Articles
Thus He Declared All Foods Clean
by Gordon Enger
There is a discourse in Mark chapter 7, which ends with those
words in several Bible translations. Is this in fact what Jesus
was saying, or is the phrase, “thus he declared all foods
clean” a stretch of the intent of Jesus? Sometimes when
we have a particular belief, we look for Scriptures which seem
to substantiate our beliefs. Instead of taking the whole of
Scripture to see what God is trying to tell us, we look for
passages which bolster our beliefs. I believe this is the case
with this passage found in Mark.
Let’s go back to the beginning of the dialogue to get
the subject or intent of the passage. Beginning in verse 5,
we find the Pharisees and teachers of the law asking Jesus, “Why
don’t your disciples live according to the tradition
of the elders instead of eating their food with “unclean
hands?” This is the subject matter of what is to follow.
This is not a discussion of “clean” or “unclean
food” but rather the topic is eating with ceremonially
unclean hands.
In fact, the idea of “unclean food” is an oxymoron.
There is no such thing as “unclean food.” There
are clean animals which may be eaten as food and there are
unclean animals which are not considered food. Food is that
which God pronounced as food. Unclean animals have another
purpose, which is to clean contaminants from the earth.
Jesus replied to their question by telling them that they
worship God in vain and that their teachings are but man made
rules. He goes on to say, “You have a fine way of setting
aside the commands of God, in order to observe your
own tradition.” Are we then to suppose, after chastising
them about setting aside God’s commands, that he will
do the same thing just a few verses later? I don’t think
that is a plausible conclusion. In fact, it is not only implausible,
but also impossible.
Jesus, in order to be a suitable sin offering, was perfect
in his lawful observance of the word of God. I might point
out that, as God, they were his words. He
was brought up in an observant home, surrounded by observant
people. He was the epitome of the lawful person. He observed
the law in every detail in order to be without spot or blemish.
Also, it was necessary for him to be in compliance with his
instructions given earlier in the law, since his word says
that he never changes.
Suppose you were living in Jerusalem at the time Christ was
doing miracles and teaching. Here comes this fellow, who announces
a sign or wonder, that sign or wonder comes to pass, and then
he advocates a different law than the law of Moses. You, being
well versed in the law, know that it says, “If a prophet,
or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces
to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder
of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, ‘Let
us follow other gods’ (gods you have not known) ‘and
let us worship them,’ you must not listen to the words
of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you
to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with
all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and
him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey Him;
serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or dreamer must
be put to death, because he preached rebellion against the
Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you
from the land of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the
way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge
the evil from among you.” (Deuteronomy
13:1-5)
Jesus could not have spoken contrary to the instructions given
in Deuteronomy. If he had, his very law would have branded
him as a rebel against God and it would have been required
for him to be put to death as a rebel. His very instructions
in Deuteronomy were given to prevent some one from changing
the law.
What Jesus was telling the disciples in verses 18 and 19,
was that eating with “ceremonially unclean hands” did
not defile a person. In fact, what you eat just goes through
your digestive system and into the latrine. Looking at the
Greek text and doing a word for word translation results in
the following: “And he says to them, Thus also you
undiscerning are? Not do perceive you that all that from outside
entering into a person not is able him to profane, because
not it does enter of him into the heart, but into the belly,
and into the latrine goes out, purging all the foods?”
It kind of makes you wonder where the translators got, “and
saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.” They got
all this from four words which properly translated say “purging
all the foods.”
Am I dense when I do not see that describing the elimination
process makes a statement which declares “all food clean?”
Well, Peter must have been dense as well. Some 15 years later,
Peter had a vision of a sheet coming down with clean and unclean
animals. Seeing these things, Peter exclaimed, “Nothing
impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.” He
obviously had not heard Jesus say that everything was alright
to eat.
Of course, this is another text that is used to declare all
foods clean. One of the rules of hermeneutics is to let the
text explain itself. Peter did not understand what God was
trying to tell him in this vision until after he went to Cornelius.
He then realized that God was telling him “that I should
not call any man impure or unclean.” (Acts
10:28) This vision was not about abolishing dietary laws, but
was an instruction to go to the Gentiles and not treat them
as unclean.
Let’s move forward to see if the food laws have changed
in a time still future to us. In the final chapter of Isaiah,
we find prophesy dealing with the return of Christ to pour
out God’s wrath on those who rebel against him. It is
interesting to note the description of the rebellious activities
of these folks destined for wrath.
Isaiah 66:15-18
For behold, God will come with fire and
with his chariots, like a whirlwind, to render his anger
with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by
fire and by his sword God will judge all flesh, and the
slain of God shall be many. “Those who sanctify
themselves and purify themselves, to go to the gardens
after an idol in the midst, eating swine’s
flesh and
the abomination and the mouse, shall be consumed together,” says
God. For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall
be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they
shall come and see my glory. (NKJV)
God does not change.
Eating unclean animals is still an abomination to him. We have looked briefly at some Biblical reasons for not eating
unclean things. Now I would like to look at some medical reasons
for abstaining. There is an interesting article published in
1953 in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine, published
by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, in a study
entitled “An Experimental Pharmacological Appreciation
of Leviticus XI and Deuteronomy XIV” by David I. Macht,
M.D. In the article, it is stated that Dr. Macht tested extracts
of meats of the various “clean” and “unclean” animals
according to the Dietary Law, including 54 kinds of fish, using
a standard toxicological test. The results were absolutely
amazing for a scientific study! Every single animal meat that
the Dietary Law said was inedible, tested out as toxic in Dr.
Macht’s experiments. Every single animal meat that God
said was edible, tested out as non-toxic. There was a 100%
correlation between the Dietary Law and the scientific study!
Kevin Trudeau, in his book, “Natural Cures “They” Don’t
Want You To Know About,” asks a series of questions
to determine if you have toxins in your body. One of the
questions is, “Do you eat pork or shellfish?” Although
Mr. Trudeau makes no claim to be a Christian or a Jew, he
has discovered through his research that eating those things
causes disease. He made another interesting statement in
the book that goes hand in hand with proper diet. (That is
diet according to God.) He said, “Rest from Friday
sundown to Saturday sundown. Each week the moon cycles are
in position to promote healing and rejuvenation in the body.
Resting during this time promotes the optimal rejuvenation
of your cells.” Do you think God knew about this when
he commanded us to keep the Sabbath day rest?
Eating according to God’s eating plan is not only being
obedient but also better for your health. God did say, “do
these things and it will go well with you.” There are
some books you can read about eating Biblically. Three of which
are “What Would Jesus Eat” by Don Colbert, M.D., “What
You Don’t Know May Be Killing You” by Don Colbert,
M.D., and “Eating From The Bible” by Jordan Rubin.
These will give you further insight as to why God’s dietary
laws have not been repealed.
Finally, I would like to look at a powerful piece of empirical
evidence that God’s dietary laws are still in effect.
This piece of evidence does not directly involve meats but
rather his laws concerning hygienic regulations which were
included right beside the dietary laws. The ancient Israelites
could not have known the scientific basis for God’s instruction
in this regard, but they were blessed if they obeyed them.
These health-related regulations involved the quarantining
of the sick in Leviticus 13:1-46, the burning or washing of
garments of sick people in Leviticus 13:47-59, and the thorough
bathing of sick people before ending quarantines found in Leviticus
14:8-10. Leviticus 15 required washing the garments of those
with bodily discharges. The law even required bathing and clothes-washing
of anyone who was spit upon by a sick person, and called for
the destruction or washing of cookware and utensils used by
sick people. Even touching the bed-linens of a person with
a bodily discharge required attendants to wash themselves and
their clothing. In Deuteronomy, it was required for the latrines
to be placed outside the camp away from the living quarters,
and the excrement to be buried.
It is easy for us today to readily see that the above laws
have proven to be scientifically sound instructions to prevent
the spread of disease-causing bacteria. The astounding part
is that these instructions were given 3000 years before science
realized these were the ways to slow down and eliminate the
spread of diseases. God obviously understood the science of
microbiology underlying these instructions.
Were God’s hygienic laws “done away with” in
the New Testament? You would have to be insane to think such
a thing. Modern science now knows these laws of God are critically
necessary elements in maintaining proper hygiene in a hospital.
For millennia, mankind ignored these God-given laws which resulted
in untold death, disease, and suffering.
Let’s look at one example of the consequences of disobeying
God’s health laws. By medieval times, Christianity had
undergone a radical change from its early apostolic roots. Collier’s
Encyclopedia states:
“The superstition and dogmatism that marked the rise
of Christianity in Europe continued to flourish throughout
the Middle Ages. As in Babylon, astrology ruled the prognosis…Hygiene
and sanitation were at a very low level, since the human
body was held in contempt. St. Jerome saw no reason for any
baths after the baptism.”
By rejecting the sanitation codes of God, Medieval Europe
was inviting disaster. Possibly, Christians deliberately ignored
God’s laws for fear of “Judaizing.” In the
14 th century, Europe was hit with the plague called “the
black death.” The Encyclopedia Americana records:
“The Black Death was bubonic plague or its more virulent
relative, pneumonic plague … The plague bacillus was
transmitted either by fleas of black rats or by the infected
wastes of its victims. When the Black Death struck, Europe
was completely helpless to combat it…standards of
public health and personal hygiene were nearly non-existent … It
is estimated that somewhere between one-quarter and one-third
of Europe’s population died in the years 1347-1350...Jews
were accused of spreading the plague by poisoning wells,
and pogroms directed against them occurred in the Rhineland
and Switzerland.”
This plague flourished in conditions of disobedience to God’s
laws on sanitation and hygiene. It is plain to see that if
there had been a widespread obedience to God’s laws,
such a thing would never have happened. There would have been
proper washing and disposal of contaminated things, burning
of clothes, etc.
It is estimated that in succeeding centuries, another 13,000,000
died of plagues in Europe. The plague spread to China where
10’s of millions died also. Because people mistakenly
believed God’s laws were no longer in effect or “done
away with,” these catastrophes happened. The scientific
reality of God’s laws on sanitation will continue as
long as humans are on this planet.
When it became known that the Black Plague was sparing the
Jews, did the world seek to find out the reason and then emulate
them? No, they set out to kill them and blamed them for the
plague.
You are probably asking what this has to do with the subject
of unclean meat. Plenty. God’s sanitation laws are part
of the “law of Moses” found right beside the dietary
laws. It seems illogical to say the dietary laws are not in
effect when it is obvious the health laws have not been repealed.
If we believe that God is an all-wise creator as well as a
loving Father, it logically follows that he knows what is good
for us and has given us instruction in the operators manual
called the Bible.
Jesus would not, could not, and did not declare all foods
clean. |
