Scripturally
Clean Food
Many believe that all food is
now okay to eat. They point to what Yahshua said and what Peter saw. Here is
what the Bible says.
Not only does the Bible reveal what our
behavior should be in this world, but we also are told what foods are
appropriate to maintain proper health and vigor.
"A sound mind in a sound body,"
is an ancient cry of the Greeks that holds true today. If our body is in good
health, we feel good, our vigor is improved, our thinking is clearer, and our
disposition more pleasant.
Food has a direct bearing on our health and
well-being. The food we eat is the fuel
needed to keep us going just as gasoline is needed to fuel the engine of an
automobile and provide needed power. Water, kerosene, milk, or orange juice
won't work in a car. The human body also requires the right foods for good
health.
Good Nutrients Removed
Food processors have educated many through
their advertising programs of the better nourishment in eating whole grains.
White bread sales continue to fall as shoppers become aware of the wholesome
virtues of whole grains. In the past the wheat germ was removed from the flour
because it tends to turn the bread rancid in a shorter time. But the very
vitality of the wheat kernel is found in the wheat germ!
The outer husk of wheat known as bran is
usually also removed from the kernel in order to mill a pure white flour. Such
flour is nothing more than the white starch of the wheat stripped of its
precious nutrients.
To overcome this, many bread makers add
various synthetic vitamins and amino compounds to their white flour, labeling
it "enriched bread."
Bread and breakfast cereal makers often
emphasize that their products contain "fiber." If they would utilize
the whole grain in wheat, barley, oats, rye, and corn, there would be no need
to add sawdust or other cellulose for dietary bulk.
Scripturally Clean Foods
Not every plant or animal placed here on
earth is given us for food. Thorns and thistles came as a curse for disobedience,
Genesis 3:18. Neither were all animals placed on earth
as potential food for mankind. Some act as living garbage cans.
There are those who believe that we should
eat only fruit, grain, nuts and vegetables and no animal flesh. There is no
clear proscription against eating animal flesh. In fact, it was commanded that
The Bible allows animal flesh to be eaten
today. Two entire chapters, Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, are devoted to
clarifying which creatures are clean food and acceptable for us. Read them now.
Our Savior Himself, our example, ate flesh, as well as fruits and vegetables.
Ancient
A number of people understand that grain,
nuts, fruits, and vegetables comprised man's diet before the flood. Genesis 9:3
indicates that animal flesh was eaten after the flood when the windows of
heaven were opened and apparently earth's climatic conditions were then
altered. It may be that the earth will revert to this prior condition when it
is made new, and there is no more sea (Rev. 21:1), when carnivorous animals
will eat grass like the ox, Isaiah 11:7.
Aren't All Animals Good to Eat?
But, didn't the Savior cleanse all food in
Mark 7? Can't we eat everything today?
We
are given both spiritual and physical laws for our own good. Spiritual laws
deal primarily with our relationship to our Heavenly Father and our behavior
toward our fellow man. Physical laws are also given us to avoid sickness, pain,
disease, disability and even physical death. Laws dealing with our health are
not necessarily spiritual laws.
The Savior was making the point of the
spiritual defilement in Mark 7:14-23 through the analogy of physical food. It
is not the food in itself that defiles, but the evil retained in one's
heart and mind. By entertaining thoughts of disobedience, one is soon moved to
committing acts of sin.
It is important that we recognize that the
Savior was speaking of disobeying the Ten Commandments. His emphasis was not on
physical food or physical health, but on thinking and acting clean.
Clean and Unclean Before Flood
Noah already knew the difference between
clean and unclean animals, taking into the ark seven of the clean and two of
the unclean, Genesis 7:8. When the Savior died, nothing He said or did changed
the unclean to clean. Neither did He change the human digestive system. The
clean and unclean principle is still with us, for at the end of the age, those
who eat of the unclean like the hog are under a curse, Isaiah 66:17.
Since the time of Noah not merely the green
herbs are a part of man's diet, but clean fish, clean fowl and clean animals
are as well, Genesis 9:3 and Leviticus 11. Notice these verses do not say every
animal upon earth was given for food.
Man usually knows which plants are safe as
food, but he is not always aware of which animal flesh is proper. Yahweh
therefore has determined for us which meats are clean.
How We Know What Is Clean
Yahweh wants His people to live clean,
entertain clean thoughts, and eat clean foods so that we can be a clean people
and an example to the world.
Certain animals such as swine, dogs and
shellfish are earth's garbage collectors. They consume carrion (corpses of dead
animals). We are not to eat these.
Most humans are repulsed at the thought of
eating skunks, rats, lizards or snakes, but think eating pork is permissible.
Swine may have a split hoof, but they lack the extra stomach and are unclean.
Neither are we to eat the carnivorous or
flesh-eating creatures such as the cat family of lions and tigers. The clean
animals are those which eat grasses and foliage such as cattle, sheep, goats,
deer, and buffalo.
Yahweh defines even further and eliminates
those which either are not ruminants or lack a split hoof. Thus, the horse,
rabbit, and camel are unclean.
Eagles, hawks, pelicans, sea eagles, owls,
vultures and crows are examples of unclean carnivores of the bird family. Clean
birds include turkeys, chickens, geese, ducks, doves--those
which feed on grains or plants.
Insulated from the World
Interestingly, animals with paws come in
direct contact with the ground and are listed as unclean. The ruminants having
a split hoof are insulated from direct contact with the ground and are clean
food. (Perhaps the split hoof is to remind us of our separated walk in life.
The second stomach--that we are to thoroughly digest
His Word.)
Clean fish all have both fins and scales.
As in the case of tuna, the scales may be exceedingly small. Scales insulate
fish from direct contact with the waters. Unclean sea foods are the skin fish
such as catfish, whales, dolphins, and shark. The unclean shellfish include
lobsters, crabs, oysters, octopus and clams, which generally feed on effluent.
When we understand that not all creatures
are fit for food, we can comprehend why Yahweh gave us a list of those suitable
for mankind to eat. We do not ordinarily consider rats, skunks, weasels,
vultures or flies and roaches something we would like to eat. Usually the
arguments favoring ingesting pork or shellfish are based on a few misunderstood
Bible verses taken out of context.
Every
Creature Good to Eat?
Sometimes 1 Timothy 4:1-5 is quoted as allowing man to eat anything he chooses. "Now the Spirit speaks expressly, that
in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their
conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to
abstain from meats, which (Yahweh) has created to be received with thanksgiving
of them which believe and know the truth. 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 especially the latter underlined part
of this passage. We are to be thankful for this food because it is sanctified
by Yahweh's Word. It is sanctified, or set apart for a holy purpose, in
Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. There we find a list of the foods that Yahweh
has set apart as being proper for His people. Before believers partake of a
meal they should thank Yahweh for what they are about to eat, and ask that He
bless it.
Peter's Vision and the Gentiles
Peter's vision in Acts 10 is often appealed
to as a revelation that Yahweh has cleansed all meats; and it is erroneously
assumed that now all creatures are clean and edible.
Peter sees a sheet upon
which are all sorts of beasts, creeping and flying creatures. Peter
protests the command to kill and eat, saying he has never eaten anything that
is common or unclean. This is now some 10 years since the Messiah's ascension
to the heavens and Peter has not eaten anything common or unclean! This happens
three times, verse 16.
Peter is verse 34 at last understands the
point of the vision. He says, "Of a truth, I perceive that Yahweh is
no respecter of persons." Now Peter sees that all who fear Yahweh
and do what is right are acceptable with Him. Jew, Samaritan or Gentile, race
makes no difference. "But Yahweh has shown me that I should
not call any man common or unclean," verse 28b.
This was the symbolism of the common and
unclean beasts, a vision given just before three men came to see him, verses
16-19. Peter now understood that the Gentile Cornelius was to be a part of the
Assembly.
This vision was not to change all creatures
into acceptable food under Yahweh's law. It was symbolism. Dogs and pigs still
eat garbage. Lobsters, scallops, clams and shrimp still thrive where sewers
empty into rivers and seas.
This very important vision had an entirely
different meaning for Peter, which he ultimately came to understand to mean
that all people who work righteousness are candidates for salvation.
Peter
was given the "keys to the Kingdom," by the Savior, Matthew 16:19.
Peter was selected to open the way for Jew, gentile, and half-Israelites to be
accepted into the "Ecclesia" or Assembly and become a part of the
body of the Savior. Being baptized into Yahshua's Name and becoming a part of
the body of Messiah, the Assembly, is how one enters the Kingdom through
Yahshua.
The
Apostle Peter opened the door for the Jews in Acts 2, where his preaching to
them brought repentance and they were then baptized, Acts 2:38. Their sins were
forgiven and they became members of the body of Messiah.
He also preached to the Samaritans,
Acts8:14-17, and the Holy Spirit was given to them
when hands were laid upon them. The Samaritans were part Israelite, part
Gentle. They were now accepted into the Assembly and became a part of Yahshua's
Body by working righteousness.
How do they "work righteousness?"
By keeping Yahweh's Commandments. "All Thy commandments are
righteousness," Psalm 119:172. This includes the commandments telling us
what foods we should not eat.
Avoid Blood and Fat
In early New Testament times many converts
to Yahshua came from pagan backgrounds. They often drank blood or ate flesh that
did not have the blood drained from it. We are not to eat animal fat or blood,
Leviticus 3:17 and 7:23. Ingesting some fat is unavoidable, but excess fat
should be cut away. Cooking and frying is best done with butter, olive oil, or
vegetable shortenings. Lard is prohibited as it is from swine.
In His wisdom, Almighty Yahweh revealed the
way to health. Researchers are telling us of the dangers of fat in the diet
both in relation to heart disease and cancer. Blood contains unhealthful
toxins.
Yahweh gives us a list of foods that are proper
for us to eat. A benefit is healthful, robust living. Carrion eaters spread
disease, like trichinosis in swine.
To insist upon eating these unclean
creatures is direct opposition to Scripture.
© 2007 Yahweh’s Assembly in Yahshua
2963 County Road 233, Kingdom City, Missouri 65262
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