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The skeptic's confusion:
You should not eat animals.
"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 the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Genesis 1:29
"Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh." Proverb 23:20
"Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that
he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good." Isaiah 7:14-15
"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat...." Daniel 1:8
"It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made
weak." Romans 14:21
Only certain kinds of animals may be eaten.
"Nevertheless, these shall ye not eat, of them that chew the cud or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel and
the hare, and the coney; for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore, they are unclean unto you. And the swine,
because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch
their dead carcass." Deuteronomy 14:7-8
"These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted,
and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat. Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or
of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you."
Leviticus 11:2-4
You may eat any kind of animal.
"Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you." Genesis 9:3
“And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without
entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into
the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.” Mark 7:18-20
"Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while
they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a
great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth,
and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. "
Acts 10:9-13
"Whatsoever is sold in the shambles that eat." 1 Corinthians 10:25
"For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs." Romans 14:2
"There is nothing unclean of itself." Romans 14:14
"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 ... commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them
which believe and know the truth." 1 Timothy 4:1-3
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In order to comprehend why there appear to be, on the surface level, contradictory verses, one must understand the transitional
stages of mankind’s life on Earth; i.e., one has to know the context of each verse.
In beginning of Creation, as in the Garden of Eden, life was abundantly healthy. The Earth and the atmosphere were so fully
charged with orgone energy that even the plants had the necessary nutrients for man. This fact is applied to the time period
in Genesis 1:29.
Because of Man’s later extraordinarily wicked ways, the Earth experienced a flood of incredible magnitude, which covered
the entire earth-- even higher of a water level than the tops of high mountains. As a result, unimaginable stress devastated
the Earth’s crust. There was then less orgone energy in the ground, and thereby the chemical composition of the soil
was changed. Plants no longer provided all the nutrients that mankind needed. At this point, God let Noah and his progeny
eat the animals too, especially considering that basically all plant life was dead temporarily. Hence, God made the provision
to Noah in Genesis 9:3.
When God wanted to form a theocracy out of Israel, He gave them a very strict diet which would contribute to a better physical
constitution of their bodies. Certain animals could not eaten. It is a fair speculation that God made the restrictions in
order to preserve some animals from extinction. However, it seems more likely that He wanted to test Israel’s adherence
to His laws-- even in the food that they ate. By saying that the animals were unclean, the Israelites would effectively avoid
them. God didn’t say that the animals were unclean to the whole world, but only to the nation of Israel. (Deut.
14:7-8, Lev. 11:2-4)
Because Israel was still under the ceremonial law during their captivity, Daniel the prophet would not eat of the king’s
meat: which was likely an animal that was restricted from consumption. There is also a possibility that some of that meat
was sacrificed to idols, so Daniel didn’t take a chance with it. (Daniel 1:8)
When Jesus came to Earth as a human, He began to lift the ban on the meats, because the ceremonial law was to pass away by
His atoning death-- He was the perpetual sacrificial lamb. Through His Spirit dwelling within believers would all foods be
purified. Jesus introduced this knowledge to the disciples in Mark 7:18-20. No food would be defiling due to the spiritual
overriding the physical. That is when God opened the door to Peter and all other Christians. (Acts 10:9-13; 1 Corinth. 10:25;
Romans 14:2, 14)
In the End Times, the time that we now live in, certain false teachers will say to abstain from certain meats again. They
will effectually disregard the vision given to Peter. This may be propagated a short time from now(in the next 5-10 years)
by some extremist Christian Jews. (1 Tim. 4:1-3)
In Apostle Paul’s evangelism, there were still some new Christian Jews who were staunchly adherent to the ceremonial
law, even though it passed away under the Gospel of Christ. Rather than getting into an argument with them, and risk the
possibility that they will reject Christ if they must eat all meats, Paul asked his advanced and knowledgable Christians to
not eat those formerly forbidden meats in the midst of the new, weak believers. It was hoped that later the abstaining Jews
would see their error. (Romans 14:21)
The prophecy in Isaiah 7:14-15 is using figurative language when describing what the Messiah, Jesus Christ, would eat. He
may very well have eaten honey and butter literally, but the passage is basically saying that He will ingest the sweet-savoring
precepts of God from the very beginning of His life; He will know the immense and satisfying power in God’s Word, so
that He will assuredly reject evil. Jesus had an open heart of the Spirit of God to do so.
As for Proverb 23:20, “riotous eaters of flesh” is referring to people who eat far too much. Gluttony is a major
sin to be avoided. “Riotous” is the key word here.
Simply put, all animals are free for man to consume, but there was a time, in the nation of Israel, when God tested the devotion
of His people by putting restrictions on their diet. Jesus came to free them from the ceremonial law by His life and death.
Now that He is resurrected, and His Spirit is poured out, no food(natural) will be defiling to us spiritually or otherwise.
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