Sunday 7 November 2010

Forbidden Meats

SIX REASONS: WHY CHRISTIAN SHOULD NOT EAT PORK AND SHRIMP

Christians, who adhered to the Bible's health guidelines, especially those found in Leviticus 11, are sometimes accused of being "arbitrary" in their decisions about which Old Testament laws were relevant to Christians under the New Covenant. Is that true? Why do I refrain from eating pork and shrimp?  In understanding the Moses Laws, we have to investigate the New Statement writings whether it was specifically abolished or not.  One typical example is in Mathew Chapter 5-7 which was called "The Sermon on the Mount".  These three chapters dealt with certain Old Testament Laws.  In the Old Testament, it was 'eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth' but under the New Testament it was 'love your enemy'.  As such, when we dealt with the forbidden meats as categorically stated in Leviticus 11, we had to apply the same principle in arriving whether the Old Testament Laws still hold water or not.  As far as the forbidden meats in Leviticus 11 are concerned, there are six reasons why Christians should not eat pork and shrimp and other meats as stated therein.    

REASON 1

In Mark 7, Jesus made it clear that spiritual "cleanliness" is not affected by what goes into our mouth and stomach. But does that mean God doesn't care what we put in our body or how we take care of our body? By abstaining from those meats listed as unclean in the Bible, I made a statement about God: I believe God cares about the whole person: spirit, soul and body!

REASON 2

It seems logical to me that God would not provide such an elaborated categorisation in Leviticus 11 of those animals which are clean vs. unclean unless the distinction had some basis in physical reality.  Many of the animals labelled as "unclean" were primarily scavengers.  They do not have the kind of multiple digestive systems that the cud-chewers do, so the poisons that they consumed go directly into their flesh. Only the unclean animals are regular hosts to such parasites as the trichina worm.

Isn't it amazing that almost every cookbook notes that we should always be extra careful to fully cook pork to a well-done state, but they never mentioned that their unspoken reason is so that we will be sure to kill the trichina worms in their little cysts!


It is an accepted fact that much of the pork produce in the country, even with all the "modern" health precautions, probably contains trichina.  Anyway, trichina worms were parasites that were always present in the flesh of the pig as hereditary worms.  Health authorities also warn against eating shell fish at certain times of the year because they are poisonous then. They don't bother to mention that the shellfish have the same scavenging habits all year long that cause this problem. Trichinosis and possible poisoning is bad enough, but the unclean animals are host also to much more serious problems for humans. The AIDS virus and other serious diseases may have been spread by humans eating contaminated monkeys and/or other unclean animals.  It is be noted that most of our physical sickness were originated from the types of foods that we normally eat and our eating habits as well.

By abstaining from those animals listed as unclean in the Bible, I am making another statement about the nature of God: I do not believe God is capricious and arbitrary.

REASON 3

All of the same reasoning about "law and grace" which some attempt to apply to "do away" with the Sabbath and Holy Days is also used to "do away" with any notice of the distinction of unclean meats.  It is imperative to note that the Sabbath was not changed by the main stream Christians but in order to honour the resurrection of the Saviour then it is natural that we have our rest day on Sunday. Furthermore, if Christians stick to the Sabbath then there is nothing new.  In 1 Corinthians 5:17, it was stated the old had passed and the new had come.  


By abstaining from unclean meats, I am making an effort to be consistent in the way I view the issues of law and grace: What I eat or don't eat doesn't "earn" me salvation. It doesn't make me "more spiritual" than the next person. It is not a question of going to hell when you die since you eat the forbidden meats but it may make you go to heaven faster than expected.   By eating the forbidden meats, we are exposing ourselves to all types of diseases as medical field had made extensive research on several of the forbidden meats (animal meats, fish and shell).  Prawn had very high cholesterol contain, non-scaled fish had high uric acid that caused gout.   It doesn't "earn Brownie Points" with God when we abstain from the forbidden meats but it makes sense to me to just accept God's word at face value on what He had said about the clean and the unclean meats.  Questions may be asked then why God created those unclean meats?  We have to acknowledge that the existence of those forbidden meats had some benefits to the eco-system.  Some of the seashells may be used as cleaning agents for the sea water as some are scavengers, eating on dirts.

REASON 4

God did not first make the distinction among animals known at Mount Sinai. Noah knew of the distinction centuries before the "Law" was given on Mount Sinai-and long before Israel (Jacob) started the family later known as the nation of Israel.  Noah took seven pairs of each clean animal and only one pair of each unclean animal on the ark.  I see no reason to think that the distinction was created just at the time of the Flood.  It would seem most logical that it had been made at creation.  Given all the other evidence in scripture, I cannot imagine that pig had been used as a burn offering!  It makes sense to me that this distinction, which didn't "start" with the giving of the Old Covenant, had not "ended" by the coming of the New.

In Matthew 5:17-18, “Do not think that I have come to do away with the Law of Moses and the teachings of the prophets.  I have not come to do away with them but to make their teachings come true.  Remember that as long as heaven and earth last, not the least point not the smallest detail of the Law will be done away – not until the end of all things.” Based on these verses, it vividly shows that what was written in Leviticus 11 as forbidden foods remained as they were.

Christians normally quote Acts 10:15: The voice spoke to him again, “Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean”  In Peter’s vision, he saw a large white sheet being lowered by its four corners to the earth and it contained all kinds of animals, reptiles and wild birds which  were considered forbidden meats by the Jews.   This incident could not be used as a declaration from God that those forbidden meats in Leviticus 11 now under the New Testament could now be eaten as God already declared them as clean meats.  In understanding the Bible, we need to study what happened before and after the event.  In this incident, Peter was hungry.  Hence, he was thinking of foods.  However, after the vision, he did not see a banquet table which was full of various kinds of meats, clean and unclean but there were two men standing by the gate looking for him as they were sent by Captain Cornelius who was a Gentile.  A Gentile is considered as unclean by the Jews.   So it was not pork (Leviticus 11) that God had declared as clean but the non-Jews.

REASON 5

Only clean animals were sacrificed to the Eternal.  Sacrificial animals all represented Christ.  Under the Law, sheep, goats, cattle, doves and pigeons were the only animals sacrificed. But Noah sacrificed one of every kind of clean animal at the end of the Flood, so in one way, you might say they all can represent Christ. Given:
  1. The principle of sacrificing only clean animals
  2. The fact that the priests and the people ate parts of the sacrifices
  3. The fact that Jesus said his disciples are to "eat his flesh"
For me there is a symbolism in abstaining from unclean meats year around that is similar to the reason for eating unleavened bread during one season of the year. Eating only clean meats represents for me "taking in" only the pure truth of Jesus, not feasting on a hodgepodge of false doctrines and pagan symbolism, and accepting and following false prophets and false messiahs.

REASON 6

No one really believes that every food is good for our body especially nowadays with all the pollution and contamination and the profit making attitude of the business world.  Health consideration seems to be the last thing in their mind.  In Leviticus 11, it listed out the various types of fish that could be eaten and that could not be eaten.  Some fish are really containing high uric acid that caused gout such as manta-rays, sting-rays, sharks, etc.

We all have our own list of "abominable" foods - for many Christian people their food would include dogs, cats, horses, spiders, alligators, centipedes, etc.  The reasoning of some folks on eating unclean meats is the same as it is for deciding to observe the pagan holidays - "I don't have to keep any days God listed in the Bible. but I can keep other days for all my own reasons." Likewise, they may say, "I can eat anything I want to, but here's the list of what I don't want to."

I believe it would make sense that we a list of "abominable things" to be in line with God’s list as in Leviticus 11 rather than we invent our very own list only to suit our own purpose.  To be spiritually and physically healthy, follows God’s Law of Health Guidelines.



1 comment:

  1. Thanks for sharing ... I guess you helped me cleared my points especially when I'm also at the same page with you ..

    ReplyDelete