In Leviticus 11, God gave the people of Israel dietary laws as a part of the
Mosaic covenant. These laws were fairly simple and straightforward, but there
are still questions and controversy over them today. God gave the people of
Israel these dietary laws because He wanted them to be healthy and holy, however
following them is no longer necessary to obtain salvation or to live as a
Christian.
Leviticus 11:1-23 contains a listing of clean and unclean food. God only allowed
the Israelites to eat those foods which He qualified as clean. The Israelites
were permitted to eat animals with cloven hoofs that chew the cud (Lev. 11:3-8).
These animals include cows, sheep, deer, and buffalo. Animals which do not fall
into this category include pigs, rabbits, camels, horses, rodents, and
squirrels. The Israelites were also permitted to eat any seafood with fins and
scales (Lev. 11:9-12). These fish include bass, cod, flounder, grouper, haddock,
halibut, herring, mackerel, orange roughy, perch, sole, salmon, red snapper,
trout, and tuna. Forbidden seafood includes shrimp, lobster, crab, clams,
scallops, snails, swordfish, catfish, crocodiles, dolphins, and sharks without
scales. The Israelites were also given a list of birds of prey they could not
eat (Lev. 11:13-19). This list includes eagles, vultures, buzzards, falcons,
ravens, ostriches, sea gulls, hawks, storks, herons, bats, owls, and a few
unknown birds. Finally, the Israelites were permitted to eat locusts,
grasshoppers, and crickets, but all other insects were forbidden (Lev.
11:20-23).
The animals the Israelites were permitted to eat are known today as herbivores.
Herbivores are vegetarian animals. Their digestive tract is six to twelve times
the length of their bodies, so it digests their food thoroughly and makes it
very unlikely for any toxins and poisons to remain in their bodies (Tessler 50).
Omnivores, the forbidden animals, eat both plants and animals. Their digestive
tracts are much shorter than herbivores because the food they eat must be
removed from their body quickly so that any poisons in the food will not kill
them (Tessler 51).
Also, some of the animals the Israelites were forbidden to eat quite often carry
diseases. Pigs carry many diseases and parasites. They also carry organisms
that, when ingested, become tapeworms. The most well known tapeworm is
trichinella spiralis, commonly known as trichinosis. Trichinosis worms are so
small that they can only be detected through using a high-powered microscope
(Tessler 51). Trichinosis has no cure and can “cripple or even kill anyone that
eats as little as a forkful of contaminated food” (Tessler 51). Some of the
first symptoms of trichinosis are fever and stomach discomfort (Harrison 125).
These can progress into hives, pains in various muscles, and edema (Harrison
125). In the final stage, “small knotlike swellings form in the muscles to cause
a great deal of discomfort” (Harrison 125). “Trichinosis can mimic other
diseases such as arthritis, rheumatism, or typhoid fever” (Tessler 51).
Trichinosis is not the only tapeworm that organisms found in pigs produce when
ingested. Another tapeworm produced by the organism cysticercus cellulosae is
the taenia solium (Harrison 125). This worm grows to about 2.5 meters in length,
and can cause attacks that resemble epileptic fits (Harrison 125). Both of these
worms are normally killed if the meat is well cooked, but can still survive as
this story reveals:
“The author once had a student whose teenage son contracted a tapeworm.
Exhaustive investigation revealed that the infecting organism had originated in
a tin of a popular North American brand of cooked pork shoulder. This product
had been processed under properly controlled conditions at high temperatures,
but even these precautions were insufficient to kill the parasitic organism
present in the meat.” (Harrison 125)
Another disease caused by pork products is toxoplasmosis (Harrison 125). This
disease resembles pneumonia and is caused by an organism that is “resistant to
freezing, the action of gastric juices, or the normal range of cooking
temperatures” (Harrison 125). Pigs also have more cases of arthritis than any
other animal. As a result, Dr. Gordon Tessler believes that “arthritis may be a
virus or a parasite that is transmitted from pigs to humans as a direct result
of eating the flesh…of pigs” (52). Finally, many people commonly have an
allergic reaction after eating pork (Harrison 125). This reaction has nothing to
do with how thoroughly the meat is cooked (Harrison 125).
Pigs are not the only unclean animals that carry disease. Rabbits and hares can
carry a disease known as tularemia (Hartley 124). The symptoms of this disease
include “chills, fever, general malaise and swollen glands” (Harrison 124).
Obviously, God knew what He was doing when He told the Israelites not to eat
these animals.
The second category of animals in Leviticus 11 is seafood. God told the
Israelites to only eat fish with fins and scales. Scales are important to a fish
because they protect them from infection (Gasson 62). So, clean fish are
healthier than unclean fish because they have fewer diseases. Fins also cause a
fish to be healthier because they allow the fish to determine its own course and
stay away from water which is contaminated, rather than drifting with the
current (Pepin “Chapter 13” 2). Clean fish are also healthier than unclean fish
because of where they live and what they eat. “Fish without fins or scales tend
to burrow into the mud and become sources of dangerous bacteria” (Wenham 167).
These fish are scavenger fish and were created by God to clean up the ocean.
Oysters, clams, and mussels sit at the bottom of the ocean and filter water
through their bodies to absorb nutrients (Tessler 58). However, they absorb far
more than nutrients from this water, since “they often accumulate a dangerous
dose of bacteria and viruses from human sewage” as well (Tessler 58). These
viruses can be as deadly as hepatitis (Tessler 58). As a result, “these
scavenger fish are cesspools of filth, containing high levels of cholesterol,
mercury, disease, worms, chemicals, and parasites” (Tessler 57). High levels of
mercury can cause various neurological diseases such as Lou Gehrig’s disease
(Pepin “Chapter 13” 2). Even when these seafood “delicacies” are well-cooked,
those who eat them can still be affected by “deadly nerve toxins called ‘red
tides’” (Tessler 58). These toxins can cause paralysis and memory loss (Tessler
58). Nutritionist Ted Broer recounts this story:
“I’ll never forget a time in the Florida Keys when I was preparing to go diving.
When the previous client’s boat came in with a fresh catch of lobsters, I
watched the divemaster pull lobster after lobster out of large buckets, break
off the tails (which contain most of the “edible” meat) and throw the heads back
into the water. Behind this man were dozens of cats begging for the lobsters. It
looked as if the dive ship supported the entire cat population of the Keys. This
was so intriguing that I had to ask the man, ‘Why don’t you feed these lobster
heads to the cats instead of throwing them back in the water?’ ‘Oh, no,’ he
said, ‘we can’t give them to the cats. The poison in the lobsters will kill the
cats.’” (119-120)
Today, lobsters are considered a delicacy, but how nutritious can they be if the
poison in uncooked lobsters can kill a cat? Cats are notorious for eating
garbage and not being affected, so lobster meat must have far more than just a
few germs that are killed when the meat is cooked. Once again, God knew what He
was doing when He told the Israelites that these forbidden creatures were an
abomination.
The final two categories of food are birds of prey and insects. Birds of prey
were forbidden for the same reasons as the omnivores and scavenger fish. They
were created by God to clean up the earth, not as food for mankind. God’s
standards for insect consumption are usually not challenged. This is especially
true if one considers that unclean insects feed upon “filth, rubbish or carrion”
(Harrison 129). However, the insects that are edible have amazing nutritional
value. Locusts contain around 50% protein, which makes them highly nutritious,
even though they do not have many vitamins (Harrison 129). With the addition of
honey, they can provide a balanced diet, which is demonstrated by John the
Baptist (Matt. 3:4).
Since there are so many health benefits to following the dietary laws, Jews
should, on average, be healthier than the average person. This has been proven
to be true throughout history (Kellogg 303). During the days when the plague
swept over Europe, killing thousands, so few Jews were sick that they were
accused of poisoning their Gentile neighbors (Kellogg 303). Also, in the early
20th century, the Jews were spared from a cholera epidemic in Italy (Kellogg
303). According to Professor Hosmer:
“Throughout the entire history of Israel, the wisdom of the ancient lawgivers in
these respects has been remarkably shown. In times of pestilence the Jews have
suffered far less than others; as regards longevity and general health, they
have in every age been noteworthy, and, at the present day, in the
life-insurance offices, the life of a Jew is said to be worth much more than
that of men of other stock.” (qtd. in Kellogg 304)
Dr. Behrends of London calculated the average life of a Jew in 1889 (Kellogg
302). It was, in Prussia, 5 years longer than the general population, in Furth,
11 years longer than that of the average Christian, and in Hungary, 26 years
longer than that of the Croats, and 20 years longer than that of the Germans
(Kellogg 304).
As the entire book demonstrates, the bottom line in Leviticus is holiness. The
theme verse of Leviticus, which is repeated three other times throughout the
book and twice in chapter 11, is “You shall be holy; for I am holy” (11:45b).
God gave the Israelites the dietary laws not only to keep them healthy, but also
to set them apart as a holy people. “The dietary laws of Leviticus commemorate
the creation and the Creator and beckon us toward holiness” (Kass). “In
following these dietary laws, the Israelites obeyed God’s instructions several
times each day, developing deep in their consciousness an attitude of obedience
to God. That all the people observed these laws at every meal was a mighty force
of solidarity, uniting the people as God’s special treasure” (Hartley 163). “To
be forbidden to indulge in certain foods because of religious considerations
would emphasize for the Israelites the need to obey God’s directions implicitly,
while reinforcing in their minds the conviction that they were distinctive as
the people of God” (Harrison 123).
In Mark 7:14-23, Jesus discusses defilement. He says in verses 14 and 15: “There
is nothing that enters a man from outside which can defile him; but the things
which come out of him, those are the things that defile a man.” Jesus later
expounds on this sentence to His disciples by saying: “Whatever enters a man
from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his
stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods” (Mk. 7:18-19). This verse
is commonly used to “prove” that Jesus declared that all foods were healthy and
safe to eat. This interpretation completely misses Jesus’ point. In verses 21
and 22, Jesus goes on to tell what does defile a man: “Evil thoughts,
adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil
eye, blasphemy, pride, [and] foolishness.” Jesus is not saying that it does not
matter what is eaten, but is rather placing more importance upon what is in the
heart. Jesus is far more concerned with the motives and actions of the heart
than with what food is eaten. However, just because Jesus placed more importance
upon the heart than the body, unclean animals did not change:
“Did God re-invent pigs after Jesus rose from the dead? Did pigs suddenly look
at the calendar, gasp and stop eating maggots and their own waste when they
realized that 32 A.D. had come and gone? Did Christ’s resurrection spontaneously
stop causing worms and parasites to enter our bodies when we eat pork?...Clean
and unclean food is not a question of legalism, dates or grace vs law. It is an
issue of the nature of the animal, what they eat, and whether or not they will
poison our system or provide nutrition to us.” (Pepin “Chapter 12” 6)
As a final note, what did Jesus actually do with pigs? Not only did He abstain
from eating pork, but in Mark 5:11-13, he sent demons into about 2,000 pigs that
ran into the sea and drowned themselves. “Jesus allowed unclean spirits to enter
unclean animals” (Tessler 53).
The other New Testament passage that is often quoted to “prove” that the dietary
laws are no longer effective is Acts 10:9-16. In this passage, Peter has a
vision in which he saw:
“An object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and
let down to the earth. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth,
wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him,
‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘Not so, Lord! For I have never
eaten anything common or unclean.’ And a voice spoke to him again the second
time, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’ This was done three
times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.”
After this vision, representatives from Cornelius, a Gentile, arrive at Peter’s
house. As they are arriving the Spirit says to him, “go down and go with them,
doubting nothing; for I have sent them” (10:20). Normally, a Jew would have
nothing to do with a Gentile, but Peter realizes that the gospel is for all men
because of his vision and this word. This passage is not telling Peter to
literally go eat pork roast, but rather to share the gospel with all men. The
food is simply used as an allegory. God used it to show Peter “that I should not
call any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28). God could have showed Peter a
vision of a net with a group of Gentile men on it and told him to go and witness
to them; but God is usually a bit more subtle than that.
There are other New Testament passages which can be quoted in support of the
abolition of the dietary laws, such as Romans 14:14, Titus 1:15a, and I Timothy
4:3b-5, however, as is shown in 1 Corinthians 8, these passages are dealing with
meat offered to idols. Paul basically says that he personally does not see
anything wrong with eating this meat but “if food makes my brother stumble, I
will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble” (8:13).
The final word on clean and unclean food in the New Testament is given in Acts
15. In this chapter, a council met to determine what standards to require for
Gentiles. They decided not to require them to follow the dietary laws or to be
circumcised. They only had to “abstain from things polluted by idols, from
sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood” (15:20). Therefore,
keeping the dietary laws is not a requirement for salvation or living as a
Christian. However, it is interesting to note that in medically advanced
societies, most children are now circumcised at birth. So, since that is a
health benefit, it makes sense that the dietary laws would be a health benefit
as well.
The dietary laws of Leviticus 11 were given to the Israelites by God to keep
them healthy and holy. Keeping these laws is no longer required for salvation or
living as a Christian, but still provides health benefits. “Disobedience to
God’s dietary laws will not send you to hell…[but] may get you to heaven faster”
(Pepin “Chapter 12” 1).
Bibliography
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