What’s with all the rules on food?

What’s with all the rules on food? What are we supposed to eat and why?

So, to answer this question as well as a ton of others we have to start where it all started “In the Beginning” and what God himself established as perfection.

Genesis 1:11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.”

 

So here we see in a cliff notes version; Day 3 – plants, vegetation, trees all bearing seeds and fruit after their kind. Then God gives them His blessing, His Holiness and says that they are [tov].

Tov in Hebrew has been translated as good by scholars, yet it also has a deeper meaning of beautiful. I like the later for obvious reasons.

Also on the sixth day God says in verse 29 “And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.” Then God caps it all off with His label “Very Beautiful”

The phase that comes to mind…. “at the end of the day” … Plants that yield seeds and Fruits with seeds were to our food and the grass and green plants were food for animals. This would mean not only the cattle grazed, but there too, Lions, Tigers and Bears, oh my!

Every question we have at this point is answered in Chapter 3. I know you are saying to yourself “Hey wait a minute lions and tigers always eat other animals.” Then you mind will drift to the multitude of animals that eat other animals; birds eating worms, eagles eating fish, etc. But we can see plainly from the previous text that it was not that way in the perfection of creation.

When Adam sinned against God his result became the following; “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.”

Adam was formed out the ground and now the ground was cursed because of Adams iniquity. We can see that everything that was from the ground was now tainted because of the sin that had entered through the ground in the form of Adam. The beasts were made from the ground as well and as such their perfect nature had been corrupted and cursed in like manner to Adam.

From the ground they are to eat all the days of their lives. We can see this curse evident in the animals eating other animals and in like manner why we can compete for various other items in nature as food. Man and beast eat things like deer, bananas, rabbits and corn, this is the part of eating by the sweat of your brow or in pain.

Not sold on this idea?

Think about Jesus’s words to the Apostles “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” And is resounded by Paul to the Galatians “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”

This parable is explained as the hypocrisy or iniquity of the Pharisees. They lived in opposition to the words of Jesus in the same light as Adams sin against the instructions of God.

The depth and breadth of Gods Holy word can search out every intricate detail of our lives provided we are willing to submit to the earnest study of the scriptures. We can benefit from doing this together as God will reveal these things as we ask and as he sees fit.

I see Christians all the time ask questions or make remarks about a topic and say “ I don’t know all the answers and we will never know” or “it only for God to know” or even “that is something we will only find out in heaven”. I will not assume that is the answer for anything or for everything.

I believe it is in a way like the scene from “A Few Good Men” when Tom Cruise is pressuring Jack Nicholson….
“I want answers, these people deserve the truth”….. “You want answers?”
“ I WANT THE TRUTH” ….. “YOU CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH”

All of us have a function on earth to fulfil and yet we are all under the assignment of becoming disciples to create disciples. A disciple is a student of the Word.

God tells us to ask, seek and knock and it will be given, found and open. Are you seeking the truth of what it is that YHVH wants for your dietary needs?