It clearly states in Deuteronomy 14:8 that we’re not to eat pork. In fact, Deuteronomy and Leviticus clearly state a lot of things that we don’t adhere to.
13:6 through18: We’re instructed to kill without mercy -even your own family members- anyone who tries to convince you to worship other gods.
17:2 through 13: Kill anyone who does evil-such as worshipping the stars- and violates the covenant. And if you’re not sure if the party is guilty, take it to court and if the Judge finds the party guilty and you refuse take part in stoning the defendant to death, then you should be killed too.
21:18: Kill your own son if he is rebellious.
Thou shalt not kill, but Deuteronomy, Leviticus, and Exodus is full of examples like this where we are to kill people for sinning. What about “as we forgive those who trespass against us”? I seem to have made executing people the theme here, but there are instructions/laws on other topics as well that we don’t follow, I’m assuming because they just don’t seem consistent with our faith.
So why is it OK to have a pork Bratwurst at the church fundraising event these days when God clearly forbids it?
You could argue that things were different back then and don’t apply today. But that would nullify the Ten Commandments. These laws I’m referring to were issued on the same day. They just didn’t make the top ten list.
Note that God never commanded non-Jews to refrain from eating pork. The dietary laws were never for everyone, they were exclusively given to Israel. It was not sinful for a Greek to eat pork, but it was sinful for a Jew to eat pork.
The reason for this is covenant. God established a particular covenant with the nation of Israel, that covenant was established in Sinai, at Mt. Horeb, through the giving of the Torah to the Jews.
But the ancient Prophets looked forward to the day when God would establish a new covenant, and as Christians we understand that this new covenant is the one that came through the Messiah, through Jesus. This is why at the Last Supper the Lord says concerning the Cup of the Supper that it is His blood of the new covenant poured out.
We therefore have a new covenant, the Torah was never supposed to be the be-all, end-all of religion; rather as St. Paul says the Torah was a tutor that pointed forward to Christ. We therefore have a Mediator of a higher and better covenant. What was given through Moses was the shadow of what would come through Christ.
In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile. The former things which were given to Israel as a signpost pointing toward the fuller reality in the Messiah are not the things which are for us.
That is why Christ says, "Tear down this temple and in three days I shall raise it up again", He spoke here not of the temple of stone in Jerusalem, but the true temple of His body; and we by the grace and work of God are spiritual stones, built up into the Temple of God, the very Body of Christ. And Christ is the Great High Priest who made atonement once and for all, and we all are kings and priests of these new and better things. He having made us a nation of kings and priests by His grace.
There is therefore no longer sabbaths and new moons and days of special observance commanded to be observed, there are no statutes concerning food and drink, or concerning the wearing of mixed fabrics, or forms of dress. There is no longer reason to bring the sacrifices of bulls and lambs and doves. For we have the Great High Priest who stands in the Sanctuary of God forever, having made peace for all by His own precious blood. He is at once Priest and Lamb.
-CryptoLutheran
