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Why did God give the
Law to Israel? What was His purpose in
giving the food and cleanliness laws, and do
they still apply to us today?
The
dietary laws recorded in
Leviticus 11 were given to Israel for
primarily religious purposes. Certain
animals were ceremonially unclean to show
that God separates the clean from the
unclean, the holy from the unholy. The New
Testament, however, makes it clear that
observation of these Old Covenant food laws
for religious reasons is no longer required
in the New Covenant. Jesus Christ Himself declared
that all foods were “clean” (Mark 7:17-23).
The History of Eating Meat in the
Bible:
The first time God
allowed man to eat animal flesh was after
the flood of Noah’s day. When God first
created Adam and Eve, He gave them a diet
consisting of only green plants (Gen. 1:29-30), but then God told Noah He was
about to destroy the surface of the earth
with a flood and there would be no new
vegetation available for some time.
Genesis 7:1-3 says, “Then the LORD said to
Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your
household, for I have seen that you are
righteous before me in this generation. 2
Take with you seven pairs of all clean
animals, the male and his mate, and a pair
of the animals that are not clean, the male
and his mate, 3 and seven pairs of the birds
of the heavens also, male and female, to
keep their offspring alive on the face of
all the earth.”
In the book
of Genesis, God made a distinction between
the clean and the unclean animals for
sacrificial and ceremonial purposes only.
Genesis 8:20-22 says, “Then Noah built
an altar to the LORD and took some of every
clean animal and some of every clean bird
and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21
And when the LORD smelled the pleasing
aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will
never again curse the ground because of man,
for the intention of man’s heart is evil
from his youth. Neither will I ever again
strike down every living creature as I have
done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime
and harvest, cold and heat, summer and
winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
After the flood, God told Noah
and his family they could eat meat for the
first time.
Genesis 9:1-5
says, “And God blessed Noah and his sons and
said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and
fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the
dread of you shall be upon every beast of
the earth and upon every bird of the
heavens, upon everything that creeps on the
ground and all the fish of the sea. Into
your hand they are delivered. 3
Every moving
thing that lives shall be food for you.
And
as I gave you the green plants,
I give you
everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh
with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for
your lifeblood I will require a reckoning:
from every beast I will require it and from
man. From his fellow man I will require a
reckoning for the life of man.”
Those dietary restrictions stayed
the same until God gave the Law to Israel on
Mount Sinai. In those laws, God restricted
Israel’s diet even more.
Leviticus 11 explains which creatures were
to be considered clean and could be used for
sacrifice and food, and those that were
declared unclean and unsuitable for food and
sacrifice. There is no consensus among
theologians as to why each animal is listed,
but the purpose for those laws is made
clear; they were meant to help Israel make
the distinction between ritual cleanliness
and uncleanliness.
Leviticus 11:45-47 says, “For I am the LORD who
brought you up out of the land of Egypt to
be your God. You shall therefore be holy,
for I am holy.” 46 This is the law about
beast and bird and every living creature
that moves through the waters and every
creature that swarms on the ground, 47 to
make a distinction between the unclean and
the clean and between the living creature
that may be eaten and the living creature
that may not be eaten.”
God
gave Israel the Law to keep them separate
from the surrounding nations.
Leviticus 20:22-26 says, “You shall
therefore keep all my statutes and all my
rules and do them, that the land where I am
bringing you to live may not vomit you out.
23 And you shall not walk in the customs of
the nation that I am driving out before you,
for they did all these things, and therefore
I detested them. 24 But I have said to you,
‘You shall inherit their land, and I will
give it to you to possess, a land flowing
with milk and honey.’ I am the LORD your
God, who has separated you from the peoples.
25 You shall therefore separate the clean
beast from the unclean, and the unclean bird
from the clean. You shall not make
yourselves detestable by beast or by bird or
by anything with which the ground crawls,
which I have set apart for you to hold
unclean. 26 You shall be holy to me, for I
the LORD am holy and have separated you.”
God made the distinction between clean
and unclean animals to remind Israel how He
had wanted them to be distinct from the
other nations. God gave Israel the
cleanliness laws for mainly ceremonial
purposes. His reason was to show them how to
separate the clean and holy, from the
unclean and unholy. God used types and
shadows in the Old Covenant Law to teach
Israel how to make good, moral distinctions.
The cleanliness laws and dietary
restrictions were given to Israel to serve
as a constant reminder of God’s loving
kindness in choosing them from among all the
other people of the world (Lev. 11; 20; 26).
The New Covenant is an entirely
different covenant than the one Israel lived
under. Everything changed when Christ came
to die for the sins of the whole world. The
laws of the Mosaic Covenant were meant for
Israel alone and do not apply to us today.
The New Testament makes it clear that
Christians do not have to observe the Old
Covenant dietary restrictions.
Jesus declared that all food was
clean.
Mark 7:17-23 says,
“And when he had entered the house and left
the people, his disciples asked him about
the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then
are you also without understanding? Do you
not see that whatever goes into a person
from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it
enters not his heart but his stomach, and is
expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods
clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a
person is what defiles him. 21 For from
within, out of the heart of man, come evil
thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder,
adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit,
sensuality, envy, slander, pride,
foolishness. 23 All these evil things come
from within, and they defile a person.”
“Mark notes that Jesus’ teaching, in
essence, declared all foods clean. The
Mosaic ceremonial laws distinguished between
“clean” and “unclean” foods. Their purpose
was to instill an awareness of God’s
holiness and of the reality of sin as a
barrier to fellowship with God. But once
defilement of the heart is thoroughly
removed and full fellowship with God becomes
a reality, the ceremonial laws have
fulfilled their purpose and are no longer
required—though as seen in Acts 10-11, it
took several years for the disciples to
understand this.”
[1]
The
Mosaic Covenant had served as a dividing
wall that was meant to keep Israel separate
from the unbelieving Gentiles. Christ broke
down the dividing wall by doing away with
the partition so the two groups could become
one body of believers.
Ephesians 2:13-16 says,
“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were
far away have been brought near through the
blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our
peace, who has made the two one and has
destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of
hostility, 15 by abolishing in his flesh the
law with its commandments and regulations.
His purpose was to create in himself one new
man out of the two, thus making peace, 16
and in this one body to reconcile both of
them to God through the cross, by which he
put to death their hostility.” (NIV)
One of the things that
God used to form a barrier to separate
Israel from the Gentiles was their diet. But
once Christ brought the Mosaic Covenant to
an end, the hostility that the two groups
felt toward each other could finally come to
an end as well (Rom. 10:4).
God begins to call the Gentiles to
faith.
Acts 10:9-16 says,
“The next day, as they were on their journey
and approaching the city, Peter went up on
the housetop about the sixth hour to pray.
10 And he became hungry and wanted something
to eat, but while they were preparing it, he
fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens
opened and something like a great sheet
descending, being let down by its four
corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all
kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of
the air. 13 And there came a voice to him:
“Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter
said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never
eaten anything that is common or unclean.”
15 And the voice came to him again a second
time, “What God has made clean, do not call
common.” 16 This happened three times, and
the thing was taken up at once to heaven.”
Peter’s own experience in Joppa
convinced the Church that all foods were now
clean (Acts 10:15).
In Acts 11,
Peter went back to Jerusalem and recalled his vision about the
Gentiles receiving salvation. The message
was that God had declared all animals clean and,
by extension, the pagan Gentiles were clean
as well. When Peter reported the events to
the church at Jerusalem, the Jewish
believers there were skeptical at first, but
then Peter told them he had witnessed their
genuine conversion that was accompanied by
the sign of the Holy Spirit falling on the
Gentiles, just as it had on them at the
beginning (Acts 2; 11:3; 11:7-9; 11:15-18).
Once the believers in Jerusalem heard that
the Gentiles had received the Holy Spirit
like they did on the Day of Pentecost they
accepted the believing Gentiles as brothers
and sisters in Christ.
Peter
and Paul’s confrontation in Galatia.
Galatians 2:11-14 says, “But when Cephas [Peter]
came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face,
because he stood condemned. 12 For before
certain men came from James, he was eating
with the Gentiles; but when they came he
drew back and separated himself, fearing the
circumcision party. 13 And the rest of the
Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so
that even Barnabas was led astray by their
hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that their
conduct was not in step with the truth of
the gospel, I said to Cephas before
them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a
Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you
force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Peter realized his error after
his confrontation with Paul and took a bold
stand for the Gentiles at the Jerusalem
Council.
The sign of
circumcision and observance of all the laws
of Moses were an issue in the early church.
A church council was convened in Jerusalem
around A.D. 49/50 and the Apostles and
church leaders came together to discuss
whether or not the laws of Moses still
applied to the Christian Church.
Acts 15:1, 5 says,
“But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers,
“Unless you are circumcised according to the
custom of Moses, you cannot be saved… 5 But
some believers who belonged to the party of
the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is
necessary to circumcise them and to order
them to keep the law of Moses.”
Peter’s response to the Judaizers was clear,
“why are you putting God to the test by
placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples
that neither our fathers nor we have been
able to bear? But we believe that we will be
saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus,
just as they will.” (Acts 15:10-11; cf. Gal. 5:1-5).
The Jerusalem Council’s decision:
Acts 15:28-29 says, “For it has seemed
good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on
you no greater burden than these
requirements: 29 that you abstain from what
has been sacrificed to idols, and from
blood, and from what has been strangled, and
from sexual immorality. If you keep
yourselves from these, you will do well.
Farewell.”
Notice that it was the
Holy Spirit who made the decision, not the
Apostles. And the Apostles were careful to
say that “no greater burden” was to be laid
upon the Gentiles than those four simple
requirements. The Church leaders made it
clear to all the churches that they would
never place the burden of keeping the Mosaic
Law upon the Gentile converts.
Both the Jews and Gentiles had
issues related to the type of meat you could
eat.
The Jews believed that
certain meats were ceremonially unclean for
sacrificial and dietary reasons, and some of the
Gentiles were afraid to eat meat that had
been offered to idols because they feared it
could pollute them. In both cases, the meat
we choose to eat is not a salvation issue
under the New Covenant. The dietary laws
that are expressed in Acts 15 seem to have
been put in place so the Gentile converts
could come together with the Jewish
believers to have fellowship and share meals
together.
Christians can eat
any meat that Noah and his family could eat
after the flood.
The Noahide
Laws (also called Noachian Laws or the Seven
Laws of Noah), were a Jewish Talmudic
designation for what they believed the seven
biblical laws given to Adam and to Noah were
before God made His covenant with Israel on
Mount Sinai and were consequently, binding
on all mankind.
The
few requirements that the Holy Spirit gave
to the new Church go all the way back to the
covenant God made with Noah after the flood
in Genesis 9:1-5.
The prohibition from
abstaining from meat sacrificed to idols was
only a temporary restriction. Paul
went on to tell his churches that even that
restriction has no spiritual significance
for a mature believer (1 Cor. 8).
The Old Covenant symbols were only
shadows of what was to come and have served
their purpose (Col. 2:17; Heb. 8:5; 10:1). They looked forward to their
completion when the Messiah would come and
institute the New Covenant. Christ is the
substance that fulfilled all the shadows.
Now that Christ has come, no dietary
restrictions were necessary for the New
Covenant Church.
It is clear from
Acts 15 that the Apostles understood that
all of the ceremonial restrictions from the
Mosaic Covenant were made obsolete by the
New Covenant.
Under the Old Covenant, if a
Gentile wanted to take part in the Passover
ceremony and the other feasts they had to be
circumcised and become a Jew (Exod. 12:43-49; Lev. 23:4-8). That is not
true under the New Covenant, no one has to
become a Jew to join the church. Jews and
Gentiles form one body of believers
who live together under the New Covenant, law of Christ
(Rom. 2:25-29; Gal. 3:26-29; 6:2; 1 Cor. 9:19-23).
The New Testament makes it clear that “the
kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and
drinking, but of righteousness, peace and
joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17).
There is no saving grace in either
eating or not eating certain foods. We are
saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ
alone (Eph. 2:8-10). This, of course,
does not mean that all animals we use for
food are of equal value when it comes to
nutrition and health, but that is not
the issue.
Many people feel they can
win God’s approval and gain eternal life by
following the laws of the Old Covenant, but
nothing could be further from the truth. You
cannot save yourself by good works. The only
way to be saved is by committing your
life to Jesus Christ through faith.
No one has the right to judge
another person regarding dietary issues.
Romans 14:13-17, 20 says, “Therefore let
us not pass judgment on one another any
longer, but rather decide never to put a
stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a
brother. 14 I know and am persuaded in the
Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in
itself, but it is unclean for anyone who
thinks it unclean. 15 For if your brother is
grieved by what you eat, you are no longer
walking in love. By what you eat, do not
destroy the one for whom Christ died. 16 So
do not let what you regard as good be spoken
of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not
a matter of eating and drinking but of
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Spirit. . . 20 Do not destroy the work
of God for the sake of food. All food is
clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat
anything that causes someone else to
stumble.”
Gentiles and food offered to
idols:
1 Corinthians 8:1-13
says, “Now concerning food offered to idols:
we know that “all of us possess knowledge.”
This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds
up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows
something, he does not yet know as he ought
to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is
known by God. 4 Therefore, as to the eating
of food offered to idols, we know that “an
idol has no real existence,” and that “there
is no God but one.” 5 For although there may
be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as
indeed there are many “gods” and many
“lords”— 6 yet for us there is one God, the
Father, from whom are all things and for
whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom are all things and through whom
we exist. 7 However, not all possess this
knowledge. But some, through former
association with idols, eat food as really
offered to an idol, and their conscience,
being weak, is defiled. 8
Food will not
commend us to God.
We are no worse
off if we do not eat,
and no better off
if we do. 9
But take care that this right of yours does
not somehow become a stumbling block to the
weak. 10 For if anyone sees you who have
knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will
he not be encouraged, if his conscience is
weak, to eat food offered to idols? 11 And
so by your knowledge this weak person is
destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died.
12 Thus, sinning against your brothers and
wounding their conscience when it is weak,
you sin against Christ. 13 Therefore, if
food makes my brother stumble, I will never
eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”
Some of the Corinthians had concerns
about eating meat that had been sacrificed
to an idol. They believed that if a believer
ate that type of meat, they were
participating in pagan worship and were
compromising their testimony for Christ.
Paul made it clear to them in verse 8 that
“Food will not commend us to God. We are no
worse off if we do not eat, and no better
off if we do.”
Nothing is
unclean that God has made clean.
Acts 10:15 says, “The voice spoke to him
a second time, “Do not call anything impure
that God has made clean.” And 1 Corinthians 10:25 says, “So you may eat any meat that is
sold in the marketplace without raising
questions of conscience.”
When Jesus brought the Old Covenant to an
end, He fulfilled all of the laws regarding
impure food.
Romans 10:4
says, “For Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone who believes.”
And 1 Corinthians 10:23-33 says, “All things
are lawful,” but not all things are helpful.
“All things are lawful,” but not all things
build up. 24 Let no one seek his own good,
but the good of his neighbor. 25
Eat
whatever is sold in the meat market without
raising any question on the ground of
conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord’s,
and the fullness thereof.” 27
If one of the
unbelievers invites you to dinner and you
are disposed to go,
eat whatever is set
before you without raising any question on
the ground of conscience. 28 But if someone
says to you, “This has been offered in
sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake
of the one who informed you, and for the
sake of conscience— 29 I do not mean your
conscience, but his. For why should my
liberty be determined by someone else’s
conscience? 30 If I partake with
thankfulness, why am I denounced because of
that for which I give thanks? 31
So,
whether
you eat or drink,
or whatever you do,
do all
to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense to
Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God,
33 just as I try to please everyone in
everything I do, not seeking my own
advantage, but that of many, that they may
be saved.”
Paul’s point in
1 Corinthians 10 was that believers should not
act toward another person in a way that
could inhibit the advancement of the gospel.
Even though we have great freedom in Christ,
we also have a responsibility to help others
in their Christian growth. Our first duty
should always be to others, and not
ourselves.
Paul was always
concerned with the needs of others and tried
to make sure his actions were not a
stumbling block for non-believers and
spiritually immature Christians.
Paul said in
1 Corinthians 9:19-23, “For though I am
free from all, I have made myself a servant
to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To
the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win
Jews. To those under the law I became as one
under the law (though not being myself under
the law) that I might win those under the
law. 21 To those outside the law I became as
one outside the law (not being outside the
law of God but under the law of Christ) that
I might win those outside the law. 22 To the
weak I became weak, that I might win the
weak. I have become all things to all
people, that by all means I might save some.
23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel,
that I may share with them in its
blessings.”
Paul was saying that he
adopted certain Jewish customs when he was
among the Jews, even though he was not under
the Old Covenant law anymore, and that he
adopted some of the customs of the Gentiles
when he was with them so he could win as
many as possible to Christ. Then he went on
to say that he was not without a law to live
by because he was under what he called, “the
law of Christ” which is the law of love. Love is the fulfillment
of the law (Rom. 13:8-10).
Beware of the
false gospel of legalism:
The Bible warns us about false
teachers who will try to restrict our diet
against God’s will.
1 Timothy 4:1-5 says, “Now the Spirit
expressly says that in later times some will
depart from the faith by devoting themselves
to deceitful spirits and teachings of
demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars
whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid
marriage and require abstinence from foods
that God created to be received with
thanksgiving by those who believe and know
the truth. 4 For everything created by God
is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it
is received with thanksgiving, 5
for it is
made holy by the word of God and prayer.”
False teachers twist the
Scriptures.
“One of the
marks of the last days is an increase in
false teachers, who for a while embrace the
gospel but are later lured away into heresy.
The Apostle Paul predicted that this would
happen at the church of Ephesus, where
Timothy served as leader (Acts 20:29-30).
Later the ascended Lord commended this
church with the words “You have tested those
who call themselves apostles and are not,
and you have found them to be liars”
(Rev. 2:2). Christians are responsible
for testing new doctrines and revelations
against the clear teaching of Scripture
(Acts 17:17).”
[2]
Officially,
Seventh-day Adventists don’t eat the unclean
meats from the Mosaic Covenant listed in
Leviticus 11, but their prophet, Ellen White
went even further and warned against eating
any meat at all.
Ellen G.
White said:
“Among those who
are waiting for the coming of the Lord, meat
eating will eventually be done away; flesh
will cease to form a part of their diet. We
should ever keep this end in view, and
endeavor to work steadily toward it. I
cannot think that in the practice of flesh
eating we are in harmony with the light
which God has been pleased to give us. All
who are connected with our health
institutions especially should be educating
themselves to subsist on fruits, grains, and
vegetables.”
[3]
“Let not any of our
ministers set an evil example in the eating
of flesh-meat. Let them and their families
live up to the light of health reform. Let
not our ministers animalize their own nature
and the nature of their children.”
[4]
Yet, Romans 14:2 says, “One person
believes he may eat anything, while the weak
person eats only vegetables.” Who’s
guidelines should we follow, Ellen White’s
or the Bible’s? Notice that the person who
insists on eating only vegetables (for
religious purposes), is the weaker person.
The false teachings of Ellen G. White
and the Seventh-day Adventist Church deny
the finished work of Jesus Christ on our
behalf.
No matter what they
say, there is nothing wrong with eating
meat. If eating meat was to become an issue
for the New Testament Church in the
latter days, Christ’s Apostles and Prophets
would have warned us, but they did not!
Christians have never been under the Old
Covenant Law, or its dietary restrictions and cleanliness laws.
Just like today, false
teachers were troubling the early Church
with legalistic, man-made rules. The only
rules God expects us to follow are those
given to us in the New Covenant.
Christians are free to eat
whatever they want to eat without violating
any food laws.
Do you still have doubts? Remember what
1 Corinthians 10:27-30 says, “If one of the
unbelievers invites you to dinner and you
are disposed to go, eat whatever is set
before you without raising any question on
the ground of conscience.”
What we choose to eat is not a salvation
issue for Christians like it was for Israel
under the Old Covenant Law.
Colossians 2:20-22 says, “If with Christ you
died to the elemental spirits of the world,
why, as if you were still alive in the
world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do
not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22
(referring to things that all perish as they
are used)—according to human precepts and
teachings?”
The laws Christians
follow today are not the same laws that Israel
had to follow in the Old Covenant.
Christians are not forbidden to eat any meat
that was considered unclean under the Mosaic
Covenant, and the vegetarian diet that Ellen
White called for was never commanded of
anyone in the New Covenant.
The book of Hebrews says that the people who
preach special diets are false teachers.
Hebrews 13:9 says, “Do not
be led away by diverse and strange
teachings, for it is good for the heart to
be strengthened by grace, not by foods,
which have not benefited those devoted to
them.”
We need to be strong
and stand up to the false teachers.
Titus 1:13-16 says, “This testimony is
true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that
they may be sound in the faith, 14 not
devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the
commands of people who turn away from the
truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure,
but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing
is pure; but both their minds and their
consciences are defiled. 16 They profess to
know God, but they deny him by their works.
They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for
any good work.”
Don’t let legalism
destroy your freedom in Christ. There is no
saving grace in either eating, or not eating
certain foods. We are saved by grace through
faith in Jesus Christ alone (Eph. 2:8-10). This, of course, does not mean that
all the animals we use for food are of equal
value when it comes to health. This is where
a Christian has to make value judgments for
themselves. Food is no longer an issue. We
each must decide for ourselves what we can
eat and no one has the right to judge us on
those matters. They are a matter of personal
choice and have nothing to do with our
salvation.
Always remember what
Colossians 2:16-17 says, “Therefore do not
let anyone judge you by what you eat or
drink, or with regard to a religious
festival, a New Moon celebration or a
Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the
things that were to come; the reality,
however, is found in Christ.” (NIV)
The Law served as a guardian for Israel until
Christ came. When God commanded Israel to
distinguish between the clean and unclean,
he was keeping them separate from the other
nations, and he was reminding them to make
good moral distinctions as well. Now that
Christ has come, we are no longer under the
guardian
(Gal. 3:24-25).
External
ceremonies and rituals cannot cleanse a
person spiritually. Because food is only
physical, no one who eats it will pollute
themselves by what they eat. Christians are
free to eat any kind of meat they want to
eat without fearing they have committed a
sin.
References:
1.
The ESV Study Bible: Mark 7:19
2.
The Apologetics Study Bible: 1 Timothy 4:1.
3. Ellen White, Counsels on Diet and Foods,
page 380.
4. Ellen White, Counsels on
Diet and Foods, page 399.
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