"WHERE DO THE FOOD LAWS FIT INTO CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE?"
By Jason Blaha


In these Latter Days of Jacob's Troubles, we hear much talk, even from the clergy, of the food laws of the Old Testament being "taken back" or "nailed to the cross" (whatever that means). However, this is a false teaching that is brought about by either misinterpretation or ignorance of the Scriptures. In order to assess the truth of the matter we must not only look at what the Bible says regarding the fact that the food laws cannot be changed, but we must also address the arguments that these well-meaning Christian brothers and sisters use. In addition to this, the Bible verses that they draw their arguments from should be analyzed. As with all of my Bible studies, I use the King James Version of the Holy Bible, but feel free to use any translation you wish. It is also a good idea to acquire a study tool that allows you to find the original Greek and Hebrew words which the English translations were translated from, as well as the various meanings of those words. My preference is a Strong's Concordance.

First let use look at the actual food laws. They are located in Leviticus chapter 11, and Deuteronomy chapter 14, but for the sake of space, only Leviticus will be included in this study, but feel free to explore Deuteronomy on your own.

Leviticus chapter 11:
1: "And the Lord [Yahweh, not Ba'al] spake unto Moses and to Aaron saying unto them,"

2: "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth."

3: "Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, AND cheweth the cud among the beasts, that shall ye eat."

4: "Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean [Strong's 2931 "tame'" meaning foul in a religious sense, defiled, infamous, polluted, and/or unclean] unto you."

5: "And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you."

6: "And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you."

7: "And the swine [yes, the other white meat], though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you."

8: "Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you [note that the dead carcase of the swine is unclean even for you to touch]."

9: "These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat."

10: "And all that have not fins and scales in the seas [eels, alligators, snakes, sharks, skates, rays, catfish, frogs, etc.], and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination [Stong's 8263, taken from the Hebrew word "sheqets" meaning filth or an idolatrous object] unto you:"

11: "They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination."

12: "Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you."

13: "And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey;"
14: "And the vulture, and the kite after his kind;"

15: "Every raven after his kind;"

16: "And the owl, and the nighthawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,"

17: "And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl,"

18: "And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagles,"

19: "And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat."

Note, that these are for the most part preditory birds, except for the bat, which is actually a mammel and should be unclean by verse 4, but no doubt, Yahweh knew that His people might classify it as a bird.

20: "All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you."

21: "Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet to leap withal upon the earth;"

22: "Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind."

23: "But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you."

24: "And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even."

25: "And whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even."

26: "The carcases of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not clovefooted, nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you: every one that thoucheth them shall be unclean."

27: "And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four [bears, apes, etc.], those are unclean: unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even."

28: "And he that beareth the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you."

29: "These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind."

30: "And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail and the mole."

31: "These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even."

32: "And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into the water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed."

33: "And every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it."

34: "Of all meat which may be eaten, that on which such water cometh shall be unclean: all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean."

35: "And every thing whereupon any part of their carcase falleth shall be unclean; whether it be oven, or ranges for pots, they shall be broken down: for they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you."

36: "Nevertheless a fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean: but that which toucheth their carecase shall be unclean."

37: "And if any part of their carcase fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean."

38: "But if any water be put upon the seed, and any part of their carcase fall thereon, it shall be unclean until the even."

39: "And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even." The Law continues on this subject through the rest of the chapter, but we can stop here, if you get the general idea.

Those who understand what was just written, and have seen no verses that they believe disprove it, can skip to the last half of the last page of this study, which proves, by the words of Christ, that these Laws still apply. However, if you wish, feel free to read everything in between.

In order to understand where the argument against YHVH's (YHVH is the Hebrew name of God, pronounced Yahweh) food laws being practiced by Christians, we should take a look at the verses they use to arrive at this conclusion. This list may be far from complete, because I can only use the verses that I have personally been confronted with by would-be scoffers.

Deuteronomy 12: 15-16: "Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, ACCORDING to the blessing of Yahweh thy God [Elohim] which He hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart. Only ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pout it upon the earth as water."

Use a little common sense here. You may eat flesh according to the blessing of Yahweh. Well, is violating the Laws that He sets forth two chapters later (Deut. 14), in the same book, within His blessings? Now, does it say after that, that you may eat the clean and unclean? No, it says the unclean and clean, meaning people who are clean or unclean, may eat thereof. Now let us move on to the New Testament Scriptures that supposedly refute Leviticus 11, and Deuteronomy 14.

Matt 15:
1:"Then came to Jesus [Yahshua] scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,"

2: "Why do thy disciples transgress the 'traditions of the elders' [Judaism, which is to say Satanism]? For they wash not their hands when they eat breed."

3: "But He answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandments of God by you tradition?"

4: "For God commanded, saying Honour they father and mother: and He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death."

5: "But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father of his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;"

6: "And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your traditions." That is much like those Pharisees among us today who say "Oh, 'the Lord' said not to eat that, but if you bless it in his name, it is ok to eat it."

7: "Ye hypocrites [oh how Christ so often said that to the Pharisees], well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,"

8: "This people draweth night unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me."

9: "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."

10: "And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:"

11: "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of his mouth, this defileth a man."

Taken out of content of the rest of the conversation, it would look like the words of Christ could be made to say that a man is not unclean if you eats something the Scriptures say will make him unclean, but this is not the case. Christ was rebuking the Pharisees, and Judaism [the traditions of the elders], and their filthy traditions of men. Think simplistically. If you pick up a pork chop, and begin eating it, was it the eating that made you unclean according to the Law in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy? No. You were already made unclean by touching it. If you knew it was a sin already, because you read so in the Scriptures, you were already unclean, because you plotting to commit a sin knowing that you would go through with it. What a person eats is not what makes them unclean, but Yahweh did tell you to eat these things for a reason. If a person were to drink poison, knowing it could kill them, does the poison make the person spiritually unclean? No, but they are still just as dead, and it was still in their heart to do something wicked. Now, let us move on to something that could actually convince someone that the food laws were "nailed to the cross" by one who isn't paying attention.

Romans 14:
1: "Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations."

2: "For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs [no meat]." This seems to be an argument of meat eaters verses vegitarians, not clean verses unclean.

3: "Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God bath received him."

4: "Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand." In otherwords, do not JUDGE those who are in violation of the Law, because it is not your place, however it is your duty to point out sin to a Christian brother or sister that they may recognize it, and seek repentance for it.

This chapter goes into more detail on not judging. Please read it on your own. However, if you take a long simplistic look at it, you will see that all through the chapter, the argument is meat verses no meat. It never says that there is any change in the Law. If a man does not know he is in sin by eating the unclean, then he sins without knowing it, thus his sin is not wicked, because it was not in his heart to do wrong, however, the earthly punishments [cancer, diseases, deteriorated health, earthly curses upon his household from God, etc.] for the sin will not be stayed. Let us move on to the most interesting piece of Scripture that I've seen to date, which has convinced some that the Law has somehow been changed.

Acts 10:
10: "And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,"

11: "And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:"

12: "Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air."

13: "And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill and eat."

14: "But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean."

15: "And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common."

Does this now give you permission to eat swine and other detestable beasts? Anything purified by God is not unclean, but does this mean that we have the same power? No, of course not. Think in simplicity. If God has not personally told you that something has been purified is it purified? Because you ask Yahweh to bless something, does that then mean that He purified it, and has removed the toxins or cancer causing agents in its flesh, that caused it to be unclean? If you wish to test this, just take a creature that is known to be deadly because of its poison, bless it, and eat it. This beautiful piece of Scripture does not revoke the food laws (as you will shortly see, the words of Christ prove that it does not revoke ANY part of the Law), but rather was a test of Peter's faith. Remember when Yahweh commanded Abraham to slay Isaac? Would not have Abraham sinned in killing his own son? Yes, but Yahweh did not allow him to do it, did he. It was only a test of faith and obedience. Is this any different, other than the fact that Peter did not quite live up to the test?

I Timothy 4:
1-3: "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times [that is this modern era] some shall depart from the faith [meaning they are not Christians], giving heed to seducing spirits, and the doctrines of devils [well, it appears from reading earlier chapters of the Bible, that eating swine's flesh is a doctrine of Satan]: speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats…"

Stop and take a look at this, and use the common sense that Yahweh gave you. Who tells you not to marry, and to abstain from eating meat? Feminist and animal rights activists. Both groups are Left-wing. Liberalism is almost always opposed to Christianity. Who is telling you that beef, lamb, goat, and other red meats, which the Scriptures clearly say you can eat, are bad for you, but pork, the other white meat, which is very clearly a violation of Yahweh's commandments is better for you?

I Timothy 4:
3-5: "…which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer."

Well, who knows the truth? Those who read and understand the Scriptures. Well, does it say anywhere in the Scriptures that pork, lobster, shrimp, or some similar meats have been created for human consumption? How about blow-fish [deadly], rattlesnake [especially with the poison sacks still in it], or the golden arrow toad [contact with it kills people within a few seconds]? So have these things been sanctified by the word of God? No, but in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, the word of God sanctifies many creatures. All of whom may be eaten, and we should have thanks for every time we eat them, because Yahweh has provided them for us to eat. Scoffers who tell you not to eat the meats which the Scriptures have told you are good, are the ones it is talking about in this chapter. Now, let us see what else the Scriptures say about unclean beasts, especially the pig.

Isaiah 65:
1-4: "I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon alters of brick; Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;" Let is be made clear that even in the days of Isaiah, God still grew angry at His people eating swine's flesh. Read all of Isaiah 66 that you may know what is to behold those who do not find favor with Yahweh our Yahshua, look closely at these two verses.

Isaiah 66:
3: "He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations."

Isaiah 66:
17: "They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith Yahweh."

Bear in mind, that this entire chapter [Isaiah 66] is talking about the end of this earth age, and the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven to this terra firma.

Mark 5:
8: "For He [Christ] said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit."

9: "And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying My name is Legion: for we are many."

10: "And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country."

11: "Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding."

12: "And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them."

13: "And forthwith Jesus game them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea (they were about two thousand) and were choked in the sea."

14: "And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done."

Now, why is it that Jesus Christ, knowing what would happen, would have done such a thing to those 2000 swine, that obviously belonged to someone, and helped honest men earn a living by tending to them? Could it be because the owners were in sin for selling swine's flesh when it is a violation of Yahweh's Law to eat it, or to even touch it? Ask yourself one more question, but unless you have eyes with which to see, the answer will allude you. Why did all of these evil spirits desire to be in the bodies of swine?

As we well know, there were many people in Christ's day, who thought that He had come to change or destroy the Law (Mosaic Law of the Old Testament) in some manner, and there are just as many among our own ranks today. Let the Scriptures, and the very words of Jesus Christ (Yahshua) dispel this myth forever.

Matthew 5:
17: "Think not that I am come to destroy the Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill [understanding that fulfillment requires a understanding of the Law, so we will not go into that in this Bible Study, as it is intended for babies in Christ]"

18: " For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Read that over and over, until you understand the full significance of it. Not one jot or tittle of the Law shall be removed until heaven and earth pass away. Every single commandment of God, regardless of how small or great still apply.

19: "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments [how about eating swine, lobster and shrimp…definitely of the least of commandments], and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."

Amen! Praise Yahweh our Yahshua! May our Father who art in Heaven shower His blessings upon you