Clean and Unclean Foods!

The topic of foods being " clean or unclean" may seem a bit antiquated, or perhaps strange, but even modern science has supported the concepts of certain foods being healthier (clean) and others being unhealthy (unclean).

Let's take a look at the specific scriptures first, then we can discuss the general ramifications of modern-day scientific support. This will only be a brief discussion on the subject, but will be far more than is needed to prove the truth that there are, indeed, foods which God created that are unfit for human health, and are often a test of whether we are willing to believe what God tells us and whether we actually trust and obey Him, regardless of what we want to eat.

The majority of the details of foods which are considered fit for eating are found in Leviticus 11:

Leviticus 11:1-47 "Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them,
2 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'These [are] the animals which you may eat among all the animals that [are] on the earth:
3 'Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves [and] chewing the cud -- that you may eat.
4 'Nevertheless these you shall not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have cloven hooves: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you;
5 'the rock hyrax, (rock rabbit or Dassie) because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, [is] unclean to you;
6 'the hare, (rabbit) because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, [is] unclean to you;
7 'and the swine, (Pig) though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, [is] unclean to you.
8 'Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. They [are] unclean to you.
9 These you may eat of all that [are] in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers -- that you may eat.
10 'But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which [is] in the water, they [are] an abomination to you.
11 'They shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination.
12 'Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales -- that [shall be] an abomination to you.
13 And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they [are] an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard,
14 'the kite, and the falcon after its kind;
15 'every raven after its kind,
16 'the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind;
17 'the little owl, the fisher owl, and the screech owl;
18 'the white owl, the jackdaw, (A Eurasian bird (Corvus monedula) related to and resembling the crows) and the carrion vulture;
19 'the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
20 All flying insects that creep on [all] fours [shall be] an abomination to you.
21 'yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on [all] fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth.
22 'These you may eat: the locust after its kind, the destroying locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grass hopper after its kind.
23 'But all [other] flying insects which have four feet [shall be] an abomination to you.
24 By these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening;
25 'whoever carries part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening:
26 '[The carcass] of any animal which divides the foot, but is not cloven-hoofed or does not chew the cud, [is] unclean to you. Everyone who touches it shall be unclean.
27 'And whatever goes on its paws, among all kinds of animals that go on [all] fours, those [are] unclean to you. Whoever touches any such carcass shall be unclean until evening.
28 'Whoever carries [any such] carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. It [is] unclean to you.
29 These also [shall be] unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and the large lizard after its kind;
30 'the gecko, the monitor lizard, the sand reptile, the sand lizard, and the chameleon."

". . .41 And every creeping thing that creeps on the earth [shall be] an abomination. It shall not be eaten.
42 'Whatever crawls on its belly, whatever goes on [all] fours, or whatever has many feet among all creeping things that creep on the earth -- these you shall not eat, for they [are] an abomination.
43 'You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps; nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them.
44 'For I [am] the LORD your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I [am] holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
45 'For I [am] the LORD who brings 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 of the animals and the birds and every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that creeps on the earth,
47 'to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.' "

Many people believe these are simply a part of "old" customs and traditions which were "done away" with in the New Testament and with Christ's death, but is this true?

Most often, the New Testament Scripture used to support this claim is Acts 10, starting in verse :9;

"On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh to the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
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 to 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 four footed 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 [spoke] to him again the second time, What God has cleansed, [that] call not you common.
16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
17 Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made enquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate,
18 And called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there.
19 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said to him, Behold, three men seek you.
20 Arise therefore, and get you down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them. . ."

Many people mistakenly believe that this is telling the modern day Christians that clean and unclean was now done away, however, this isn't supported by the context of these scriptures...

Peter had always lived with the society notion of unclean people... heathen/pagans, etc. However, he later understand the point of the vision he received . . .

" . . . 28 And he said to them, you know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come to one of another nation; but God has showed me that I should not call any man common or 'unclean.'"

Notice this was Peter's discernment of what God was telling Him, after He was pondering this questionable vision that told Him eating unclean foods was now OK. He "doubted in himself..." what the vision should mean. It was obvious Peter was not immediately taking it as it was being given. Peter, three times refused to consider eating the unclean animals shown in the vision, and later understood.

This was NOT God telling all of us that all "unclean" foods were now clean and ok to eat. This clearly shows that this supposed "proof" text is nothing of the kind, but is God's way of showing to Peter that He was calling some NON-Jewish people into His church, who were considered "unclean," into the same calling that was initially given to the Jews. "God has showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean," not foods that were, and still are, unclean according to God's word.

Here are a few other scriptures to consider . . .

Leviticus 7:26 "Moreover you shall not eat any blood in any of your dwellings, [whether] of bird or beast."

Leviticus 3:17 "[This shall be] a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall eat neither fat nor blood."

Virtually everyone, NOW, realizes scientifically, that eating the fat of animals (in disproportionate amounts) isn't healthy. For decades, though, this was ignored by a large percentage of the world's western population. It is obvious we can't avoid "all" fat from the meats we eat, and the small amounts ingrained in the meats actually add to the flavor of the meat.

It shouldn't be surprising that a vast amount of the world's food supplies are unclean foods. From a scientific standpoint, you can support the issue of a food being "unclean." Most of the unclean foods can be demonstrated to be, literally, unclean.

Most of these foods are considered to be "scavenger" animals that eat the wastes of other animals, and help to clean up the environment. Lobster, shrimp, crabs, oysters, other shell fish and other water scavengers contain high levels of heavy metals like mercury because they filter such things from the environment. Pigs, as you well know, scavenge the land and will eat literally anything they come into contact with.

The issue here, however, isn't whether we can prove whether or not the unclean creatures listed in the Bible are, in scientific fact, "unclean," but whether we are willing to believe what God tells us, along with everything else He has told us through the pages of the Bible. We can't reject what we don't like or don't agree with.

2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness."

Please realize that "all scripture" referenced refers to the "Old Testament Scriptures" because that is all they had at the time, therefore, these scriptures must be valid because Timothy was written well after Christ's death, which supposedly "nailed the laws to the cross."

This is just another topic that has been largely ignored by the Christian world, and even many of the Jewish people, who still hold the Old Testament scriptures as valid, ignore this command. You just have to decide what you will do with this information.

Pure Health Systems Home Page for specific Nutrition, Research and Product information about your health and how to address it at the most fundamental, natural and God-given levels.

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