Lesson 27
Should All Animals Be Eaten?
AMBASSADOR CHRISTIAN COLLEGE‐ Dr. Keith Slough
INTRODUCTION
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OD IS NOT ONLY CONCERNED WITH OUR SPIRITUAL WELFARE; HE IS ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT OUR HEALTH AND LONGEVITY. He wants you feeling good ‐ and looking good, all the days of your life. It was never God's intended will for His people to suffer from painful diseases such as cancer and leukemia. Yet thousands of Christians die from loathsome and painful diseases every year. And it is not the will of God. He allows it. He will allow us to suffer the consequences of our actions ‐ of our sins, but it is not His intention for us to be sick and diseased and to die before our time. God has said, through the inspired writer, "Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in HEALTH, even as thy soul prospereth" (ll John 2). Therefore God is not interested in our soul's salvation only, but that we also prosper and are in good health. In the Bible God set aside (or "sanctified") certain animals ''to be received" for food. But others were created for different purposes. Buzzards, catfish, lobsters, etc. were created to be scavengers to clean up our environment and our lakes. But not all animals were created for man's food. Some animals are healthy for man's digestive system because their flesh is basically "clean" of parasites and disease. Other animals are listed as "unclean" because their flesh has no way to purify itself as do cattle, sheep, goats, etc. God condemns the false prophets and all teachers who do not teach His people a different between the clean and the unclean animals, thereby allowing the health of the people to be compromised. Notice His condemnation in the book of Ezekiel: God denounces such teachers by saying, "...they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean" (Ezekiel 22:26). But when Christ returns, false doc trines, false religions, and leaders of the people who do not teach God's Law will be put away ‐ no longer teaching the people! Notice this prophecy for the 1000 year Millennial Reign of Christ in the Kingdom of God: "And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and CAUSE them to discern between the unclean and the clean" (Ezekiel 44:23). God's true ministers are doing this today!! But so few today really know who is teaching the Truth of God. Rather the whole world has been deceived by false teachings ‐doctrines that contradict the Law of God! (Revelation 12:9 and Isaiah 8:20). When Christ returns, those who continue to eat the flesh of unclean animals will be punished! Notice: "They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst eating SWINE'S FLESH, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Eternal" (Isaiah 66: 17). And this is when the world will see His glory, for the very next verse states: ''For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory. "
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Christ never changes (Hebrews 13:8). Now is the time to find I perfect will for your daily Christian life. Study this lesson thoroughly with your Bible. It could make a huge difference in your future health and even ultimately in your longevity. Are you willing to obey God? If you find that you have disobeyed His Laws are you willing to humble yourself, no longer following the world (yes and even the world’s churches) around you and begin REALLY obeying the Holy Bible? Will you “come out” of the world and follow only Christ?
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Should we obey the
Health Laws of the Bible? (Part 2) Should Christians Eat “Unclean Meats”? Read this very important Bible Truth concerning certain specific Health Laws regarding those animals God has forbidden His people to eat to prevent sickness and disease.
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ID GOD CREATE ALL animals to be eaten? Or were some animals created to be transportation (such as the horse, the camel, etc.) while other animals were intended as living garbage collectors (such as vultures) or household pets (such as dogs and cats)? Should human beings eat mice and rats, skunks, dogs, cats, vultures, worms and maggots? Or did the Creator make some animals for other purposes? Are all animals fit for human food? And does the Bible teach us what animals are healthy to be eaten and the ones that are not good for our health? In His loving wisdom the Creator God has given us characteristics to look for in all animals to determine if they are suitable for food. While these Health Laws are found in the Old Testament they were obeyed by Jesus Christ, who came to set us an Example (I Peter 2:21) and were obeyed by the early disciples of the apostolic or First Century New Testament Church of God. There are a number of different health laws found in the Holy Word of God. There are laws that tell us not to eat blood or fat, or animals that "die to themselves" from some disease. And these are all laws recognized by modern health professionals and even the FDA. It is time you saw what the Bible teaches about good health and began obeying God's Word concerning His Health Laws. The Bible Forbids Eating Fat Leviticus 3:17 states, "It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood." Leviticus 7:23‐24 states, "Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, of goat. And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is from with beasts, may be used in any other use [some soap is made from the fat of animals] but ye shall in no wise EAT of it"!
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Modern medical experts agree that this is a health law that should be obeyed! Animal fats lead to heart disease (Prevention magazine, February 1980, page 134). I once knew a man who was the chairman of the deacons in his congregation of his denomination. He had experienced recent triple by‐pass heart surgery. When I covered this topic in a Bible study on Sunday night at their church, he spoke up and said he wished he had obeyed these health laws of God from childhood. Instead his denomination never taught that there even were any health laws in the Bible! He was taught to eat everything on his plate including the fat. And it nearly killed him when he reached his 70s. When God commanded him not to eat fat he disobeyed. But now in his later life when a medical doctor commands him to give it up or die, he obeyed! Hopefully he did not start obeying God too late! But why aren't the churches TEACHING THE BIBLE? They aren't and the people suffer as a result, sometimes paying with their very lives! Do you attend and support a church that does not teach you to obey God's Laws? Remember it will be you who suffers if you disobey! And when you help support a church that is either neglecting to teach God's Health Laws or else says these laws are all "done away" then God will hold you accountable for supporting false doctrine. Think about it. What about Organs? Since God forbids us to eat blood should we therefore eat animal livers? Remember that the function of the liver is to filter out the disease in the blood! Both the liver and the kidneys filter the blood. "The liver, gonads, brain, and associated visceral organs may be poisonous in otherwise edible species" (ibid, page 6). Plants We Can Eat The Bible says that God has given "every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed ... I have given every green herb for meat [food]" (Genesis 1:29‐30). So fruits, grains, vegetables and nuts are allowed. But this would exclude mushrooms which are considered to be FUNGUS! It does not bear seed as the green herbs, but rather reproduces by spores. In fact mushrooms contain carcinogenic hydrazines even in supposedly edible mushrooms! (“Dietary Carcinogens and Anti carcinogens”, by Bruce N. Ames). As most people know "carcinogens" are agents that cause cancer. Indeed I have read that the fungus we find on our pizzas in the form of "mushrooms" is exactly the same kind of fungus we find in the cracks of the tile in our showers or all too often the fungus found between some people's toes. Do you really want to eat the mushroom fungus
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just because it tastes good? Why the Bible Forbids Blood The ingesting of blood is also forbidden in Leviticus 3:17, Leviticus 7:26‐27, Leviticus 17:10‐ 13 and I Samuel 14:32‐33. Why is it forbidden? One author and researcher writes that we must "realize that one of the functions of BLOOD is to transport BODILY WASTES and POISONS to excretory ducts in the body. Another well known medical fact is that INFECTIOUS DISEASES can be TRANSMITTED to man by means of ingesting blood of diseased animals (e.g. tuberculosis)! In other words, BLOOD contains a concentrated amount of disease, wastes and poisons! (Are the Food Laws Scientific, by Harold Hemenway, page 3, emphasized capitalizations iri the original). What Animals Can We Eat? Now let's consider Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. These chapters detail the animals we may eat and the ones that are forbidden. Remember these are not "ceremonial" laws relating to temple worship or the Levitical priesthood. They are not temporary laws which "passed away" at the cross or on the day of Pentecost or at the Nicean Council in A.D. 325 or at any other time in church history. No man has the right to abolish the very Law of God ‐not even Jesus Christ took that right upon Himself (Read Matthew 5: 17 thoughtfully). No, rather Jesus said that until the prophecy concerning Heaven and Earth passing away (and subsequently the New Heaven and New Earth is established ‐ the last prophecy in the Bible!) would see fulfillment (See Revelation 21), not a single ''jot'' or "title" ‐the smallest parts of the individual Hebrew letters ‐would pass from God's Law. Do you realize what this means? It means that ALL the Law of God is still in force and effect! None of it has "passed away"! None of it has been "done away"! None of it has been “destroyed,” “abolished,” or “made void”! (Romans 3:31). Rather every Law that God ever gave is still in force ‐ the transgression of which is still considered SIN by the writers of the New Covenant Scriptures, commonly called the New Testament (See I John 3:4 for proof). Now read carefully Leviticus 11:147. Here God reveals to Moses and to Israel animals that are fit for human consumption and those that are not. Those that God allows us to eat are referred to as "clean" and those that are forbidden are called "unclean." But again, let me emphasize this was not some ceremonial or ritualistic "uncleanness" but rather the animal itself ‐ in its flesh ‐ was unclean, filthy and unfit to eat! Notice what these CAMBRIDGE SCHOLARS wrote in their famous Commentary on the health laws of the Bible: The Jamieson, Fausett and Brown Commentary on the Whole Bible states under Leviticus
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11:7 about the swine (the pig): "It is a FILTHY, foul‐feeding animal, and it lacks one of the natural provisions for purifying the system, 'it cheweth not the cud;' in hot climates indulgence in swine's flesh is particularly liable to produce leprosy, scurry, and various cutaneous eruptions" (page 91, emphasis added). Under verse 9 we read their comments about the prohibition about "unclean" fish. God says that only those fish with fins and scales are “clean” and allowed to be eaten. Why IS this? These Cambridge Scholars state: "'The fins and scales are the means by which the excrescences of fish are carried off: the same as in animals by perspiration. I have never known an instance of disease produced by eating such ["clean"] fish; but those that having no fish and scales cause, in hot climates, the most malignant disorders when eaten; in many cases they prove a MORTAL POISON' (Whitlaw)" (pages 91‐92 emphasis added). ''Unclean'' fish in this category include shrimp, clams, oysters, lobsters, shellfish, sharks, jellyfish, piked dogfish, weaver fish, stonefish, catfish, eels, octopus, etc. etc. Any fish or marine life that is does not have fins and scales (both), are NOT FIT to eat and are listed as "unclean." Under verse 12, the JFB Commentary states: "Under this classification frogs, eels, shellfish of all descriptions, were included as unclean; 'many of the latter (shellfish) enjoy a reputation they do not deserve, and have, when plentifully partaken of, produced effects which have led to a suspicion of their containing something of a poisonous nature.''' (JFB Commentary, page 92 italics added). Notice verse 3 says that land animals must part the hoof and be "cloven footed" and the second characteristic they must have is they must chew the cud. Why did God specify these things as making an animal's flesh "clean" to eat? The Commentary continues: "Animals which do not chew the cud, convert their food less perfectly; their flesh is therefore unwholesome and is apt to produce scorbutic and scrofulous disorders" (page 91, italics added). And the parted hoofs? "But the animals that may be eaten are those which 'part the hoof as well as chew the cud,' and this is another means of freeing the flesh of the animal from noxious substances" (ibid, page 91 emphasis added). These Cambridge scholars then quote Whitlaw's Code of Health which states: "In the case of animals with parted hoofs, when feeding in unfavorable situations a prodigious amount of fetid matter is discharged, and passes off between the toes; while animals with undivided hoofs, feeding on the same ground, become severely affected in the legs, from the poisonous plants among the pasture"! (quoted by JFB, page 91). As we can see, these health laws were given by God to protect the health of mankind. The nature of animals did not change at the cross of Calvary, and neither does the need to obey God concerning these very important laws of health found in His Holy Word.
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The DANGER in Eating Unclean Meats Scientists tell us that swine's flesh (hog or pork) is particularly "unclean" or filthy due to the Trichina worm in its flesh although this worm is only one of at least nineteen worms found in pigs. This Trichina parasite causes the disease known as Trichinosis which can be deadly. According to an article found in Reader's Digest, "In the pork which we Americans eat, there too often lurk myriads of baffling and' sinister parasites. They are minute spiral worms which scientists call Trichinella Spiralis. A single serving of infected pork, even a single mouthful, can KILL or cripple, or condemn the victim to a lifetime of aches and pains (Reader's Digest, Dr. Laird S. Goldsborough, March 1950). Senator Thomas C. Desmond who served as chairman of the New York Trichinosis Commission said, "Physicians have confused trichinosis with some fifty ailments ranging from typhoid fever to acute alcoholism. That pain in your arm or leg may be arthritis or rheumatism, but it may be trichinosis. That pain in your back may mean a gall bladder involvement, but it may mean trichinosis." "Transmission [of Trichinosis] is through ingestion of uncooked or undercooked meat that contains T. spiralis cysts. Such cysts are found primarily in swine, less often in dogs, cats, bears, foxes, wolves, and marine animals" (Diseases, page 426). It is therefore better (safer) to eat dogs and cats than pork! "There is no specific treatment or cure for Trichinosis and it can be fatal! Diagnosing the disease in man is extremely difficult since the symptoms are mistaken for at least forty other diseases! Thus its epidemic proportions are hidden!" (Are the Food Laws Scientific, page 13, Harold Hemenway, 1996). Also, ''there is no 'safe' temperature at which pork can be cooked to ensure that parasitic organisms are killed" (Tyndale Old Testament Commentary, Page 125, R. K. Harrison). "Trichinosis, a parasitic infestation resulting from eating pork, is estimated at 150,000 cases in the USA each year. Many cases are serious. In some cases trichinae spread throughout the body even into the brain. When this occurs, victims may experience unusual drowsiness, clouded consciousness, convulsive SEIZURES, weakness and in some cases, paralysis or coma. Prevention is much surer than a cure. The Journal of the American Medical Association points out that even smoked pork sausage can contain live trichinae cysts" (Health wise, August 1982, Volume 5). The Bible speaks of certain animals as "unclean" and therefore forbidden as food ‐ not for supposed ceremonial reasons connected to rituals done at the tabernacle in the Old Testament, but for Health reasons. The Saturday Evening Post in its July 8, 1982 issue stated: "Trichinosis is occasionally impervious to bedside detection at any stage. Even blood counts sometimes inexplicably fail to reveal its presence at any stage of its development a sound diagnosis of trichinosis is rarely made" (The Saturday Evening Post, article, "A Parasite Mystery").
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Deadly Diseases from Eating Unclean Animals "Contact with unclean animals can cause all of the following diseases in man: anthrax, brucellosis, bubonic plague, cat‐scratch fever, chaga's disease, Colorado tick fever, erysipeloid, foot‐and‐mouth, infectious hepatitis, influenza [which kills people yearly!] lassa fever, listeriosis, lymphocytic choriomeningitis, monkeypox, rabies, relapsing fever, salmonellosis, simian herpesvirus, yellow fever, etcetera. In Texas, it is not uncommon to hear stories of people who get leprosy from handling armadillos (Cp. p. 49, M.L. Daives)" (Hemenway, Are the Food Laws Scientific? page 15). "Sometimes parasitic worms can be acquired from nothing more sinister than close contact with some animals, including pigs. In this connection the latter [pigs] are intermediate hosts of a small tapeworm, the Echinococcus Granulosus, which in a larval or cystic form results in small tumors in the brain, lungs and other organs" Tyndale Old Testament Commentary, Page 125, R.K. Harrison). ''This flesh the law condemns as unclean; not merely ceremonially unclean, but hygienically and physiologically as well. The diet of the pig is so deadly that it generally kills the animal itself in about eight or ten years. If you examine carefully you will find a small abrasion behind the front foot of the pig. Rub it off clean and press the leg just above the abrasion, and you may squeeze a teaspoonful of dirty matter from it. This is original pork gravy. It is an outlet to a sewer‐pipe that may be traced all through the animal's body. It helps to drain off the teeming filth with which the system is filled. On a close analysis of this filthy scrofulous serum, or the 'culture' of its bacilli under varied conditions, it is seen to contain the elements of many dangerous diseases and combinations; yet how toothsome is pickled pig's feet to ignorance, Unbelief, and disobedience (Dr. Thomas Nelson, in The Defender, December 1939). Did Jesus "Cleanse" Unclean animals? But some people assume Jesus "cleansed" all unclean animals. They mistakenly assume this because they assume their "unclean" status was merely a ceremonial "uncleanness" related to temple worship and Levitical rituals only. This is entirely untrue. Think! If this is actually true, why don't restaurants offer "buzzard" on their menus? While churches are well known for having unclean dinner banquets (such as ham dinners), yet even they don't have rat roasts, buzzard burgers, roach sandwiches, fried mouse, broiled dog, or stewed Cat. Why not? Obviously common sense would tell us that these animals are not fit for human consumption. But "common sense" is not that common among all people. This is considered common sense for most Americans. That isn't the case in other countries. In China, for instance, they do indeed eat mice and consider it a great delicacy ‐believe it or not!
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And in some Pacific Island countries they are known for regularly eating canine meat (DOGs)! So it isn't really "common sense" but more of the culture we grew up in. Most Americans think nothing of eating swine's flesh (hog meat) as if it is also fit to eat. It isn't. If swine is indeed fit to eat (in the eyes of God) then so would buzzards, dogs, cats, snakes, turtles, rodents of every kind, and ostensibly even "road kill" be alright for us to eat. But did Christ really "cleanse" all unclean animals? Did He, at the cross of Calvary, supernaturally change the nature of vultures and skunks, and of dogs, cats, snakes, and filthy parasite‐ridden pigs? Do you really believe that? Can your logical mind really accept such teaching? Yet this is apparently what many churchgoers believe. Notice the scriptures they use to justify this position. One scripture that is very popularly used in teaching that Christ at least cleansed hogs making them fit for one's dinner table is found in Matthew 8:32‐33. But read the context. Jesus was not attempting to cleanse hogs from being unclean. Rather a man, who had unclean spirits (possessed with demons) in Gadara, received an exorcism from Christ. He cast out these unclean spirits in the man, into the unclean hogs that were nearby. When these filthy, foul, unclean spirits entered these hogs they then went wild and ''the whole heard of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters." (Matthew 8:33). Now think! How could anyone assume that casting unclean spirits ‐DEMONS ‐into hogs, somehow, by some stretch of the imagination, cleanses them and makes them pure? When we receive the Holy Spirit it does indeed make us pure. But when a man (such as this pitiful man in Gadara) was possessed with unclean demonic spirits, it made him mad! He became insane! How then could those same unclean spirits cleanse hog meat ("swine's flesh")? How could a demon make anything clean? It is time to stop taking people's word for our doctrines and begin thinking for ourselves! We need to go to the Word of God and "prove all things" and stop believing some of the ridicules notions that others have accepted and passed down to us. The whole idea is ridicules to the thinking mind. And yet this scripture has been used for decades ‐ perhaps centuries ‐by deluded church men in the attempt to teach that Christ cleansed hogs for human consumption by driving unclean demons into them! Incredible! First demons can make nothing clean for they are called "UNCLEAN spirits" (Mark 3:30, Revelation 16:13, etc.). Secondly even if demons could make anything "clean" it would have only affected the 2000 hogs (Mark 5:13) there in Gadara and not any other hogs in other places around the world (such as the United States). But such is the deceptive teachings of men.
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Truth Laid Aside for Tradition Another scripture used by those who teach that Christ cleansed unclean animals to make them fit to eat (contrary to the Law of God) is found in Matthew 15 and Mark 7. In verses 1‐20 of Matthew 15, we read a question from the Pharisees addressing the lack of ritualistic hand washing that had been added on by the Pharisees. It was not a part of the Law of God, but Jesus plainly called this ritual one of their own ''traditions'' (verse 6). Jesus then told them that their traditions were taking precedence over the commandment of God in different things. The same is true today in nominal, professing "Christianity." All too often, Truth is laid aside for tradition. For example, "Christian" tradition teaches that Christ was born in the dead of winter at the old Roman birthday for the sun‐god Mithrais (December 25th). The truth is Jesus was born in late September (or very early October; see the notes in Bullinger's Companion Bible and other scholarly sources). Tradition says Jesus died on Friday and rose from the dead at sunrise Sunday morning ‐ on a day called; ‘Easter" ‐the name of the old fertility goddess worshipped by the Babylonians, perhaps going all the way back to Abraham. The truth is Jesus said Himself He would be buried three days and three nights (Matthew 12:40) ‐a minimum of 72 hours! We cannot get this span of time from Friday sunset to "Easter" sunrise Sunday morning! Our traditions have replaced the plain teachings of the Word of God! Tradition teaches that Christ had womanly (effeminate) hair. The Bible shows this to be impossible (1 Corinthians 11:14). Tradition teaches that Christ will return before the Great Tribulation to take the saints to Heaven. The Bible says He will return I “immediately AFTER" the Tribulation and "gather to‐ gether" His elect (Matthew 24:29‐31). Tradition also says that Christ cleansed unclean meats, yet that is contrary to the plain commandment in the Law of God found in the health laws of Leviticus 11. Our traditions cause us to lay aside the commandments of God (Mark 7:8). That is, if we listen to these manmade traditions! Now read Matthew 15:1‐20 carefully. Was Jesus speaking of unclean animals in this chapter? No! Not at all! Rather He was referring to spiritual defilement coming from an evil heart and not from having one's hands washed in some religious ritualistic washing that the Pharisees had invented in their own imaginations! Read verse 20 especially. This chapter never addresses unclean animals! Why then do some uneducated preachers and teachers continue to perpetuate the myth that this chapter,is dealing with pigs? (or for that matter buzzards, skunks, rats, worms, maggots, etc. etc.). The answer is ignorance ‐and an unwillingness to obey the Law of God! This is tragic, but sadly true. Jesus plainly said that evil thoughts defile a man, not “unwashen hands" (verse 20). No, this chapter does not show Christ "cleansing" unclean meats! Rather the entire chapter is dealing with the ritualistic Jewish traditions which He ignored.
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Modern Bible Paraphrases Again, we should be aware of the modern versions which sometimes pervert the plain text of Scripture, adding their own personal interpretations right into the text. Notice Jesus' teaching in Mark's account in Mark 7. "Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without [outside the body] entereth into the man, it cannot defile him" (Mark 7:18). "Defilement" is a spiritual thing. Jesus said that adultery, fornication, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit" etc. etc. defiles you ‐ makes you spiritually "unclean." But material things cannot defile you. They can Kill you or make you sick! But they cannot "defile" you. For example, if you accidentally drank or ate something that was poison, even if you died, it would not defile you or make you spiritually unclean! You might wake up in the resurrection in your next conscious moment after having died from eating or drinking something that was bad for you. But you would not lose your salvation!! Technically if a person is ignorant and eats unclean meats (from unclean animals) it does not defile him ‐ or cause him to lose his salvation, but it could certainly make him sick or cause disease! Why is this? Jesus answers, "Because it entereth not into his heart, [the human spirit] but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats" (verse 19). In old English the word "meats" actually meant "foods." Do you see? The body purges all "meats" (or foods) from the system through the process of elimination. But now notice how the modern versions have corrupted the words of Jesus, making Him say something He never said! At the end of verse 19, right in the text of the Revised Standard Version, we read the added words in parentheses: "(Thus he declared all foods clean.)"! This statement is not a translation from the Greek text! In the Revised Standard Version it reads, "…since it enters, not into his heart but his stomach, and so passes on." Even in the footnotes of the Revised Standard Version it reads "or is evacuated." Jesus was saying that the body cleaned itself of all meats (or foods) through evacuation or when the body "purges" itself of what it has assimilated through digestion. He did not say that by eating unclean meat, the body suddenly "cleansed" all unclean animals. The human body does not have that capacity. Also the New International Version (NIV) provides a perverted paraphrase which is not in the Greek text in its reading, "In saying this, Jesus declared all foods 'clean')." No He didn't! The Greek text does not say this!! This is not a translation but a paraphrase of what Jesus actually said and what the text actually reads! He merely explained that the food we eat enters our body but is "cleaned out" of the body through the purging process. The very literal Concordant Literal New Testament reads: "for it is not going into his heart,
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but into the bowels, and is going out into the latrine cleansing all foods" from the body! ‐ showing that the body cleanses (or purges), all foods from itself through what the RSV calls evacuation." The Fenton Translation reads: ''which eliminates all foods"! The New American Standard Bible (NASB) in verse 19 reads: "because it goes not into his heart but into his was not to call any man "common or unclean" ‐ that salvation is for everyone ‐ Jew and Gentile alike! Peter's vision has absolutely nothing to do with unclean animals. In chapter 11 of Acts, Peter himself explains the vision to the executive council of Elders from Jerusalem. He explained he saw the vision of unclean animals (Acts 11:5‐6). He told them how he had explained that he had never eaten anything "common or unclean." The Lord had told him that" What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common" (verse 9). The word "what" is a pronoun. To what does this word refer? Does it refer to “unclean animals” or to "men"? Peter told Cornelius the true interpretation that he was told by God not to call any man "common or unclean." The Elders from Jerusalem then concluded from Peter's vision, "Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life" (verse 18). This is the Bible's own interpretation of Pe‐ ter's vision! So many people have misinterpreted this plain passage due to their own personal doctrinal bias. If we allow the Scripture to interpret itself, then the Truth immediately becomes plain to understand! "Eat Whatever Is Set Before You" What about Paul's instructions to Christians in First Corinthians 10:27? Remember the rules to understanding the Bible which you learned in Lesson 8, one of which is to consider the con‐ text of any verse or passage you are reading. Now read the very next verse, "But if any man say unto you, This is offered in sacrifice unto idols, eat not for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake… Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other" (verses 28‐29). Notice that the context is talking about meats offered in sacrifice to idols. The Christians were continually, buying food in the "shambles" or market place (verse 25). It was impossible to determine what foods had been offered to idols and which had not been. Paul said it frankly didn't matter unless it caused a new Christian to be offended who thought it wrong to eat such food. This chapter says absolutely nothing about the eating of un‐ clean meats. It is talking about eating meats offered to idols only, though some have probably misinterpreted Paul's statements here to refer to unclean animals. No, Paul is speaking to Christians who had already been taught to obey God's Law. Paul commanded the Corinthians to follow (Greek: "imitate") him as he also imitated Christ! (1 Corinthians 11:1). Christ never ate
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unclean meats and nor did Paul, who said he believed every word written in the Law (Acts 24:14). Most professing Christians today do not believe every word written in the Law of Moses. Rather they pick and choose what they will believe and what they won't accept. But not Paul, he believed it all! Meats Created to be Received as Food What about First Timothy 4:1‐3? Many people have assumed that if we obey God's Law by abstaining from unclean meats we are sinning. This assumption comes from a careless reading of the Apostle Paul's statement to Timothy. Let's read it carefully. Open up your own Authorized Version of the Bible. Let's read it carefully and not skim it carelessly as so many people have done. "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils [or demons]; ... Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats [foods], which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth" (I Timothy 4:1, 3). From this passage many assume that God now permits us to eat all manner of unclean animals ‐ everything from hogs to buzzards! But is this what God is saying here? Notice a doctrine of demons is commanding people to abstain from meats (the Greek literally reads "foods") which God has created TO BE received by them who believe and know the Truth. It says God has "created" certain things to be food. When did God create the animals? Why, at "Creation" of course. We read about it in the first chapter of Genesis. It was at that time all the way back in Genesis that God created certain animals to be "food" for man. Others were created for other purposes. Not all animals were created for food. God has created some meats to be received while some were not created for human beings to receive as food. Secondly we read about those who believe and know ''the Truth." What is the Truth? Jesus said the Word of God is "Truth" (John 17:17). Those who know the Word of God know that un‐ clean meats are called an "abomination" ‐ unfit for human consumption (See Leviticus 11: 11). The world does not know the Truth because they do not know the Word of God! Does the Word of God anywhere tell us to eat unclean meats? Does the Bible anywhere tell us that these laws have "passed away"? No. Rather Jesus said until Heaven and Earth pass away, not a single jot or title would pass from the Law. Therefore, He added, we must also keep all the Law, and teach others so, and we will be called "great in the kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 5:19). But whoever breaks even the least of the commandments found in God's Law and teaches others to do the same, will be called the least in the kingdom (same verse)! No, these Laws of God (called by the Jews, "the Law of Moses") are all still very much in force and effect. And we
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are all required to obey them. What is a "Creature of God"? Now read verses 4 and 5 together. "For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving." In the context of food, are buzzards, skunks and hogs "creatures of God"? Remember Paul is speaking in the context of food. You are also a "creature of God," spiritually, if you are a Christian, and even a creature of God as a created being, yes! ‐but NOT, in the context of what we may eat. Human beings are also on the "unclean" list as we neither chew the cud nor part the hoof (thankfully!). No, the term "creature of God" is not referring to human beings but nor does it refer to certain animals not fit for food. Rather the term "creature of God" in this particular passage refers to animals that have been approved for food. Notice the proof in verse 5: "For it [the "creature of God"] is SANCTIFIED by the Word of God and prayer"! Did you catch that? The "creature of God" refers only to those animals that have been "sanctified" by the Word of God! What Does "Sanctified" Mean? This word "sanctified" in the Greek text means "set apart." There are no Scriptures anywhere in all the Word of God sanctifying or "setting apart" hogs, skunks, shrimp, oysters, crabs, frogs, toads, lizards, and other animals which are labeled "unclean" in the Bible. The "creature of God" refers to those animals "sanctified" or set apart by the Word of God. This is found in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. There is not a single New Testament reference which "sanctifies" or sets apart any other list of animals! No, this passage of Scripture does not teach that abstaining from eating unhealthy and unclean meats is a doctrine of demons. Rather in Paul's day there were Gentiles who had come into the Church of God who had brought with them the doctrine of VEGETARIANISM. To this day the Hindus believe that they must be vegetarians based on their own religious doctrine which Paul therefore calls a doctrine of demons. In Romans 14 he addresses this problem again. "For one believeth that he may eat all things [vegetables and the flesh of animals or meat]: another, who is weak, eateth [only] HERBS [vegetables]" (Romans 14:2). So we see then Paul is addressing the Gentile religious propensity of vegetarianism. It had nothing to do with clean and unclean animals addressed in the Law, which Paul said he himself delighted in and obeyed! (Romans 7:22, 25). Do you delight in obeying the Law of God?
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Noah Ate Only "Clean" Animals Many people mistakenly assume that God had arbitrarily assigned certain animals an "unclean" status when He set up the tabernacle in the wilderness under Moses, and that such animals only were "unclean" in the ceremonial sense of the word when such ceremonies were created in Moses' day. Is this true? The Bible says no. For long before such ceremonies were created in Moses' day, back before the time of the Flood, in Noah's day, we see that animals were even then, dis‐ tinguished as being "clean" or "unclean." Notice Genesis 7:2. "Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female" (see also verse 8). While Noah may have eaten beef while on the ark (he had seven cows) we know he did not eat a pig as there were only two pigs he was commanded to take, a male and a female. So the Law of the "clean and unclean" long predates the Old Covenant and Moses. It is interesting that so many of our churches teach that the reason we obey the Law of tithing (even though they assume the other laws were "done away") is because tithing predates the Old Covenant. Tithing is mentioned in Genesis 14 for example. Therefore they believe we should obey that Law because we see the Law of Tithing is found in the Book of Genesis. Then by that same reasoning we should certainly obey the Health Laws of Clean and Unclean animals as we see it also existed long before Moses. Why the double standard? Is it ignorance, or personal bias? Why should tithing be different from the law of clean and unclean animals? Is it because they want to eat whatever appeals to them rather than obey the Bible? However, since Jesus said not a single law, commandment or word – not even the smallest part of a letter would pass from or be "done away" from the Law of Moses until Heaven and Earth themselves pass away, then we can be sure that the brief mention of God's Law in the book of Genesis before the time of Moses is inconsequential. For we are commanded to live by "every Word of God"! (Luke 4:4). Not only do we find the Law of Clean and Unclean in force at the time of the Flood in the very beginning of the Bible, but we find John mentioning frogs in the book of Revelation. He writes, "And I saw three unclean spirits like FROGS..." (Revelation 16: 1 John tried to explain what these "unclean" spirits looked like and he naturally thought of an unclean animal. FROGS are considered "unclean" according to the Law of God. Apparently John still recognized the Law of Clean and Unclean among the animal kingdom even though he was writing more than 60 years after the Cross! How plain! Now if anyone who reads this scriptural Truth continues to eat unclean animals, it is no longer ignorance, but rebellion. "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is SIN"! (James 4: 17). I have laid the truth before you. I have shown you the difference between the clean and the
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unclean. Now it is up to you to repent of breaking God's Law and begin obeying His commandments. Will you begin obeying your Creator? Or will you ignore His Word? It is your decision now.
A Partial List of UNCLEAN ANIMALS Below is a list of unclean animals that should be avoided and are forbidden to be eaten as food by the Word of God. These animals do not have the characteristics of “clean” animals as given by God in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. Swine, Elephant, Sculpin, Swift, Boar, Gorilla, Shark, Albatross, Vulture, Peccary, Groundhog, Stickleback, Bat, Water Hen, Pig or Hog, Hare, Squid, Bittern, Woodpecker, Hippopotamus, Sturgeon, Buzzard, Kangaroo, Condor, Reptiles, Mole. Coot, Alligator, Canines, Monkey, Swordfish, Cormorant, Coyote, Mouse, Turbot, Crane, Crocodile, Dog, Muskrat, Crow, Lizard, Fox, Shellfish, Cuckoo, Snakes, Hyena, Porcupine, Eagle, Rabbit, Clam, Flamingo, Raccoon, Crab, Tortoise, Rat, Crayfish, Cat, Skunk, Mussel, Lion, Snail (Escargot), Lobster, Gull, Prawn, Frog, Oyster, Squirrel, Scallop, Shrimp, Ostrich, Donkey, Horse, Parrot, Catfish, Dolphin, Eel, Whale, Raven, Marlin, Paddlefish, Octopus, Cuttlefish. This is only a partial list. For any animal not listed here that is suspected of being unclean according to the Biblical Health Laws, refer back to Leviticus 11 or Deuteronomy 14 for a general definition.
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Will You OBEY God's Commandments? Many professing Christians do violate the Health Laws of God and some have suffered the unfortunate consequences of disobedience to a loving God who gave us His Law for our good.
H
ere is an actual headline in a newspaper about professing Christians dining on a banquet which contained pork: "300 Suffer From Food Poisoning at Baptist Banquet"! This was the title of an article found in The Arizona Republic of July 27, 1981. The article stated: "More than 300 people suffered from food poisoning after they dined on BAKED HAM, candied yams and green peas at a Baptist Conference banquet." I have personally met and talked with many people who have suffered from eating unclean meats. While many live to be in their 80s and 90s, many of the health problems they suffer could have been avoided had they stopped eating unclean meats. My grandmother ate swine's flesh all her life and I remember how her hands were so drawn up and the fingers drawn together that she could not fully open her hands. She thought it was arthritis. But trichinosis many times so closely resembles arthritis that it misdiagnosed perhaps the vast majority of the time. At this writing my mother is her in late 70s, the same age my grandmother was when her hands were so deformed. But 30 years ago I told my mother she should give up eating pork. While she has not been strict in her avoidance at all times of swine's flesh, over all she has not consumed pig and at the age of 78 has absolutely no "arthritis" in her body at all! And she seems to be in excellent health. Obviously we cannot generalize, but we cannot help but see these things. The main point of this Bible lesson is that GOD ALMIGHTY forbids us to eat certain animals in His law. Whether or not we have the medical and scientific technology to fully document all the possible reasons for God's instructions, we are told to live by faith, to trust and obey God. Will you do that? Will you simply obey the Law of God because you love and trust God? Or will you continue to follow the traditions of men and ignore God's commandments forbidding you to eat unclean meats? What you eat will not hurt God, but it could damage your health. It could also affect your relationship with your Heavenly Father. It's a matter of love. Jesus said if we love Him, we should keep His commandments. Will you?
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