Please explain Lev. 11:21, 22. The Bible says that the swine is unclean; it tells also of other beasts that shall not be eaten, and of others that are good to eat, like the locust. Now if we obey by not eating swine, should we not obey by eating the things spoken of? C. E. O.
If you will read again the scripture over which you ask the questions, you will see that the instruction is not mandatory, that is, it is not a command, that thou shalt eat of this, or that, or the other thing, but it is permissive; “these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing.” Man need not eat anything mentioned in that chapter. There are certain things which he should not eat because in their very nature they are unclean, unwholesome, unfit for food. There are certain other things that are permitted to be eaten and which as food are wholesome, of which it is said John the Baptist ate, and of which many of the poor natives of the Eastern lands eat to-day. They are not the best foods by any means, but they do not seem to be unwholesome foods. The best food is not animal food of any kind, but that which God gave man originally. Vegetarianism may be called a fad, may be said to be an unbalanced diet, but there are thousands who have found health in following it when their digestions have simply been ruined by mixed and flesh diets; and there are thousands of others who have maintained and are maintaining good health, under the hardest kind of work, who are vegetarians. By this we mean fruits, grains, and vegetables. God’s ideal diet when He brought His people out of Egypt was manna, not an animal food; but His people cried for the flesh-pots of Egypt; therefore the instruction which He gave in regard to the wholesomeness and unwholesomeness of flesh foods.