hello friends pastor Doug Batchelor want to welcome you to our Friday night Bible question of the week where we're going to be talking about is it a sin for a Christian to eat pork well maybe the Bible is pretty clear that we should not be eating pork of course there's gonna be thousands of people in heaven that maybe did not understand the truth about things like smoking who was it John Newton he smoked cigars and he wrote Amazing Grace but they didn't know and Martin Luther drank beer but if I drink beer it'll be a
sin and then there are gonna be people who will be in heaven that maybe ate pork because they don't know that the Bible commands us not to let me read it to you from Leviticus chapter 11 and I'll start with the first verse now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying to them speak to the children of Israel saying these are the animals that you may eat among the animals that are on the earth and he goes through a list I'll not read the whole chapter of those that are clean and those that are
unclean among the unclean animals you read in verse 7 and the swine though it divides the hoof and has cloven hoofs it does not chew the cud it is unclean to you their flesh you will not eat their carcass you will not touch they are unclean to you the criteria for being clean or unclean among the animals was the animal must chew the cud like a goat or a cow or a sheep and have a divider or cloven hoof pigs got the cloven hoof but they're scavengers they don't chew the cud camel chews the cud
but he's got a paw they are unclean that's why Jesus made fun of the scribes and Pharisees that would strain their water to make sure they didn't get a net but they'd eat camel steak he said you straining that you swallow a camel so yes the Bible is pretty clear that some animals are clean and some animals were considered unclean and you might be thinking well pastor Doug those are laws for the Jews I would ask the question why would God want Jesus to be healthier than other people and if you look in Genesis you'll
find out that God made this distinction for all humans because everybody listening to me right now we're brothers and sisters because we're all related to Noah now God told Noah when he brought the animals on the ark you can read in Genesis 72 of every clean animal all you are to bring them in by sevens the unclean animal they were to bring by twos the male and his female then after the flood Noah built an altar and he took of all the clean animals and sacrificed to the Lord you were never to sacrifice an unclean
animal to God that would have been an abomination and then because all the vegetation had been destroyed by the flood at that time as an emergency man was permitted to eat of the clean animals in the beginning God didn't want man to eat any animals let alone pigs which are scavengers you read in Genesis chapter 1 God says in verse 29 see I've given you every herb that yields seed was not on the face of all the earth and every tree in whose fruit yields its seed to you it shall be for food best diet
for people is a vegetarian diet but God said as an emergency that he would allow them to eat meats but those are the meats that God has prescribed could be clean animals cloven hoof chew the cud there was in the waters it needed to have fins and scales among the birds they needed to be your foraging Birds as opposed to your your Raptors and your scavengers like the Buzzard and the hawk and so forth they could eat the chicken and the Dove and the turkey so forth for the foraging birds so God gave some criteria
that if man is gonna eat me they must be the clean meats in heaven of course we're all vegetarians we're eating from the tree of life the lions are vegetarians in heaven so this is God's original plan but of all the things that a person might eat that the Bible says are forbidden pork is really the most abominable pigs are scavengers I've got a little report here from consumer report this is actually January 2013 what's in that pork and basically the article goes through saying 70% of all pork that they tested in the slaughterhouses is
contaminated with everything from the staff a list to your sin iya to Lystra and not to mention trick Shekinah and they say that some of the bacteria that we found in 198 samples proved to be resistant to antibiotics commonly used to treat people why because they're giving the pigs these antibiotics all the time it is definitely not clean also in the slaughterhouses the brains are normally sterile but during the slaughtering process meat can become contaminated with bacteria from the animal skin or gut from the workers equipment or the environment contamination is especially likely to occur
if processing lines run too fast in fact they tell you in this article that you should be very careful not to store your pork next to anything else keep your uncooked pork away from other foods because it is swimming in parasites and bacteria and a lot of people that eat pork have a I think it's 30% higher chance that they're gonna get cancer not just pork but other meats as opposed to a vegetarian God made some animals that are scavengers in the sky they're called buzzards there are scavengers in the waters they are catfish and
sharks and there are scavengers on the land they are pigs and dogs and the Bible says that we are not to eat them matter of fact God describes you know the vilest thing he says the pig that was washed has gone to return to wallowing in the filth now pigs will eat virtually anything and admittedly their intelligence our dogs but we're not supposed to eat them and disease can be transferred from animal to animal some people then go to these verses in the Bible and they say wait a second now didn't God say when Peter
had this vision and you read about this in Acts chapter 10 of this giant sheet that is lowered down from heaven it's full of all kinds of different unclean animals and God said arise kill clean do not call common what I have cleansed now something you need to know is first of all this has nothing to do with eating animal no specific animal is mentioned just as the sheets full of all kinds of abominable things Peter says not so Lord I have never eaten anything common or unclean this happens over four years after Christ has
died if Peter had learned from Jesus that it's okay to eat on food why would Peter be saying not so Lord I've never eaten anything out commoner and clean Peter never takes anything from this vision can't eat a vision and eats it and at the end he explains the vision to his friends in Acts chapter 10 28 he said God has shown me I should not call any man unclean Peter received the vision so he would then take the gospel to Cornelius and these unclean Gentiles had nothing to do with food anyone who tries to
make that vision say it had something to do with food is being biblically dishonest that was not the purpose what about the the parable where Jesus said in it's actually not a parable it was an incident that you find in mark chapter 7 it says then some of the Pharisees came to him having come from Jerusalem and when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with the file that is with unwashed hands they found full for the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way holding
to the tradition of the elders there was a tradition of ceremonially washing their hands they saw the disciples did not do this and they said they're gonna be defiled and jesus contended with them and he said you're setting aside the commandment of God this is verse 8 holding to your tradition the washing of pitchers and cups and many other such things you do he said all too well you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your tradition and going on down he said in verse 14 hear me everyone and understand there is nothing
that enters a man from the outside that can defile him but the things that come up but the things that come out of the man are the things that defile him if anyone has ears let him hear and when I first heard that I thought oh good that means that I can smoke cigarettes and I can drink because there's nothing that enters a man that defiles him I took that verse the way some other churches are teaching it I thought whoopee I can eat and drink and smoke anything I want because it'll never defile me
well that goes against Daniel one that says Daniel would not be defiled with the King's food and God blessed him for his determination and he lived longer and he was ten times wiser so what is this parable all about jesus said to the disciples explaining that later you read in verse 18 mark 7 are you thus without understanding also do you not perceive whatever enters a man from the outside cannot defile him because it doesn't enter his heart but his stomach and it's eliminated it goes in and it makes an exit thus purging all foods
in the word purging the digestive system is actually hotter than the rest of your body Christ is saying you eat some bacteria germs it's all purged and it's eliminated that does not defile your mind in your heart he said what defiles a person he says it's from within out of the heart of men that proceed evil thoughts adulteries fornications murders thefts covetousness wickedness deceit lewdness and evil eye blasphemy pride and foolishness these are the things that come from within they defile man some then take this first to say see Jesus said you can eat anything
it can't defile you that's not at all what Christ is saying and of course Jesus makes this statement a long after our long before rather Acts chapter 10 where Peter says I've never eaten anything that is common or unclean so yeah pigs are still unclean the Bible says don't you know your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit now someone is gonna say well what about first Timothy 4 3 and 5 says that in the last days there'll be a group that will arise forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God
created to be received with Thanksgiving of those who believe and know the truth for every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it's received with Thanksgiving and they take that verse and they say right there you got it Paul says that any creature can be eaten and all you have to do is pray over it now think about it do you really believe that that would mean it's okay for you to just say I'm we're gonna have stunt skunk stew we're just gonna say a prayer and we're gonna eat a vulture
pie and we're gonna eat cockroaches souffle I mean it's pretty clear that some things would be revolting that not any creature should be eaten technically if you take it at any creep can be eaten that endorses cannibalism that well their dad we can eat them I just say a prayer everything's okay no that's not at all what he's talking about there was a big problem in the days of Paul where the Jews were afraid to eat any food that was sold in the marketplace because it was often offered to pagan idols and they thought will
I be participating and idolatry Paul says in first Corinthians chapter 10 if anyone who does not believe invites you to dinner and you desire to go eat whatever is set before you asking no questions for conscience sake that means don't say well where did you get this food this was offered to idols do not eat it if he tells you that for the sake of the one who told you you can look in first Corinthians 10 verse 25 eat whatever is sold in the meat market asking no questions for conscience sake he's talking about the
clean meats I'm talking about eating the you know the goat and the cow and the sheep and things like that that we're clean don't ask was it offered to an idol so when it says in Timothy every creature of God is good nothing to be refused if it's received with Thanksgiving you got to keep reading it goes on to say for it is sanctified by the Word of God in prayer there are foods that God's Word says are sanctified the clean ones he says God says you can eat these meats those are the clean meats
they are permissible to eat but God is not saying that you can say a prayer over meats that he declares to be detestable let me give you a couple of other verses on this that I think will help make this clearer you can read for instance in Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 66 verse 15 for behold the Lord will come with fire and with this chariot like a whirlwind talking about the coming of the Lord to render his anger with fury and his rebuke with flames of fire for by fire and his sword the Lord will
judge all flesh and the slaying of the Lord shall be many those who sanctify themselves and purify themselves who go to the gardens after an idle eating swine's flesh and the abomination in the mouse shall be consumed together puts eating swine's flesh and mouseburgers in the same category and he they will be consumed your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and the Bible says we should not defile our bodies you can read in Isaiah 65 verse 3 and for a people who provoke me to anger continually to my face who sacrifice in gardens
and burn incense on altars of brick who sit among the graves and spend the night in the tombs graves and tombs rent clean who eats swine's flesh and the broth of abominable things in their vessels a God is very clear all the way through the Bible that pigs are unclean says you do not give that which is holy to the pig the pig was considered the most unclean of animals and so does God want Christians to eat pork not if you think your body is the temple the Holy Spirit and even common sense how to
tell you just because it is so Laden in in salt and sodium and nitrates and fat and carcinogenic components and bacteria that pigs are not designed God does not want us eating his animal garbage cans he's got out there in the world so if you want to know more about this friends we've got a book it has a lot of the scriptures I shared and many more it's called hogs and other hazards I know you'll enjoy this we'll send you a free copy just go to the link that you find connected with this program it
might be here it might be here it might be here don't know just get it
