There are many well meaning sincere believers who still observe the food laws of the Old Testament. Certainly they are not in sin and there may be real health benefits to such a practice. But are believers required to do likewise and are those food laws still expressions of holiness before God?
Main Points
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- God initially created man to be vegetarian – no meat at all.
- God allowed Noah to eat meat – any meat
- He restricted some meats under Moses
- He removed those restrictions in the NT
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God’s original design
Interestingly in the Garden of Eden, man was never commanded to eat animals. Man was originally created to be vegetarian.
Gen 2:16-17
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
After the fall, God made a covenant with Noah. In Gen 9:2-5, He gave him permission to eat ANYTHING that did not have its life blood in it. This included ALL land animals, birds and fishes. No exception was given.
Gen 9:3-4
3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.
4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
During the time of Moses, God introduced a number of restrictions that weren’t there before. Lev. 11 and Deut. 14 give lists of those foods that God called unclean.
Why did God change His mind?
Leviticus 11
44 For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
45 For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.Deut. 14:21
“You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to the Lord your God.
He wanted Israel to be distinct
Lev. 11:44, 45 cite God’s holiness as a reason for Israel having to abstain from unclean foods. Deut. 14:1, 2, 21 are a little more revealing. These verses stress the fact that Israel were God’s people. It was OK for foreigners to eat unclean foods, but not Israel. It must be noted that God never intended bad for the foreigners because Israel were once strangers in Egypt (Ex. 22:21; 23:9). So why then was it OK for them but not for Israel?
Because Israel were God’s people. They were to be different. It had to be clear to anyone by observing His people that their God was holy. The reason for this apparent change of God’s mind was to make a distinction between Israel and the other nations. I may have done differently if I were God, but fortunately for the reader, I am not. God just decided, “I want you to be different, and this is how.”
So the real issue is not the uncleaness of the food itself, but that Israel had to be different from the other nations. Some people erroneously refer to them as “health laws”. Health was never cited as a reason for God giving these laws.
Acts 10
In the New Testament we see a relaxing of those food laws.
Acts 10
12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.
13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”
14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.”
15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed (or declared clean) you must not call common.”
In Acts 10, Peter had a vision in which he saw a number of animals. Then God told him to kill and eat. Peter’s immediate response was “those things are unclean, I don’t eat that stuff.”
Now let’s pause and investigate that
Peter was a Jew. He knew what was considered clean and unclean foods. He knew what the OT law taught. The logical conclusion is that God told Peter to kill and eat animals that were considered to be unclean by OT standards. Why else would Peter respond the way he did?
“OK but that was just a vision.” Yeah, but God gave the vision. God’s parables and analogies were realistic stories and illustrations with a spiritual meaning. In this case, the meaning was that God was now offering salvation to unclean people (Gentiles). This was a clear change in God’s administration. So to illustrate that, He gave a vision to show that what He once called unclean, is now declared clean.
All the parables worked that way. Jesus spoke of farmers sowing seeds, shepherds losing their sheep, marriage feasts. All of these were realistic scenarios with a spiritual meaning. Why would God give Peter a vision of him being allowed to eat unclean foods if there was not a realistic significance to it?
1 Timothy 4
1 Timothy 4:1-5 is the final word on the subject. Everything God made is clean and may be eaten. Period. Teaching otherwise is preaching doctrines of devils.
1 Timothy 4 (NKJV)
1) Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirit and doctrines of demons,
2) speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
3) forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.
4) For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving;
5) for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
This scripture clearly teaches that everything that God created is now sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 1 Timothy 4:4 says “every creature of God is good, nothing is to be refused”. It says that it is sanctified by prayer and the Word of God. Why would it need to be sanctified? Because it was previously considered unclean. That is the only interpretation that makes sense.
For us, believers, there is no such thing as unclean foods. Commanding others to abstain from such foods is an example of a doctrine of demons. It’s so clear, you have to be blind to miss it.
Did God change?
God never changes, BUT His dealings with man has changed many times throughout the years. At the beginning of this article, I showed that God created man to be vegetarian. Then 2000 years later, God allowed the eating of meat. A few hundred years after that, God placed certain restrictions for a very specific reason. Then in the NT, God lifted all of those restrictions. God has not changed, but His administration has changed.
Conclusion
We may choose to observe the food laws for health reasons but we are not required to. We may eat anything that we find palatable. It is sanctified through prayer and the Word of God.
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