Dietary Laws
Though some of the dietary laws in the
Old Testament have practical value,
we must not make these requirements
absolute in today's world.
Here's Gene:
Let's go into Leviticus chapter 11,
where we have a reference to dietary laws.
Leviticus 11, verses 46 and also 47.
This is the law concerning animals...
This is really a summary of an extensive
section leading up to this summary.
This is the law concerning animals, birds,
all living creatures that move in the water,
all creatures that swarm on the ground,
in order to distinguish
between the unclean and the clean,
between the animals that may be eaten
and those that may not be eaten.
Now if you go back into the chapter,
you'll find that there is this
very extensive description of aquatic animals,
for example, that are clean and unclean.
You have a reference to birds that are
clean and unclean--
some can be eaten and some not.
You have a reference to flying insects--
some that are clean, some that are unclean.
You have a reference to swarming creatures--
there's a lot of detail--
that can be eaten or not eaten,
clean and unclean.
And by the way, if you want an illustration
of how a sincere Jew takes this to heart,
you go to Acts chapter 10 where Peter is
having a dream in Joppa on the top of the house.
And he sees a sheet come down,
and the voice says:
Peter, arise and eat. And what did Peter say?
In that sheet were all kinds of animals--
some were clean, some were unclean.
He said: I can't eat unclean animals.
But three times that sheet came down.
Three times he said: I can't eat unclean animals.
Then he woke up.
Now God had a special message through
that vision because He had spoken
already to Cornelius, a Gentile.
And see, Peter as a Jew,
was calling Cornelius unclean.
He couldn't be saved because he's a Gentile.
And God was saying:
Peter, I came to bring the gospel,
the truth, and salvation to the whole world--
not just the Jews.
I am Lord of all.
And Peter had to learn that lesson.
And God is speaking to him through this
Old Testament illustration
that is based on a reality back here in
this Old Testament situation--
clean and unclean animals.
And so basically what we have
here are statements in the Old Testament about
these animals.
In some cases, we're not given any
specific reason as to why some are clean and unclean.
In other situations, we know that there
are hygienic reasons. For example, pork--pigs.
They were scavengers; they weren't pigs
that were reared in a pig farm where they
have a better diet than some human beings.
That's true. Today we raise pigs.
And I grew up right next to a pig farm.
Terrible experience, by the way.
You could smell it for about three to five miles away.
The fact is, they had a wonderful diet.
They weren't scavengers and they
produced great meat.
Hams that wouldn't quit,
pork chops that were incredibly delicious
and certainly would not harm an
individual if they ate them.
In the Old Testament,
if they had eaten some of these animals, they'd die.
They would get tapeworms.
They would die, literally, because of the
dietary situation.
So we know there were some situations
like that in the prohibitions that God was
giving them because He wanted them to live--
not to die.
And today, Jews--just like Peter before he
understood the grace of God for salvation
for all people.
There are Jews today who will not eat pork.
And those of you are going on the Israel trip:
if you love pork, you're not going to
get any in Israel.
You're going to eat wonderful food in 5-star hotels.
And wonderful beef and
vegetables that won't quit.
But you're not going to eat any pork.
And to this day in Israel--whether you're
a religious Jew or just a secular Jew--
they do not serve pork.
They take this very, very seriously.
And it's really funny because on our last
Israel trip we left Tel Aviv and flew to
Frankfurt overnight. And we had breakfast in this
wonderful hotel in Frankfurt
and they served bacon and eggs.
And you should have seen, after ten days,
our people go after bacon and eggs.
I mean, it was wonderful!
Now, I use that illustration to show that
even today Jews take very seriously these prohibitions.
But this is not a prohibition for
all people, for all time.
And even for Jews, if they understand
who Jesus Christ really is.
And you have a very interesting passage
of Scripture in 1st Timothy chapter 4.
Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the
latter times some will depart from the faith,
paying attention to deceitful spirits
[this is important--deceitful spirits]
and the teachings of demons,
through the hypocrisy of liars
whose consciences are seared. ...
And what are they saying?
...They forbid marriage [which God does not]...
There are some religious groups
that forbid marriage.
They still forbid marriage among
religious leaders by saying:
If you don't marry, you're more pure.
Which is unbelievable because some of
those religious systems are filled with childabusers,
and sexual abuse, and fornication,
and adultery, and sin.
See, you violate the will of God,
you're going to set up a situation.
It's a doctrine of demons according to the apostle Paul.
And it's going to open the door to
all kinds of corruptions
because it's against nature.
God created marriage--for most, not all.
...They forbid marriage,
they demand abstinence from foods...
They say if you abstain from certain
foods that's holy.
Various religions have taught that.
Paul says it's the doctrine of demons.
And then he goes on to explain.
And the focus here is foods:
...abstinence from foods that God created
to be received with gratitude by those
who believe and know the truth.
For everything created by God is good...
No restrictions except obviously
you have to be careful.
But God is saying: I created everything.
...[for] God is good, and nothing should be
rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
since it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
And so here is a New Testament teaching
that cuts through these Old Testament prohibitions.
And so we need to understand.
And let me just re-read that Principle:
Though some of the dietary laws in the
Old Testament have practical value,
we must not make these requirements
absolute in today's world.
And there are some Christians--
and some of you have been exposed to this--
who take these dietary laws in the
Old Testament and become very
legalistic about those laws,
and try to apply them to people today
and say: If you don't follow these
dietary laws, you're out of the will of God.
And you're in danger of losing your health.
And that's not what God intended to happen.
That's an overreaction. But notice the
R and R question:
Though God gives unusual freedom in
terms of what we can eat,
why is it important to be cautious under certain circumstances?
And let me just for this moment go to meddling.
Our culture, our society, is one of the
most obese groups of people in the world.
And those aren't just my words.
All you've got to do is see reports on the news.
The number of people that are
overweight from overeating.
And boy does this get personal!
Whew! Talking to myself.
Not only from overeating but eating food.
Gorging ourselves on certain foods
that we know are going to make us overweight.
And just scientific studies show us that
it's not good for us.
So there's some practical value here in
relationship to what is being said.
But it's not the fact that these
dietary laws are to be absorbed into our
system of thought under the
New Covenant, the New Testament.
Dietary laws--they were necessary.
God didn't explain it all.
Some of it was dietary.
Some of it was very important in terms
of cleanliness and health.
But we must be careful how we take this
and generalize it to our situation.
And Paul really makes it clear.
God has created food as a gift from God.