People struggle so much with nutrition nowadays. There are a variety of diets and food plans that people follow, mostly to no avail. There is an abundance of death-causing disease and illness among humanity. People seem to be getting sick all the time. Wouldn’t it be great if we could find a way to eat that would create vitality and health instead of causing disease and death?
Well…there is.
Yahuah gave us a diet that is designed to do just that. The Scriptures are full of examples of what we should be eating, which include items that are clean, safe, and satisfying. But there are also directions concerning things we should not eat.
I value my health. I am always trying to find ways to improve my body and mind. As a coach, I also look for ways to improve performance. I have learned that to improve health, fitness, or performance, we must first eliminate our bad behaviors. So before we look at what we should be consuming, let’s take a closer look at what we SHOULD NOT be putting into our bodies.
Where do we find such useful information? The Bible doesn’t talk about nutrition, does it? Well, actually it does. And if we open the Scriptures to Leviticus 11, we find lists of animals not fit for consumption. But before we find out why, let’s look at something the Father says that may change how you view Scripture:
“For I am Yahuah, I shall not change,” – Malachi 3:6
Leviticus is still in our Bible. It still contains instructions from The Most High. And these instructions are still applicable to our lives today. His instructions concerning nutrition have not changed. But in case you think we should take a sharpie and mark out these instructions, let’s take a closer look at why the Father forbids certain animals.
“These are the living creatures which you do eat among all the beasts that are on the earth: Whatever has a split hoof completely divided, chewing the cud, among the beasts, that you do eat.” – Leviticus 11:2-3
I used to read past these verses and not really understand what they meant. Chewing the cud? Split hoof? What does that even mean? It is really quite simple. He is giving His people a method of determining which animals are for consumption. Without knowing biology, the ancient Israelites could look at an animal and easily see if it was fit to eat. So which land animals are NOT for food? He specifically lists three land animals in this chapter:
- Camel
- Rabbit
- Pig
These are animals that have one or the other (chew the cud, split hooves) but not both. Why is this important? Chewing the cud, or rumination, is a way to digest and discard harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites. A cow is a ruminant animal who can re-digest its food. The cow has four parts to it’s stomach, which allows it to properly digest and eliminate any toxins it consumes (link).
And the rabbit? Although it appears to chew the cud, it is not a ruminant animal. In reality, the rabbit eats its own feces pellets to obtain proper nutrients. This is a process called cecotrophy (link). But we can easily identify such an animal because the rabbit does not have a split hoof. The split hoof is how we can distinguish these unfit-for-food animals. Anything without a split hoof is off the menu, such as the rabbit, dog, cat, bear, skunk, squirrel, etc.
The most common animal consumed today is one that has a split hoof but DOES NOT chew the cud – the Pig. We put bacon, sausage, pepperoni, and other forms of pork on everything. In America, bacon is considered to be our national food (link). That should tell you something. But it comes at a cost. Even secular researchers understand that pork is a highly diseased meat that can cause Hepatitis E, Multiple Sclerosis, Liver Cancer, Cirrhosis, Trichinosis, Yersinia, Swine Flu, and many other infirmities (link).
You see, pigs are scavengers, or as I like to call them – trash collectors. They will eat anything. Pigs will eat dead or decaying animals, often their own young, and even their own feces. And since they do not “chew the cud,” bacteria and parasites go directly into their bloodstream and eventually into their flesh.
And then we eat them.
It is not difficult to see how we can become diseased by eating pork. Yahuah says that if we follow His instructions, we will have blessings, and not the diseases of the Egyptians. He gave us good instruction (the Torah) to follow.
“And Yahuah shall turn away from you all sickness and put on you none of the evil diseases of Egypt which you have known,” – Deuteronomy 7:15
“For I gave you good instruction, do not forsake my Torah.” – Proverbs 4:2
And it is not just pig. We eat a number of things we shouldn’t. I don’t believe highly processed or genetically-modified items are part of Yah’s design either. Many of those items can also cause health problems. But it is important to realize that the Father did not give us these food instructions to limit our diet. He gave them out of love. He values our health. The food instructions were not a “law” for only the Israelites. They are a commandment for all believers who wish to be set-apart. He tells us this later in the chapter:
“For I am Yahuah your Elohim, and you shall set yourselves apart. And you shall be set-apart, for I am set-apart.” – Leviticus 11:44
Peter quotes this in his epistle:
“Instead, as the One who called you is set-apart, so you also should become set-apart in all behavior, because it has been written, “Be set-apart, for I am set-apart.” – 1 Peter 15-16
We need to be set apart in ALL BEHAVIOR! This includes our diet. Abstaining from pork is not a Jewish thing. It is a Biblical thing. Paul reminds us of this when he instructs us to be set apart.
“I speak as a man, because of the weakness of your flesh. For even as you did present your members as servants of uncleanness, and of lawlessness resulting in lawlessness, so now present your members as servants of righteousness resulting in set-apartness.” – Romans 6:19
One way to become set apart is by what we consume. Unfortunately, we have been told we can eat anything. The adversary has convinced mankind that the Father’s instructions were only for one people group. We can disregard those pesky instructions found in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. Yah doesn’t care about what we eat, right?
Pigs and other unclean animals are the same today as they were in the time of Moses. And the Father instructs us to set ourselves apart by not eating things that the Egyptians and other pagan nations regularly consumed. It was always about health. And health was always a result of our obedience.
So “did God really say” we should abstain from certain animals?
Absolutely.
Why not pork – link
Harmful bacteria found in MOST pork samples – link
Pigs act as garbage disposals in Las Vegas – link
Yersinia in pork meat – link
FAITH IN MOTION 