YEA Lesson Library

The Lesson

Mom, what’s for dinner?” “Fried earthworms, bird’s nest soup, cock- roach and June bug stew, a salad made of lice, fleas, spiders, and ticks, barbecued cat sandwiches. For dessert we’re having ice cream topped with ants,” Mom replied. Do these things sound like what you want for dinner tonight? Why not?


Some people eat many such things. Properly prepared, some of these things must taste good or people surely wouldn’t eat them. But is taste the only standard we should use to determine what we put into our mouths? Does it make something eatable simply because it tastes good? If taste is the standard God uses to determine what we eat, why didn’t He say so? Why shouldn’t we eat a ham sandwich or pepperoni on our pizza? If taste isn’t the standard we use to determine what we eat, what is it?

The Israelites were slaves in Egypt for over 400 years. Egypt didn’t know or keep God’s law and Israel completely lost track of it while they were in slavery. After Israel gained their freedom God began to clean up His people and restore His wonderful law to them. “All Mt. Sinai was covered with smoke because Jehovah descended upon it in the form of fire; the smoke billowed into the sky as from a furnace, and the whole mountain shook with a violent earthquake. As the trumpet blast grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God thundered his reply. So the Lord came down upon the top of Mt. Sinai and called Moses up to the top of the mountain, and Moses ascended to God.” God told Moses to go back down and tell the Israelites not to come up the mountain or He would destroy them. The Great God of the Universe was about to speak. This was an awesome occasion! He gave the Ten Commandments, laws concerning people, the Ark of the Covenant, plans for the tabernacle, etc.

Then in Leviticus God speaks to Moses from the tabernacle with further instructions and laws. In chapter 11 He explains in detail what foods are eatable and which ones people shouldn’t eat. The standard for what is good for food and what isn’t is laid out here.

This chapter is often referred to as the “dietary laws given to the Jews.” God gave these laws to the entire nation of Israel, not just the Jews. Did He give it to the Israelites to make them “His peculiar people?” Were the dietary regulations God gave Israel an arbitrary law? Did God just pick something at His whims, like not eating pork and say, “mankind shouldn’t eat it – I want to make things more difficult for him?” No, God’s law is based on the way things are – the nature of things. He gave His law so we would know what is good for us and what isn’t. His law is to keep us out of trouble and provide us with a healthy, happy life. There are things that are not good for human consumption – they do not make us healthy. Animals that chew the cud and have cloven hooves, have two stomachs and digest their food in a different way than other animals. These animals are good for human consumption while those that don’t have these characteristics are not. God’s law is not arbitrary.

Well then, were the dietary laws nailed to the cross when Christ was crucified? You can read every gospel account of the crucifixion and not find one word about any law being nailed to the stake. Matthew’s account of the crucifixion mentions that Jesus was nailed to the stake, and a sign above His head that said, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37). Those were the only two things nail to the stake on which Jesus died.

Then what about Peter’s vision in Acts 10:9-29? Doesn’t it show that it is no longer required of Christians to abstain from eating unclean foods? In this vision Peter saw the sky open and a sheet filled with all manner of unclean animals, birds, and snakes. He heard a voice say to him, “Go kill and eat any of them you wish.” But notice Peter’s response. “‘Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ The voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’” This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again. There is nothing to indicate that Peter began eating unclean animals, birds, and snakes. There is nothing in this Scripture that says God changed the flesh of these animals and birds to be wholesome food good for human consumption. Quite the contrary!

Rather than Peter’s vision showing that it is now all right for Israelites, Christians or anyone else to eat unclean birds or animals, the vision showed Peter that Gentiles are not “unclean.” Notice Acts 10:28 “Peter told them, ‘You know it is against the Jewish laws for me to come into a Gentile home like this. But God has shown me in a vision that I should never think of anyone as inferior. . .’” (TLB). Notice also in the King James Version “God hath shewed me that I should not call any man (not bird or animal) common or unclean (verse 28b). Did Peter’s vision change the law in Leviticus 11 regarding what we can and cannot eat? No! What this vision shows is that salvation is now extended to all nations, including the Gentiles. And the Apostles had a responsibility to preach the gospel to everyone regardless of their race and so do we. “Whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins ( verse 43).

Remember, we learned that God’s law is not arbitrary. He gave His law to save us from the consequences of breaking them. It’s in the nature of how these animals were originally created that they should not be human food. Why shouldn’t we eat them? Their flesh is not good for us. God created better things for us to eat than earthworms, cockroaches, ants, lice, pig, cat, catfish, etc. “Haven’t you learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit. God gave you, and that he lives with you? Your own body does not belong to you. For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God, because he owns it” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 TLB).