114
Counsels on Diet and Foods
the seductions of the wily foe, the prohibition of God was disregarded,
and the laws of nature wrought out their full penalty....
Since the first surrender to appetite, mankind have been growing
more and more self-indulgent, until health has been sacrificed on
the altar of appetite. The inhabitants of the antediluvian world were
intemperate in eating and drinking. They would have flesh meats,
although God had at that time given man no permission to eat animal
food. They ate and drank till the indulgence of their depraved appetite
knew no bounds, and they became so corrupt that God could bear with
them no longer. Their cup of iniquity was full, and He cleansed the
earth of its moral pollution by a flood.—[
Christian Temperance and
Bible Hygiene, 42, 43
]
Counsels on Health, 108-110, 1890
Sodom and Gomorrah
As men multiplied upon the earth after the flood, they again forgot
God, and corrupted their ways before Him. Intemperance in every
form increased, until almost the whole world was given up to its sway.
Entire cities have been swept from the face of the earth because of the
debasing crimes and revolting iniquity that made them a blot upon the
fair field of God’s created works. The gratification of unnatural appetite
led to the sins that caused the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
God ascribes the fall of Babylon to her gluttony and drunkenness.
Indulgence of appetite and passion was the foundation of all their sins.
[148]
Esau Conquered by Appetite
232. Esau lusted for a favorite dish, and sacrificed his birthright to
gratify appetite. After his lustful appetite had been gratified, he saw his
folly, but found no space for repentance though he sought it carefully
and with tears. There are very many who are like Esau. He represents
a class who have a special, valuable blessing within their reach,—the
immortal inheritance, life that is as enduring as the life of God, the
Creator of the universe, happiness immeasurable, and an eternal weight
of glory,—but who have so long indulged their appetites, passions,
and inclinations, that their power to discern and appreciate the value
of eternal things is weakened.
Esau had a special, strong desire for a particular article of food,
and he had so long gratified self that he did not feel the necessity of