From Unclean To Clean Meat In The Bible

I was reading through Leviticus the other day and came across a passage in chapter seven that speaks to what not to eat according to the Lord. Because of my recent interest in making tallow and soaps using the fat of deer I hunt, this caught my attention.

"The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Do not eat any of the fat of cattle, sheep or goats. The fat of an animal found dead or torn by wild animals may be used for any other purpose, but you must not eat it. Anyone who eats the fat of an animal from which a food offering may be presented to the Lord must be cut off from their people. And wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal. Anyone who eats blood must be cut off from their people.’” Leviticus 7:22-27.

The specific line, "may be used for any other purpose, but you must not eat it," gives permission to make soaps, but why do Christians consume fats today? The concept of avoiding fat and blood is repeated throughout Leviticus and other parts of the Bible as well. It is suggested that these dietary guidelines helped to reduce disease among the ancient Israelites.

In chapter eleven, Leviticus lists out specifically what animals we can and cannot eat by dividing them by a single set of traits, "You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud." It cannot be one or the other, it must be both. One that seems contradictory to modern menus is Leviticus 11:6-7 "The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you." We know that pork has risks if not cooked thoroughly because of trichinosis. Strains of bacteria and parasites such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria, and Yersinia enterocolitica can cause foodborne illness. On the same token, rabbits can also carry bacteria and parasites which can cause tularemia in not fully cooked. This can lead to contracting a potentially severe infectious disease. So using the word "unclean" to describe these animals was not to be taken lightly. Before the knowledge of bacteria, God was preventing the Israelites from contracting diseases. Obviously, we know how to prevent these diseases when cooking these meats today, so why are we now allowed to eat them?

These Mosaic laws have changed since their creation thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The time of Moses was a time of testing faith. Arron had two sons who were struck down just for trying to start their own fire instead of trusting the fire of God. By creating strict guidelines, God was creating a very straightforward way of following him in faith. It was also a way to differentiate themselves in culture contrary to the rest of the world who had no faith in God yet. Additionally, things like the fat of the animal were the delicacies of which the Israelites needed to deny themselves in order to allow God to consume the best parts of the animal on the altar and prove their faith. But this time of self-sacrifice has become a thing of the past thanks to the fulfillment of Jesus Christ on the cross whose sacrifice washed away all need for sacrifice on the altar for what would have been a masking of sin. Instead, because of Jesus and our faith in him, the fulfillment of God's promise now washes away our sin and allows our presence with God who before could not be in the presence of sin.

Galatians 3:8-14 specifies why this is the case using God's promise to Abraham as the basis for the argument, "Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: 'All nations will be blessed through you.' So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.' Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because 'the righteous will live by faith.' The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, 'The person who does these things will live by them.' Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.' He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit."

When it comes to dealing with the question of following any of the old laws, the most important verse in understanding and making a decision on these matters remains with Matthew 5:17 when Jesus proclaimed, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." The main purpose of this meaning is to signify the moment that sacrifices are no longer needed to have our sins forgiven because Jesus gave his life as the ultimate sacrifice for us washing our sins away completely. But the application to the rest of the Mosaic Law is just as applicable. In Mark 2:27 Jesus states as a response to being scolded for healing on the Sabbath, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” The purpose of the Sabbath is to take a break and rest our bodies and minds. It is often normal in our culture to work seven days a week to get ahead and so we overwork ourselves causing our mind and bodies to suffer. Just as God asked the Israelites to wash their hands likely to avoid germs and disease amongst them, as well as the laws on what animals are unclean to eat likely because of the diseases they carry, a lot of God's laws are for our health benefits. If Jesus has fulfilled the law and the law was created for the benefit of man, then arguably we can eat meats and fats that we previously had to avoid as long as we understand the risks that God warned us about.

When Peter had a vision from God in Acts 10:11-15, "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.'" While this is a vision that later leads Peter to denounce the idea of calling Gentiles unclean, this should also be noted that the contracts of what was considered unclean before Jesus and after have shifted. Under Jesus, the original sin of Adam and Eve which caused the thorns of the world has been lifted to reveal the pathway to heave through the son of God.

With that new understanding, Acts 15:19-21 then reiterates that of the law of Moses is still important when dealing with the question of Gentiles who do not know the law, but have come to have faith in Jesus. Peter said, “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

Again, what is most important is faith. Romans 14: 2-3 "One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean."

So be free to go forth and hunt. Cook your food well and make it healthy to consume. To paraphrase Acts 10:13, “Get up, kill, and eat.” As Isaac commanded his son Esau in Genesis 27:3, "Take your quiver and bow, and go hunt me some venison!"