Olive you and want you to have excellent health! God loves you too, and that’s why He gave us such wonderful gifts in food like the olive. And why today we’re talking about olives’ health benefits & biblical significance.
God created the world with unlimited resources that are both delicious and nutrient-rich, giving great benefits to gaining and maintaining health.
I love teaching about healthful foods and sharing how science has helped us learn why certain foods help with certain aspects of health.
Yet even better than that, I love digging into Scripture to see what God says about food and His love for us that prompted His great provision.
By studying the foods of the Bible, we can learn a tremendous amount about God, ourselves, and our world.
Olives - A Food Of The Promised Land
As the time drew close for the Israelites to move to the land God promised them, the Lord, through Moses, gave His people the commandments, instructions, and details to His promises they’d need to thrive.
He reminded them they were a chosen people, His people, and prepared them for entering the promised land. He loved them, just as He loves us today.
When thinking of the promised land, we often think of the verses referring to a land flowing with milk and honey, but in the verses of instruction included in Deuteronomy, the Lord also includes more specifics about their new home.
We’re spending some time familiarizing ourselves with the 7 Foods of the Promised Land, and today is all about the amazing olive.
First, let’s look at the scripture that list these foods:
“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Deuteronomy 8:7-10
I’m excited to dive into these verses and the foods God provided in abundance in the promised land! I hope you are, too.
Health Benefits Of Olives
How amazing are olives?
What is the olive meaning in the Bible?
How often should we eat olives?
Today, we’re learning spiritual meanings of the olive tree and how eating olives is a simple way to improve your health!
We’ll answer these questions and more.
We’ll talk about the health benefits of olives, olive meaning in the Bible, and more! Here are 7 powerful reasons to eat olives.
These include both spiritual and physical health benefits of olives.
Not only does the olive itself provide these benefits, but so does olive oil.
Keep reading to learn why making olives and olive oil a part of every day is a great thing.
Spiritual Benefits Of Olives
Olives have spiritual, as well as physical benefits. Here are the spiritual benefits of olives:
1. Salvation Reminder
Eating olives helps us remember the message of salvation.
The olive tree is an eternal tree, and serves as a reminder of the eternal message Jesus came to give us is the message of salvation.
We learn this message of salvation by studying the whole of Scripture. In the New Testament specifically Jesus and then His disciples proclaim salvation by grace through faith in Jesus.
Probably no verse is as well-known as the succinct John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Jesus brought us the message of salvation and one of the biblical characteristics of the olive tree is it is eternal. It is a perfect olive tree symbolism because it can live for hundreds and sometimes even thousands of years.
We also see the olive tree referenced again in Romans 11, as Paul uses the symbolism to show how Gentile believers (wild olive branches) are grafted into the Israelite nation (God’s chosen people, or cultivated olive tree).
God takes what is lost and corrupt and makes it, makes us, righteous by His power, mercy, and grace.
2. God's Work In Us
The olive fruit helps us to recognize God at work in our lives.
Olives go through a pressing to make oil.
The first pressing was the oil that was used for the tabernacle because it is the purest.
The Israelites used the pure, first-pressed olive oil for lighting and as an anointing oil in the tabernacle.
The second oil pressed would’ve been used for fires. And then they used the third oil press for lighting in homes.
When we offer God the first of our fruits (and the “pressings” of life), we offer the purest of what we have. So we always want to give God our first fruits.
This context is found in 2 Corinthians, where it says, “We are pressed but not crushed. We are perplexed, but not in despair. We are persecuted but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed.”
Olives are really not pleasing at first. In fact, they are very bitter. It takes soaking and pressing to get the finest oil that makes the best flavor.
And so just as olives are oppressed and crushed, we too can have times that seem pressing. But through that, when we surrender it to the Lord, He brings out the best in us.
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Physical Benefits Of Olives
Aside from spiritual benefits, there are also many physical health benefits of olives. Definitely more reasons to eat olives daily!
1. Antihistamine Properties
So many people today take antihistamines for allergies, but did you know that this antihistamine effect can be achieved through pure olives and pure olive oil?
It is a good solution for those looking to take a natural antihistamine.
2. Lowers The Risk Of Inflammation
Inflammation tells us we’ve got a problem and that’s okay, but when we have consistent inflammation, then we have trouble in our body.
Olives and EVOO have an anti-inflammatory effect and that will help us to feel better than cheaper, less healthy oils and foods.
3. Lowers C-Reactive Protein
Another one of the many health benefits of olives is that it helps to lower your C-reactive protein.
C-Reactive protein is a blood measurement. Every time blood work is done, a CRP value should be evaluated.
As with many measures of bloodwork, I highly recommend keeping track of the results.
CRP is important because it’s an inflammation marker and when that number goes up, there can be a higher risk of cancer. We’re getting a risk of heart disease and other inflammatory problems.4. Inhibits the inflammation process
There’s a pathway in your body called the arachidonic acid pathway. This is an inflammation process, so it actually inhibits the inflammation process. So not only does it help to alleviate inflammation, it helps to inhibit the process of inflammation.
We cover this in depth in the Treasures of Healthy Living DVD/CD series, but you can also find out more in this brief video.
5. Anticancer properties
When olives and olive oil are processed correctly, they maintain an antioxidant component called glutathione, a peptide (short chain of amino acids) which is a master antioxidant that’s the gatekeeper and works at ridding the body of free radicals.
I also explain more about this in my Treasures of Healthy Living DVD series. I encourage you to check that out!
In this series and in other teachings, I share all about free radical damage and how to combat it effectively. You see, free radical damage is what makes us look older and what makes us feel older.
So if we can inhibit free radicals with glutathione, the master antioxidant which we get from olives and olive oil, then we get the health benefits that give us a wow factor.
Watch this video where I discuss the health benefits of olives - both physical and spiritual!
Are Olives Good For You?
I hope you can answer this question now with a resounding, “Yes!”
And plan on adding olives and olive oil in your everyday diet, if they aren’t a part of it already.
However, it all comes down to this: Just as we are spiritual, we are physical and just as we are physical, we are spiritual.
Jesus used stories of food to teach us physical aspects of who we are so that he can then teach us the spiritual elements of who we are.
Olives are just one of the many foods we find in Scripture and only one of the 7 Foods of the Promised Land. Be sure to check out the post about Figs in the Bible and be looking for the upcoming posts on the last five:
- Wheat
- Barley
- Grapes
- Pomegranates
- Dates
…Dear Annette, Awaken Me With knowledge of The Most Nutritious & Organic supply of olives to purchase in a Glass Jar…T-Y-S-M
Thank you Annette for this amazing information. I love the taste of olive oil and use it as often as I can. However, I don’t like eating olives! I’ve tried a number of times without success. How can I incorporate it in my diet in order that my taste buds don’t want me to spot it out? I have rheumatoid arthritis and about to go for open heart surgery to replace a valve, so know that their anti-inflammatory effect would benefit me. Diana UK resident
Add small amounts to salad!
Hello, where do we buy the purest kind of olive oil to consume?
Please buy organic olive oil in a dark bottle – this helps slow the spoiling process.