The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Leviticus 11:46-47,
"These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground. You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten."
Chapter 11 of Leviticus provides the dietary laws for the Israelites. Anyone who ate "unclean" food would become ceremonially unclean, e.g. verse 4. Not only were the Israelites forbidden to eat certain animals, insects, birds and things in the water, coming into contact with these animals would make an Israelite unclean. Even pots, utensils and whatever possessions an Israelite might have would become unclean by contact with one of the restricted animals, birds or insects, etc.
Over the years there have been a lot of whacky ideas about the "biblical diet" that this chapter describes. Back in the 80s and 90s it was fashionable to consider this diet was given by God for health reasons. If a person was to keep to this diet they would do much better in terms of health and hygiene, all other things being equal.
Additionally, it was thought that if a person kept to eating only clean things as defined here and abstaining from the unclean things, he would enhance his "spirituality" and find even greater favor with God.
Here are a few things to consider. At a point in the life of Jesus Christ among mankind, he began teaching that he would eclipse the law for those who embraced him in faith in order to obtain a righteous standing with God. Among the ceremonial things, he specifically referred to the issue of the eating of clean/unclean food. In Mark 7:18-19 we read, "'Are you so dull?' he asked. 'Don't you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn't go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.' (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)"
The apostle Peter struggled with this some time later following Jesus' ascension to heaven. We read of an account of a vision he had while in Joppa, Acts 10:9-23. In verses 11-15 we read, "He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' 'Surely not, Lord!' Peter replied. 'I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.' The voice spoke to him a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.'" The purpose of this vision was to convince Peter that the Gentiles were fit in God's sight to be evangelized. Certainly the truthfulness of the underlying premise was important for the vision to carry the meaning.
Paul anticipated difficulties in the church over diet. He held that these would come due to spiritual immaturity. In Romans 14:1-2 we read, "Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person's faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables." This apparently anticipated that some believers with weak faith would bolster their standing with God by going beyond the clean/unclean food issue and eating a strict vegetarian diet.
"These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves about in the water and every creature that moves along the ground. You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten."
Chapter 11 of Leviticus provides the dietary laws for the Israelites. Anyone who ate "unclean" food would become ceremonially unclean, e.g. verse 4. Not only were the Israelites forbidden to eat certain animals, insects, birds and things in the water, coming into contact with these animals would make an Israelite unclean. Even pots, utensils and whatever possessions an Israelite might have would become unclean by contact with one of the restricted animals, birds or insects, etc.
Over the years there have been a lot of whacky ideas about the "biblical diet" that this chapter describes. Back in the 80s and 90s it was fashionable to consider this diet was given by God for health reasons. If a person was to keep to this diet they would do much better in terms of health and hygiene, all other things being equal.
Additionally, it was thought that if a person kept to eating only clean things as defined here and abstaining from the unclean things, he would enhance his "spirituality" and find even greater favor with God.
Here are a few things to consider. At a point in the life of Jesus Christ among mankind, he began teaching that he would eclipse the law for those who embraced him in faith in order to obtain a righteous standing with God. Among the ceremonial things, he specifically referred to the issue of the eating of clean/unclean food. In Mark 7:18-19 we read, "'Are you so dull?' he asked. 'Don't you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn't go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.' (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)"
The apostle Peter struggled with this some time later following Jesus' ascension to heaven. We read of an account of a vision he had while in Joppa, Acts 10:9-23. In verses 11-15 we read, "He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' 'Surely not, Lord!' Peter replied. 'I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.' The voice spoke to him a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.'" The purpose of this vision was to convince Peter that the Gentiles were fit in God's sight to be evangelized. Certainly the truthfulness of the underlying premise was important for the vision to carry the meaning.
Paul anticipated difficulties in the church over diet. He held that these would come due to spiritual immaturity. In Romans 14:1-2 we read, "Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person's faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables." This apparently anticipated that some believers with weak faith would bolster their standing with God by going beyond the clean/unclean food issue and eating a strict vegetarian diet.
Seventh Day Adventists, who promote a healthy lifestyle as a distinctive for themselves, champion a vegetarian diet. It is assumed in many quarters that a man will be a vegetarian if he were to ascend to the ranks of the "elders". It is, afterall, the diet God gave Adam and Eve when they lived a happy existence in the garden of Eden before the fall, right? My response is that yes, the vegetarian diet was the very diet they enjoyed when they rejected God's direction for them and listened to the devil and fell from God's grace.
Our righteous standing before God, our acceptance by him, is solely based on the righteous standing Jesus Christ secured for us when he died on that miserable cross.
As a side note, the dietary laws were given to Israel to teach them about the BIG duality in life: the holy and the profane, the good and the bad, righteousness versus sinfulness, that which is acceptable to God and that which is not. The Israelites needed this indoctrination in order to recognize their need of salvation.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
No comments:
Post a Comment