of our environment, it is safe to say, the majority of humans have failed miserably - from the ground up!

The soil that Yahweh gave us to "tend and to keep", is in many cases dying, or already dead! "And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, `It is a good land which Yahweh our God doth give us'" (Deut. 1:25).

Yes, it WAS "a good land which Yahweh our God gave us" - but that was ancient Israel 3,400 years ago! It's not true of the land of Palestine today! Neither is it generally true of most of the food producing regions of the rest of our planet today! If it were, we would not be reading headlines such as the earlier quoted, "WORLD ON THE EDGE OF FOOD CRISIS"!

Historically, in nomadic and semi-nomadic agriculture, this process went on to the point of soil exhaustion. Modern intensive methods differ only in one basic point - modern science has made it possible to artificially extend high levels of productivity well beyond the point of actual soil exhaustion! The nomads ended up with visible deserts. Science ends up with invisible deserts; something approaching hydroponics and nutritional chaos!

We want to call ourselves "environmentalists", and we pretend to be environmentally conscious, but the reality is, because of our spiritual "blindness", we haven't even come close to being good "farmers"!

The "dead" soil we have created, is no longer capable of converting the Yahweh-given light-energy into nutritionally balanced, life-giving food products! We are living in what the Bible calls a man-made "famine", and most of us don't want to admit it, while many don't even know it!

We (man) are the weak link! Yahweh has put us to the test, and sadly, as individuals, as nations, and on a global basis, we have failed Him! Israelite logic dictates that it is high time that we exercise our Yahweh-given ability to choose; that we choose to accept the very life-saving words in our Bible, that proclaim: "In Him was light [spiritual guidance] and the LIGHT WAS THE LIFE OF MEN"! TOP ^

ISRAELITE LOGIC: PART III

MANAGING LIFE - LAND SABBATHS:

MORE THAN A "DIRT" REST!

"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there SHALL BE FAMINES, AND PESTILENCES, AND EARTHQUAKES, IN DIVERS PLACES. All these are the beginning of sorrows" (Matt. 24:7-8).

How do these events relate to the land Sabbath? "For the wrath of Yahweh is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of Yahweh is manifest in them; for Yahweh hath shewed it unto them...so that they are without excuse" (Romans 1:18-20).

Unpleasant as it may be, our present world food crisis, rampant outbreaks of disease and spiralling health care problems, as well as the increase in both frequency and severity of "natural" disasters, have all been brought on this world by ourselves! It is all our fault; no one else can take the blame! And it could have been avoided through obedience - and may still be avoided through repentance AND obedience! Simply put, our current health and environmental problems are punishment for our rebellious attitude!

Our food producing industrial giants give many humanly devised reasons for continuing the present systems of management, which are fast undermining human health and destroying our environment. Millions living an urban existence won't stop to consider their relationship with Yahweh until their health is destroyed or their food runs out! Most rural inhabitants have become part of the "industrial" food chain, or at best, bondservants to it, which leaves almost no one prepared to face the catastrophic reality man has set upon himself!

Yahweh says we are to "sigh and cry" for the abominations taking place in modern Israel (Ezek. 9:4). (U.S., British Commonwealth and others, see chapter 27). This is because of the seriousness of the penalties roaring toward us like an express train! "A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with the famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword around thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them" (Ezek. 5:12).

At this time, Yahweh is only able to work with those very few of us who are RESPONDING to His call. He is CALLING EVERYONE in modern spiritual Israel, but most won't listen! The disease plagues and environmental crisis could hardly be any more obvious, but still, most fall into the category of Isaiah's prophecy that Yah’shua quoted on this very topic; "Hearing you will hear and not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive;" (Matt. 13:14).

Whether man recognizes it or not, Yahweh is the great provider - of all things, including methods of producing nutritionally balanced food, which leads to good health! "He [Yahweh] waters the hills from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your [Yahweh's] works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth" (Ps. 104:13-14).

Man, made in the image of Yahweh, is the life form for which ALL OTHER LIVING CREATURES ON THIS PLANET WERE CREATED! Man is the only creature given the capability of knowing this and of knowing the Creator! But man stubbornly refuses to accept this, ignoring that his very existence, let alone his continued survival, is completely in the hands of the almighty Yahweh! "What you [Yahweh] give them they gather in; You open your hand, they are filled with good. You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, THEY DIE AND RETURN TO THEIR DUST. You send forth Your Spirit; they are created; And You renew the face of the earth" (Ps.104:28-30).

Renewing "the face of the earth" happens every year through Yahweh's four seasons. But this is something of which urbanized man has little knowledge and even less interest. Rural mankind has more interest in this area, but his knowledge is mostly based on human reasoning, rather than on the revealed laws of Yahweh.

It is clear from the Bible that if Yahweh's called out ones (John 15:16) are to lead the vast majority of mankind by example (now, and through the millennium), we must come to understand certain laws of which most of mankind is completely ignorant today. This chapter will deal primarily on how a law such as Yahweh's land Sabbath, can seem so insignificant to carnal-minded man, while in reality, the importance of this law cannot be exaggerated because it is an integral part of a concise legal system that is fundamental to restructuring human civilization. It was meant to apply to our lives in times past; it applies now, and it will by all means be implemented in the future. Our simple choice is whether we will partake of voluntarily implementing it, thereby setting an example for the rest of mankind NOW, or if we will be a part of the majority of mankind that will be taught this during the millennium (whether we believe it now or not!).

The previous two chapters in this book touched briefly on environmental management based on the soil. But which laws of Yahweh, if obeyed, will guard this natural nutritional and health support system on which we all depend? The first is the land Sabbath! But that's in the Bible! And who would think to look in the Bible for infallible guidance on environmental management? What could the Bible have to offer on such a subject?

Some may have read through the entire Bible and discovered, much to their chagrin, that Yahweh's specific instruction to food production appears to be little more than a verse here and there on firstlings, cross breeding, clean and unclean food (disease inhibiting versus disease promoting), the land Sabbath and jubilee. Beyond these and a few other points, Yahweh APPEARS to have considered it unnecessary to offer any specific guidance for producing man's most important commodity - FOOD! It APPEARS this way, only to the "worldly wise and disobedient" - it is not really the case!

When Yahweh inspired the Bible, He was not at all nebulous about something as globally important as environmental management. He gave man very detailed and specific guidance on the matter and in such a manner as it could not possibly be neglected or overlooked by any obedient individual or nation.

The best way to discover the purpose and meaning of any of Yahweh's laws is to put them into practice in our own lives. We have Yah’shua’s's own words on this: "IF any man will DO His Will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of Yahweh, or whether I speak of Myself" (John 7:17). This timeless principle applies to the Sabbatical year. Only by keeping it can we learn the true meaning, intent and full importance of Yahweh's command.

"Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: `When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to Yahweh. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, A SABBATH TO Yahweh. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard'" (Lev. 25:2-4).

"So you shall observe My statutes and keep My judgements, and perform them; and you will dwell in the land in safety [and health]...Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years" (Lev. 25:18-22).

It is a blessing from Yahweh, not a curse! Few today have had opportunity, or have taken advantage of it. Imagination; applied Israelite logic, is therefore needed as we mentally walk through a land Sabbath. This will help us to appreciate its implications for individuals and whole nations, both past and future!

Briefly the land Sabbath imposes the following conditions every seven years:

- no grain to be harvested for commercial purposes.

- no crops to be sown specifically for harvesting that year.

- no vineyards or orchards to be pruned.

- no fruit or vegetables sown.

- no land produce of any kind harvested except for family needs.

- no land produce of any kind available for sale.

- no restriction on pasturing clean livestock.

- all hay or winter fodder to be returned to the field as animal

manure.

Now visualize yourself as an adult male with a wife and two or three children. The civil government of your local country has made the Sabbatical year part of the enforced laws of the land, as Yahweh intended. Your responsibility is to provide food, clothes, shelter and a fulfilling way of life for your family. The provision of clothes, shelter, fuel and recreational amenities would be unaffected by the land Sabbath. But what about FOOD?

And what about the environmental management lessons to be learned from an agricultural based family support system?

We would expect a temporary shortage of certain basic commodities every seventh year, but that wrong thinking is based on our present society. The type and scale of many types of production will be curtailed or eliminated in an OBEDIENT society. But Yahweh will still bless man and his animals abundantly. "For your livestock and the animals that are in your land [during the land Sabbath] - all its produce shall be for food" (Lev. 25:7).

It is clear that this type of production is actually stimulated during the year of rest, not restricted. This increase is made possible by the prohibition of commercial crops, which is highly significant. With this in mind, we have a key to understanding the in depth meaning behind the land Sabbath. "What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. And the Sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you and your servant, for your maidservant and for your hired servant, for the stranger who sojourns with you" (Lev. 25:5-6). Volunteer produce would therefore be more than any family could eat.

"When you come into the land which I give you" (Lev. 25:2), means that the land Sabbath applies to ALL FOOD PRODUCERS IN THE SAME YEAR! (Lev. 25:7). Can you imagine what that means? We would not be able to go down the road and buy from the neighbour. Neither would we be permitted to rent his land for the purpose of farming it during the year of rest! Yahweh's enforced year of rest would make it impossible to rely, as we do today, on a few specialist producers selling "commercially viable" produce to multiple millions of non-producing consumers!

In a system applying the land Sabbath, grain is easily stored for many years and would therefore always be available. But fresh fruits and vegetables would be non-existent for families without their own garden, orchard and vines. It is hard for us to imagine a system in which everyone produces his own food. Or at least enough food, that he is always able to "glean" from others, some varieties of food in exchange for allowing the others to "glean" from his crops, what they do not have during the year of rest. (Gleaning is a term defining the practice of harvesting the produce missed during the main harvesting operations.) "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am Yahweh your God" (Lev. 19:9-10).

There would be no green grocers operating anywhere in the nation in the year of rest! The law would prevent anyone buying or selling any type of fruit, vegetables, grain or land produce whatsoever! But people could have a FREE supply directly from their own land! These things would turn our modern nations upside down and throw everything into chaos. This helps us to understand why Yahweh says He will utterly destroy our Satan-inspired society and replace it with an entirely new system.

"Behold, Yahweh makes the earth empty and waste, distorts its surface and scatters abroad its inhabitants...the haughty people of the earth languish. The earth is defiled under its inhabitants, BECAUSE THEY HAVE TRANSGRESSED THE LAWS, CHANGED THE ORDINANCE, BROKEN THE EVERLASTING COVENANT. therefore the curse [of disobedience] has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left" (Isaiah 24:1,3-6).

In a system based on Godly principles of environmental management, Yahweh has seen the necessity of forestalling our rebellious carnal (human) nature. Many people left to their own devices, would only plant a garden in the seventh year, buying their needs from others in the remaining six years. However, the land Sabbath COMMAND says you "shall not sow thy field", so in order to have any VOLUNTEER produce in the seventh year, families must have a garden in at least the sixth year. For most fruits, many families would need to have their own trees and vines, which must be five years old before you can eat from them (Lev. 19:23-25). Yahweh makes all of this mandatory simply by limiting available produce in the seventh year to that which volunteers.

Properly planned and managed gardens and orchards will produce a surprising amount of volunteer produce, even in the untended seventh year.

The following are some of the benefits that accrue to families that keep the land Sabbath:

- self-sufficiency is a reward for those who dwell under their

own vine and fig tree (Micah 4:4).

- healthy, disease resistant families result from eating a diet

of fresh produce, naturally grown on healthy soil.

- increased healthy, disease resistant livestock production

because harvesting and selling plant production is illegal in

seventh year, and animals eat only healthy pasture/produce.

- the end of mass migration to cities because of the need to

produce one's own food.

- greater family unity and spiritual values because of the need

to work together and with nature, producing their own food.

- improved soil fertility due to pasture fed animals and less

crops.

- animal based agriculture because of no crops in seventh year.

- hazards of soil erosion and desert formation reduced by

increased crop cover, less bare soil and no over grazing.

- no massive grain surpluses to encourage factory-farming of

animals, including "unclean" animals.

- natural food for animals instead of force-feeding grain and

protein concentrates.

- higher pasture production due to increased soil fertility.

- higher regular crop production due to bacterial inoculating

effects of pasturing the land.

- annual savings of multiple billions now spent on treating

disease symptoms, such as hospitalization, pharmaceuticals.

- annual savings in multiple billions now spent on disease

promoting agents such as chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

Perhaps we can now begin to understand the far-reaching implications of this Biblical law. Its purpose is not to cause economic difficulties. Like all of Yahweh's commands that appear to be negative, it is Yahweh's way of PROVIDING and PROTECTING all those who are obedient to it. The seventh year land Sabbath offers every family a method of providing themselves with an abundant and varied supply of healthy, disease inhibiting food products.

We see that simply resting one-seventh of our available farm land is not the issue. This is not what Yahweh intended under Moses, nor is it what will be acceptable in the future. By concentrating the observance into one year, even short-term economic common sense demands a change to animal based agriculture. And why not, when the alternative is forfeiture of income for one year in seven! It is logical that the primary law for protecting soil fertility on this planet, would have built into it, provisions for continued and alternative sustenance, and for strictly limiting crop production - the farming practice that destroys soil productivity most rapidly!

To think that we could simply rotate one-seventh of our land out of production each year is like a "Christian" who believes that his religion is something he practices one day a week!

The land Sabbath is a law to teach us ecological and spiritual principles - those values we learn from the simple experience of being obedient to another of Yahweh's laws. The physical principles of health and sound environment are obvious. The spiritual principles which demand that we pass our land on to the next generation in better physical condition than when we received it, are not as obvious. If we do not accomplish this, we are "unprofitable stewards" in the sight of Yahweh!

No farmer, unless he is robbing another area, or cheating the land by using artificial chemicals, can take six grain crops off any piece of land, and rest it once without radically reducing its capacity to produce healthy food. Most farmers might say, "To keep that law, I would have to change my whole system of farming!" That is precisely what Yahweh intends. That is a major purpose behind the law; to get us into an attitude of "giving" to the next generations, rather than "getting" everything we can right now!

As noted, the land Sabbath is directly linked to animals. Through Yahweh's laws of clean and unclean meats, Yahweh has intentionally given us direction in what animals should play major roles in our agriculture, which as will become clear, helps to maintain healthy soil. Clean versus unclean meats is not "Jewish fanaticism", it is basic nutritional instruction for ALL MANKIND!

There is something very special about the animals designated as "clean", and therefore suitable as food for man. In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, they are categorized by those characteristics of BOTH chewing the cud AND dividing the hoof. Collectively, these animals are called "ruminants" because of their special digestive systems. For the past 30 or so years, establishment of improved pasture and other crop species has been aided by inoculating the seeds with cultures of certain micro-organisms at sowing time. This was because the soil population was deficient in these organisms, just as it usually was with the number of earthworms, etc., due to improper farming methods.

There exists an obvious and incredible parallel between the humanly devised "band aid" return of micro-organisms to the soil via seed inoculation, and the Yahweh-given plan for the AUTOMATIC return via animal manure! The environmental impact by even limited regular grazing by ruminants ("clean" animals, such as sheep, cattle, deer, elk, buffalo, goats) comes not just from the return to the soil of the residues themselves, but also from the inoculating effect of rumen bacteria within those residues.

This indicates that those that graze clean animals on their land, are: a) obeying Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14; b) following an animal-based system of soil management (rather than crop monoculture); c) employing a built-in safeguard against their soil becoming depleted of vitally necessary micro-organic life; and d) safe-guarding their animals' digestion by using the grass they eat to complete a cyclical function of certain micro-organisms.

As grass and other pasture species grow up through fertile soil, there are associated micro-organisms (rumen bacteria) on the leaves of the plants. (Ecology of Soil Bacteria, edited by Gray & Parkinson 1967, pp.78,79,152-53,386,483. Livestock Production, by H.H. Cole, pp.457-458. Agricultural Bacteriology, by J. Percival, p.152.) These organisms are ingested along with every mouthful of pasture, thus re-inoculating the rumen of the animals.

What is significant about this is that man and certain animals such as pigs are created with a three stomach, acid based digestive system, free of rumen bacteria. But the "clean" ruminants have an extra fourth stomach and depend on a population of rumen bacteria to breakdown the contents of their digestive system. During these digestive processes, these rumen bacteria multiply at an enormous rate as they decompose the pasture species ingested by the animal. They are partly digested as protein, further along in the fourth stomach system, with billions of live rumen bacteria being returned to the soil in the animal manure.

The dung bacteria multiply and combine with life in the soil to decompose the manure and other humus, creating a perfectly balanced supply of dozens of trace elements and other soil nutrients required to grow healthy, naturally nutrient-balanced crops, that are essential for a healthy human diet. The same healthy, naturally nutrient-balanced crops, are also responsible for maintaining healthy animals, which maintain healthy crops, both of which maintain healthy humans and so on, and so on!

Man, through "science", spends billions of dollars and wastes untold millions of hours of mental energy, on such foolishness as researching the pandemic diseases we have brought upon ourselves, when in fact, the answers to all of these "pestilences" have been freely available to anyone who would apply Yahweh's laws! When will man ever believe that, "there is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death" (Prov. 14:12)! Or as Yahweh inspired in Zech.13:4-5: "And it shall be in that day [the millennium] that every prophet [false priest or minister] will be ashamed...But he will say, `I am no prophet, I AM A FARMER; for a man [Yahweh's "Elect"] taught me to keep cattle from my youth"! There is much more that could be spelled out regarding Yahweh's land Sabbath and animal-based agriculture commands, as they relate to our environmental management concerns. It should, by now, be obvious that Yahweh intended us to OBEY these timeless laws, whether we understood them or not, in order that we might enjoy His promised blessings of good health and prosperity within a sound global environment. Indeed, had our modern nations of the British Commonwealth and North America kept these, along with Yahweh's other laws, when we "came into the land which He gave us", it is difficult to see how we could have avoided health and prosperity in a land that would surely have been flowing with "milk and honey"!

Now, just for a moment, imagine that all of Yahweh's environmental principles were being practiced by our nations - and we were indeed enjoying Yahweh's promised blessings. Then add to that the simple thought: "Now that we have solved our environmental concerns, what would happen if we followed Yahweh's equally timeless advice on economics?" Consider the plight of our nations - in debt to the point of near financial catastrophe. And our citizenry - also in debt to the point of hopelessness for many.

Now what about a few quotes on Yahweh's laws as they relate to basic economics: "If you lend money to any of MY people who are poor among you...you shall not charge him interest" (Ex. 22:25). "You shall not oppress one another, [financially]" (Lev. 25:17).

"At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of [all] debts" (Deut. 15:1). "The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine [Yahweh's]; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land" (Lev. 25:23-24).

"For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, `You shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land'" (Deut. 15:11).

"In the land which Yahweh your God is giving you...if you carefully obey the voice of Yahweh your God, to obse