Bitter Herbs Are Good For Your Health
Exodus 12:8
And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
Numbers 9:11
The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
The bitter herbs were a reminder of the affliction that the Israelites had for 400 years in Egypt. They were to be eaten with the roasted lamb. Some bitter herbs are used for seasoning. Bitter as it sounds but they do help make nutritious and delicious food. Middle Eastern food may have the bitter bite but they are healthy cuisines. I really am amazed with how God's setting of diet in Leviticus would be better than the diet of the non-Jews. Christians may eat pork and crustaceans (Acts 10:13-14) but the Jewish diet is healthier. Pork is high in cholesterol (and a source of parasites and must be handled with care) and crustaceans can really trigger bad allergies.
Also, here's the health benefits of having bitter herbs into your diet from an article called 5 Reasons Why You Should Eat Bitter Foods and Herbs:
- They help absorb nutrients into the body by promoting better digestion
- They can help balance that sweet tooth to avoid people from craving too much sweets
- They help aid in digestion which in turn cleanses the body
- They stimulate the metabolism of the body
- They help build the immune system due to their high nutritional content
A tasty solution is to add a healthy amount of salt to cooking with bitter herbs. Too much salt can cause problems like kidney dysfunction and high blood pressure which can lead to heart attack. What can't be denied is that your body still needs some salt to function properly. Here's a verse that also suggests the connection between using salt to deal with bitter herbs to let their true flavor come out:
2 Kings 2:21
And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land.
God's preparation to support fallen humanity is amazing. Even after Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden it didn't mean God won't give some limited providence. Man has to work for his food yet God still provided nutritional food to nourish man in order to do more work. It's not an accident that the very fruit of the ground's labor also provides the food that gives energy to the one who toils. It had to be the work of Intelligent Design. These bitter herbs also give a picture of God's infinite knowledge and sovereignty over everything.