Foundational scriptures for this topic were addressed in “Unclean versus Clean Food (1)”. This Part 2 is the sequel to the material covered in Part 1. The verses noted in Part 1 are essential to Part 2.
In Part 1, we looked at the scriptural concept of “unclean” in general. We saw Christ’s basic guidelines in Le.11/De.14:2-20 about edible and inedible creatures (especially unclean swine). We read in Ge.7:2 where the gentile Noah differentiated between clean and unclean creatures…prior to the Old Covenant! Without recapping Part 1, here we’ll examine other passages, mostly from the New Testament (NT).
In NT times, Pharisees were overly concerned about self-righteous ritual washings. The rabbis wrongly assumed hands could defile, even when no Tanakh ritual uncleanness applied. Pharisees taught that hands must be washed before eating to avoid conveying some ‘uncleanness’ to the food they touched, supposedly resulting in unclean food. (Also some thought evil spirits were washed away at the fingertips.)
Mt.15:1-2 “Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem asking, ‘Why do Your disciples violate the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat bread [ártos Strongs g740, Greek].” The issue of cleanliness here specifically pertained to unwashed hands when eating bread, not to eating the flesh of unclean creatures! The controversy had to do with oral law tradition, not with the Lord’s written Old Testament commands. Jesus’ disciples and those Jewish Pharisees weren’t eating unclean flesh at meals! Had Jesus done so, He would’ve sinned…and then we’d have no Savior!
The Pharisees self-righteously misapplied Ex.30:19-21. “Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet when they burn an offering by fire to the Lord.” Ritual washing of the priests was required before they sacrificed, and then ate the holy meal of various (peace) offerings. But that handwashing applied to priests. (Foot-washing of guests was customary in the culture, cf. Jn.13:5.) But there was no command in scripture/Tanakh requiring a layman to wash his hands before a common meal. The Mt.15 passage reflects the Pharisees wrongly valuing their oral law above the written word of God. So Jesus replied to them in Mt.15:3. “Why do you invalidate the word of God by your tradition?”
Jesus continued in Mt.15:10-20, “Everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated”. But parasites, viruses, bacteria (e.g. salmonella) transmitted from unclean meat aren’t simply eliminated (see Part 1)! Rather, Jesus is addressing eating bread with unwashed hands, not eating unclean animals. v.15 “Peter said to Him, ‘Explain the parable to us.” Note that it’s Peter who asks. Jesus’ bottom line conclusion in v.20, “To eat with unwashed hands doesn’t defile the man”.
Mk.7:1-23 is a parallel account. The Mk.7:19b phrase in some Bibles, “Jesus declared all foods clean”, isn’t in the earliest manuscripts or the KJV. It’s a later addition. Nonetheless, if it’s ‘food’, in scripture it’s innately clean (though it could become defiled or contaminated). Contrary to the Pharisees, Jesus told them that laymen’s common bread remained clean and wasn’t defiled ceremonially when touched by unwashed hands. (ref David H. Stern Jewish New Testament Commentary, p.93.) In Luke’s shorter account (Lk.11:37-41), the Pharisee who asked Jesus to dine with him is surprised that Jesus didn’t wash before eating.
Unclean meat wasn’t mentioned in the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke.
Le.20:22-26 clean versus unclean creatures also had typified a distinction Christ made between His holy nation Israel (and aliens among them, v.2)…from heathen nations with their abominable practices. Da.7:1–6 gentile empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece were symbolized by unclean wild animals. But since all humans, Israelites and gentiles, are unclean to eat…it’s an analogy only, and will end. This analogy doesn’t restrict Jews from associating with most gentiles. (Ge.8:20 early post-Flood, when there was no Israel or clear separation of peoples, God required only clean creatures be sacrificed by the gentile Noah…also later by gentiles in Jb.42:8. Those earlier gentiles weren’t unclean by analogy.)
Ac.10:9-17 Peter’s vision regarding gentiles occurred 5+ years after the Mt.15/Mk.7 unwashed hands incident. When Peter saw in vision the mix of sheep, cows, snakes, spiders, bats, pigs, mice, cats, dogs, etc., most were unclean to him. (Nigel Barber 2011 Psychology Today “In China, India, and other countries, dogs are commonly eaten.”) Ac.10:13-15 “A voice came to him, ‘Arise, Peter, kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘No, Lord. I have never eaten anything defiled or unclean.’ The voice came to him again, ‘What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.” Peter, knowing Christ’s commandments of Le.11, even said “No” to the heavenly voice! Jesus hadn’t said unclean creatures were now fit to eat. Rather, those envisioned unclean creatures symbolized the gentile world comprised of various peoples.
Jesus had told Peter and the disciples in Jn.14:26, “The Holy Spirit will remind you of all things I said to you”. We recall that it was Peter specifically to whom Jesus gave the clarification in Mt.15:15-20; Jesus said eating with unwashed hands doesn’t defile a man. In Mt.15/Mk.7 Jesus didn’t make any change to His food laws for the Holy Spirit to later remind Peter of in Ac.10! Ac.10:14, 11:8 are NT verses later saying Peter still didn’t eat anything unclean (akáthartos g169). Christ’s principles are consistent! 1Co.3:16-17 we’re not to destroy the ‘temple of God’ by eating toxic creatures He forbad.
By Ac.10:28, Peter understood the meaning of his vision. “God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man defiled or unclean.” Contrary to Pharisee oral law, Christian gentiles weren’t to be shunned and racially treated as unclean compared to Jews. Unclean donkeys & horses belonging to Jews were touched/ridden and cared for (but not eaten)! Humanity is all of one blood, Ac.17:26 KJV. No peoples are unclean due to race. (Though all humans are omnivores…Noah & gentiles, Jews too…unclean to eat!) Ac.15:7-9 & 1Jn.1:9 believing gentiles too are cleansed from unrighteousness. The Le.20:22-26 distinction of men especially isn’t applicable to those cleansed by Christ’s blood and given the Spirit.
Christ had given Peter the keys to the Kingdom (Mt.16:17-19). Peter wrote to scattered Christians (1Pe.4:16) 25 years after his Acts 10 vision (which debunked the Pharisee oral law that Jews mustn’t associate with gentiles, Ac.10:28). In 1Pe.1:15-17, Peter quoted God saying “Be you holy, for I Am holy”. Here Peter referenced the Le.11 passage about clean & unclean creatures (his quote is repeated in Le.20:25-26). Le.11:43-47 “Be you holy, for I Am holy. This is the law regarding all creatures, to make a distinction between the clean and the unclean, between the edible and the inedible.” That was God’s word on clean/unclean which related to sanctification or set apart or holy. Even as an old man, Peter still tied holiness to Christ’s commands of Le.11! Peter knew Jesus hadn’t flip-flopped on this.
2Ti.3:15-16 Paul said Timothy had known the sacred scriptures from childhood, i.e. the Old Testament (OT). Paul said they’re inspired. 1Ti.4:1-5 Paul also said there’s “Men who advocate abstaining from foods which God created to be shared by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good and nothing to be rejected, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer”. What is that truth? Ps.119:160 “Thy word is true from the beginning.” Jesus said in Jn.17:17, “Sanctify them by the truth; Thy word is truth”.
Where in God’s written word (known by Timothy) do we read the truth about sanctified meats? Even unclean creatures were created for a good purpose (Ge.1:21, 25). But they’re not sanctified as food fit for humans, according to the truth of God’s word! ref Le.11 & De.14:2-20 (see Part 1). Paul went on to tell Timothy in 1Ti.4:13 to even read the OT to the church! In the Bible, no unclean creature is identified or sanctified as ‘food’. (Though we needn’t be vegetarians.)
Jesus stated in His parable of the fishing dragnet that was cast into the sea, Mt.13:47-50. “They gather the good into vessels, but the bad they throw away.” Van d Brink Commentary “The bad, unacceptable fishes are all unclean fishes (Le.11:9-12), i.e. all fishes without scales and fins, and all inedible water creatures.” Pulpit Commentary “This would include the legally unclean.” Jesus made the distinction.
We still see unclean in the book of Revelation, written decades after the cross. Re.16:13 mentions “three unclean spirits like frogs”. Frogs and all amphibians are unclean. In Re.18:2, Babylon the Great is “a hold of every unclean and hateful bird”. Many birds are unclean. Unclean creatures are still unfit for human consumption & health. God loves all people, beyond the 144,000 of Israel (Re.7:4-10).
Ezekiel wrote futuristically in his latter chapters. In Ezk.44, God spoke of the Prince, and priests. v.23 “They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and to discern between the unclean and the clean.” Barnes Notes “The directions in the new order represent the necessity for holiness in all Christians.” Matthew Henry Commentary “This chapter contains ordinances relative to the true priests.” Again, Peter quoted Le.11:44, which is dietary, “Be you holy, for I Am holy”.
God says in Is.66:4-5, “They did evil in My sight. Hear the word of the Lord.” v.15-18 “The Lord will come in fire and render His anger. The Lord will execute judgment on all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many. Those who eat swine’s flesh, abominable things, and mice, shall come to an end,’ declares the Lord.” In Isaiah’s futuristic prophecy, God’s punishment for willfully eating swine & mice pertains to “all flesh”! Barnes Notes “He will execute His vengeance on all the human race. The small field mouse was regarded as a great delicacy by the Romans.” Here God gave a stern warning!
In Ro.14, 1Co.8, 1Co.10, Paul dealt with the related issue of food sacrificed to idols…a prohibition of the Acts 15 Jerusalem council. (for that issue, see “Sacrifices To Idols and Romans 14”.)
Ro.2:9-11 there is now no difference between Jews and Greeks/gentiles. God is no respecter of persons. And regarding dietary and the human digestive system…whatever harms the Jew, harms the gentile. The whole church is to abide by the four prohibitions of Ac.15, some are dietary. (see “Acts 15 – Four Prohibitions”.) Eating unclean (parasitic) creatures harms all the races of mankind.
Scientists say the AIDS virus was transmitted to humans by slaughtering & eating monkeys. Monkeys are unclean. How tragic…this scourge has nearly wiped out entire peoples! It’s a result of disobeying the guidelines of Christ’s food laws! False teaching or lack of teaching has led to this great calamity!
There are some who are willing to teach the scriptural truth about this issue. Joel Osteen, pastor of the largest church in America, is one who teaches that unclean creatures aren’t to be eaten. Dr. Don Colbert (author of What Would Jesus Eat?) is on Christian TV…he says pork is dangerous & prohibited, and he calls shellfish the ‘cockroaches of the sea’. Pastor Benny Hinn has commented on Ge.7:2, where the gentile Noah differentiated between clean and unclean creatures. Benny Hinn said clean creatures are ‘the ones we’re allowed to eat’. Hinn is a gentile, as was Noah. Ex.15:26 Christ said He won’t put sickness on those who obey His commandments and statutes.
In the 1300s AD, European Jews were even accused of instigating plague disease epidemics, because they themselves were less affected by those epidemics! Yair Davídiy Bible Studies and Historical Researches “Contemporary evidence does indicate that proportionately less Jews than Gentiles died from the Black Death.” Jewish History.org The Black Death “Christians claimed that the Jews died at only half the rate.” Why weren’t Jews as affected? Many of those Jews practiced Biblical food laws and sanitation…they didn’t eat or touch unclean rodents which had the yersínia péstis bacteria (and carried infected parasitic fleas/lice; the rat flea is xenopsýlla cheópis.)
George Lamsa was a Syriac Christian who translated the Aramaic Péshitta into English in the 1930s. Reportedly he claimed that in the Near East neither Jews, nor Moslems, nor Christians, were eating creatures prohibited by Mosaic Law.
Again, eating unclean (parasitic/carcinogenic) creatures harms all races of mankind. Feeding or serving unclean flesh to our neighbor…isn’t loving our neighbor!
A Christian brother I know visited the nation of Jordan in 1989. He told me there was no unclean pepperoni pizza in those restaurants.
Christian evangelistic efforts to Jews & Muslims are hindered by Christians eating unclean creatures…it offends those peoples! cf. 1Co.9:19-23 for Paul’s approach. (see “Doctrinal Disunity Impacts Evangelism”.)
Before concluding, here’s a few additional passages which relate to eating/health: Le.3:17 Christ said, “You shall not eat any fat or any blood”. v.3-4 organ meats, which cleanse the body of impurities, weren’t eaten. Fat, intestines, kidneys, liver, blood isn’t to be eaten! Blood carries disease.
Ge.1:29 “God said, ‘I have given you every plant yielding seed on the surface of the earth; it shall be food for you.” Unlike green plants, funguses aren’t seed-bearing. They don’t do photosynthesis. Funguses live on rot! The most common commercial mushroom is said to be carcinogenic! Neither do algae (e.g. spirulína) bear seed. Seaweed isn’t a green plant. (Carragéenan is a seaweed form of algae.)
After the Flood, Christ said in Ge.9:3, “Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you, as I gave the green plant”…a parallel. An unslaughtered carcass which had strangled/died of itself wasn’t a moving thing. It’s not to be eaten. We read some creatures are unclean & unfit to eat, as some green plants are poisonous & unfit to eat…e.g. African violet, philodendron, azalea, carnivorous plants (Venus flytrap), etc. From Ge.9:3, vegetarians abstaining from meat are accepted (Ro.14:2). However, most vegetable food lacks vitamin B12. 1Ti.4:1-3 Paul said, a doctrine of demons is to religiously advocate the abstention from (clean) meat.
Ge.1:11-12 at the Creation, “God said, ‘Let the earth sprout plants yielding seed and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind”. Christ ordained reproduction “kind after kind”. No GMOs! (ref De.22:9.) All the dangers of GMOs are yet to be determined. There are those who engage in the business of genetically modifying organisms for the sake of profit. Ps.59:2 “Deliver me from those who do iniquity.” We can pray for protection from the effects of gene-splicing.
To conclude…naturopath Dr. Jordan Rubin’s The Maker’s Diet was a New York Times bestseller for a year. He strongly believes unclean creatures such as swine, shrimp, lobster, shouldn’t be eaten.
Personally, God has shown me for 45 years the health benefits resulting from Divine healing and not eating the unclean! (see “Healing Our Bodies”.) God’s health guidelines haven’t been bondage for us…whereas visits to the doctor & waiting rooms and medical costs may seem like bondage to many.
Jesus and Paul said of the OT authority, “It is written!” God loves us and wants us to enjoy healthy lives. In Le.11/De.14 Christ gave knowledge of health principles the average person won’t obtain apart from the Bible. Yet the findings of medical science increasingly provide data which validates the health benefits of God’s teachings. Jesus Christ was/is Lord!
Bible Topic Exposition 