Bible Question:

Is it a sin to eat unclean animals today?

Bible Answer:

The Mosaic Law prohibited the eating of certain animals. These foods were called unclean. The list of the unclean foods can be establish in Leviticus xi:1-47 and Deuteronomy xiv:1-21. The article "Could Jesus, as a faithful Jew, accept eaten turkey on Thanksgiving 24-hour interval?" provides a summary of the foods that the Mosaic Law prohibited. The question that will be answered in this commodity is, "Is information technology a sin to swallow unclean animals today?"

Peter's Vision of Clean and Unclean

Apostle Peter'south Dream

Acts 10:nine-16 tells usa that the campaigner Peter barbarous into a trance while preparing some food on the roof of a firm. While in the trance, he saw a behemothic sheet coming downwardly from the heaven. The sheet contained a wide variety of animals.

On the next twenty-four hour period, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went upwardly on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. Simply he became hungry and was desiring to eat; but while they were making preparations, he roughshod into a trance; and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the footing, and there were in it all kinds of iv-footed animals and crawling creatures of the globe and birds of the air. A voice came to him, "Become upwardly, Peter, kill and eat!" But Peter said, "Past no means, Lord, for I have never eaten annihilation unholy and unclean." Again a vocalisation came to him a second fourth dimension, "What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy." This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken upward into the heaven. Acts 10:9-xvi (NASB)

Amidst these animals were some unclean animals. Peter was allowable to eat the animals three times. Twice he refused to swallow. He finally obeyed the command the third time.

Two Messages of The Vision

Acts 10:17-19 tells us that Peter did not immediately understand the message of the vision and was trying to decide its meaning. Verse 28-29 reveals that Peter finally understood the message of the dream when three men arrived at the gate of the firm. The vision taught him that Gentiles were not unclean people and Jews should speak and interact with Gentiles. Subsequently when Peter returned to the metropolis of Jerusalem afterwards visiting Cornelius, Peter told some of the Jewish believers the vision (Acts eleven:two-12) and connected the pregnant of it to the salvation of the Gentile Cornelius and his household.(Acts 10:24).

But there is another message in Peter's vision. In Leviticus 20:22-26 God told the Israelites that they were not to intermingle with the Gentiles in the country of Canaan. They were to go along the Old Testament Jewish dietary laws. Leviticus 20:22-26 and Acts x:9-16; eleven:2-12 helps us understand the Mosaic dietary laws were established primarily to separate Jews from Gentiles. In order for Peter to be able to visit with Cornelius and his household, God eliminated the Mosaic dietary laws. This is an important bespeak. Detect that Peter said in Acts ten:28-29 that it was unlawful for a Jew to associate with a foreigner.

And he said to them, "You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet God has shown me that I should non call whatever man unholy or unclean. That is why I came without even raising whatsoever objection when I was sent for. So I ask for what reason you have sent for me." Acts x:28-29 (NASB)

The vision communicated two truths. The first truth is that Gentiles are non unclean, a distortion taught by the Jewish religious leaders. The 2d truth is that Peter was now allowed to eat Gentile food. Otherwise he could not take spent the day with them. The Mosaic dietary laws were abolished in Acts x:9-xvi; 11:two-12; 13:38-39. In 1 Timothy iv:1-v, the apostle warns that those who teach we should obey the Mosaic dietary laws are influenced by demons. They are teaching doctrines of demons.

Conclusion:

Much has been published and discussed well-nigh the health benefits of the Mosaic dietary restrictions regarding clean and unclean animals. R. Laird Harris writes,

The spiritual and the aseptic reasons for the laws may nevertheless be affirmed. They are remarkably valuable in the surface area of public health. Maimonides already in the Middle Ages gave this caption amongst others. It would be in line with God'due south promised approval that "none of these diseases" of Egypt would be visited on Israel, for "I am the Lord your Healer" (cf. Exod. fifteen:26).

. . . . In general it can exist said that the laws protected State of israel from bad nutrition, unsafe vermin, and communicable diseases. Only in very recent days accept better laws of wellness been possible with the advance of medicine. These were dominion-of-thumb laws that God gave in His wisdom to a people who could not know the reason for the provision.[1]

Just the establishment of the Mosaic dietary regulations regarding unclean animals was for wellness reasons and to forestall the Israelites from spiritually falling away from God. The elimination of unclean animals from the diet in Acts 11 was timely and necessary.

References:

i. R. Laird Harris. Leviticus. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Regency Reference Library. 1984. p. 569.

Suggested Links:

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You Are a Peter Too!
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Could Jesus, equally a faithful Jew, have eaten turkey on Thanksgiving Day?
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