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Were all animals created to be eaten by people? Did God
make some animals clean to eat and some unclean to eat?
Why did God tell Noah to take seven pairs each of clean
animals on the Ark but only one pair each of the unclean
animals? Since Noah lived long before Moses we must
conclude that the Law of clean and unclean animals
existed before God gave it to Moses. This strongly
suggests that the idea of clean and unclean animals was
common knowledge before the Sinai Covenant. This also
strongly suggests that this Law was not for Israel alone
but for all men. Did God forbid the Children of Israel
from eating unclean animals for ceremonial reasons or to
protect their health? Some animals, such as the deer and
gazelle are clean to eat but unclean to offer as a
sacrifice to God. By the Old Testament Scriptures it is
clear that certain animals were pronounced unclean to
eat. What about the New Testament? Did Jesus and His
Apostles make a change in this Law? Do the New Testament
Scriptures permit Christians to eat unclean animals?
What about after the return of Jesus and the
establishment of God’s Kingdom on the earth, -will
people be allowed to eat any animal they want?
KNOWLEDGE OF CLEAN
AND UNCLEAN ANIMALS BEFORE FLOOD
Genesis 6 / Genesis 7 /
Genesis 9
❖ Noah found _________ in
the eyes of the Lord
Scripture__________
❖ Noah was a ____________ man,
___________ in his time: Noah ________ with God.
Scripture__________
❖ Mankind was so wicked that God decided to destroy the
world with a __________
Scripture__________
❖ God instructed Noah to build an _____ of
gopher wood in order to preserve living things
Scripture__________
❖ “Take for yourself some of all food which is __________ and
gather it to yourself.”
Scripture__________
❖ Does this imply that some foods were not edible for
Noah and his family? _______
❖ “You shall bring _____of
every kind into the ark, to keep them ______with
you-male and female”
Scripture__________
❖ “You shall take with you of every clean animal by _________,
a male and his female.”
Scripture__________
❖ After the flood God told Noah that He gave him every
moving thing as ________ for
him
Scripture__________
❖ After the flood God told Noah that He gave him the
green __________ as
food for him
Scripture__________
Commentary: Was
God telling Noah that he had permission to eat any green
plant? Since the earth had been cursed, some green
plants were poisonous and deadly. Was God telling Noah
to eat any green plant, or any green plant which was edible for
man? In Genesis 6 God told Noah to gather for himself
“what was edible” to eat. Noah knew what was edible and
what was not.
Was God giving Noah permission to kill and eat any animal
that moves, even the unclean animals. Some argue that
this was the case because it was necessary due to the
fact that all living land animals had perished in the
flood. But if God truly meant for Noah to kill and eat
even unclean animals at this time immediately after the
flood, it would have defeated His purpose for preserving
their kind on the ark. The very reason God had Noah put
a single pair of male and female unclean animals on the
ark was to preserve their species. This means that only
one pair each of the unclean animals entered dry land to
repopulate the earth. Genesis 8:17 says, “Bring
out with you every living thing of all flesh that is
with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing
that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly
on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the
earth.”
What if Noah had eaten one of the unclean animals?
Swine are among the animals classified as unclean by
God, so we know that Noah took only one male and one
female pig aboard the ark. What if Noah had killed one
of these pigs for food? If that had happened it would
have ultimately caused the extinction of its kind and
there would be no pigs today. God told Noah to bring all
the animals out of the ark so that they could breed and
replenish the earth. Obviously, God was not giving Noah
permission to defeat this purpose.
LAW OF CLEAN AND
UNCLEAN ANIMALS
Leviticus 11:46-47, “This is the Law regarding the
animal, and the bird, and every living thing that moves
in the waters, and everything that swarms on the earth,
to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean,
and between the edible creature and the creature which
is not to be eaten.”
Commentary: Notice
first that this is one of God’s Laws. Noah knew that not
all things were edible. He knew which animals were clean
to eat and which were not, but here to Israel God is
revealing that He has a Law regarding what man is to
eat. Israel was to “make a distinction” between the
clean and the unclean animal, and between the “edible”
creature and the creature which was “not to be eaten.”
God created all the animals and pronounced them all as
being “good”, but this does not mean that all animals
were “edible” and “good” for human food.
Leviticus 11 / Deuteronomy 14
❖ “These are the ____________
which you may eat from all the animals that are on the
earth.”
Scripture__________
❖ You may eat whatever __________ the
hoof, and ________ the cud
Scripture__________
❖ The rabbit is unclean though it chews the cud, it does
not divide the __________
Scripture__________
❖ The pig is unclean though it divides the hoof, it does
not chew the ______
Scripture__________
❖ Of the water creatures, all that have ______ and
__________ you may eat
Scripture__________
❖ Whatever in the water that does not have fins and
scales is _____________ to
you.
Scripture__________
❖ Did God declare a number of birds to be unclean to
eat? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Whatever walks on its paws are __________ to
you
Scripture__________
❖ Did God declare some insects as clean for food and
some as unclean for food? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Whatever crawls on its ________ .
. .you shall not eat.
Scripture__________
❖ God commanded Israel to not eat unclean animals
because it would make them __________
Scripture__________
❖ “You are not to eat anything which ______
of itself.”
Scripture__________
Commentary: In
about 165 B.C., Jerusalem was invaded by the Syrian
tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes. This man desecrated the
Temple of God by erecting an idol of Zeus in it and by
sacrificing a pig on the altar. The blood of an unclean
animal on the altar defiled the Temple. The Jews
eventually drove the Syrians out, removed the idol and
painstakingly cleaned the swine’s blood from the altar.
This event is commemorated today and is called
“Hanukkah.”
When God created the pig He pronounced it “good”,
but clearly it was not good to sacrifice on the altar of
the Temple of God. In fact, the presence of the blood of
this unclean animal defiled the earthly dwelling place
of God.
Today, Christians are called the Temple of God,
notice -“Do you not know
that you are a TEMPLE of God, and that the spirit of God
dwells in you? If any man destroys the Temple of God,
God will destroy him, for the Temple of God is holy, and
that is what you are.” (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) It
is only wise to consider that if God did not want
unclean animals in His earthly dwelling place, perhaps
He doesn’t want then inside a Christian, who is the
dwelling place which Christ built.
Jesus was not a wasteful person. When He fed
the multitudes with the bread and fish He told His
disciples to gather up the fragments left over. In Mark
5 we see that Jesus delivered a man from demons by
casting them into a herd of 2000 swine. When the demons
entered the swine they ran into the sea and perished.
This occurred in the region of Gadara which was a
Gentile area. Though these pigs were the property of
some of these Gentiles who were raising them as food,
Jesus shows no concern that they drowned in the sea.
Jesus obviously did not view this event as a loss of
food because He knew that pork was unfit for human
consumption. Jesus gave no apology nor did He fix the
problem by performing a miracle. With this in mind,
notice Hebrews
13:8 -“Jesus
is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
Daniel 1:8-15 / Isaiah :65:1-7 / Isaiah 66:15-17
❖ Daniel made up his mind that he would not __________ himself
with Nebuchadnezzar’s food.
Scripture__________
❖ At the end of ten days Daniel’s appearance seemed __________ than
the other youths.
Scripture__________
❖ God said - “I have spread out My Hands all day long to
a ____________ people.”
Scripture__________
❖ People who walk in a way that is not ________,
following their own _____________
Scripture__________
❖ These rebellious people eat ________ flesh,
and the broth of __________ meat is in their pots
Scripture__________
❖ After the return of Jesus those who eat _________ flesh,
detestable things will come to an end
Scripture__________
❖ Doesn’t this clearly say that Jesus is going to
abolish unclean foods during the millennium? _____
WHAT
DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT SAY?
Commentary: Let
us understand that the only Scriptures the early Church
had was the Old Testament. Speaking of these Scriptures
notice what the Apostle Paul wrote, -“All
Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in
righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate,
equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) As
we have seen thus far in this study, the Old Testament
Scriptures clearly forbid the eating of unclean animals,
and the early Church was founded upon these Scriptures.
Therefore, if Jesus and His Apostles made a change in
this Law, it must be clear in the New Testament
writings.
The absence of any controversy in the early Church
concerning keeping the Sabbath day, keeping the Holy Day
Festivals and observing the Food Laws are strong
indicators that even the first Gentile converts observed
them. The only real Church controversy we find in the
New Testament is whether the Gentile converts were
required to be circumcised and directed to keep the 613
Laws of the Book of the Covenant. (Sinai Covenant) There
is no place in New Testament Scripture where Jesus, His
Apostles, or the early Church ever partook of an unclean
animal.
MARK 7:1-5, 18-23
“The
Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered around Him
when they had come from Jerusalem, and had seen that
some of His disciples were eating their bread with
impure hands, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and
all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their
hands. . .) The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him,
‘Why do Your disciples not walk according to the
tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure
hands?’”
.
. .“And He said to them, (His disciples) ‘Are you so
lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand
that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot
defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but
into his stomach, and is eliminated?’ (THUS HE DECLARED
ALL FOODS CLEAN.)
“And He was saying, ‘That which proceeds out of
the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within,
out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts,
fornications, thefts, murderers, adulteries, deeds of
coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality,
envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil
things proceed from within and defile the man.”
Commentary: Notice
that this passage of Scripture contains two statements
which are in parentheses. The first explaining that the
Jewish Pharisees practiced a ceremonial washing of their
hands before eating, and the second saying that Jesus
was declaring all foods clean. When a statement is in
parentheses it means that it was added
by the translators of
the Bible and is not found
in the original manuscripts. This is why the
statement “Thus He declared all foods clean” is not
found in the King James or the New King James
translations, nor in most all other versions of the
Bible. I happen to use the New American Standard
Translation for Scriptural references in making these
Bible Lessons which unfortunately includes this personal
opinion by the translators.
The Pharisees did not eat unclean meats, so the
issue here is not what kind of meat is eaten but whether
it is wrong to eat with unwashed hands. Jesus was not
saying it did not matter what kinds of meats you eat,
but that the human body was made to eliminate common
impurities such as dirt. Jesus often referred to these
Pharisees as hypocrites who paid much more attention to
outward appearance then inward righteousness. In Matthew
23 Jesus called them “dirty cups” and said that they
were clean on the outside but inside where it matters
most, they were dirty. In the passage in question, Jesus
was suggesting that if the Pharisees were truly sincere
about obeying God that they needed to spend as much time
cleansing their inner thoughts than merely their hands.
Jesus was teaching that all sin which defiles the body
is birthed by an inner thought. If a person dwells on a
wicked thought he will soon give in to its desire and
put it into practice.
PETER’S VISION -
ACTS 10
❖ What Gentile man sent men to Joppa to ask Peter to
come to his house? _____________
Scripture__________
❖ The next day while on his rooftop praying Peter fell
into a __________
Scripture__________
❖ Peter saw a great sheet coming down with all kinds of
crawling __________ (unclean
for food)
Scripture__________
❖ Peter heard a voice say “Get up, kill and eat”, he
knew it was the voice of the __________
Scripture__________
❖ Did Peter obey the voice of the Lord Jesus? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Peter replied, “By no means Lord, I have never eaten
anything ___________and
___________”
Scripture__________
❖ The Lord replied, “What God has ____________, no
longer consider __________”
Scripture__________
❖ Did Peter obey the Lord and eat the second time the
voice commanded him? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Did Peter obey the Lord and eat the third time the
voice commanded him? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Did Peter understand the meaning of the vision? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Did Peter go with the men Cornelius had sent? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Was it unlawful for a Jew to associate with a Gentile
which were considered unclean? _________
Scripture__________
❖ Peter said, “God has shown me that I should not call
any ______ unholy
or unclean.”
Scripture__________
❖ Did Peter finally understand that the vision was
regarding men not food? __________
Scripture__________
❖ As a result of the vision and the falling of the holy
spirit, Peter ordered them to be __________
Scripture__________
Commentary: Many
readers of this passage assume that they understand the
meaning of Peter’s vision. They believe that this vision
was about food, yet Peter himself did not immediately
know what the vision meant. When commanded to kill and
eat unclean animals Peter repeatedly refused to obey the
Lord. Why do you suppose he denied the Lord’s request?
Do you suppose that this beloved Apostle of Jesus was
being rebellious? Of course not, that would be a
ridiculous thought indeed. The only explanation of why
Peter rejected the Lord’s command was because he knew,
and had been taught, that eating unclean meat was still
wrong. Notice also that the Lord did not rebuke him each
time he disobeyed the command. Why did the Lord command
Peter three times? Perhaps it was because Cornelius had
sent three Gentile men, and these three men happened to
knock on the door at the very moment Peter was
reflecting on what the vision might mean.
Concerning Mark Chapter 7 which we went through
earlier, understand that Peter was there when Jesus
explained that it was not wrong to eat with unwashed
hands. Had Jesus truly declared “all foods clean” as a
few translators have since added, then Peter would have
understood that and would not have denied the Lord’s
request three times. Peter’s vision took place about 20
years after Jesus died and Peter still said to the Lord,
-“By no means Lord, for I have NEVER eaten anything
UNHOLY and UNCLEAN.” Since Jesus entrusted His Apostles
to teach the new converts, and that by his own words
Peter had never eaten an unclean animal, he must have
been teaching the new Christians to same Biblical Food
Laws which he still observed.
1
TIMOTHY 4:1-5
“ But
the spirit explicitly says that in later times some will
fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful
spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the
hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as
with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and
advocate abstaining from foods, which God has created to
be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know
the truth. For everything created by God is good, and
nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with
gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the Word of
God and prayer.”
Commentary: Notice
that this “demonic doctrine” about food was the teaching
of abstaining from food “Which God has CREATED to be
gratefully shared.” Notice also, it was food that was
CREATED for those “who know the TRUTH.” “Nothing is to
be rejected” -Does this mean nothing at all, or nothing
which God has “created to be gratefully shared?” “For it
is SANCTIFIED by means of the WORD OF GOD and prayer.”
Sanctify means to “set apart.” Sanctified by “the Word
of God” means food that is set apart by the Word of God.
The only places in the Bible which show specifically
what meats are set apart for the human diet is Leviticus
11 and Deuteronomy 14. Paul and Timothy were combating
Gnostic teachers who had infiltrated the Church, and who
were perverting true Christian teaching. Gnostics
practiced asceticism, which is denying the body proper
food and drink. These men believed in severe treatment
of the body because they believed that flesh itself was
evil.
WHAT WE KNOW TODAY
Commentary: My
wife and I both grew up without observing the Food Laws
of the Bible. We both ate pork, shrimp, lobster,
catfish, etc. Soon after we began to practice eating
food which God had created clean, my wife’s father tried
to get her to eat some pork tenderloin. He wouldn’t seem
to take “no” for an answer as he sliced off a piece and
put it in a frying pan to heat it up. After a few
moments my wife noticed that there were small worms
emerging out the top of the tenderloin in an attempt to
escape the heat. When she asked her father what she was
seeing, he was embarrassed and tossed the meat. He never
asked her to eat unclean meat again.
Dr. Rex Russell: “Pigs
are gluttonous, never knowing when to stop eating. Their
stomach acids become diluted because of the volume of
food, allowing all kinds vermin to pass through this
protective barrier. Parasites, bacteria, viruses and
toxins can pass into the pig’s flesh because of
overeating. These toxins and infectious agents can be
passed on to humans when they eat pig. . .In the United
States, three of the six most common food-borne
parasitic diseases of humans are associated with pork
consumption. These include toxoplasmosis, taeniasis or
cysticercosis (caused by the pork tapeworm) and
trichinellosis.” Dr Russell goes on to say, -“It has
long been recognized that the meat of shellfish-shrimp,
crabs, lobsters, etc. is especially dangerous. Many
illnesses, including instant paralysis, devastate some
people every day as a result of eating shellfish.”
SOME COMMON CLEAN
ANIMALS
|
Antelope Buffalo
Cattle
Deer
Ox
Caribou |
Goat Moose
Sheep (lamb)
Elk
Gazelle
Giraffe |
Chicken Dove
Duck
Goose
Guinea
Partridge |
Quail Turkey
Pheasant
Pigeon
Grouse
Sparrow |
Bass Crappie
Salmon
Sardine
Bream
Grasshopper |
Flounder Snapper
Trout
Tuna
Pike
Some Crickets |
SOME COMMON UNCLEAN ANIMALS
|
Swine -pig-pork Dog
Cat
Rabbit
Possum
Bear
Camel |
Mice Raccoon
Squirrel
Horse
Armadillo
Beaver
Badger |
Bat Buzzard
Crow
Hawk
Ostrich
Pelican
Kite |
Seagull Crane
Owl
Stork
Flamingo
Parrot
Roadrunner |
Clam Crab
Crayfish-lobster
Oyster
Shrimp
Catfish
Turtle |
Seal Whale
Marlin
Shark
Sturgeon-caviar
Snake
Frog |
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