A number of the things that God has commanded have become controversial through the years. That’s not because God or His commandments have changed; but because we have. Both believers and unbelievers alike look at things that God has commanded; and if they don’t understand the reason for that commandment, they have trouble obeying it. Some choose to ignore the commandment, saying that it is “old fashioned,” while others ask the question “Why?”
One such area is the prohibitions given in the Old Testament Law against eating certain types of food, including pork. While pork is the second most commonly eaten meat in the world today, following chicken, the prohibition against eating it is still recorded in scripture.
And the swine, though it divides the hoof having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8 Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. They are unclean to you. – Leviticus 11:7-8
Pork is by no means the only meat that is forbidden in Old Testament Law. Shellfish, rabbits, camels, some types of fish and even some types of birds are considered unclean and forbidden according to Old Testament Law. Nevertheless, of all the forbidden animals mentioned in scripture, pork is the most widely known. Interestingly enough, Muslims don’t eat pork either, considering it to be unclean, just as the Jews do.
Why Was Pork Unclean?
We might ask, and it would be reasonable to do so, “Why did God declare certain foods, like pork, unclean in the Old Testament Law? The truth of the matter is that God never explains that. It has been said by some ministers that the animals which God declared as unclean, telling the people of Israel not to eat them, were foods that were not healthy to eat. Shellfish, for example, are high in cholesterol. Pork has been known to carry parasites, which can infect someone if the meat is not properly cooked.
This is mere supposition though, which may have been arrived at for the purpose of backing up a point that the individual wanted to make. We can’t accept that as having scriptural authority. Only the Bible itself, taking with clear meaning, can be said to have scriptural authority. So, we just have to accept that God gave those commandments with good reason, without understanding His reason.
Isn’t that Old Testament Law?
That verse in Leviticus is clearly from the Old Testament Law. But what about Christians? Should they avoid pork, just because the Old Testament says to do so?
There are many Christians that say unequivocally that the Old Testament Law doesn’t apply to us today. They mostly point to one of two verses to back up their point:
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”). – Galatians 3:13
Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. – Matthew 5:17
In the first verse, they are trying to say that since Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, we no longer need to obey the law. It is as if they think the verse says “Christ has redeemed us from the law, which is a curse. But that’s not what it says. The word “redeemed” means that we have been bought back from the curse. It’s the same idea of having taken something to the pawn shop and then going back to get it back, paying them money for what they are holding. You “buy back” that item from them.
We are told what the curse of the law is in a well-known verse found in the book of Romans:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23
Sin is anything we do which breaks God’s law. Knowing that the cost of such action is death, it is clear that the “curse of the law” is having to die for our sins. It is not the law which is a curse; but breaking the law.
In the second verse I mentioned, people try to take the end of the verse, where Jesus said that He came to fulfill the law, ignoring the rest of the verse and the one following. They then use this to say, “We don’t need to fulfill (obey) the commandments of the law, because Jesus fulfilled them. Such an interpretation of the verse breaks the laws of hermeneutics, which says (amongst other things) that verses have to be taken in their context. That verse starts by Jesus saying, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.” He then goes on in the following verse to say, “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one title will by no means pass from the law until all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18).
Notice that Jesus Himself said in verse 18 that there is more to be fulfilled. Taken in context, that clearly means more than what He has already done. Can that mean the cross? Yes, it could, if the book of Revelations didn’t exist. But because we have that book of prophecy, we know that there is more to come. Therefore, since Jesus said “until all is fulfilled” the Law will exist until the end of the events mentioned in the book of Revelations.
Interestingly enough, many of the people who say that the law doesn’t apply to the Christian, also claim that the Ten Commandments do. They do this without even knowing what the rest of the law says.
Yet God hasn’t changed. His Law is still His Law. Not only that, but Jesus claims it as His own as well, as He and the Father are one (John 10:30). He further tells us that obedience to His commandments is how we demonstrate our love for Him.
If you love Me, keep my commandments. – John 14:15
If He and the Father are one, then that has to apply to the commandments in the Old Testament Law as well. Therefore, if we are going to say that the Old Testament Law doesn’t apply to us today, we need to have something in the New Testament which clearly tells us that.
There is no one commandment in the New Testament which negates the Old Testament Law. We’ve already seen that the two verses that people try to use don’t work and there is no statement from Jesus or from Paul, which tells us that we can ignore the whole of the Law. Even so, there are some parts of the law which don’t apply to us today.
Sacrifices in the Law
Of the 613 commandments that exist in the Old Testament Law, a fair number deal with the sacrificial system which God put into place, for the nation of Israel to use. Some of these sacrifices were obligatory sacrifices, which the priests gave on behalf of the nation. Others were sacrifices that people gave to pay the penalty for their sins. Still others were given as an act of worship to God, from a desire to draw closer to Him. But we don’t give any of those sacrifices in the church today. Why is that?
The book of Hebrews gives the best answer for this, in the 10th chapter. There is a more complicated explanation, but the key statement is found in verses 11 and 12:
And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But this Man (Jesus), after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. – Hebrews 10:11-12
And He Himself (Jesus)2 is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. – 1 John 2:2
This idea that Jesus gave Himself as the final sacrifice for all our sins is central to the gospel message and therefore to the message of the New Testament. Since the purpose of the Old Testament sacrificial system was to pay the price for sins committed and since Jesus paid that price for all who confess Him as Lord and Savior, there is no longer a need for us to offer animal sacrifices to God today. All we need to do is repent of our sins, asking God to forgive us.
This shows us that it is possible for the New Testament to change what is said in the Old Testament. The New Covenant, the one that was sealed in Jesus’ blood, changes the Old Covenant in some ways. We can’t just arbitrarily change it as we choose; but there are places where the scriptures themselves show us that the Old Testament Law has been changed.
One More Thing
There’s an idea in the Christian church that the Jewish people were saved by obedience to the Law. There’s just one problem with that… nobody is capable of fully obeying the law. So, by saying that, we are essentially saying that no Jewish person has ever been saved. While that might appeal to our egos, it doesn’t fit the picture of the descendants of Abraham being God’s chosen people. Fortunately, Paul clears that up for us.
We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, 16 knowing that a ma is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the Law no flesh shall be justified. – Galatians 2:15-16
This was Paul speaking, one who was a Pharisee of Pharisees, before being converted to Christ. Speaking as a Jewish Rabbi to a Christian audience, he explained the reality of the Law; that is, that nobody was saved by obedience to it. Rather, the Jews, just like we Christians, were saved by faith in their Messiah. The only real difference is that we know His name, because we can look back in history to see His life and death, while they looked forward in faith, awaiting His coming.
So, What About Pork?
If we are going to say that it is okay to eat pork, then we have to say that based on something that we find, clearly stated, in the New Testament. Anything else would be us imposing our beliefs or desires on the Bible, rather than allowing the Bible to teach us the truth. Of course, the best authority for this would be Jesus Himself.
So, do such verses exist? Yes, they do.
The first such verse we find is in the tenth chapter of Luke. Jesus was sending out the 70 to announce His coming before Him. As part of the instructions that He gave them, we find:
Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. – Luke 10:8
We can take this to say that they were to eat food that wasn’t “kosher” (prepared according to Jewish dietary laws) from this. But a counter-argument can be made that Jesus only sent them to cities of the Jews, where they would not be offered such food. So, this verse alone is not enough; although it does add slightly to the argument that it is okay to eat anything, including pork.
The next passage we encounter is much clearer:
And he saith unto them (His disciples),2 Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; 19 Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? (by this He declared all food clean) 20 And He said, that which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. – Mark 7:18-20 KJV
In this verse, Jesus makes it clear that what we eat doesn’t make us “unclean.” That includes pork. Rather, it is what comes out of our mouths that makes us unclean, because it shows the sin in our hearts. Not all translations show it this clearly; but the King James version does.
Throughout the New Testament, especially Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels, we find that the emphasis is more about what is in the heart, than the actions that one takes. This is a huge departure from the Old Testament Law, which concentrated on people’s actions. But don’t think this makes things any easier on us; it doesn’t. Rather, we are held to a higher standard by the commandments of the New Testament, than the Jews were by the commandments of the Old.
Is There More?
While Jesus’ declaration in the Gospel of Mark should be enough to settle the matter, the Bible itself teaches that every matter should be established out of the mouth of two or three witnesses. Fortunately, we have another witness, Peter. As he was praying on a rooftop, in the city of Joppa, he had a vision.
And saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” 15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time. “What God has cleansed you must not call common.” 16 This was done three times… – Acts 10:11-16
Some might say that this referred to Cornelius the Centurion, who wanted Peter to visit his home. Even so, it was animals in the sheet, not people. The general rule of thumb is that if something can be understood naturally, there is no need to look for a symbolic understanding. So, while it can be applied to visiting gentiles, it also clearly speaks of eating food.
One Last Thing
This is not to say, by any means, that we are required to eat pork. If you are uncomfortable eating pork, then don’t do so. What you do, as a believer, is between you and God; not you and the person next door. You must make up your own mind about what you will do; just be sure to do whatever you do in faith, not in doubt. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him… 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin. – Romans 14:2-3, 23