Are The
Dietary Laws Relevant Today?
by Stan LaBruna
I have heard people say they keep the biblical dietary laws
because they are good health practices
or because they use it as a means to draw close to the Jewish
people. These are good reasons to
keep the dietary laws, but the best motivation is simply doing
it because it is part of God's Law.
So what am I telling you? Am I saying the commandment against
eating pork is on a par with
"thou shall not murder"? Let Jesus answer that in His own words:
"Do not think that I came to abolish
the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to
fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven
and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall
pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and
teaches others to do the same,
shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever
keeps and teaches them, he shall be
called great in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt 5:17-19, NASB).
Did you catch that? Until all things are accomplished (until all
prophecy is fulfilled, until Christ
returns, until we have a new heaven and earth) not the smallest
letter or stroke will pass from the
Law. Additionally, anyone who teaches that the least of the
commandments is annuled can look
forward to being the least in the kingdom of heaven. Pastors
please pay attention; Jesus is talking
to you here. Being smug, complacent or having a know-it-all
attitude can be very costly.
Whenever a believer does not want to comply with some portion of
God's Law, the typical first
reaction is to look for portions of Scripture that can be
manipulated to justify the rebellion. On the
subject of the dietary laws there is no shortage of material
available for creative interpretation.
But before we go there, let's look at the scriptures that tell
us what God intended for us as food and
why:
Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 list the animals that God has
set apart as food that is good for
us. Basically, any land animal that has a cloven (split) hoof
and chews the cud (rechews regurgitated
food) is acceptable. Some examples would be cattle, deer, sheep
and goats. Anything that comes
out of the water that has both fins and scales is also good.
Birds that are acceptable have a crop
(enlargement of the gullet), and gizzard (a second stomach) and
feet that are arranged with 3 toes
forward and one to the rear with the middle toe being elongated.
They must eat their food on the
ground and they cannot be birds of prey.
Predators, scavengers and bottom-feeders are not on this list.
They carry high loads of parasites,
pathogens, and toxins and/or have flesh that is high in
cholesterol. Realizing this, one might think that
God gave us these laws primarily for our own protection
healthwise. True, God is concerned for our
physical well-being, but His concern for us goes beyond the
physical. Let the Lord tell us in His own
words why He gave us these laws: "Do not render yourselves
detestable through any of the swarm-
ing things that swarm; and you shall not make yourselves unclean
with them so that you become
unclean. For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves
therefore and be holy, for I am holy.
And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the
swarming things that swarm on the
earth." (Lev 11:43-44, NASB).
Did you get that? By keeping the dietary laws we make ourselves
holy - that is, consecrated, set
apart - for the Father's holy use. This commandment dovetails
quite nicely with 1 Cor 3:16-20 which
says: "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the
Spirit of God dwells in you? If any
man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the
temple of God is holy and that is what
you are. Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks
that he is wise in this age, he
must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom
of this world is foolishness
before God. For it is written, 'He is the One who catches the
wise in their craftiness', and again,
'The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are
useless.' "
Can it be any plainer? Our bodies are the temple of God and if
we destroy His temple with toxic
"foods", nicotine, alcohol, drugs or whatever, He will destroy
us (vss 16, 17). So then, if we destroy
our own bodies with abuse, what is left for God to destroy, but
our souls? "... Fear Him who is able
to destroy both soul and body in hell." (Matt 10:28). That right
there should be enough to give pause
to anyone who considers himself a serious disciple of Christ.
Continuing in the third chapter of First Corinthians, we read
that we are not to deceive ourselves.
Those who consider themselves wise - in this case, those who
teach that the dietary laws are done
away with - are counseled to become foolish according to the
world so they may become wise before
God (vss 18, 19). The Lord considers the reasonings of the
"wise" to be useless (vs 20).
Keeping the dietary laws, like keeping the Sabbath, is one of
the distinguishing signs that we are
God's people and He is our God. When thinking of the Jewish
people, the things that come to mind
that distinguish them from other people is their observance of
the weekly and annual Sabbaths and
the dietary laws. The same arguments that are made to show the
keeping of the Sabbath is incum-
bent on Gentile believers are also made to show the dietary laws
apply to Gentiles as well:
We Gentiles have been adopted by God. He calls us His children
and tells us to call Him Father
(Rom 8:14-16; Gal 4:6). As adopted (or "grafted in") children we
are expected to keep the same
family rules and regulations that have been laid down for the
natural children. God is not a respect-
er of persons (Acts 10:34, 35) and He judges all His children by
one law (Exo 12:49; Lev 24:22 and
Num 15:15-16, 29-31). Seeing as how we are all judged equally by
God, why would any of us -
natural-born or adopted - think we are somehow exempt from any
portion of God's Law?
Now, let's look at the scriptures traditionally used to justify
nonobservance of the dietary laws:
In the tenth chapter of Luke, Jesus gives His disciples
instructions on how they should interact
with others when proselytizing: "Stay in that house, eating and
drinking what they give you, for the
laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to
house. Whatever city you enter
and they receive you, eat what is set before you..." (vss 7-8,
NASB).
Normally, when we say a statement is taken out of context, we
mean the verbiage immediately
preceding and following the statement being examined has been
omitted, giving the impression
that the statement says something other than it is actually
intended to mean. It is also possible to
lift a statement out of context chronologically and culturally.
To interpret Jesus' instructions to the
disciples as permission to eat anything at all that was set
brfore them is to take His instructions out
of historical context.
When Jesus told the disciples to eat whatever was set before
them, He was one observant Jew
(Jn 15:10) talking to others and it was understood by all that
He was talking about eating anything
considered acceptable food under the dietary laws. The eating of
unclean foods was unthinkable
to them. If Jesus was suggesting to them that there was a
circumstance when it would be accept-
able, they would have questioned it, as they did other things,
but they did not. In fact, ten years
after Jesus' ascension, Peter was still able to say, "...I have
never eaten anything unholy and un-
clean." (Acts 10:14). It is obvious that Peter's understanding
of Jesus' instructions was very
different than that of most today.
It should also be noted, the instruction in Luke 10:7 to eat and
drink such things as they were
given is coupled with the statement that "the laborer is worthy
of his wages". Men of that era
tended to think that if they didn't work, they didn't deserve to
eat. This was a conviction shared
by Paul (2 Thess 3:10). What Jesus was telling the disciples was
that preaching the gospel is
real work and they shouldn't be ashamed to accept compensation
for their labor. This piece of
Scripture - that is almost universally misunderstood by pastors
- is actually their authorization to
receive a living from the flock.
Let's suppose, for the sake of argument, that Jesus was actually
telling the disciples that there
was a circumstance where eating unclean foods would be
acceptable. If this is so, the legitimate
exception would be when you are a guest in a prospective
convert's home. The problem with this
is that those who cite this exception tend to apply it to every
situation thereby making the exception
into a new rule. This is intellectually dishonest to say the
least. The real motivation behind this
sophistry is simply not wanting to keep the dietary commandments
at all. It should also be mentioned
that if a prospective convert does actually become a disciple,
he would be taught the expectations of
the Lord in all matters, including dietary, at some point early
in his walk.
In Matthew 15 and Mark 7 there is an account of the Pharisees
coming to Jesus with a charge
against His disciples. The charge was that the disciples ate
their food without first washing their
hands which was contrary to their tradition of the elders. This
tradition was established by men
and was, more often than not, at variance with and used to
justify circumvention of the actual
Law of God. Eating with unwashed hands was not considered an
offense under God's Law and this
charge was brought against the disciples by men with impure
motives. As He often did, Jesus
turned the table on the Pharisees, pointing out that any
physical defilement caused by eating some-
thing with unwashed hands was not permanent, but that which
comes out of the heart that is impure
(like an unjust accusation) was a much more serious matter of
spiritual defilement (Matt 15:11,17-20
& Mark 7:15, 18-23). At no point in this exchange did the
Pharisees accuse the disciples of eating
anything considered unclean under the dietary laws nor did Jesus
say anything to suggest that those
laws are abrogated.
Earlier, I mentioned Peter's comment that he had never eaten
anything unholy or unclean. What
provoked that comment was the vision the Lord gave him that is
recorded in the tenth chapter of Acts.
In that vision Peter saw a sheet lowered to the earth from
heaven, containing all kinds of animals
considered unclean for food (vss 11,12). Then a voice came to
him saying, "Get up, Peter, kill and
eat!" (vs 13). Most stop their reading right here and use this
portion of scripture as justification for
eating anything they want, but there is more: A puzzled Peter
replied, "By no means, Lord, for I have
never eaten anything unholy and unclean." (vs 14). Then the
voice answered, "What God has cleans-
ed, no longer consider unholy." (vs 15). This exchange happened
three times and then the vision
was taken back up into heaven (vs 16). While Peter was pondering
the meaning of all this the Spirit
spoke to him again, "Behold, three men are looking for you. But
get up, go downstairs and accom-
pany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself." (vss
19-20).
Peter needed this heads up from the Spirit because the men
seeking him were Gentiles, and Jews
of that era did not normally associate with Gentiles. The rest
of the story is that Peter accompanied
these men to Cornelius' house and preached the Gospel to the
Gentiles and they received the Spirit.
Putting it all together, Peter himself puts the interpretation
on the vision that "... God has shown me
that I should not call any man unholy or unclean." (vs 28). To
the chagrin of those who wish other-
wise, there is nothing here to suggest the dietary laws are done
away with.
Colossians 2:16 says, "Therefore no one is to act as your judge
in regard to food or drink or in
respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day..." This
verse appears to be telling us the
dietary laws and Sabbaths are done away with, but if we put this
verse back into context and begin
our reading at verse 1, we see that God's ways are being
compared to the ways of man and the
Colossians are actually being advised not to let others judge
them for their observance of the diet-
ary laws and Sabbaths. For a more complete exegesis of
Colossians 2:16, read the article entitled
The Twisting of Scripture to Validate Sunday as the Sabbath.
Lastly, let's look at Romans 14:14 which says, "I know and am
convinced in the Lord Jesus that
nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to
be unclean, to him it is unclean." Here
we have a verse that appears to be telling us nothing is unclean
in itself and uncleanness, if it exists
at all, exists only in the mind of the individual who perceives
it. Is this the intended meaning? The
context of Romans 14 is a controversy between meat-eating and
vegetarian brethren. Some, who
were unable to determine if meat offered for sale in the public
marketplace had been sacrificed to
idols, decided not to eat any meat at all for their conscience's
sake. Others, being strong in the faith,
and knowing the idol was nothing, ate all things including meat.
The meat in dispute here was accept-
able as food under the dietary laws, but the vegetarians
considered the meat "unclean", that is,
defiled, because it had been offered to idols. It is in this
context that Paul said nothing is unclean in
itself, but to those who think something is unclean, it is. For
a more thorough explanation of this,
read The Twisting of Scripture to Validate Sunday as the
Sabbath.
Often when I speak to brethren about the dietary laws I get a
rebuttal that goes something like
this: "This is my body and nobody has the right to tell me how
to use it." This argument is flawed
on two accounts. Firstly, as your Creator, God has right of
ownership over you, including your
body. Secondly, He has a spiritual claim on you because He
redeemed you from the Enemy with
the blood of His Son. He has every right to tell us how to use
our bodies and He does so for our
benefit.
Anyone who is serious about their commitment to allow the Holy
Spirit to remake them in the
image of Christ should be looking for opportunities to come into
conformance with God's Law,
rather than looking for excuses to avoid it. Christ is our
example (1 Peter 2:21) and He kept the
Father's commandments (Jn 15:10) even unto death. It is our
reasonable service to present our
bodies to God as a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1) and we are not to
be conformed to this world, but
transformed by the renewing of our minds that we may prove the
good, acceptable and perfect
will of God (vs 2).
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your
own understanding. In all your
ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do
not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and turn away from evil. It will be healing to
your body and refreshment to your
bones." (Prov 3:5-8).
