To Eat. What does it mean in the Bible?

[JTC]

This may be the wrong forum for what I'm asking. If so, you mods should move it for me.

I probably can find the answer to this with enough research. I'm sure I'm not the only person who thought about this. But maybe 1 of you know. If so please save me the hours needed to discover this. I know the ancient people meant different things than we do rather often. I've seen this discussed before, but not with eating.

When I 1st read the Bible and an angel told a prophet to eat a scroll or book I just kept going. I knew the angel didn't mean to actually eat it. I didn't know what it meant and my goal was to read the Bible. Now I want to know what the ancients meant. If I say eat the words I tell you I know 1 thing it means is take them to heart. Make them part of your thoughts. Maybe that's it. Maybe there are no other hidden meanings. But God seems to love hidden meanings. He also seems to love poetry.

All this eating mystery becomes very significant with Jesus. We know from the beginning of man that God forbade the eating of human flesh or the drinking of blood. There are several reasons for this. One is it's something the devils do. They also want us to eat human flesh. God said no. So why then did Jesus say we should eat His flesh and drink His blood? What did He really mean and how should we do it? To answer that first we need to understand what the ancients meant by eating. Does anyone have any insights?

 

[Mike 2]

Here's my thoughts as to what Jesus meant by drinking his blood. It goes right back to the garden with Adam and Eve.

Before I share my thoughts on that I think is important that I re assert what you have already alluded to, that is that the bible uses physical things that we know and understand to direct us to a spiritual truth. Jesus' use of parables is a clear example of how God uses stories in the physical that we can relate to to say 'this spiritual truth is like that'.

With that in mind we see Adam and Eve sinning and then realizing their nakedness. God gives them a skin to cover that nakedness. There is a spiritual truth in that passage.  

When they disobeyed God, they could not hide that sin, it was completely exposed before God. The physical shame of their exposed naked bodies before each other points to the spiritual truth of the spiritual shame of sin before God . Because of that sin, spiritually they died in their relationship with God. In order to cover that spiritual sin and the spiritual life it destroyed, a life had to be given in it's place. The animal skin covered them physically, and the life that died to gain the skin, that life within its blood....... was given to cover the guilt and shame of the sin. (but it could never remove it)

All through the bible we read over and over again that the blood is not to be consumed it is to be honored because "the life is in the blood"

God, right from the beginning has reserved this idea of life in the blood for something specific. We see that all coming together when  we see a man come along and start talking in parables, using physical things to talk about spiritual truths, a physical man whose whole life points to a spiritual truth. A man who takes something as important and honored as blood that is never to be consumed because of the life in it and says  "drink my blood"...take my life into you.   God not only comes to us physically but the spiritual truth is that he wants to be with us spiritually, he wants to give us spiritual life.

Drink my blood....take my life into you.

Joh_14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

We have to drink him in (spiritually)

I'm sure much more can be said about this Genesis passage but I have tried to keep to the point.

Edited June 20, 2017 by Mike 2

[Neighbor]

On 6/19/2017 at 6:24 PM, JTC said:

This may be the wrong forum for what I'm asking. If so, you mods should move it for me.

I probably can find the answer to this with enough research. I'm sure I'm not the only person who thought about this. But maybe 1 of you know. If so please save me the hours needed to discover this. I know the ancient people meant different things than we do rather often. I've seen this discussed before, but not with eating.

When I 1st read the Bible and an angel told a prophet to eat a scroll or book I just kept going. I knew the angel didn't mean to actually eat it. I didn't know what it meant and my goal was to read the Bible. Now I want to know what the ancients meant. If I say eat the words I tell you I know 1 thing it means is take them to heart. Make them part of your thoughts. Maybe that's it. Maybe there are no other hidden meanings. But God seems to love hidden meanings. He also seems to love poetry.

All this eating mystery becomes very significant with Jesus. We know from the beginning of man that God forbade the eating of human flesh or the drinking of blood. There are several reasons for this. One is it's something the devils do. They also want us to eat human flesh. God said no. So why then did Jesus say we should eat His flesh and drink His blood? What did He really mean and how should we do it? To answer that first we need to understand what the ancients meant by eating. Does anyone have any insights?

 

Hi, I might pontificate my opinions, but J Vernon Mcgee did such a concise excellent reveal that I think it best to quote his excellent  work:

"The Bitterness of Eating from the Sweet Book

And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth. And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter. (Revelation 10:8-10)

This order comes from Christ in heaven as He is directing every operation recorded in the Book of Revelation. He is in full charge. Revelation is the book that glorifies our wonderful Savior. He is the Judge of all the earth here, and we see Him as God has highly exalted Him and given Him a name above every name. If the voice here is not Christ’s, then He has given the order to the angel to speak from heaven.

John becomes a participant in the great drama which is unfolding before us. He is required to do a very strange thing, one that has a very typical meaning. He eats the little book at the instructions of the angel, and the results are bittersweet. Eating the little book means to receive the Word of God with faith.

The part of the Word of God taken by John was judgment. It was sweet because the future is sweet. In Genesis 18:17 we read, “And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do…?” It is sweet to know what God is going to do, but when you find out that judgment is coming, it is bitter. John eagerly received the Word of God, but when he saw that more judgment was to follow, it brought travail of soul and sorrow of heart. It was sweet in his mouth and bitter in his digestive system. If you and I can take delight in reading this section of the Word of God and the judgments that are to fall upon the earth, then we need to do a great deal of praying to get the mind of God. It is sweet to know the Book of Revelation and what God intends to do, but when we find out that judgment is coming to the Christ-rejecting world around us, we cannot rejoice in that. The prophecy becomes bitter.

There is another very real application of this. Many folk begin the study of prophecy with enthusiasm, but when they find that it is applicable to their life and that it makes demands on them personally, they lose interest, and it becomes a bitter thing. Many people say, “I don’t want to hear about the Book of Revelation. I don’t like prophecy. It frightens me!” May I say to you that it is supposed to do that, but it should be in your mouth sweet as honey. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who like to study prophecy because of the natural curiosity to know the future, but they will discover that there is nothing in the Word of God that ministers more to a holy life than the thoughtful study of prophecy. “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself…” (1 John 3:3). To be a student of prophecy and live a dirty life will only lead to abnormality. The reason we hear so much abnormality in the interpretation of prophecy in our day is that the Word of God is not having its way in the hearts and lives of the folk who study it. It is unfortunate that people will get interested in prophecy but not in Christian living.

And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings. (v. 11)

You can be sure of one thing, that John was properly integrated. He believed that all nations, all peoples, all tongues, and all colors ought to hear the Word of God. They need to hear it because they need to be warned that judgment is coming. If they go through the Great Tribulation, they will soon recognize that it is not the Millennium — in fact, they will feel as if they have entered hell itself. This is the part that made John sad. This is the reason this little book became bitter to John: He must prophesy against many before Christ comes to His Kingdom.

My friend, the study of prophecy will have a definite effect upon your life: It will either bring you closer to Christ, or it will take you farther from Him.

—From Edited Messages on Revelationby J. Vernon McGee"

Post script: Amazing, all these years  long gone by and yet as I read his words I hear clearly the distinct voice of J Vernon McGee. A pastor that I listened to so many times as I sat  around the corner killing time on a limo run waiting to pick a family up for a funeral. I was unsaved at the time, but so enjoyed his presentations. 

Edited June 21, 2017 by Neighbor

[JTC]

The answer came to me. I say the Holy Spirit told me bc I'm not that smart. It does mean to take in. But when we eat food our body breaks it down and absorbs the nutrients. So the food literally becomes a part of us. This is what Jesus meant. His words and teachings have to become part of us, second nature, if I can use that phrase. Everything He taught has to become things we do without even thinking about it. So if you're walking down the street and a person falls you'll help him up without even thinking. So again we're back to we must obey what Jesus said. The answer isn't as mysterious as I had thought. It's actually pretty obvious. 

[Sower]

13 hours ago, Neighbor said:

Post script: Amazing, all these years  long gone by and yet as I read his words I hear clearly the distinct voice of J Vernon McGee. A pastor that I listened to so many times as I sat  around the corner killing time on a limo run waiting to pick a family up for a funeral. I was unsaved at the time, but so enjoyed his presentations. 

As did I. He was one of several I listened to regular in my truck, came on at eleven central time, and still does by recording.  My brother heard him once on my radio teaching about being a child of the devil if you were not a born again believer, and  he began asking questions, and was saved a few months later.

A young believer yearns for the milk of the word, and as growth and maturity comes, the meat of the word. We are in Christ, Christ is in us. Our spiritual blood contains the same spiritual "DNA". Most have heard the saying, "You are what you eat"

[Neighbor]

Ah yes Adelle Davis 

 "You are what you eat." I do have a story, but....

[Mike 2]

10 hours ago, JTC said:

The answer came to me. I say the Holy Spirit told me bc I'm not that smart. It does mean to take in. But when we eat food our body breaks it down and absorbs the nutrients. So the food literally becomes a part of us. This is what Jesus meant. His words and teachings have to become part of us, second nature, if I can use that phrase. Everything He taught has to become things we do without even thinking about it. So if you're walking down the street and a person falls you'll help him up without even thinking. So again we're back to we must obey what Jesus said. The answer isn't as mysterious as I had thought. It's actually pretty obvious. 

I agree with you on this JTC. I think this is so true.

The wonderful thing about what you are saying really comes out when we think about turning more and more to Jesus Holy Spirit indwelling us, learning how to open that line of communication to the Father then working together.