Biblical Standards for Meat and the Prohibition of Blood

Ideally, Seventh-day Adventists should move beyond just eating kosher meat and work toward discarding all flesh foods, as meat-eating is not essential for health and poses significant risks due to disease and its effects on the characterGCB February 13, 1895, page 126.6+1. While the distinction between clean and unclean meats is based on natural sanitary principles and remains a valid health regulation, the ultimate goal is to return to the original diet of fruits, grains, and nutsMR852 3.1+1.

The Standard of Clean and Unclean Meats

The distinction between clean and unclean animals existed long before the Jewish nation and was established by God at the beginningSITI July 12, 1883, page 305.2+1.

• Biblical Guidance: The Bible provides specific criteria; for instance, clean land animals must both part the hoof and chew the cud Leviticus 11:3+1.

• Water Creatures: Only those with both fins and scales are permitted, which excludes items like oysters Leviticus 11:9+1SBD Unclean meats.2.

• Reason for the Law: These regulations were not arbitrary but were based on sanitary principles to preserve the vitality of God's peopleMR852 3.1.

The Prohibition of Blood

Regarding your concern about meat from Europe or elsewhere, the prohibition against eating blood is a perpetual statute that remains binding on all peopleBSSL 21.1+1.

• Noahic Covenant: After the flood, when animal food was first permitted due to the destruction of vegetation, God strictly forbade the consumption of flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood Genesis 9:3-43SG 76.1.

• New Testament Instruction: The apostles explicitly instructed Gentile converts to abstain from blood and from things strangled, confirming that this requirement was not merely a Jewish ceremony that passed away at the cross Acts 15:28-29GBG 15.2.

• Health and Spirituality: Eating blood is injurious to health, and the command to abstain from it covers the danger of backsliding into unholy practicesGBG 15.2+1.

The Call to a Meatless Diet

While the church avoids unclean meats like pork, there is a clear message that all meat-eating should eventually be abandonedMR852 1.1+1.

• Prevalence of Disease: Animals are increasingly diseased, and the process of fitting them for market—often involving filthy conditions and exhaustion from travel—corrupts their blood and makes their flesh poisonousKC 32.5+2.

• Impact on the Mind: A meat diet tends to animalize the nature, strengthening lower passions while weakening the spiritual nature and finer sensitivities of the mindCCh 235.6+2.

• Preparation for the Future: Those waiting for the coming of the Lord are encouraged to give up flesh meats to ensure they have pure blood and clear minds, which is necessary to pass through the final times of pestilenceEv 663.2+1.

Practical Steps for Reform

• Individual Stewardship: While health reform is not a test of fellowship or a means to judge others, individuals are accountable for the light they have received regarding practices that harm the bodyBDOC 9.40+1.

• Wholesome Substitutes: When meat is removed, it should be replaced with properly prepared fruits, grains, and nuts to ensure the body still receives the elements necessary to make good bloodHFM 53.3+2.

• Avoiding Extremes: It is important not to go to extremes that result in a poverty of diet; one must ensure the food is palatable and nourishing to build up the systemTSDF 40.4+1.

The use of flesh meat, even when termed "clean," is not the most healthful path, and the safest course is to leave all meat entirely alone3SG 76.1+1. Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God 1 Corinthians 10:31.

To ensure meat does not contain blood, animals must be killed in a condition where their blood is not heated or inflamed, and the biblical prohibition against eating blood must be strictly observed by completely removing it from the flesh Genesis 9:4+14aSG 147.1. The blood is the life of the animal, and God's law commands that it must not be consumed because it is highly injurious to the human system4aSG 147.1+2.

Conditions of the Animal Before Slaughter

The state of the animal at the time of death determines whether the meat is poisonous or fit for consumption4aSG 147.1+1.

• Avoid Exhaustion: Animals should never be killed for market after being driven a long distance, as they become surfeited and exhausted4aSG 147.1+1.

• Cool Blood: If an animal's blood has become heated from travel or excitement, it is considered highly inflamedCD 385.4+1.

• Emotional State: Animals that become furious or "literally mad" before slaughter produce meat that is poison and can cause sudden death or convulsionsHL 104.1.

• Exercise and Health: Animals deprived of healthy exercise or those known to be diseased should never be used for food4aSG 147.1+1.

The Perpetual Prohibition of Blood

The requirement to abstain from blood is a perpetual statute that did not end at the crossBSSL 21.1.

• Universal Mandate: The prohibition of blood was given to Noah before Israel existed and was later upheld by the apostles for Gentile converts Acts 15:20BSSL 21.1.

• Poisonous Effects: When animals are killed in an unfit state, those who eat the meat are essentially eating poison, which can lead to fever, cholera, or other diseases4aSG 147.1+1.

• Spiritual Accountability: Every person is accountable to God for how they treat their physical life and must guard their body from harmful practicesCD 19.2+1.

... the wiser. Animals are frequently killed that have been driven quite a distance for the slaughter. Their blood has become heated. They are full of flesh, and have been deprived of healthy exercise, and when they have to travel far, they become surfeited, and exhausted, and in that condition are killed for market. Their blood is highly inflamed, and those who eat of their meat, eat poison. Some are not immediately affected, while others are attacked with severe pain, and die from fever,...— 4aSG 147.1 (1864)

... not of itself limit the existence of any institution or ordinance. Proof. Leviticus 3:17. It was a perpetual statute for Israel throughout their generations, to eat no blood: yet the same prohibition rested upon Noah, before Israel had an existence; Genesis 4:4 and after,...— BSSL 21.1 (1864)

...aughter seem to realize what is to take place, and they become furious, and literally mad. They are killed while in this state, and their flesh is prepared for market. Their meat is poison, and has produced, in those who have eaten it, cramps, convulsions, apoplexy, and sudden death.&mda...— HL 104.1 (1897)

...fills the system with disease. By meat eating, the physical, mental, and moral powers are weakened. Man is built up from that which he eats. Animal passions bear sway as the result of meat eating, tobacco using, and liquor drinking.—...— Te 161.3 (1949)

...al life is not to be treated in a haphazard manner. Every organ, every fiber of the being, is to be sacredly guarded from harmful practices.—Testimonies for the Church 6:372, 190— CD 19.2 (1938)

Buying from a farmer is only safe if you can personally ensure the animal is healthy and handled with extreme care, but regardless of the source, the meat must be completely free of blood and fat to meet the requirements of God's law Leviticus 3:172T 60.4. God has given an express, perpetual statute for all generations that no manner of blood or fat shall be eaten Leviticus 7:23-272T 60.4.

Risks of Farm-Raised Animals

Even when buying from a farmer, there are specific dangers that must be addressed to avoid eating poisoned flesh:

• Disease Prevalence: Many animals are sold for market while they are known to be diseased, and even a seemingly healthy animal can contain disgusting scrofulous sores2SM 418.4+1.

• Pre-Slaughter Conditions: If a farmer drives an animal a distance to a slaughterhouse, its blood becomes heated and highly inflamed; those who eat such meat are essentially eating poison2SM 418.4+1.

• The Process of Fattening: The very process of "fitting" or fattening animals for market often produces disease in them because they are deprived of exercise and kept in unhealthy conditionsTSDF 174.5+1.

The Requirement for Blood Removal

Whether killed by a farmer or through a specific religious method, the meat is unfit for a Christian unless it is prepared without blood:

• Biblical Mandate: The blood of Christ alone is the means of forgiveness, and the physical blood of animals was never intended for human consumption Leviticus 17:11-147BC 933.2.

• Method of Killing: When a beast is offered or killed, the blood must be poured out and sprinkled or disposed of according to divine instruction, as the life is in the blood Leviticus 17:13KJV — Leviticus 3:2.

• Health Consequences: The fluids and flesh of diseased animals pass directly into the human circulation, corrupting the blood and increasing the liability to take disease tenfoldTSDF 174.5+1.

The Problem with Modern Markets

You cannot rely solely on the recommendations of a seller or a specific label, as those who sell animals for the city market are not always honest about the animal's health2SM 418.4+1.

• Unknown Causes of Death: Many people die from cancers, tumors, and fevers without realizing the cause was the diseased "dead flesh" they consumedTSDF 79.7+1.

• Animalized Nature: Subsisting on the flesh of dead animals causes the human nature to become "animalized," as we are composed of what we eatSpM 47.2+1.

Ultimately, while there is a distinction between clean and unclean meats, there is no safety in eating the flesh of dead animals in this age because the Lord's curse is resting upon the animal creation due to man's transgressionMR852 3.1+2. Your safest course is to discard flesh food entirely, as even clean meat often decays in the stomach and creates diseaseT15 52.1+1.

European farming standards often fail to meet biblical requirements because they do not prioritize the complete separation of blood or account for the animal's emotional and physical state at the moment of deathTSDF 72.1+1. Biblical methods require that animals be properly slaughtered and the blood separated as a specific religious duty, a practice that is often ignored in general commercial farmingST August 17, 1882, par. 4+1.

The Problem of Residual Blood in European Meat

Even meat purchased from a local farmer in Europe can contain blood that renders it unfit according to biblical statutes7MR 423.2+1.

• Incomplete Drainage: Standard commercial slaughtering may not remove all the blood, which God specifically commanded should not be consumed because it creates a diseased current of blood in the human system7MR 423.2.

• The Consumption of Fat: European standards often encourage serving meat "reeking with fat," yet the Lord gave special directions that both the blood and the fat must be excluded from the diet Leviticus 3:177MR 423.2.

• A Perpetual Statute: The prohibition against eating blood was not a temporary Jewish ceremony but a perpetual statute for all generations, starting with Noah and continuing through the apostles' instructions to the Gentiles Genesis 9:4+1ARSH April 5, 1864, page 146.3.

Harmony with Biblical Standards

For meat to be in harmony with biblical standards, the process must go far beyond just "bleeding" the carcassTSDF 72.1+1.

• State of the Blood: If a farmer drives an animal to a slaughterhouse or treats it inhumanly, the animal's blood becomes heated and highly inflamed; in this condition, the blood is considered poisonTSDF 72.1+1.

• Emotional Trauma: Some animals realize they are about to be killed and become furious or "literally mad"; meat from an animal killed in this state has produced cramps, convulsions, and sudden death in those who eat itTSDF 72.1+1.

• Sacrificial Lessons: The biblical method of slaying was designed to be a solemn lesson, teaching that life is in the blood and that the shedding of blood should only point to the sacrifice of Christ7BC 933.2+1.

The Danger of Undetected Disease

European farmers, despite modern regulations, often sell animals that are not free from diseaseHL 102.5+1.

• Lack of Freedom from Disease: The testimony of examiners is that very few animals are actually free from disease, and many would have died of illness shortly if they had not been slaughtered for foodHL 102.5+1.

• Hidden Poisons: Meat-eaters often do not realize they are eating diseased animals, as the symptoms of "blood-poisoning" or fever may not appear immediatelyTSDF 72.1+1.

• A Safety Warning: I am instructed to tell you that if meat eating ever were safe, it is not safe now because of the rapid increase of disease in the animal kingdomMM 280.4+1.

To truly follow the light given, one should look beyond local farming standards and realize that the safest course is to abstain from the flesh of dead animals altogether3SM 291.1+1. There is no need to eat the flesh of animals when the Lord has provided fruits, grains, and nuts in abundanceTSDF 76.4+1. "Every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall you not eat" Genesis 9:3-4.