Wellness in Early Bible Times

As early man multiplied and spread over the face of the earth, the Bible focused on the particular lineage that produced the Semitic people, the descendents of Shem, son of Noah. To my knowledge, everyone before the flood still ate the original vegetarian diet – there is no mention in Scripture of any meat being used as food. The transition away from that diet is expressed in two verses:
• Genesis 6:21 take for yourself [on the ark] some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for [all the birds and animals]
• Genesis 9:3 [After the flood] every living thing shall be food for you

Along with the expanded diet came a new prohibition: Don’t eat meat with the blood still in it. First expressed in Genesis 9:4, the “no blood” rule was reinforced during the Exodus (see Leviticus 3:17; 7:26; 17:10-14; 19:26, and Deuteronomy 12:16, 23, 24; 15:23). This is also one of the few, if not the only, Old Testament dietary law that was also required of the New Testament church (see Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25).

It is refreshing to be free of the burden of the Old Testament law. In Christ, we, the New Testament believers, have the liberty to eat whatever is set before us without guilt (Romans 14:13-23).

What was the price of the liberty to eat meat? I was not there – quite likely other factors affected wellness. One apparent consequence of the change was a dramatic decline in lifespan; after man began to eat meat, lifespan plummeted. Please check my data in Genesis 5 – 35: Adam lived 930 years; Jared, 962; Methuselah, 969; Lamech, 777; Noah, 950; Shem, 600; Shelah, 433; Peleg, 239; Nahor, 148; Terah, 205; Abraham, 175; Isaac, 180. Since then, with a few exceptions, a person has been considered old by age 80, and living to age 120 quite rare.

Some observations: Adam was still living when Lamech, Noah’s father, was born – 9 generations! Seth died only 14 years before the birth of Noah. Lamech was the first to die before his father. Methuselah died the year of the flood – wonder how long he would have lived if there had been no flood? Or was the flood held off until Methuselah died? Lifespans shortened so much that Peleg died 12 years before Noah. Shem outlived Abraham, and was still alive until Isaac was 100 years old. Shem died when Jacob was fifty years old –a span of twelve generations!