Dietary laws and others from the OT

[heart of peace]

Regarding the dietary laws of the OT, is this something that should be honored in one's walk? Do you see it as a holiness issue? Since Jesus did not come to abolish the law, should we make the attempts to abide by the old laws in our lives?

 

[ClementofRome]

St. Peter's vision as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles (chapter 10) answers your question...

 

[heart of peace]

There is a discussion on a different board on this subject and one of the members said that Acts 10 does not say you can eat anything when you're a Christian but that it refers to the bare minimum for one to be part of the community of believers of that time (a Jewish community). I'm just trying to figure out how to approach the discussion better (I should have mentioned a bit of this in the OP). Some people are saying that pork/shellfish are not actually considered food by God according to Leviticus and liken the idea of how we wouldn't think twice about not seeing cats as a food source. And they base this on the fact that Jesus said He didn't come to abolish the law, so if God saw it as important for Israel, it is important for us. *scratches head* Trying to wrap my brain around this perspective.

 

[ClementofRome]

This is an interesting topic...

God protected Israel, through thick and thin....and the dietary law was part of that...(I would also suggest that circumcision is also a part of that)....

Don't eat the things of pagans....nor those things that can ultimately kill you (pork is NOT the other white meat)...

Uncircumcised men would have had a very high mortality rate when they took a bath once a year, whether they needed it or not...

I am just thinking out loud here....but I am not the inventor of those hypotheses.

 

[buzuxi02]

There is a discussion on a different board on this subject and one of the members said that Acts 10 does not say you can eat anything when you're a Christian but that it refers to the bare minimum for one to be part of the community of believers of that time (a Jewish community). I'm just trying to figure out how to approach the discussion better (I should have mentioned a bit of this in the OP). Some people are saying that pork/shellfish are not actually considered food by God according to Leviticus and liken the idea of how we wouldn't think twice about not seeing cats as a food source. And they base this on the fact that Jesus said He didn't come to abolish the law, so if God saw it as important for Israel, it is important for us. *scratches head* Trying to wrap my brain around this perspective.

Theres cultures that do see cats as a food source. Just like many western cultures see rabbits as a food source (which are not kosher and forbidden by the ot). We in the west including modern day kosher observing jews do not see grasshoppers, crickets and locusts as a food source, but according to Leviticus there kosher and can be eaten (Lev 11.22). Locusts were the delicasy of St John the Baptist.

First off the overwhelming majority of christians who attempt to follow the OT dietary laws are in the dark by what the OT allows and doesnt allow. They interpret for themselves what foods are forbidden or not.

Shellfish are forbidden because they are bottom feeders, its what makes them unclean. Any fish with scales and fins can be eaten, they swim, they dont sink to the bottom. This was the limited knowledge of the sea by the jews at the time of Leviticus.

Same with pork, pigs eat and play in slop, its viewed as unclean. In hot dry Palestine, a pig which has no sweat glands would need alot more water and food than its worth in meat.

The OT forbids having cheese with your turkey sandwhich, or eating chicken tandoori because the chicken is marinated in yogurt. Heck, you cant even have milk with your coffee if your having it with meat. Thats because milk comes from animals which are mothers, and you cannot mixed with any animal for all are offspring from a mother (Ex 23.19, 34.26 Deut 14.21)

Do you like romain lettuce? You better wash it good because they contain tiny insects and if you accidently eat one because you havent inspected your produce good enough , you become unclean. All insects and most flies are forbidden and also makes you unclean including your soul.(Lev 12.32,41-44). In fact your not even allowed to touch them.


Wait theres more. The livestock you can eat must be slaughtered in the manner God revealed. That means using a real sharp machete with a clean cut to the neck, so the animal doesnt suffer in distress(Deut 12.21). After that the blood must be quickly drained either by soaking, salting or broiling, theres no eating rare steak (Lev 17.13-14).

 

[icxn]

It is not about abstaining from shellfish and the like that God is concerned just like He is not concerned about oxen (1 Cor. 9:9) but with us in that we do not indulge in the mud of sinful pleasures; just like shellfish live in the bottom of the sea and feed on dead fish as someone said. On the other hand, if we have fins, that is, the wings of grace and scales which are the virtues [or weapons of the spirit according to St. Paul], and like a scaled fish you swim through the sea of evil passions without sinking in the mud of sin then you will be fulfilling all the dietary laws in Spirit and in Truth as scripture says.

 

[Kristos]

Rabbit tastes awesome!!!

 

[ArmyMatt]

it seems to me that the dietary laws were set in place to help call Israel out of the pagan world that they had been living in and surrounded by for so long. sorta to show that these were a real people chosen by a real God for a real purpose. when the Christ came, the chosen people fulfilled their purpose, now the Gospel can go into all nations, rather than be restricted (for lack of a better term) to just one. so the Law given by Moses is fulfilled in Christ.

 

[Blackknight]

We are not Jews. The old dietary laws are part of the old covenant.

 

[Kristos]

bear is really good too.