Does it matter what kind of meat a person eats? Were all animals created by God to be eaten if we wish? Were we left to decide on the subject?
Long ago God chose the Israelites to understand the truth, and He gave them His laws that would bring blessings, happiness and health if obeyed. Israel had gone into captivity in Egypt and had forgotten God’s laws. God used Moses to lead them out of slavery, and He wanted them to be a model nation in all areas of life, including that of health (Deut. 4:5–8). He gave them laws, such as quarantining the sick and not eating animal fat or blood, which if obeyed would bring about health (Lev. 13:4–5; Lev. 3:17). He also gave them instructions on which animals are good for food and which ones are not.
Characteristics of clean and unclean
In Leviticus 11:3 animals that are clean to eat are characterized as “whatsoever parteth the hoof…and cheweth the cud.” A cow and other animals, including goats, sheep, deer and moose, swallow their food and it is partly digested in their first stomach. However, later it is regurgitated and they chew it again. Some animals chew the cud but they do not have a split hoof. Some animals, such as swine, split the hoof but do not chew the cud. An animal must do both in order to be clean to eat.
The qualifications for clean fish and seafood begin in verse 9: “These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters; whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.” Any thing that lives in the water that does not have both fins and scales is unclean. There are many clean fish, including tuna, bass, red snapper, trout, salmon and perch. There are others but these are some of the more popular. Catfish, shrimp, oysters, eels, crawfish and lobster are not clean to eat because they don’t have both fins and scales.
What about fowl that God has given to be eaten? Verses 13–19 describe birds that are unclean to eat. But how can we know which birds God created to be eaten since no clean birds are listed? The unclean birds illustrate the characteristics of all unclean birds. The characteristics of clean fowl are determined by the dove and the pigeon, which were anciently used for sacrifice (Lev. 1:14). By comparing the characteristics of these two clean birds and those of the unclean birds, we can arrive at the following six characteristics of clean birds:
- They must not be birds of prey.
- They catch food thrown to them in the air, but they bring it to the ground, where they divide it with their bills, if possible before eating it, instead of eating it in the air, or pressing it with one foot to the ground and tearing it with their bills.
- They have an elongated middle front toe and a hind toe.
- They spread their toes so that three front toes are on one side of the perch and the hind toe on the other side.
- They have craws or crops.
- They have a gizzard with a double lining which can easily be separated (JewishEncyclopedia.com “Clean and Unclean Animals”).
Clean birds have all of these characteristics. Unclean birds lack one or more of these characteristics. In addition to the dove and the pigeon, other clean birds are chicken, pheasant, quail, duck, geese, turkey, all song birds and grouse.
God gave Israel His spiritual laws so they could enjoy the blessings of obedience, and the laws of health so that they would enjoy good health. Our Creator made the clean animals to be nutritious and easily digested. The unclean animals were created as scavengers, beasts of burden and hunters to keep the animal population balanced. They were not created to be eaten, and they are not fit for human food.
Supported by science
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown’s commentary on Leviticus 11 contains some interesting comments on animals that chew the cud and part the hoof:
Ruminating animals, by the peculiar structure of their stomachs, digest their food more fully than others. It is found that in the act of chewing the cud a large portion of the poisonous properties of noxious plants eaten by them passes off by the salivary glands. This power of secreting the poisonous effects of vegetables is said to be particularly remarkable in cows and goats, whose mouths are often sore, and sometimes bleed, in consequence. Their flesh is therefore in a better state for food, as it contains more of the nutritious juices, is more easily digested in the human stomach, and is consequently more easily assimilated. Animals which do not chew the cud convert their food less perfectly: their flesh is therefore unwholesome, from the gross animal juices with which they abound, and is apt to produce scorbutic and scrofulous disorders.
But the animals that may be eaten are those which “part the hoof and chew the cud;” and this is another means of freeing the flesh of the animal from noxious substances.
They continue on, commenting that the swine “is a filthy, foul–feeding animal, and it wants one of the natural provisions for purifying the system, it cheweth not the cud.” Trichinosis is a parasitic roundworm that can be spread by eating raw or undercooked pork and other unclean meats.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown’s commentary explains the significance of fins and scales in clean fish by saying that, “The fins and scales are the means by which the excrescences of fish are carried off, the same as in animals by perspiration. I have never known an instance of disease produced by eating such fish; but those that have no fins and scales cause, in hot climates, the most malignant disorders when eaten; in many cases they prove a mortal poison.”
Research makes it clear why God says we are not to eat the animals He labels as unclean. But do most people follow these laws? Most theologians and ministers today teach that these laws no longer apply, often turning to Acts 10 to support their claim that Christ declared all meats clean to eat.
Did Christ declare all meats clean?
In this chapter Peter goes up on the housetop around the noon hour to pray, and he becomes very hungry. He sees a vision that is strange to him, and at first he does not understand the meaning. A sheet comes down with “all manner of beasts of the earth…creeping things, and fowls of the air” (v. 12). A voice tells Peter to kill and eat these unclean animals, but Peter responds by saying, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean” (v. 14). These instructions are repeated three times.
The interesting thing here is that Peter, who was the leading apostle chosen by Christ and who heard Him teach and give instructions after He was resurrected, knew that the law concerning clean and unclean meats was still binding ten years later. As you read this chapter you see that Peter did not eat. He knew that there had to be some meaning to the vision.
Chapter 10 begins with God sending an angel to a Gentile named Cornelius, instructing him to send men to Joppa to bring Peter to see Cornelius. After meeting with him, Peter understands the meaning of the vision and states in the last part of verse 28, “but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.”
This vision was not about changing the law of clean and unclean meats. The Jews would not associate with the Gentiles and considered them to be common or unclean. God used this vision to show that He was now opening salvation to the Gentiles, where before He was only dealing with the Israelites.
Another passage often improperly used as proof that dietary laws are no longer in force is found in Mark 7. Some of Jesus’ disciples began to eat without first washing their hands in the traditional manner followed by the Pharisees. Some Bible translations add words to Jesus’ answer in verse 19 suggesting that He did away with the dietary laws, but this is not in the original Greek text. Jesus was pointing out that a little dirt on our hands is not the important thing. It is the wrong influences on our attitudes that cause us to sin. Peter was one of the disciples at this meal, and if Christ had indeed declared all meats clean, Peter would not have responded as he did to the vision recorded in Acts 10.
I Timothy 4 contains another passage that is sometimes misunderstood. Paul is telling Timothy that in the latter days some would “depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (v. 1 NKJV). These doctrines would include “commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth” (v. 3). What is truth? Christ said in John 17:17, “Thy word is truth.” So the Bible reveals the truth about which meats are to be eaten. I Timothy 4:5 tells us that such food is “sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” What does it mean to sanctify something? Strong’s Concordance gives the meaning as it is used in this verse as “to make holy, purify or consecrate, hallow, be holy.” So the meats that are being discussed here are those that have been set apart in the word of God as clean to eat.
For our benefit
The Bible is clear that God did not create all animals to be eaten, but our loving Creator did provide animals, fowl and fish that are good for food and for our health. There is coming a time just ahead of us when all people will understand and live by all of God’s laws, including His dietary laws: “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isa. 2:2–3).