Good Bread Good Meat!
God's Plan for Better Health!
July 5, 2006
Are there God forbidden foods
The simple answer to this question is of course there is, or at least there was. Ask any Christian, however, and their initial answer to this question will probably be an unqualified no. For anyone who purports to believe that the bible is the word of God to answer no is illogical an unconceivable.
However, that's the culturally sensitive answer you will get from most Christians. They seem to ignore the fact that it was the eating of prohibited food that perpetrated the fall of man. Adam thought it alright to do as he please and ignore God's instruction and eat the forbidden fruit. The consequence of his decision has affected all of mankind. In this post biblical age, “Arise Peter slay and eat”, has become the mantra of most Christian churches. It is no secret that Christians love to eat and they will eat whatever fatty, salty, sugary food that is sat before them and ask no question for conscious sake.
At some point in its history the Christian church decided to ignore God's instruction in regards to forbidden foods. The consequence of this decision is that we are now faced with a plethora of modern day diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and certain types of cancer including lung, colon-rectal, esophageal, and liver that can be directly connected to our dietary habits. The bible teaches a healthy wholesome and sound lifestyle, which also include good dietary habits. Of course you wouldn't know it by the way “church folk eat”.
For centuries now the Christian churches and the health and food industries have ignored the idea of God forbidden foods. Why God would forbid any kind of food I don't know. But according to the bible He did. Christian churches teach that the food laws of the bible are more or less done away with. Thus producing a culture in the church of “Arise Peter slay and eat”.
God's instruction is to eat only seed bearing herbs, which means there are certain plants that are prohibited as foods. Non seed bears and non green plants are off limits. Of course any plant of a poisonous sort is out. The same can be said for animals as it is with the green herbs they are to be eaten with certain restrictions.
“And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed,which is upon the face of all the earth,and every tree in the which is fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.”(Gen 1:29 KJV)
“Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.”(Gen 9:3 KJV)
The good news is most of the vegetation that is commonly eaten is all right with God. The common grains, like corn, rice, oats, barley and wheat are okay. It's good to know that God has sanctioned a variety of delicious nuts and fruits. Rhizomes such as potatoes and carrots are approved of by God. Spices such as garlic, onions and peppers are also good for food. Yeast is an organism that is found naturally in the air though it is a fungus of sort it is obviously sanctioned by God. Dead yeast spores are and essential component of bread and fermented alcoholic beverages.
The bad news is that fungi are off limits! The most common fungus is mushrooms; however, there are a number of others that are not as widely know. Some of the lesser know are; beefsteak fungus, boletus, bracket fungus, chanterelle, death cap, destroying angel, fairy ring champignon, horn of plenty, inky cap, lichen, mildew, mold, morel, orange-peel fungus, puffball, stinkhorn, toadstool, and truffle. All of these food types can be dangerous to eat. Seaweeds of any kind do not have God's blessing to eat since they are not grown upon the face of the earth. Seaweeds are such things as kelp, algae and carrageen.
The good news on meat is that there are a number of animals that bare God's seal of approval. Those that are most common are beef, lamb, goat, and venison. God's criterion for eatable meat is the animal must have split hooves and chew a cud.
“Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.”(Lev. 11:3 KJV)
Most birds fall in the unsure category, however, a good rule to follow is eating those that we know for sure are sanctioned by God. Namely any bird that was offered as sacrifice to God and their kind are okay to eat. We know too that quail is okay to eat because God himself twice sent quail for the children of Israel to eat. If you look at the “quail” family you will find the following birds: Pheasants; turkeys; grouse; partridges; quails; chickens; brush turkeys; curassows; hoatzins. By being near kin to the quail this puts each of these birds in the same category of clean birds we are certain of.
“And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.”(Exd. 16:13 KJV) “The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.”(Psa. 105:40 KJV)
The only water creatures that God has sanctified for eating are those that have fins and scales. Snappers, trout, bass, salmon, halibut and tuna are a few of the many fish with fins and scales.
“These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.”(Lev 11:9 KJV)
Believe it or not there are insects that are good for food, namely the grasshopper family which is made up of crickets, grasshoppers and locusts.
“Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind.”(Lev. 11:22 KJV)
The bad news is that anything without a split hoof is out. That rules out such things as bear, dogs, cats, snakes, turtles, apes, raccoons and the likes thereof. Let's not leave out the most infamous of them all the pig. Some animals are of the forbidden variety because although they may possess one of the two necessary characteristic they do not possess both.
“Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof:”(Lev. 11:4 KJV)
Unlike the land bound creature which can be identified by certain physical features, of the flying fowl it is only the twenty one named in the bible and their kind that are considered forbidden food. Most of the birds that are named are ancient birds and are not readily distinguished in our modern era. Some of the more easily identified birds to avoid as a food source are: Vultures; storks; seagulls; pelicans; owls; ostrich; emu; ravens; and eagles.
“And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey, And the vulture, and the kite after his kind; Every raven after his kind; And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckoo, and the hawk after his kind, And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier-eagle, And the stork,the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you.”(Lev. 11:13-20 KJV)
The God forbidden seafood is very easy to identify, if it doesn't have fins or scales its God forbidden food. That means no catfish, sturgeon, clam, crab, lobster, oyster, or shrimp.
“And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:”(Lev 11:10 KJV)
Any insect that is not in the grasshopper family should not be eaten. A strange exception is the bee; the bee is unclean but the honey of the bee is okay. Insects that are off limits are cockroaches, dragonflies, slugs, snails, mosquitoes, worms, and caterpillars to name a few.
“But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you.”(Lev 11:23 KJV)
God has put the blood of all animals in the forbidden food category including, the blood of clean animals. The fat of every land creature is forbidden by God; however, the oil of clean fish is a healthy and valuable fat source.
“It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.”(Lev 3:17 KJV)
“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat. And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use: but ye shall in no wise eat of it.”(Lev 7:23-24 KJV)
The almost always forgotten and seldom mentioned is the quantity of food we consume gluttony or surfeiting is also forbidden by God. In the quest for a healthy diet how much we eat is of the uppermost importance, even above what we eat.
“And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.”(Deut 21:20 KJV)
“For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.(Prov 23:21 KJV)
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.”(Luk.21:34 KJV)
God's dietary instructions are as important to his people today as they were in the Garden of Eden. Adam caused death to pass unto all men by the very act of eating food which God had instructed him not to eat. This simple fact ought to cause any God fearing person to pause when it comes to choosing what foods to eat. All too often God's commands are dismissed or rationalized under the guise that God has changed his mind. Are there God forbidden foods? You bet there are! Do you really think that God sent his son to the horrible death at Golgotha, so you can eat lobster,cockroach, catfish, raccoon, cat, dog, snail, crab, donkey, snake and monkey?