Subject: Hank - Diet ??? |
Bible Note: Hi Steve: Adam and Eve could not disobey God until He established a "law" of not eating from the Tree of Life". I said all this to point out that you must explain to me why God had Noah take 7 clean animals of each kind but only 2 unclean of each kind (Gen.7:2). Gen. 8:20 says they sacrificed only clean animals to God after the flood. Gen. 9:3 says "every thing that liveth shall be meat for you: even as the green herb have I goven you all things". This does not mean the unclean are for food because if they sacrificed the unclean or ate them then how would those animals survive because they were only brought in to the ark in pairs (male / female). Kill one and you end the species. It it common sense. Plus that fact that God recognized the animals to be clean/unclean when told noah how to bring the animals into the ark. Regarding the last verse I mentioned he compares animals as food jusr as God gave the green herb in the original diet. God did not expect them to eat the bad poisonous plants and things that grow !!! Deuteronomy 14:2,3 says they should not eat any abominable thing because you are a peculiar people. Isaiah 65:4 which I will repeat says swine's flesh is abominable. We are being very naive to think that unclean animals that God labelled as abominable are now OK in his sight. It would be like saying sexual immorality is OK now in his sight. God is a God of truth and consistentcy. People of God (Jew or Gentile) should obey God. They will stand out amonst other people because they follow God and not what selfish man want to do out of their fleshly desire. Sexual immorality is another example. 1.2) Why do you assume that since the Bible is silent on what the Gentiles ate they were not eating clean meat? This reminds me of our prior notes: You mentioned regarding the "law" in Gal 2 which the Jews were making the Gentiles keep. Just so you know Acts 15:24 (Jerusalem Decree) it says "you must be circumcised and keep the law - to whom we gave no such commandment" They clearly gave instruction to Gentiles that they need not be circumcised as well "abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality". This is a very interesting question you have because I find it ironic that they did not list the 10 commandments. Were they to love there neighbor? Were they not to lie ? Were they to keep the Sabbath (7th day or the 1st) ? From my study I have found that the reason these certain items were declared was that they had become very devisive and controvertial points amoungst the new Christians. For example - the gentiles would eat an animal that happened to strangle itself to death. Alot of animals were kept in closed areas and tied around the neck. They accidentally stangled themself by the rope or jumped over a fence and hanged themself they would die. The proper way God wanted clean animals (meat) to be killed was by cutting throat to allow blood to drain and then the meat would be free from blood in the proper way God wanted it to be done. Gentiles, I guess thought it was not a big deal to eat these stangled animals and probably thought it was a waste not to eat them. But God expects obedience. So that is why this issue was cleared up at the council -- similarily with circumcision. The sexual immorality had to do with many of the pagan customs involving sacrifices is that many sexual acts were performed to honour the idols and this again was a strick warning to the Gentiles to get away fro those practices. There is no mention of clean/unclean meat just like no mention of the Sabbath -- but the fact is gentiles kept the Sabbath and the diet law because these were well know law of God. This is what set the Jewish people out as being "peculiar" - because they kept the law of God. Gentile Christians would being doing the same if there heart was changed and they love for what Christ did for them would move them to keep His law. The issues that needed clarification were issues coming from the pagan past. Circumcision was dealt with immediately as not a requirement to keep to be a Christian follower of the law. But ironically, a good majority of Christians do get circumcised in our day because circumcsion had a deeper meaning of just the sign of a Jew it also had a very good health principle behind it. Similarily, the diet even thought started before Israel it had greater meaning which is health and living a long life. Before man ate meat they lived to 900 years - since meat and flood only 100. Facts are the facts. 1.3) Jesus is not "under law" because He is not gulity of sin. We are ALL guilty of sin because we are sinners. Jesus did not sin. |