Bible Health Laws Concerning Meat (Part Two)
In the previous article Bible Health Laws Concerning Meat (Part One) | Relijournal we saw that Lev. 11 and Deut. 14 point out in a very detailed way which animals are clean to eat and which are unclean. We looked at how that Health law is separate from the Ceremonial Law which is no longer to be kept since it only had to do with symbolizing that one day the Lamb of God would come to die for our sins. But what about that text in Matt. 15:9 that says that it is not what goeth into a man defileth a man? Does that text say that we can eat anything we want?
Let us establish the context of that statement. In Matt. 15:1,2 we are told:
“Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.”
Now the Jews had certain laws concerning ceremonial washings that they added to the Ceremonial law. After coming into contact with non-Jews who were thought of as unclean, a Jew had to ceremonially wash his hands. This was no normal washing of hands before eating because then we would not be hearing of the “tradition of the elders.” The normal washing of hands before eating is not a tradition of elders.
No wonder Jesus said after this encounter with the scribes and Pharisees:
“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matt. 15:9)
Jesus saw the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees who were only thinking about ceremonial washings and thev greater things like the purity of the heart was not their concern. In verse 7 Jesus called them hypocrites for this. It is then that Jesus said:
“Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.”
When the disciple did not understand what Jesus was saying and asked Him to explain this “parable” (Matt. 15:15) Jesus replied in verses 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.”
So based on this context we see that diet was not the issue here. It was all about the tradition of the elders clashing with the truth that Jesus had to give. It was also about the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees who were not concerned with the truth real cleansing but only with their man-made traditions.
Even when it came to things God really asked them to do we are told:
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Matt. 23:23)
In Matt. 23:24 Jesus adds “Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.”
Jesus does not contradict Himself. It was Jesus who inspired Paul to write later in the New Testament in 1 Cor. 3:16,17:
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
It was Jesus who inspired Paul to list drunkards as one type of people that will not be in Heaven (See 1 Cor. 6:10). So it matters to God what we eat and drink.
God’s plan all along was that everyone should know what was clean and what was unclean so that we would not defile ourselves, destroying our bodies which is God’s temple.
Twice we are told in the book of Ezekiel:
Eze 22:26 “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.”
Eze 44:23 “And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.”
Let us establish the context of that statement. In Matt. 15:1,2 we are told:
“Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.”
Now the Jews had certain laws concerning ceremonial washings that they added to the Ceremonial law. After coming into contact with non-Jews who were thought of as unclean, a Jew had to ceremonially wash his hands. This was no normal washing of hands before eating because then we would not be hearing of the “tradition of the elders.” The normal washing of hands before eating is not a tradition of elders.
No wonder Jesus said after this encounter with the scribes and Pharisees:
“But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matt. 15:9)
Jesus saw the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees who were only thinking about ceremonial washings and thev greater things like the purity of the heart was not their concern. In verse 7 Jesus called them hypocrites for this. It is then that Jesus said:
“Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.”
When the disciple did not understand what Jesus was saying and asked Him to explain this “parable” (Matt. 15:15) Jesus replied in verses 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.”
So based on this context we see that diet was not the issue here. It was all about the tradition of the elders clashing with the truth that Jesus had to give. It was also about the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees who were not concerned with the truth real cleansing but only with their man-made traditions.
Even when it came to things God really asked them to do we are told:
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Matt. 23:23)
In Matt. 23:24 Jesus adds “Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.”
Jesus does not contradict Himself. It was Jesus who inspired Paul to write later in the New Testament in 1 Cor. 3:16,17:
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
It was Jesus who inspired Paul to list drunkards as one type of people that will not be in Heaven (See 1 Cor. 6:10). So it matters to God what we eat and drink.
God’s plan all along was that everyone should know what was clean and what was unclean so that we would not defile ourselves, destroying our bodies which is God’s temple.
Twice we are told in the book of Ezekiel:
Eze 22:26 “Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.”
Eze 44:23 “And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.”