Introduction
   Food has a direct bearing on our health and well-being. Right foods promote good health. If we feel good, our vigor is enhanced; our thinking is clearer; and our disposition is more pleasant. Much of the nutritional value in foods, however, has been removed by food processors who have replaced essential nutrients with synthetic vitamin and amino acid compounds and added sawdust and cellulose for dietary bulk, and then labeling their products, “enriched.”
   The Bible not only reveals what is acceptable behavior, but also tells us what foods are appropriate to maintain proper health and vigor. Many believe, however, that all “food” is acceptable for consumption, pointing to Acts 10:11-16 and 1 Timothy 4:4-5 to support that conclusion.
   But not every plant or animal is given us for food. Thorns and thistles are come as a curse for disobedience (Gen. 3:18). Some animals (e.g., catfish, carrion raptors, swine) serve as garbage disposals.
   Some restrict their diets to fruit, grain, nuts, and vegetables, citing Genesis 1:11-12, 30, to support their conclusions. Others consume animal flesh as well, referring to Genesis 9:3, for their authority. In fact, Leviticus, Chapter 11, and Deuteronomy, Chapter 14, are devoted to clarifying which creatures are clean and acceptable for human consumption and which are not.
   It may well be, that the first “environment” of Genesis 1, when “Yahweh saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good (Gen. 1:31), will be restored upon the first heaven and the first earth having passed away (Rev. 21:1) and in the new heaven and the new earth, carnivorous animals will eat vegetation and co-habit together (Isa. 11:6-8).

The Earth Filled with Violence
   The earth was also corrupt before Yahweh, and the earth was filled with violence. And Yahweh looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth, Genesis 6:11-12.
   Violence and corruption can be summarized in but one word: disobedience, man yielding to the subtlety of his adversary which profanes everything Yahweh intended good and set apart, making that which is forbidden to appear good.
   No doubt, because man is ever set to satisfy his fleshly, carnal lusts, he was also careless about what “food” he ingested, defiling both the physical and the spiritual entities of his being.

Aren’t All Animals Good to Eat?
   Sometimes, 1 Timothy 4:4-5 is cited as permitting man to eat anything he chooses: For every creature of Yahweh is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the Word of Yahweh and prayer. Note, that nothing is to be refused, if it is first sanctified by the Word of Yahweh. Of interest to us, is that one can never sanctify anything by prayer which has not first been sanctified by the Word of Yahweh! Thus, the reason for the content of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 which distinguishes between clean food and unclean meat.
   Secondly, Peter’s vision in Acts, Chapter 10, is often cited as rationale for receiving all flesh as good, and nothing to be refused. However, one does violence to the Scripture by presuming his vision of all manner of beasts, and creeping things, and fowl (Acts 10:12) changes the proscriptions of the Law (i.e., Torah, instructions).
   Obviously, Peter’s vision is an allegory representing in his own words, “Yahweh hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean … Of a truth I perceive that Yahweh is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness [keeping Yahweh’s Commandments], is accepted with Him” (Acts 10:28, 34, 35). This was Yahweh’s affirmation that He had received the Gentiles as well, into the Kingdom.

Conclusion
   While the Law was given to Yahweh’s people, Israel, and they would have had a familiarity with its content and particularly, Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, proselytes of the Evangel came from pagan peoples often accustomed to eating that which is unclean, consuming the blood and the fat of slain flesh. It was necessary therefore, that these of the nations be instructed in the dietary laws of the Law (Torah, first five books).
   Yahweh in His wisdom, distinguished between clean and unclean and left us dietary instructions so that we might prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers (3 John 2). For a further in-depth look, read our free booklet entitled, Yahweh’s Food Laws.