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Food Glorious Food(Did the unclean animals become clean at the Cross?)The distinction between clean and unclean foods is much older than Moses. In fact it was made before the flood of Noah. Genesis 7:2 "You shall take with you seven each of every clean animal, a male and his female; two each of animals that are unclean, a male and his female; This distinction was clearly set out by Moses and Aaron in Leviticus 11. Leviticus 11:46,47 'This is the law of the animals and the birds and every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth, 'to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.' " A generation later in Deuteronomy 14, Moses reiterated the Divine Food Laws again to God's Covenant People Israel, forbidding them to eat unclean food. Deuteronomy 14:2 "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. God prohibited these animals, birds and fish for the health and well being of His people. Whilst Israel obeyed these laws, they were a fit and healthy people, an example to all other nations. We read of them at the end of their wanderings in the wilderness for 40 years, and on the eve of their entry into Canaan - Psalms 105:37... And there was not one feeble (sick) person among their tribes It was only when they fell into religious apostasy, as we have done nationally today, that they abandoned God's Divine Food Law, and so we read of them and what they became - Isaiah 65:2-4 I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in a way that is not good, According to their own thoughts; A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; Who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick; Who sit among the graves, And spend the night in the tombs; Who eat swine's flesh, And the broth of abominable things is in their vessels; Now let's turn to the N.T. and see if Jesus or the Apostles changed any of these commandments or if they in any way purified forbidden meats to make them acceptable. 1. PURIFYING ALL FOODSMark 7:18,19 So He said to them, "Are you thus without understanding also? Do you not perceive that whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?" If we study this scripture honestly and sincerely, we will see that Jesus was not referring to the Food Laws, nor was he making unclean and forbidden food to be clean and acceptable. He was, in point of fact, drawing attention to the man-made observances and rituals of the Pharisees and religious leaders in Jewry, who had made the Word of God null and void by their traditions. Jesus was attacking and repudiating their ritual hand washing, and pointing out that it was not the dirt which enters into our system by eating with unwashed hands which defiles, but the evil thoughts which emanate from the heart of man, e.g., adultery, murder, fornication. This becomes crystal clear if we read on into verses 20-23. Mark 7:20-23 And He said, "What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. "All these evil things come from within and defile a man." This much-misquoted text, taken from its context, has therefore NOTHING to do with abolishing the Divine Food Laws. It merely shows that anything harmful taken into the system, is purified out in the natural way, and therefore the religious rituals of Pharisaism are irrelevant. 2. PETER'S VISIONHere we find Peter asleep on the roof of the house belonging to Simon the Tanner in Joppa, when he sees a strange vision. In this vision he saw a great sheet let down from heaven, full of forbidden, unclean animals Acts 10:13 And a voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." Peter objected - Acts 10:14 But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean." In spite of his objection, the voice said - Acts 10:15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, "What God has cleansed you must not call common." On the slim basis of these verses people are told that the vision meant the total abolition of the Divine Food Laws, and that we can now eat anything we like or desire. Evidently Peter did not see this explanation - Acts 10:17 Now while Peter wondered within himself what this vision which he had seen meant, behold, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate. The true meaning was soon to become clear to him and I trust to you also. At the beginning of chapter ten, we read that while Peter was having this vision, some miles away in Caesarea, a devout Gentile, a Roman soldier called Cornelius, also had a vision in which an angel told him to - Acts 10:5,6 "Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. "He is lodging with Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea. He will tell you what you must do." When these messengers arrived with Peter, he obeyed their summons, went to Caesarea and preached the Gospel, resulting in Cornelius and others listening with him, being saved, baptised in water and filled with the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues. Acts 10:44-48 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptised who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" And he commanded them to be baptised in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days. This was the first time something like this had happened amongst the Gentiles, and then and only then did Peter know the real meaning of the vision he had had on the rooftop. Acts 10:28 Then he said to them, "You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. The vision was in Symbols, it concerned men, not animals or food. Peter had been shown that it was time to take the Gospel beyond the narrow confines that it had operated up to that point. THERE IS NOT ONE SCRIPTURE TO TEACH OR EVEN SUGGEST THAT JESUS, PETER OR THE OTHER APOSTLES CLEANSED OR ATE THAT WHICH GOD HAD DECLARED TO BE FORBIDDEN AND UNCLEAN. 3. EATING WHAT IS SET BEFORE USA favourite Scripture used by people to justify their eating of unclean food and the breaking of God's commandment, is found in - 1 Corinthians 10:25,27 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience' sake; {27} If any of those who do not believe invites you to dinner, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for conscience' sake. It is suggested on the basis of these two verses, that we should not ask any questions about the food given to us, or the method of slaughter etc. If this were true, it would be the worst possible advice for people with stomach or digestive ailments. However that is not what Paul meant, and in order to get a proper understanding, we must look in to the world of the 1st Century A.D., when the Apostles wrote and ministered. The context starting from verse 14 has to do with the custom of these days where food was often offered to an idol either in a pagan temple, or to the household gods and idols, before being eaten. Animals were frequently killed and offered as sacrifices to the gods in heathen temples, and the meat would later be re-sold to the public in the meat market. Paul was therefore saying that it would be improper to ask the host at a meal if the food had previously been part of an idolatrous ceremony, only as is clearly seen in verses 28 and 29, if it was made clear from the outset that the meat had been so offered, had the Christian an obligation to reuse it. 1 Corinthians 10:28,29 But if anyone says to you, "This was offered to idols," do not eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for conscience' sake; for "the earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness." "Conscience," I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man's conscience? 4. NOTHING UNCLEAN OF ITSELFAnother favourite Scripture of the people who don't want to keep the Food Laws is - Romans 14:14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Once again it is essential that we do not allow a text to be removed from its context to make it a pretext. Therefore we need to read the whole chapter and in so doing we the key to the subject matter: Romans 14:2 For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Paul is in reality telling the members of the Church of God at Rome, not to judge each other over the question of vegetarianism. He goes on in verse 21 to state that as Christians we should do nothing that would cause another Christian to stumble, even if it is something not against God's Law. Romans 14:21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. As for the word unclean as used in verse 14, it comes from a Greek word “KOINOS”, in the original, more frequently and more accurately rendered in most other passages of Scripture as “Common”, whilst the more correct Greek word for unclean is “AKATHARTOS”. So we can see that this text has nothing to do with any supposed cleansing of the food prohibited as unclean in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. 5. NOTHING TO BE REFUSEDThe final Scripture used by those who reject the Divine Food Laws, is found in - 1 Timothy 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; Just try serving some mice, rats or snake to our pork-eating friends, ask them to give thanks and eat, quote them this much misquoted Scripture and see the reaction. It will be a real test of their faith and sincerity. All jokes aside, this verse once again as in all the other cases is being removed from its true context and misapplied in order to justify disobedience. Paul is writing to young Timothy concerning those who had fallen away from the faith to follow the doctrines of demons. One of the marks of this apostasy was - 1 Timothy 4:3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. In order to find out which foods God did create to be received with thanksgiving, we must return to Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, the only Scriptural guidelines. No amount of prayer or thanksgiving will purify, cleanse or make acceptable for human consumption those foods including pork, which God has declared to be unclean. CONCLUSIONJohn 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. Hebrews 8:8-10 Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. If you’re keeping 90% of the commandments then how much do you love God? Confessions of FAITH without WORKS are just WORDS. Confessions of LOVE without OBEDIENCE are just WORDS. What should be the Christian's attitude toward the law? I believe it's very plain. Because of Christ's work, we are dead ... legally ... reckon it so. Now yield yourself, your body, mind and soul to Christ who alone could keep the law, and let His Spirit, working in you, fulfil the righteousness of the law through you. In other words, Christ by His Spirit will be in you giving direction and strength to live a righteous life. He not only puts the desire within you to want to keep the law, but His Spirit actually does it for you as you yield to Him. Jason Potts |
