THE WORD OF WISDOM

By

Miguel Angel Tinoco Rodriguez

The Word of Wisdom is the counsel of the Lord Jesus Christ given by greetings and not by way of commandment or restraint to all his saints to abstain from any substance, act or circumstance that will endanger our body and make unclean or unworthy of the company of his Holy Spirit. It is written than nothing impure can dwell in the presence of God. This is so we are able to fulfill without impediment all the missions for which we have been sent to the earth. This is so we may live fuller and more joyous lives and come back to his presence as whole as possible. In other words, it is a set of health and sanitary guidelines that we should follow if we desire to enjoy the most of our temporal life.

Braking the word of wisdom was the cause the made our first fathers Adam and Eve to precipitate death to their bodies. They, our first parents, were perfect and immortal and above all things innocent. They were counseled before hand that they could freely partake of every three of the Garden of Eden except of the three of the knowledge of good and evil. That the day they partake of it, that they will surely die, for corruption will begin to degenerate their perfect bodies. They had the choice and they exercised it. Thanks to it men fell from grace and were given the opportunity to know good form evil and grow up to be like God. Had he not done it, none of us would be here today. And it was a necessary part of the process of our eternal growth. And thus we see that by one man death entered into the world to all men that live. And by another man we are also made alive.

The Word of Wisdom was given to prophets of all times, especially to the Nazarenes, but it was not given by way of commandment. Many of these things were written in the scriptures, but somehow they have disappeared. During the period of the restoration of the gospel, this knowledge was also resorted for both our temporal and eternal benefit. And this is what the Lord said concerning it. And it was given to the prophet Joseph Smith early in the year 1833.

A WORD OF WISDOM, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion—To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days—Given for a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints.

Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation—That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him. And, behold, this should be wine, yea, pure wine of the grape of the vine, of your own make.

And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies. And again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used with judgment and skill. And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.

And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man—every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving. Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly; and it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.

All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth; And these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger.

All grain is good for the food of man; as also the fruit of the vine; that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground— Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain. And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.

(Doctrine and Covenants Section 89:1 - 21)

The Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we are all made alive time and again, also counseled while a mortal man that if we have faith in him, we should not worry on what to eat; what to drink and what to wear. Therefore, I would not go that far into this subject because there is not been one mortal, nor there has ever been one mortal, Christ included, nor there will ever be one mortal that has not broken the word of wisdom or tasted of any unclean thing one way or another.

Have any of you ever wondered about why he and the prophets were Nazarenes? In order to enjoy more fully the Holy Spirit, they had to abstain from certain substances and acts during the period of the Nazarenate. Once that period was over, they could go back to eat the goodies they enjoyed, wine, sweet cakes and sex included.

The Lord is well pleased that we abstain from all the things that are written about the word of wisdom, but he never meant it to enforce as a law as we have done in the church. How fools we have been. This is the easiest law to be broken and once we break one point of the law, the whole law of the commandments is also broken. The Lord was not exempt. He would have been hanging in the cross until this day, had not some given him to drink vinegar mixed with gall. This is the very reason why the spirit swiftly left him and he succumbed to death during his crucifixion. For nothing impure can dwell in the presence of God. That was why death entered into him at that time. He became by technicality dirty when somebody gave him to drink gall mixed with vinegar. While alive, regardless of pain and misery, he never gave up on life. So pure was he that almost instantly he begun hallucinating inasmuch that he questioned his father saying why thou has forsaken me. He was o accustomed to having conversed with his father that by having swallowed the gall in the vinegar the spirit left him and he felt alone.

Thank God that his Son Jesus Christ, had already paid for our sins in Gethsemane, otherwise his sacrifice would have been imperfect, had he broken his Nazarenate before hand. Now the moment we lack faith and give up to take a pill for pain and other drugs made by our enemies and trust doctors more than we trust the word of God, we are braking the word of wisdom. And if we have made it into a law, we break ever other law also. So death hangs over us continually. Even when we sleep more than necessary and/or stay awake too late at night we are breaking the word of wisdom. And because of all these intricacies it was not give to us by way of commandment. Otherwise no one would be saved.

The moment we get out our bed in the winter cold and we forsake to take cover to cover our frail bodies to stare at the starry sky we are braking the word of wisdom. We also make many of the old prophets offenders and unworthy to enter the temple of God when we made this a law in our church. Noah was drunk when he cursed his son Ham after having seen his nakedness and the prophecies came true regardless of him being drunk when he pronounced them. This is why I liked President Heber G. Grant. He lived in times like ours and he never made anyone keep any commandments more than he himself could keep them. He recommended many sisters to stop drinking coffee and/or tea, a seven cent worth of counsel, rather than to pay hundreds and even thousands in medical care just to be told the same thing.

This is why the Lord in his infinite wisdom and prudence never meant to give us the word of wisdom by way of commandment or constraint, but blessed are all those that knowing these things keep them. This is why a great many of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints are the healthiest and brightest kids on the block both temporally and spiritually. For the past one hundred and seventy five years the Mormons have been ahead of the world as health it is concerned. Only know the world is barely catching up.

Nonetheless, I wonder if we Mormons are becoming like the ancient Jews. The Lord gave first two commandments, and then he dissected them for us and converted them into ten. After which, because of the easiness of the way to follow, the Israelites complained and bam; they were given the Law of Moses. By the time Christ came, they had over twelve hundred laws and nearly one hundred and ten commandments. How can one commune with the spirit if we are constantly thinking about how many laws we have to keep in order being in harmony with God and men. That is why the true prophets care only about keeping the two greatest commandments because in them are based the law and the prophets. If we keep these two, the Holy Spirit helps us to take care of the rest.

Even John, the beloved being a very old man, he was carried by the brethren to church that he did oversee; and every time he preached he could not say much. All he said was. “Children, love one another.” And one of them weary of hearing always the same thing asked him. ”Master, why do you always say the same thing.” And he replied. “Because this is what the Lord commanded, and if ye do this, it is enough.
I we all remember to do these things it will be well with us, specially these days where being unhealthy is a luxury. Unless mandated, buying health insurance is an astronomic expense. We cannot afford to get sick when health care is rationed either. And because the Lord has said one thing, it does not mean that his mouth is shut and he cannot say another. Therefore thus says the Lord time and again.

See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires. Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated. And above all things clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace. Pray always, that ye may not faint, until I come. Behold, and lo, I will come quickly, and receive you unto myself. Amen.

(Doctrine and Covenants Section 88:123 - 126)

I say all these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Miguel Angel Tinoco Rodriguez.