The next area I will discuss is that of dietary laws. Now, many of my Christian friends declare that God did away with dietary laws when He gave Peter the dream about eating unclean animals. Of course, only people that don’t actually read their bible would believe that. Yes, Peter had a dream about unclean foods being set before him and that God told Peter that nothing He made was unclean. However Peter, having walked with Yahoshua himself, realized he needed some clarification. So, he ASKED for the meaning of the dream. The answer he got wasn’t “oh, I was just letting you know I did away with the dietary laws”. No, the dream was in response to a Jewish man made custom of not entering into the home of non-Jews. Yahowah clearly told Peter there was a non-Jew that loved Him and needed some instruction – God was sending Peter to the man to instruct him on the ways of following God. God was saying that PEOPLE are not “clean” or “unclean” based on their racial or cultural make-up – it is the heart and the ways of a man that determines whether or not he belongs to God, not His DNA. How people got eating pig, bat, rat, and horse were now good from that Scripture I will never know.
No, one doesn’t have to be “legalistic” about what we eat, we can simply ponder and study why God made the dietary rules He did to discover if they still need to be followed. There is ample information to know that God, who made all the animals, knew exactly what He was doing when He decided between “clean” and “unclean” animals. He also was clear in not eating things that had been sacrificed to idols (where the pronouncement to not eating a lamb boiled in its mother’s milk comes from). Now, will eating unclean animals make you unfit for eternal life? I don’t think so, but I am not the final authority on who goes where after death. However, scientific research today is conclusive that every animal deemed “unclean” by Yahowah in the Torah is a food that isn’t fit for human consumption. Many illnesses that we battle with today are a direct result of eating unclean foods, with pig being one of the worst culprits. God is smarter than man, no matter what we think. He came up with some very good instructions and it is up to us to decide whether or not we chose to follow them.
However, whether one follows the dietary guidelines established by Yahowah in His Torah isn’t the issue, it is knowing them and understanding why they are there and what He was saying that we must ponder. Now, I have heard the concept that the dietary laws were put into place because there wasn’t refrigeration back then. However, this statement is intellectually dishonest – okay, it’s just stupid! While refrigeration is great, drying of meat and salt preservation are 1000% better. So, there was a way of preserving meat and not getting sick. So no, God wasn’t saying don’t eat pork or bat or horse until man invents the GE frost free freezer.
The designation between clean and unclean animals is just that – some animals are clean and some animals are NOT clean. In fact, exactly the animals He said were clean are clean – He didn’t make any mistakes. What makes pigs unclean is the nature of the pig and the purpose the pig serves on the earth. Pigs are garbage dumps. No matter how “clean” we try to make them by free range farming or feeding them a corn based diet – they will still eat ANYTHING. I have seen reports of cancerous pigs needed to be separated from other pigs (all still going to slaughter for human consumption mind you) because the pigs will eat the tumors right off of their fellow pigs. Not only are pigs nasty, their digestive systems are simple. A simple digestive system is NOT good for cleaning. Because pigs have such a simple digestive simple, insects, worms, and other parasites that rest in their digestive tracts are still there – alive, well, and kicking after they go to slaughter. These parasites continue to live through the slaughtering process. In fact, they survive through much of our cooking processes; it takes a pork chop being cooked dry and burnt for those parasites to die. This isn’t the case for a cow. The cow’s digestive system is so complex that even a cow fed a corn based diet (which tends to harbor ecoli bacteria), if fed a grass based diet (otherwise known as the food they were created to eat) for seven days before slaughter – all that ecoli bacteria would be processed out of their body before slaughter. Unfortunately, many of the food manufacturers in the US love money so much they won’t feed cows grass for seven days before slaughter – which is why we still have many ecoli outbreaks even in beef. Which tells us a lot – including man is so stupid we even have the ability to turn what God made clean into something unfit for human consumption. The point is, Yahowah didn’t create these instructions to punish you – He designed them out of His love for you and being a Loving Father He is giving you good advice to live by. You can ignore Him if you like, it won’t keep you out of eternal life; however, you should really consider “why” you are choosing to ignore Him.
As for unclean fish – oh man. Believe me, seafood is yummy. Well, it was until I really started to study what the big deal was in eating things like catfish and shrimp. Again, these creatures were designed to be garbage dumps and help to keep the oceans, rivers, and streams clean. They keep them clean by eating all the crap that falls into them. And again, they also have uncomplicated digestive systems. So simple that you can open the back of a shrimp and get a good look at its digestive system. It’s all black with filth – filth that is still sitting in there as you take a big bite. As I found this information out I asked myself a simple question – if someone told me roaches tasted good, would I be tempted to take a bite? No! Then why was I so quick to drop the instructions of my loving Father because shrimp taste good? They eat the exact same diet as roaches, crap! Again, eat whatever you want, but don’t allow any religious leader to keep you away from understanding the absolute love and GRACE Yahowah was providing for us in His Torah. He wanted His children healthy, strong, and full of life.
Then there is food sacrificed to idols. Think we don’t have to worry about that today – think again! Just Google “halel meat” and see how many of your local grocers carry it. Some won’t even label it as such. Also, check some of the logos your favorite foods are wearing. Everyone who knows me knows I drank a Starbucks Mocha Frappucino EVERYDAY for over seven years. That all stopped when I found out the truth of their logo. I was surprised when I found out that innocent looking bare chest lady was really a pagan goddess. Yes, look it up for yourself (you need to do some of this work yourself). Now, some people will say that it doesn’t make a difference now and we can eat whatever we want. However, why not spend some time with Yahowah and figure out why He didn’t want you eating foods sacrificed to idols. I choose not to consume foods boldly dedicated to idols (like Starbucks) because my goal is not to enrich those who willingly chose to stick their middle finger up at God and mock Him openly.
And, just to be clear – eating as Yahowah advised in the Torah is NOT the same as eating Kosher. Kosher dietary laws added immensely to the words of Yahowah. They added burdens on to the people and turned loving advice from the Father into mindless rituals having nothing to do with relationship. This is why you must read the Torah for yourself and find what Yahowah had to say to you.
