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Hygiene Among the Israelites
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into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it.”
Deuteronomy
7:26
.
In all the affairs of their daily life, the Israelites were taught the
lesson set forth by the Holy Spirit:
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit
of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him
shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye
are.”
1 Corinthians 3:16, 17
.
Rejoicing
“A merry [rejoicing] heart doeth good like a medicine.”
Proverbs
17:22
. Gratitude, rejoicing, benevolence, trust in God’s love and
care—these are health’s greatest safeguard. To the Israelites they
were to be the very keynote of life.
The journey made three times a year to the annual feasts at
Jerusalem, the week’s sojourn in booths during the Feast of Taberna-
cles, were opportunities for outdoor recreation and social life. These
feasts were occasions of rejoicing, made sweeter and more tender
by the hospitable welcome given to the stranger, the Levite, and the
poor.
“Rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given
unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger
that is among you.”
Deuteronomy 26:11
.
So, in later years, when the law of God was read in Jerusalem to
the captives returned from Babylon, and the people wept because of
their transgressions, the gracious words were spoken:
“Mourn not.... Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and
send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day
is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is
your strength.”
Nehemiah 8:9, 10
.
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And it was published and proclaimed “in all their cities, and in
Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount, and fetch olive branches,
and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and
branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written. So the
people went forth, and brought them, and made themselves booths,
everyone upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the
courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in