My point is that, just because you see the words “every”, “anything” etc doesn’t always mean that it always refers to every single thing.
can you show us where eel & lobster were set apart(sanctified/made holy)?
I’m sure you would agree that when the Messiah says “ask me for anything in my name and I will give it to you”, that he’s not gonna give us absolutely anything, no?
There's no specific naming of lobster and/or shrimp as set apart and made clean in and of themselves. That's a loaded question, like asking your neighbor if he has stopped beating his wife and kids. The Bible also does not specifically state that it's ok to fly in vessels powered by jet turbines, but we do it, and many other things. How many of your garments you wear are woven with more than one weave of mixed materials?
So, rather than to perpetuate the fallacy of demanding the conclusion without showing the premises, let's start with the following:
Matthew 15:17-20
“Do not ye yet understand, that
whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.” KJV
This clearly is speaking of foods. If one is going to try and argue that "whatsoever" does not mean anything and everything, I will have to disagree. Yes, it does imply
any thing and
every thing. There are many things that, entering the belly can and will do harm or even kill the individual, but "whatsoever" can legitimately be considered anything and everything where DEFILEMENT is concerned.
Now, if you personally choose to not eat those things, then great. Go for it, but to say to others that they are defiling themselves by not adhering to the Law of Moses on this, they are clearly at odds with the words of Christ Jesus (Yeshua, or whatever one may want to call Him). So, please, control your diet in accordance with whatever you so choose for yourself. I will even abstain from eating those thing before you if I were in your presence, but those who dare think they can bring to bear the Law of Moses against the brothers and sister in Christ Jesus, and have any face to show for a claim to be of Christ Jesus, that is a dichotomy with which to wrestle when we read the clarity of scripture in context.
Additionally:
Mark 7:15-19
“There is
nothing outside the man which
can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which
proceed out of the man are what defile the man. [” If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”] When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that
whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.) NASB
The Lord did not clarify by pointing out any inclusive exclusions from the Law of Moses. He certainly could have made that clarification, but He did not; given the all-inclusive phraseology and wording.
The problem in all this is people. One man will say, "That's pretty obvious we are allowed to partake of the dietary things excluded in the Law," while another, with differing sensibilities will say, "Nay....." In the end, it will be a matter where we can imagine the Lord looking at the naysayer and asking, "What is that to you if he tarry till I return...."
In other words, what's it to you what I or anyone else eats in thanksgiving unto the Lord? We have enough to worry about in our own lives than to drive the steak of the Law through the hearts of those who follow Christ Jesus, but are of a different mind in relation to the legalisms of the Law.
1 Timothy 4:1-5
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For
every creature of God is good, and
nothing to be refused,
if it be received with thanksgiving: For
it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” KJV
Some of my Hebrews Roots movement friends love saying to all that, "YEAH, BUT....." Well, it is in vain that they deny and refute the word of God for what it says, laying claim to the idea that the rest of us don't understand the context nor the language, as if we all need them to open doors up for us that we may understand. I firmly believe in everyone having the right to help others understand their perspective, but having read, listened to and heard their objections to what we can understand from the above verses, none of them have come forth with anything reasonable, consistent, coherent, rational, spiritually relevant, nor verifiable from the many rules for proper intperretation for God's word. As a matter of fact, many of them resort to some of the same fallacies they would never permit coming from a Mormon or Jehovah's Witness.
Jr
