The Josiah Diet

Written by Josiah Nichols

August 16, 2022

Salad, Asian, Food, Dish, Meal, Cuisine

“When the King [Josiah] heard the words of the Book of the Law he tore his clothes” (2 Kings 22:11, ESV).

We have all heard of the Daniel Diet and Ezekiel bread, but how many of us heard of the Josiah Diet? With the Daniel Diet, one has to eat only vegetables and water in order to get fatter (Daniel 1). With Ezekiel bread, one has to lay on one’s side and cook lentil bread over cow dung (Ezekiel 4). Sounds scrumptious! With the Josiah Diet, one needs to tear his clothes and fast for so many days until a female prophet explains the Bible to him (2 Kings 22). Unfortunately, the last prophet died when the apostle John died after writing Revelation. You are not going to last so long.

Gluttony

What do all of these diets and exercises have in common? They are all forms of eisegesis, reading into the text, in order to promote some gimmick to fight against the results of gluttony. What is gluttony according to the Bible? The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary says:

One habitually given to greedy and voracious eating. Gluttony was associated with stubbornness, rebellion, disobedience, drunkenness, and wastefulness (Deut. 21:20). A more general meaning for the Hebrew term as a “good-for-nothing” (Prov. 28:7 TEV) is reflected in some translations: wastrel (Deut. 21:20 REB); … When Jesus was accused of being a “glutton and a drunkard” (Matt. 11:19 HCSB; Luke 7:34), it was in this expanded sense of being one given to loose and excessive living. Gluttony makes one sleepy, leads to laziness, and eventually to poverty (Prov. 23:21).[1]

According to that definition, many Americans and people in the West are gluttons. It is habitually eating to excess, and usually associated with stubbornness. Just think of when someone tells you not to eat things with excessive amounts of sugar, like chocolate cake or ice cream. It is linked to rebellion, like eating a whole bunch of cheese when someone says not to. It leads to wastefulness, like having to buy excessive amounts of groceries because you eat a whole weeks’ worth of food in a day. This is sin.  The sin of gluttony is one of the “unspoken sins” from the pulpit, yet so many Christians are guilty of this.

Personal Confession

Why am I writing an article on gluttony? Recently, I have been admitted into the hospital for an infected colon – diverticulitis. It is where the colon starts losing its lining and gets infected by pathogens (bacteria, fungus, ….) and unhealthy food. Last year, I had to have surgery to remove eight inches of bad colon to disconnect it from my bladder, causing more infections. The whole reason for my diverticulitis was I had abused my body and my gut through eating excessive amounts of sugar, gluten (wheat, barley, and rye products), and dairy. In my early 20’s, I had gotten up to 260 lbs. When I got married, my weight fluctuated between 240 and 280 lbs.

The year I needed surgery, my doctors told me I needed to cut out sugar, high fructose corn syrup, maltodextrin, fiber, grains, nuts, and fruit. Dr. Anthony Silvestro told me it was similar to his diet and sent me a list of what he ate: soft nuts, avocados, fish, grass-fed, grass-finished beef, pasture-raised organic chicken, and pasture-raised, organic eggs. I stuck very close to the diet and ended up going down to 190 lbs.!  Yet, because of all the previous damage, I still had to have surgery. After the surgery and two month recovery period, they told me I was cured and could eat whatever I wanted.

I took this to heart and ate whatever I wanted. In turn, I ended up ballooning back up to 270 lbs. in six months.  I then went to a new diet Dr. Anthony Silvestro suggested for me called “clean Keto” with intermittent fasting. Recently, he had finally lost the last 30 pounds he had been trying to lose, and he understood the biochemistry as to why it worked. For a few weeks I tried it and lost 25 lbs. before we went on vacation! I was back on my way to health!  However, on vacation, I had a hard time sticking to the diet and cheated on one day. This one-day cheat led me to weaken my colon. Then after I had some spicy food, I was sent to the hospital for five days with another bout of diverticulitis.

So as I am lying in this hospital bed for what seems to be forever, I have vowed to stick to my diet, which will not aggravate my colon, and the intermittent fasting, which will get me to a healthy weight. Dr. Anthony led me to some health videos by a person named Dr. Eric Berg, who explains healthy keto and intermittent fasting.[2] It is an excellent diet that actually works!   However, while Dr. Berg has a lot of good information on health and diet, he should be listened to with a critical ear. In many of his videos, he promotes evolution and millions of years, which is something unbiblical and unscientific. He is also a confirmed Scientologist, and gives credit to “Mother Nature” for designing healthy foods rather than God.  Most health experts should be listened to for their observable science, not their mythical imaginations. That being said, he does provide a lot of helpful information on eating right. Basically, do not eat things which damage your body,[3] eat natural healthy foods,[4] and eat only when you are hungry.

Conclusion

Don’t perform eisegesis to try to make up for your sin of gluttony. Understand what gluttony is and how to eat healthy. It has obvious physical manifestations and problems for your body. As you can see by my personal testimony, it has affected me severely. Do not do what I did to myself. Treat your body well.  Eat right, maintain a healthy weight, and teach our children to do the same. God has given your body to you to serve Him and to witness to others. After all, your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit!

If you want more biblical resources on how to study the Scriptures, then check out the store at strivingforeternity.org/store. There are also a lot of other articles on the website to encourage you to dive deeper into God’s Word. Please also check out Apologetics Live at strivingforeternity.org/apologeticslive where Andrew Rappaport, Anthony Silvestro, and Justin Pierce answer your questions and teach you how to defend the faith. It is on from 8pm – 10pm EST. Also do not forget to check out the Rap Report where you can hear the teaching of Andrew Rappaport and the Christian Podcast community. Lord bless you.

[1] Chad Brand, Charles Draper, and Archie England, Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, Tennessee, Holman Reference, 2004), Glutton. App.logos.books.

[2] Eric Berg, “Dr. Berg’s Healthy Ketogenic Diet Basics: Step 1 – Intermittent Fasting & Fat Burning” Youtube November 11, 2018, Accessed July 19, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMZfyEy_jpI&t=156s.

Eric Berg, “Dr.Berg’s Healthy Keto Basics: Step 2: WHAT TO EAT,” Youtube, November 23, 2018, Accessed July 19, 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBqpaAKtnXE.

[3] Examples include Sugar, excessive carbs, grains.

[4] Examples include plenty of water, organic meat, berries, herbs, green vegetables, non-carb vegetables in general.

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