Why Would God allow Celiac Disease?
Gluten: wheat, Rye, Barley, Oats
Celiac Disease: Celiac disease — also known as celiac sprue or gluten-sensitive enteropathy — is a digestive and autoimmune disorder that results in damage to the lining of the small intestine and other parts of the body when foods with gluten are eaten.
Today at church the preacher was talking about “burning barely fields” My first reaction was burn them all I can’t have them; literally eating barley will kill me! Although I know that burning the barley fields wasn’t so much literal in his sermon it got me to think about some things spiritually.
Take the Lord’s Prayer for example. “Give us this day our daily bread” Oh Lord I always pray on the side please let it be gluten free bread and let it be soft and delicious and light and airy and just like the gluten bread. My mind wonders at that point, which isn’t good but there is just so much gluten in the bible that it mentally makes me sick.
I had to do some studies on this……
Wheat threshing was a yearly event in the bible as far back as Genesis 30:14 and wheat is mentioned about 52 more times throughout the bible. (Estimation on my part). Wheat was a staple in the bible and used in so many different ways.
They celebrated the growth of wheat, Exodus 34:22 is an example stating “And thou shalt observe the feast of weeks, of the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the feast of in gathering at the year’s end.”
They turned wheat into bread which God blessed. Jesus even used the bread as an example of his body that would be broken and said “eat of this in remembrance” Again I shudder as if I were to eat of his body my body would not be good. Matthew 26:26 I can never observe the Lord’s Supper, I can never give reverence to God by participating unless I bring my own stuff and then I wonder how is that honoring by not partaking of the same bread as others?
Miracles were done with bread made of wheat as Jesus multiplied them in Matthew 14:19.
Jesus used wheat in parables, John 12:24. Its obvious wheat was very important to God.
After 40 years in the wilderness God led them to a land filled with wheat and barley, Deuteronomy 8:8
Barley is mentioned around 35 times, and again there was barley fields and reaping and cakes made of barely and God even gave a bread recipe for man made special in Ezekiel 4:9 (which I use to love before Celiac disease)
Bread made with barley and wheat was very important to God’s people. God made it special for his people, he blessed the harvests, he blessed the offerings of it and he blessed the people who ate of it. So, what am I supposed to do if I cannot have wheat and barley?
There were obviously many other things that could have sustained the people, fruits and vegetable and meat are mentioned but it always goes back to bread being the staple, the main component of almost everything.
The argument would be then by most that our wheat today is not the wheat that God provided back then. That through the years it has been so mutated and genetically modified that there is very little resemblance so it is no longer the wheat of the bible. I am sure it’s the same with the barley and rye as well. But why would God create a disease that is so reactive to the very thing he gave us to sustain us whether the genetics have changed or not?
I know disease entered our world due to sin but I still find it hard to understand why God allowed Celiac disease and how gluten will literally kill us when God himself made, blessed and used it throughout the bible in so many ways in a positive way. Never does it say “so he had to eat bread”, it was he got to eat bread, bread was provided, bread was made, given, used and revered. Sadly all it does is make me sad and left wondering why I can’t enjoy what God has given us.
I have a lot more research I guess.
