3824 — Clean and Unclean Meats
It would be well for us if we would first of all consider that the distinction between clean and unclean meats is not made by man, but by the Lord, that He did not do this arbitrarily,—that is, that they are not simply unclean because the Word has told us they are unclean, but in their very nature they are unclean, and God has told us that; that is, they are not good for man; nor would He have them for sacrifice. See the list given in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. But the Jews had come to make almost everything of the mere ceremonialism of the law in the days of our Lord. If a man did certain washings, and abstained in certain ways from meats, and a thousand other different things, that made him righteous before God. It is this thing which our Lord strikes against in Matthew 15 and in Mark 7. He wishes to show His children that primarily and fundamentally the heart must be right before God. If the heart was right, all things else would be right. That is the lesson which Paul teaches in Romans 14—"for the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Verse 17. The expression found in 1 Cor. 10:25 has nothing to do with the clean or unclean animals, but simply as to whether the meat has been offered to idols or not. The Jew might go to the shambles and buy his meat, or the Christian might. He would probably buy only that which he believed to be right. The real question was not as to the kind of animal from which the meat came, but had it been offered to idols or not? Our Lord also knew that there would come a time when the gospel would go to Gentiles. It would go to those who in the very nature of the case could not follow the laws of Jewish ceremonialism. It would find men who had no other food to eat, perhaps, except unclean food, that is, from unclean animals. It would find men here and there in the different parts of the world whom, if that thing were made prominent as the Jews made it, it would have cut off from the very gospel of Christ; and therefore that law concerning clean and unclean meats was abolished as a law. But the Lord also knew that there would go with the teaching of His gospel, teaching concerning man's physical being, and that man as he studied God's Word would learn that the Lord Himself had made a distinction between meats clean and unclean. He would learn further that in the very beginning God gave no animal food at all for man to eat, and that when the manna fell from heaven there was no animal food in connection with that. And he would learn, and science would demonstrate, that better than all flesh food is the food which comes from the earth in the way of vegetables and grains and fruits and nuts, and therefore that man ought to seek to live according to the very highest law given in 1 Cor. 10:31, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Now to the man who did not know, pork might be a proper thing to eat; but to one who is enlightened by both Scripture and science, could pork be a proper diet? Could one lead himself to believe, in the light of Scripture and science, that he is glorifying God in living upon the flesh of swine, one of the most corrupt and diseased animals used for food on the face of the earth? Thousands upon thousands who have once used it, and have had, in the old-time expression, their blood filled with humors and constant breaking out of skin diseases, and trouble in various ways, have found upon abjuring the diet a much better state of health, clean, fair skin, and blessing in every way. The writer of this note has had thirty years of experience apart from the pork diet. He had a score of years of experience with the pork dietary. He would not go back to the old bill of fare for anything which this world could offer. He finds far greater delight and strength and clearness of mind and ability to endure in the simple diet of fruits, grains, nuts, and vegetables, and he believes that such a diet as that gives glory to God. Now if we will take into consideration the reason that God had in making distinction between clean and unclean animals, if we will take into consideration the fact that that gospel of the Lord would go to all people, and to those who could not at first abide by these rules, we will see the reason of the laws given in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, and also the lifting of those prohibitions by the apostle, as the gospel was going to the great, multitudinous Gentile world. But we will also see that in the light of that tremendously forcible text, 1 Cor. 10:31, he who has the light on the diet question from both Scriptures and science will want to conform just as far as lies in his power to the original bill of fare which God has Himself given and approved. The "Signs of the Times" recommends it because it knows from long experience that it is the best, and it wants its readers to have the best.