The Hidden Message of Clean and Unclean Meats

Well, good afternoon, brethren. It’s good to see all of you.

The law of clean and unclean meats is one of the most recognizable and prominent doctrines in the Church. Many people coming out of the world and learning about this doctrine, for them it can represent a pretty big lifestyle change. I remember, for me, where I come from, ribs, catfish, that was a delicacy. Now it’s, it doesn’t work. I probably couldn’t eat it anymore, but it was a big deal. From where I’m from, maybe some of you can say the same. If you visit any fine dining establishment, you often see lobster, shrimp, scallops, oysters, calamari. All those things are usually the most expensive items on the menu.

Men, some men trying to impress their dates will order it, order from these items, the most expensive parts in the menu. Some of the ladies on those dates will also order these items to test how well the date is going from the man’s perspective. But for many people, these, what ultimately are unclean foods, are things that are seen as something very expensive and something very, as I mentioned, a delicacy. Guess what the most popular meat is in the entire world? What meat is eaten more than any other meat in the entire world? Many of you probably guessed, it’s pork, pork. Pork consumption makes up over a third of all meat consumption in the entire world. That’s despite all the other meat options that there are out there, people eat pork.

The interesting thing about the doctrine of clean and unclean meats, it’s demonstrative. It’s something that people can obviously see that you do or that you don’t do. If you’re out at a restaurant, they may notice that you avoid those items, that you don’t order those items. Maybe you discreetly ask the waiter or the waitress if that certain dish contains any pork or shellfish. What we’ll often do when we go out to eat, and I learned this over the years, we’ll just let the wait staff know right up front that we don’t take any pork or shellfish, and most of them are very cooperative in that regard, mostly because they probably want a tip, so they want a big tip. So they make sure that those items aren’t included in the meal.

But the doctrine of clean and unclean meats is something that a new Christian can apply immediately. It doesn’t take a whole lot of study. It’s something that you can begin to do right away, similar to keeping the Sabbath. Even Jews and Muslims recognize that unclean meats are not to be eaten. That’s something that people should not consume. For many of us, many of the people here in my audience around the world listening to this message, it may have been decades since you had a ham sandwich. May have been a really long time. For others, maybe just coming into the church, it hasn’t been that long, but you understand very clearly that the doctrine, particularly not eating unclean meat, is something that God expects.

God said, of course, not to eat unclean meat, and brethren, we know all that. So really, what else is there to learn about the doctrine? You simply have a list of meats that you can eat and a list of meats that you can’t eat. That’s pretty much it, right? Is there anything else to really learn? Anything else to glean from this very, as I mentioned, very significant, very recognizable doctrine? What else is there to learn? Well, brethren, this doctrine, the doctrine of clean and unclean meats, is way more than just about diet. It’s much more than just, in this case, a law of do’s and don’ts. It’s much, much more than that.

The doctrine of unclean meats has a much deeper spiritual meaning, and that’s really what we’re going to cover today. We’re going to cover the much deeper spiritual meaning behind the doctrine of clean and unclean meats. Well, we’ll start with a, really with a review of the doctrine, and just go through it, go through some of the details of it. It’s a review for some, and for others, maybe you’ll hear some things you hadn’t heard before or maybe had forgotten. But many people are surprised, many people just in the world, people in general, are surprised that God cares about what we eat. They figure, well, why does God care about that? God cares about much more important things than what we eat.

Focusing on what we eat, that seems like something that’s people who are too focused on the law or pharisaical or people who worry about those details. God doesn’t care about what we eat. Well, brethren, it’s just the opposite. God cares very much about the things that we put into our bodies. And it shouldn’t be a surprise. You know, the Psalms say that, I think it was King David said, that we’re fearfully and wonderfully made. God formed us, shaped us. Of course, he made us to be able to have to eat, to create energy in our bodies. So obviously, God would care very much about the fuel that we put into our bodies. The stomach has been likened to a fuel tank. And depending on the fuel we put in our bodies, our bodies are going to function in a certain way.

So God definitely cares about what we eat. Now, many people, when they think about what to eat, they just go by what tastes good. You know, this tastes good, so I’m going to eat it. And sadly, it’s led to so many health issues. It’s led to an obesity epidemic, especially here in the Western world. Many people are overweight and they’re unhealthy. And a lot of it is because they focus, when it comes to the fuel they put in their bodies, they just focus on what tastes good. Now, you can make healthy foods taste good. My wife has certainly proven that. Many ladies in the church, maybe some men too, who like cooking and can understand that you can make healthy foods taste good.

Many in the world focus, okay, this tastes good, so I’m going to put it in my body. And there are many poisons out there, particularly meats, we’re going to cover today. There are many poisons, but not just meats. Many poisons out there that people mistakenly consume as food. And the difficult thing is, you know, you think about a poison, you take cyanide or some other poison, you eat, you take it and you die right away. Well, with food, many poisonous foods, it takes more time. It could take 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 30, in some cases, 50 years for the effects to fully take place. And that’s what can be deceptive. But ultimately, these foods, specifically unclean meats, these unclean foods we’re going to discuss, these foods are actually poisons.

Now, early on, early on in the scriptures, God made a distinction, a difference between clean and unclean meat. Turn to Genesis chapter 7. Genesis chapter 7. God, early on, made a distinction of what meats should be eaten and what meats should not be eaten. Genesis chapter 7, we’ll read in verse 2. Genesis chapter 7, verse 2, it says, “Of every clean beast,” this is giving instructions to Noah and what animals to take on to the ark, “Of every clean beast, you shall take to you by sevens, the male and his female. And of the beasts that are not clean, by two, the male and his female.” So God, right away, used in his instructions, he used the term clean beasts, so clean animals, and unclean animals. Clean there means pure. Unclean is the opposite. It means impure.

So God is saying, take, I want you to take seven pairs of clean or pure animals onto the ark, and only two pair, or one pair, rather, of unclean animals. So he made a clear distinction. Why? Why make the distinction? Well, it was because it was about food. It was about food, about the meat that people were to eat and were not to eat. Even God does not want unclean meat. Stay here in Genesis. Let’s go to chapter 8. God does not want unclean meat. Genesis chapter 8, verse 20, it says, “And Noah built an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast,” and we see that word clean again, “and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And God smelled a sweet savor.”

Did you notice that the burnt offerings, meat that was literally going to be put on an altar and burned, God wanted that meat to be clean? He did not want it to be unclean. He did not want unclean animals sacrificed to him. And he called it “a sweet smell, a sweet savor.” So God instructed Noah about clean and unclean animals. And even went as far as saying, I do not want you to sacrifice unclean meat to me. I only want you to sacrifice clean animals to me. So there’s clean and there’s unclean meats. What’s the difference? What’s the difference between clean and unclean meat, pure and impure meat?

Leviticus 11, Leviticus 11, I encourage many of you, if you haven’t already, mark this part in your Bible as this really breaks down the details about clean and unclean foods, clean and unclean meats. We’ll pick it up at the beginning of the chapter. Leviticus 11 says, “And the Lord spoke unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, speak to the children of Israel, saying, there are the beasts or the animals which you shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. These are the animals that you should eat…” God is saying “…whatsoever parts the hoof and his cloven footed and choose the cud among the beasts that shall you eat. Nevertheless, these shall you not eat of them that chew the cud or of them that divide the hoof as the camel, because he chews the cud but divides not the hoof and he is unclean to you.” I’ll stop there.

So God has already laid out the parameters, the way that human beings, that we can perceive what animals are considered, what land animals are considered clean and what land animals are considered unclean. He starts by saying the animal must part the hoof or be cloven footed. And if you’ve seen an animal, a clean animal, and you look at the hoof, it’s going to be split in two. It’s going to be either two toes or four toes. So, you can immediately see a calf or cows or calf, goats, sheep. They have a cloven, they are cloven footed. They split the hoof. But it’s also saying that that animal must not only have a split hoof, but they also must chew the cud. It’s important. It has to be both.

Now, cud is a term and it represents the regurgitated food. So as a part of that, of clean animals digestive system, they eat the food, they chew it, they swallow it, and it goes into what’s called a first stomach. They regurgitate that food and they chew it again. That’s called cud. So they chew the cud and it further breaks down the food. So clean animals, clean land animals must have a split hoof and must chew the cud. It has to be both. It can’t be one or the other. A pig, for instance, has a cloven foot, but it doesn’t chew the cud.

A rabbit chews the cud, but it doesn’t have a cloven foot. So it has to be both. It must be both. Verse nine, “Then shall you eat of all that are in the waters…” So now we’re going to talk about seafood, “whatsoever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall you eat. And all that have not fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers of all that move in the waters and of any living thing, which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination to you.” That is another word for unclean or impure. “They should be an abomination.” They should be disgusting unto you. You should avoid them. You should not eat them.

So once again, with sea animals, we’re seeing there’s two criteria. They must have fins and scales. They must have both. That would be salmon, trout, tilapia, all good things to eat. The fact that they must have both characteristics, fins and scales, eliminates all shellfish. It has to have both. All shellfish is eliminated. Sharks, whales, catfish, remember that delicacy I was talking about? Catfish, they all have fins, but they don’t have scales. So they shouldn’t be eaten. Very clear. God is making it very clear and he gives us these characteristics or criteria for us to be able to know what should be eaten.

Verse 13, “And these are they which shall be an abomination unto you among the birds or the fowls. They should not be eaten. They are an abomination. The eagle, the ostrich, and the osprey…” and it goes on to list several, several hunter birds or predators, scavenger birds. Now it doesn’t list clean birds there, but when you look at the characteristics of all the unclean birds that are there, you’re able to discern the characteristics that a bird must have, that fowl must have. Now, if you read our article on the topic, there are six characteristics that it goes through, right? So chicken, turkey, doves, pigeon, which is a form of a dove. I couldn’t imagine eating a pigeon, but all those things are clean birds. Those are all things that we can certainly eat.

Verse 21, “Yet these may you eat of every flying creeping thing that goes upon all four, which have legs above their feet to leap with all upon the earth.” This is talking about insects. Now in our culture, we don’t really eat insects. Some people do, but it’s not a mainstream. I haven’t been to any restaurants where you can order insects on the menu, but in other cultures, other parts of the world, insects are very much part of their diet. It can be very good on protein, but most insects are unclean. Most insects should not be eaten. An exception would be locusts, grasshoppers, crickets, and they have jointed legs for jumping, and that’s what the scripture is talking about. So some insects can be eaten, most cannot.

Verses 24 through 40, here in Leviticus, it talks about touching the dead body of an unclean animal. If you do that, if you do it, you are ceremonially unclean until the following day or until that evening. Even clean animals that die on their own, if you happen upon a dead cow or a dead goat or a dead sheep, those should not be eaten. Those animals should only be eaten if they were killed and slaughtered properly. It makes sense. You encounter, you walk upon a dead goat, you have no idea how that goat died. I wouldn’t eat that, no matter how good it may seem, and no matter how easy it was, you didn’t have to go hunting. God says not to eat those things.

Clothing, vessels, such as a vase or containers, things like that, that come into contact with certain animals, those things are considered unclean as well. Verse 41, let’s pick it up there, it says, “And of every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth shall be an abomination, it shall not be eaten. Whatsoever goes upon the belly, whatsoever goes on all four, whatsoever has more feet among all creeping things that creeps upon the earth, them shall you not eat, for they are an abomination.” And that’s talking about the favorite for the ladies, mice, rats, rodents, bats, those things, those things should not, those things should certainly not be eaten. Snakes, lizards, those things are off limits.

Leviticus 17, Leviticus 17, we’re getting into the details here. God laid it out for his people, what he expected. Leviticus 17, verse 10, Leviticus 17, verse 10, it says, “And whatsoever man there be in the house of Israel, or of you of strangers that sojourn among you, that eats any manner of blood, I will even set my face against that soul that eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul.” The blood is very precious, very important to God.

We as Christians, we understand that. Think about the blood of Jesus Christ. God is saying the life is in the blood. I do not want my people or people at all to consume blood. That’s not something that people should be, that people should be eating. So that makes it clear. You can have a clean animal, but God said, don’t eat it raw. Most of the meats we encounter, clean meats or otherwise, it’s drained, the blood is drained. But God is saying not to eat raw meat. It’s fine to have a rare steak or a medium, medium rare steak, that’s fine. But don’t eat the blood.

Leviticus chapter three, Leviticus chapter three, Leviticus is an amazing book, it lays out so many details. Leviticus chapter three, verse 17, Leviticus chapter three, verse 17, “It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings that you eat neither fat nor…” as we see once again, “…nor blood.” So, God is also saying not to eat the fat. Now if you know anything about the body and animals, the fat is where most of the toxins typically are. The things in the body that are not good for you. Even people who, humans, people who fast and they lose weight, oftentimes the reason they don’t feel that great is the body starts to eventually burn fat and that fat has the toxins in it.

Well God is saying, I don’t want people eating fat, the fat of animals, even if they are clean. Now there is going to be a certain amount of fat inside the meat, like marbling. If you’ve seen marbling in a steak, that’s fine, that’s fine. But we should not consume fat, even if it seems to be flavorful or tastes very good. A balanced amount of it in meat is fine, but we should not eat the fat, which is what God is telling us.

Turn to Deuteronomy 14, Deuteronomy 14. This is another place in the scriptures that lays out this doctrine of clean and unclean meats. I would encourage you also to mark this in your Bible between Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. It lays out this doctrine of clean and unclean meats. We’re just going to read one verse here. “You shall not eat…” this is Deuteronomy 14.3, “…you shall not eat any abominable thing.” God is crystal clear. “You shall not eat any abominable or disgusting thing.” And it goes on to repeat what we just read in Leviticus 11. These disgusting, abominable animals are often scavengers. They carry all sorts of diseases and they’re harmful, or maybe in some cases, even deadly to humans. God is telling us, do not eat them. Don’t eat them. They’re not for you to eat. They were not created for you to consume as meat. I’m giving you the way to tell what animals should and should not be eaten. I find it amazing.

You know, you wonder when God was creating these animals, he knew, okay, I need to give them some distinguishable characteristic so people would know whether they should or shouldn’t eat them. It makes it nice and easy. It’s a cloven footage, it’s a split hoof, they chew the cut, okay, I can eat that. Skins and scales and fins, okay, I can eat them. God lays out all those characteristics, makes it nice and easy. We read about these laws and these details in Deuteronomy and Leviticus, but as we saw prior, and we’re going to go into it a little bit more here, apparently this law of clean and unclean meats was known well before that.

Remember, we read Noah, but let’s go back to Genesis, Genesis chapter nine, Genesis chapter nine. Just really reinforcing it, going through the doctrine, brethren, it’s good to go through God’s doctrines, good to go through and review these things. Deuteronomy, or excuse me, Genesis, Genesis chapter nine, we’re about to read where God says it’s okay to eat meat. So those not here in the Church, but those who wonder about vegetarianism, let’s definitely take note.

Genesis chapter nine, we’ll pick it up in verse two, Genesis chapter nine, verse two, “And the fear of you and of the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every fowl of the air. All that moves upon the earth and all the fishes of the sea into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be meat or food for you, even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh, which is the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall you not eat.” A reminder about not eating blood. So God says it’s okay to eat meat. It’s interesting when you read it there, it says every, “every moving thing that lives shall be meat for you.” Oh, that means we can eat whatever we want, right? No, it says, “even as the green herb,” there’s a qualifier there.

You don’t eat poisonous plants, or at least I wouldn’t. So there’s a qualifier there, but God is saying protein meat is okay. In fact, I designed the body to consume meat. Of course, there are certain meats that should or shouldn’t be eaten. So again, we saw Noah, again, we’re talking well before Genesis or excuse me, before Leviticus and Deuteronomy, before the law was written, there was already a distinction between clean and unclean. Noah was told to take seven pairs of certain animals. That’s 14 of that given animal and one pair of unclean animals. That’s only two. If Noah got hungry and decided to eat one of the unclean animals, then they couldn’t reproduce. That’s it.

So clearly God allowed more clean animals and instructed more clean animals, in this case 14, to be taken onto the ark. And that allowed them to be eaten as meat, as well as to be sacrificed, as we saw earlier. Staying here in Genesis, go to Genesis 18, Genesis 18, we’re going to read about a righteous man here, and he was dealing with meat. Genesis 18, verse 5, we’re going to read about righteous, the actions of righteous Abraham. Genesis 18, verse 5, if you’re picking up in the context, these three men just came to visit Abraham and he’s going to feed them. Genesis 18, verse 5, “And I will fetch a morsel of bread and comfort you, you your hearts. After that, you shall pass on, for therefore you come to your servant. And they said, do what you have to do. And Abraham hastened into the tent and said, make ready quickly three measures of meal, knead it and make cakes upon the earth.”

And verse 7, “And Abraham ran into the herd and fetched a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man and he hastened to dress it.” So clearly, they had a whole system in place for raising, preparing and eating meat. And this meat was served to the angel of the Lord, a pre-incarnate Christ and two angels. So obviously eating meat there, in this case, veal or a tender calf was fine. He knew how to prepare it. The young man knew exactly what to do. He ran, got it from the herd. Why else would he have a herd? It was to raise and have meat to eat.

Exodus, Exodus, verse 16, Exodus, verse 16, we’re just touching here on not only clean meats, but the fact that we should eat meat. Meat is fine. Meat is fine and good to eat. We’ll talk more about that in a bit. Exodus 16, verse 12, Exodus 16, verse 12, “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel…” this is God, God speaking, “…I’ve heard the murmurings of the children of Israel speak unto them saying, and even you shall eat flesh.” You shall eat flesh. God is telling them you’ll eat meat. They were clamoring and begging for food and they wanted something to eat and they wanted meat.

“So at evening even you shall eat flesh and in the morning you shall be filled with bread and you shall know that I am the Lord your God. And it came to pass that even the quails, that’s a bird, a clean bird, the quails came up and covered the camp and in the morning the dew lay round about the host.” Clearly eating quail, eating meat, eating a clean bird was fine. God fed it to his people. There came a point where they got sick of it. They had to eat so much of it. So obviously quail is clean. Meat is fine to consume. But not all meat. Not all meat.

Isaiah 65. Isaiah chapter 65. Not all meat is to be eaten. Isaiah 65 verse 2. Isaiah 65 verse 2. “I have spread out my hands all the day upon a rebellious people…” This is God talking to his people. So “…I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people which walk in a way that is not good after their own thoughts. A people that provoke me to anger continually to my face, that sacrifice in gardens and burn incense upon altars of bricks,” so they’re worshiping false gods, “which remain among the graves and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh,” that’s pig, it’s pork, it’s swine’s flesh, “and a broth of abominable things in their vessels.”

Think about today that would be something likened to I think of a Creole dish. Something that has all sorts of abominable things, shellfish, unclean seafoods, and they’re eating this broth of unclean animals. God says this rebellious people do that. People who are sacrificing to other gods do that. Not all meat is meant to be eaten. It’s not meant to be consumed. Verse 5, “which say,” these are the people who are doing this, “which they say, Stand by yourself, come not near me, for I am holier than thou. They are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all the day.”

Think about being at a bonfire or fire and that smoke gets in your nose and how irritating that is. It’s very irritating. You can’t breathe. God is saying that people, when they do that, those actions are a smoke into his nose. And a part of it is the hypocrisy. The people that were doing this, his people knew better. They knew to carry themselves in a certain way. They knew what God expected, but in secret, or despite knowing what to do, they still ate pork. They still ate the abominable stew and said, oh, I’m holier than thou. Don’t come near me. Don’t touch me. I’m close to God. Yet they were willing to do what we just read.

Isaiah 66. Staying here in Isaiah, go one book over, Isaiah 66, verse 17, Isaiah 66, 17, picking up with the same theme. “They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the garden.” So these are people who are, you know, I’m holy. I’m holier than thou. I’m separate. I’m sanctified. “They that sanctify themselves and purify themselves in the garden behind one tree in the midst.” So they’re behind the tree. They’re sneaking, “eating swine’s flesh and the abomination and the mouse.” They’re eating rodents, they’re eating mice. “Thou be consumed together, says the Lord.” Brethren, I’m not comfortable. I’m sure you aren’t either, but I’m not comfortable saying God doesn’t care what we eat.

Eating pork, interestingly, eating pork is put on the same level as eating mice and rats. They go, I would never eat a mouse. I never eat rats. You say that to a person in the world, I never eat that. Ham sandwich, anyone? God likens all of that together. He puts all of that together and he calls it an abomination. And we saw that in Deuteronomy. Don’t eat unclean meats. Don’t eat unclean foods. The law of clean and unclean meats is still in effect. It did not change since this time, since what we’re reading. And that’s despite what worldly ministers and theologians and people, oh, it’s changed. It’s different now. You can eat whatever you want. It’s despite what they say. Let’s look at some verses that they use to try to say that we can eat whatever we want.

Mark 7. Mark 7. These are so-called proof texts claiming that we can eat whatever we want. We haven’t gotten to that spiritual lesson message in this doctrine, but it’s important to appreciate that spiritual message to understand the doctrine itself. And that’s what we’re doing. Mark chapter 7. We’re going to look at some proof texts that some use to try to say you can eat whatever you want. Mark 7. You may have heard about this one recently in a sermonette. Mark chapter 7. We’ll pick it up in verse 18. So there’s a whole dispute about washing hands and, you know, Christ didn’t wash his hands before a meal. That was a whole ritual. It wasn’t just, you know, like we do now. We pop over, we put a little soap on, a little water and wash our hands.

Now, there was a whole ritual around this idea and this thing of washing hands and Christ did not do that. He proceeded to eat without doing that. “And he said unto them, are you not without understanding also?” So they had, they called him out on it, tried to call Christ out on this. “Do you not perceive that whatsoever thing from within enters into the man, it cannot defile him.” So it’s not what goes into us that defiles us, he’s saying, “because it enters not into his heart, but into the belly and goes out into the draught purging all meat.”

So he’s saying the things that we, the things that defile a man is not what goes into your digestive system, into your stomach, through your small intestines, eventually into your large intestines and you eliminate the solids. God is saying, that’s not the issue. That’s not the thing that you should be focused on, Pharisees. You shouldn’t be focused on that. Those things just go through you and they come out of you. Now some take this spiritual lesson. This isn’t the spiritual lesson that I was talking about earlier, but some take that spiritual lesson that God was, that Christ was explaining to them and try to make it physical. God says purging all meats. And they use a lot of mental and Bible gymnastics to now say, we can eat bacon. That’s not, that’s not what Christ was saying at all. That’s not what he was saying at all.

People stretch, twist and do all of that to try to have a workaround for God’s law. That’s just, that was not the context. That’s not what Christ was talking about at all. He was talking about washing hands. They were too focused on physical dirt that may, for instance, maybe was under his fingernails or physical dirt that was on his hands. And they were focused on that instead of the things they should have been focused on. That is not a note. That is not a green light to eat unclean meat.

Romans 14, Romans 14, let’s take a look at another one. Romans 14, another so-called proof texts that people use to say we can eat whatever we want. Romans 14, verse 14, Romans 14, verse 14. “I know, and I’m persuaded by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself, but to him that esteems anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” So in other words, and this is what those who are looking for a workaround or looking to eat whatever they want, they say, you know what? Clean and unclean meats, that’s just a concept. That’s just an idea. If you consider it unclean, it’s unclean. If you consider it clean, it’s clean. No, no. If that were the case, what was the whole point of laying out all the different parameters? What if I just considered poison to be clean? It’s not a concept. It’s not just an idea.

Once again, people using verses out of context, twisting them, turning them to say that we can eat whatever we want. It makes no sense. Clean and unclean food, it’s not a concept. It’s not an idea. It’s a physical law that has physical real world application. First Timothy four. Let’s take another look at a verse used often to say we can eat whatever we want. First Timothy chapter four. First Timothy chapter four. Verse four. First Timothy chapter four, verse four. “For every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving.” Close the Bible. I can eat my ribs as long as I pray over them. No, no. Not so fast. Not so fast. Let’s keep reading. Let’s keep reading.

First Timothy chapter four, verse five. “For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” That’s the piece. The things that we can eat are sanctified or separated or called out by the word of God. God said, don’t eat ribs. I keep going back to that one. Scallops, shrimp, ham, pepperoni. God says, don’t eat those things. Yes, I want you to pray over your food. You should bless your food. You should receive it for thanksgiving, but it is sanctified. I told you in my word, the things that I do and do not want you to eat. That is, this is not a green light to eat whatever you want. Bottom line, God said, we must eat clean meat and not eat unclean meat. He made it very plain. You notice I said, we must eat meat. We must eat meat.

Let’s stay here in first Timothy chapter four, let’s go up to verse three. First Timothy chapter four, verse three, “forbidding to marry.” This is Timothy calling out certain doctrines, in this case, bad doctrines. Forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. When we look at what we read earlier, when I said you can eat meat, clean meat, as long as it’s received with thanksgiving and sanctified by the word of God.

The point is there are people, there were people saying, you should not eat meat. Eating meat is bad. Well, that’s just false. And that’s what Timothy is saying here. That’s false. Vegetarianism is not God’s way. It’s not what God expects of his people. It’s not what God wants. Oh, you know, you don’t want to kill the poor little chicken and the poor little animal. No, that’s not what God wants. Now understand, and I’ve worked with people, even just my own health, my own diet. There’s nothing wrong with limiting the amount of meat you have when you have these different diets out there. The carnivore diet. I only eat meat. Well, that’s not good either. You need to slip some veggies in there and some fiber, breads. You want to be balanced. But it’s okay for health reasons for some people to consume less meat to pull back. That’s totally fine. Totally fine. But you have to eat some meat.

I remember working with a person, I think their diet was such where they only ate meat maybe like once a week and was in small amounts and was for health reasons. That’s fine. That’s fine. But brethren, we should be eating meat. We should not be abstaining from meat. As we see it here, it’s a doctrine of demons. Some might wonder, this whole idea, and it’s amazing how significant this doctrine can be and people wondering, should you eat meat, not eat meat? Some people go way overboard and some people ignore it and we certainly want to be balanced. But some could wonder is, okay, I know the Bible says what it says. All that detail. But is eating or avoiding unclean meats, is that really a salvation issue, or is that just kind of a nice-to-do or, you know, doesn’t matter? Doesn’t matter. It’s up to the person. Is this a salvation issue? Well, I would turn the question around and ask, is obedience to God a salvation issue? Is obeying God a salvation issue? The answer is obvious. The answer is obvious, brethren. That is the doctrine.

I could say more and I would encourage you to read our article on it. It’s a great article to review. It’s a great article to share and to be prepared not only for your own conviction, but maybe if someone asks, you know, why don’t you eat pork? Why don’t you eat shellfish? Why is that? Not that you would give them a sermon, but you want to be prepared to be able to answer that question. But what is the hidden message? What is the hidden message? We talked about the doctrine itself, but what is the hidden message behind the doctrine of clean and unclean meats? Clean and unclean meats is not just about physical health and hygiene. It’s about something much, much bigger. The hidden message behind the doctrine of clean and unclean meats is that God himself is pure. He’s clean. He’s not unclean. And he wants us to be clean or pure as well.

Let’s go back to Leviticus 11, Leviticus 11. Not so often when he gives and explains his laws and physical reasons to do things, he’ll so often tell you right there in the context why he’s having you do it. Leviticus chapter 11, Leviticus chapter 11, verse 44, Leviticus chapter 11, verse 44. This is after explaining all of the doctrine itself and all the details. “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore sanctify or separate yourselves and you shall be holy for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. For I am the Lord that brings you up or brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy for I am holy.”

Remember clean means pure. Unclean means impure. God lays out all of these instructions, all of these details about what should or shouldn’t be eaten. Father, why are you telling us all of this? Because I am the Lord your God. I am holy. I’m sanctified. I want you to be the same way. You are my people. You represent me. You represent who I am. So I want you, like I’m holy and clean and pure, I want you to be the exact same way. I want you to be like me. God cares very much about the things that we eat, the things that we just consume, not only from a spirit or from a physical standpoint, but from us being able to take something and look at it and to discern what should or shouldn’t be eaten, what should or does or does not make us pure versus the things that make us impure.

We have to think through that. God wants us to think through that, to make that a priority. When we’re standing in the grocery store and we’re looking at all these different options and we can look at a certain meat and say, you know what? That is pure. That is clean. This is what God wants me to eat. This is unclean. This is impure. God does not want me to touch that. That’s how he wants us to go about our lives. This is right. This is wrong. First Corinthians. Turn to First Corinthians. God cares very much about what we eat and what we consume physically and spiritually.

First Corinthians. We can pick it up in chapter six, First Corinthians chapter six, verse 19. First Corinthians chapter six, verse 19, “What? Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, which you have of God and you are not your own.” Brethren, we don’t belong… our bodies don’t belong to us. “For you are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” What enters our bodies physically, what enters our minds spiritually matter. They’re important. There is a cause. There is an effect. Poor physical foods will lead to poor physical health. Poor spiritual food or things that are not, that are ungodly lead to poor spiritual health. Plain and simple.

God makes it very simple for us to understand. That’s the point of it. He makes it simple. Don’t eat that. Don’t consume that food. You can’t eat this. This food is okay to eat. Staying here in first Corinthians, let’s go to chapter three. First Corinthians chapter three, verse 16. First Corinthians 3, 16, “Know you not that you are the temple of God.” Brethren, we are the temple of God. “And that the spirit of God dwells in you. If any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” Very important. We are the temple of God. When, if, when we defile that temple, there are consequences, grave consequences.

Many of us hearing this, okay, but I don’t eat pork. I’m not eating shellfish. I’m good. True. True. Many of us wouldn’t do that. We’re not eating ham sandwiches. We’re not eating pepperoni pizza, but what about rotten entertainment? Are we consuming pornography? Is that something we’re taking in? How is that okay for the temple? Are we hanging out on hater sites, websites that trash God’s church and lie about God’s church and the people in it and its leader and leaders? Are we spending time consuming or taking in those things? Oh, I would never eat scallops. What are you hanging out in those places? Those places that the devil put together, thedevil.com, as I think we’ve said it in the past.

Are we out there and consuming false teachings and heresies and allowing those things to creep in? Maybe old understanding, things that we’ve moved away from as a church. Are we revisiting those things and looking back at those things, focusing on those things? Are we taking in bad attitudes toward our fellow brethren? Sure, you may not eat calamari, but if we’re not in a good head space, if we’re taking in things that are into our temples, our spiritual temples, physical, spiritual, we’re taking those things in, brethren, they could be certainly detrimental.

In many ways, those things, the heresies, which is false teachings, pornography, hater sites, just the stuff that’s out there, bad attitudes, in many ways, those things can be worse than a slice of pepperoni pizza. They can have spiritual ramifications, much, much more detrimental. So God is saying, this doctrine, clean and unclean meats, the hidden message, a hidden message is that God is holy. He’s separate. You’re my people. I called you out of Egypt. I want you to be the same. I want you to be separate. You represent me. A very important message inside of that doctrine, but brethren, that’s not the main doctrine that I want to speak to. That’s, well, that is a hidden message. That’s not the main one that I want to speak to. There’s another message.

Here’s another message. Turn to Acts chapter 10, Acts chapter 10. Here’s another message that I’d like to speak to. Another message hidden in the doctrine of clean and unclean meats. Acts chapter 10. I want you to imagine yourself, we’re getting ready to read here. I want you to imagine yourself being Peter, the apostle Peter. Imagine that you’re Peter and you just received a vision, a vision that we’re going to go through now. You just received this vision. What would you think? What would you think?

Acts chapter 10. We’ll pick it up in verse nine. Acts chapter 10, verse nine. “On the morrow, as they went on their journey and drew nigh unto the city, here we go, Peter went up into the housetop to pray about the sixth hour and he became very hungry and would have eaten, but while they made ready, while they were preparing food, he fell into a trance and he saw heaven opened and a certain vessel descending unto him as it had been a great sheet knit at four corners and let down to the earth, wherein were all manner of four-footed 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.”

So you have this vision, this picture like a blanket or a sheet coming down and it has all kinds of unclean animals in it. He’s in this vision and saying, “rise, Peter, kill and eat.” What would you think if you were Peter? Would you think now, okay, great, I can eat rabbits and snails and I see other people eating them and it looks good, so maybe I could get to eat it now. Is that what you would think? That’s not what Peter thought. It’s not what he thought. Verse 14, “but Peter said, no, not so, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” God kept going “and the voice spoke unto him a second time, what God has cleansed, that call you not common. This was done three times, and the vessel was received up into heaven.” So Peter said, wait a minute, I don’t eat unclean meat. That’s not what I do. God saying, don’t call what I call clean, don’t call it common or uncommon. So now Peter is confused. He’s confused. What’s going on?

Beginning of verse 17, now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean. So that’s confirmation. Peter’s confused. He didn’t immediately say, great, I can eat anything I want. No. He’s looking at this and saying, I’m missing something. This just doesn’t make any sense to me. He didn’t immediately just take that and say, I can eat whatever I want. Many people use this verse to the set of verses to say that. That’s not what God is saying. That’s not what God is saying at all. There was a much, much, much bigger purpose going on, a much bigger thing going on. And to understand that, we have to start at the beginning of the chapter. So oftentimes we make the mistake of starting right into something without context. Bible readers can do that. So we have to go back to the beginning of the chapter.

Now as we do, recognize that Peter was in Joppa, in a city called Joppa. And the context in the beginning of the chapter takes place in Caesarea. Takes place in Caesarea. It’s about 30 miles from Joppa. So let’s read at the beginning of the chapter to get the context. “There was a man, a certain man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man, Cornelius was devout, and one that feared God with all his house. So he was a God-fearing man and made sure those of his household were the same, which gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always.” So we have this Gentile praying to God. He feared God.

Verse three. Interesting. Look, he saw in a vision. So Cornelius is having “a vision, evidently about the ninth hour of the day, an angel of God coming into him and saying unto him, Cornelius. And when he had looked on him, he was afraid and said, what is it Lord? And he said unto him, your prayers and your alms are come up for a memorial before God.” Isn’t that something? God heard this man’s prayers. He saw the alms that he was giving. Take note. “And now…” still in the vision, “…send men to Joppa…” who is in Joppa, Peter, “…and call for one Simon whose surname is Peter.” So we see Cornelius, he was in a vision and God gave him a set of instructions. He was to send three men, a total of three men.

Take note. Take note that it was three men. He was to send three men to meet Peter and they were to travel those 30 miles to Joppa. Now let’s go back to Acts 10 or verse 17 of the same chapter, picking back up where we were. Now, while Peter doubted in himself what this vision, which he had seen should mean. So remember, he’s thinking, okay, what is this thing about these animals? I don’t understand. While he was thinking about what it meant, right while he was thinking about it, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made an inquiry to Simon’s house and stood before the gate.

Verse 18, “And called and asked whether Simon, which surname Peter, lodged there. While Peter thought on the vision, while he was thinking about the vision that God had given him, the spirit said unto him, behold, three men are looking for you. Arise therefore and get you down and go with them, doubting nothing for I have sent them.” God is telling him while he’s thinking about the vision, while he’s trying to discern what it really means, he’s saying, there’s three men looking for you. Go down there, receive those three men, receive those three Gentiles. Why would God have to tell him, don’t worry, they came for me. I sent them. Why would God emphasize that? Well because Gentiles were considered unclean to the Jews.

The Jews saw the Gentiles as unclean. They would not interact with Gentiles. Peter allowing three Gentiles to enter his home was a big no-no. This vision took place about 10 years after the crucifixion, after Christ was killed. This was about 10 years after that. And even up to this point, the Gentiles and the Jews were separate. Peter was shown that vision three times, and it was tied to these three men who were Gentiles. Three times he was told these uncommon, unclean things. Don’t call them unclean or uncommon. Those three times he saw it was tied to the three men who came to visit him. God is saying, receive them, I sent them.

Peter now is starting to put it together. Now he’s starting to understand the true meaning of the vision, what it was meant to be. Those three men were sent from Cornelius and Peter was to receive them. Verse 25, verse 25, here in Acts 10. “And Peter was coming in and Cornelius met with him.” So he traveled to Caesarea to see Cornelius. “And Cornelius fell down and worshiped him. And Peter said, no, no, no, stand up, stand up, I’m a man also.” Verse 27, “And as he talked with him, he went in and found that there were many come together. And he said unto him, you know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company or come unto one of another nation. But God has showed me that I shall not call any man common or unclean.” This was never about pork. It was never about shellfish or eating mice. It was always about people, always about human beings.

The purpose of the vision was to show that Gentiles could also qualify for eternal life. They could also be a part of God’s church. They could also receive salvation. No Gentiles had been actually called up until this point. So this was a big deal. God went through all of this. He orchestrated all of this, two men in two different areas. He picked a devout man in Cornelius who was praying and giving alms, but who up until that point had not had an opportunity for salvation and an opportunity to be a part of God’s Church. God wanted to show the lead apostle, Peter, that you know what, I’m now going to begin to work with Gentiles. I’m not only going to work with Jews. This was much bigger than eating unclean food. Much bigger than that.

What is the hidden message? What is the hidden message? Brethren, God is no respecter of persons. He loves everyone. God loves everyone. He wants us all to have an opportunity at eternal life, despite our background, despite our culture, despite our race, despite our class. Everyone. God’s plan is big enough for everyone. This might not seem like a big deal. Okay. Of course, God’s plan is for everyone, you might say. Well, brethren, this is a big deal. First of all, it took up a good chunk of the Bible. But even today, brethren, it’s a big deal. Now, maybe not among us because we understand it and we see the big picture. But the fact that God loves everyone, that he’s not a respecter of persons, that’s very, very important.

Let’s read it. Verse 34. Acts 10, 34. “Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.” That means one who discriminates. In the worst case, it would have been race. Jews versus Gentiles. Race and nationality. God is no respecter of persons. He loves everyone. God so loved the whole world, he gave his only begotten son. God so loved the world. I’ll add the whole world that he gave his son. He didn’t give his son just for those of Jewish descent. God loves everyone. First Corinthians 15. First Corinthians 15. This hidden message is very important, especially today. It’s always been important, but especially today in our modern culture.

First Corinthians 15, 22. First Corinthians 15, 22. “For as in Adam, all die. Every man.” Every woman. Regardless of culture, race, class, background. “Even so, in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order…” God has an order to things. There is a way he’s doing it. “…Christ the firstfruits, after they that are Christ’s at his coming.” God has an entire plan and a process to save all men. Everyone will be given a chance at salvation. What bigger message in the Bible is there than that? We all have an opportunity.

A sick perversion and twist on the truth. You heard a lot more, especially during the Worldwide Church of God under Mr. Armstrong. There was a sick perversion, and I call it that. But they accused God’s church of British Israelism. How many have heard of that? British Israelism. The whole claim was that the British people descended from the ten lost tribes of Israel. Well, that’s true. But so did the French. So did the Belgians. The Dutch. Peoples in Canada. Many people here in the United States. Many people descended from the lost tribes of Israel. That’s true. But the thing is, God is no respecter of persons. God is not racist. It was thrown out there as, God is racist. The British peoples are superior people. And this church, that Armstrongism, teaches that British peoples are superior.

Brethren, God is not racist. The church is not racist. Racism is a poison. And people, and Satan knows this, too. People get triggered by racism. You start bringing up race, oh man. It’s like throwing a grenade in a closet. Look out, it’s not going to end well. And it becomes this sick perversion and this way to try to separate, oh, you’re better than me. You think you’re better than me. You think you’re this. You think you’re that. Off of something that we cannot control. We cannot control the color of our skin. We cannot control the culture that we come out of. Or the class we may have been born into. And racism cuts different ways. Several years back, even here in God’s Church, black Hebraism, it tore through several congregations. And that heresy broke those congregations. It can happen. It took out many brethren.

Many brethren I’ve spent time with at the feast. They got caught up, caught up in that heresy. It even affected the Apostle Peter. There was a point where him being sent that vision, this is the keys we’re giving to this man. This is a very important man, a chief of head apostle. He got caught up in it. He was reluctant. He didn’t want to admit that he was spending time with Gentiles. So it can happen. Paul called him out about it. It can happen. The big picture, brethren, is God loves everyone. God loves everyone. Don’t get caught up in our differences. Don’t get caught up in our differences.

If we’re going to get caught up in anything, get caught up in what makes us the same. The things that we share. Forget race and culture and age, all those old people, those young people, those young people. This happened in the church. Those young people don’t get it. All those old people are out of touch. Those women don’t get it. Look at those women. Look at those men. They’re all doing that. Don’t focus on what makes us different. Focus on what makes us the same. There’s power in our unity. Focus on the truth, the fact that no matter what our background is, what our culture is, where we come from, race, gender, age, all of that, it doesn’t matter.

We all believe the same things. That’s what brings us power. That’s what Satan doesn’t want us to focus on. He wants us to focus on the things that are different. We should be humbled, brethren, no matter what our background is. We should be humbled to know that we know the truth. We know the meaning of life. We know it. Young and old. Our kids know. We all know. We know the meaning of life. We know our awesome potential. That’s the thing we should be focused on. God wants that plan for everyone, even for those who aren’t in the church right now, for our family members, our friends, people we see on the street.

God’s plan is big enough for everyone. It’s what’s been so amazing about our understanding about the kingdoms and how it all works. Punishment doesn’t just slam onto the world. There’s an opportunity to know who God is. Now, if you reject him, then okay, but there’s an opportunity to know who God is. God’s plan is big enough for everyone. We’re called now. We have an opportunity to go first. But if you’re going first, that means others will follow. We can take heart in that. It’s a big hidden lesson inside of this doctrine of clean and unclean meats, in this case, the vision with Peter.

But guess what? Guess what? That also wasn’t the most important hidden lesson. I guess at the end of the day, I just couldn’t choose which hidden lesson I wanted to go with. Well, that wasn’t the most important one. And I’m running out of time, so I better get to it. I’m going to get to the main hidden message that I wanted to cover. And to do that, turn to Hebrews 11, Hebrews chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11, the faith chapter. We’re going to look at the main, or some might say the third, hidden lesson behind the doctrine of clean and unclean meats, Hebrews chapter 11. Verse one, now, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Now, what does faith have to do with clean and unclean meats? Well, I’ll just get right to it. Clean or unclean meats, eating them, for many people, it just seems harmless. I mean, okay, I understand you eat all that, and it takes decades, and maybe you die, maybe you don’t. I see people eating unclean food all the time. I see people ordering shrimp and scallops all the time. There’s no, I don’t really see anything happening to them.

And brethren, if I pulled out a bacon cheeseburger right now and I ate it, I wouldn’t die. At least I don’t think. I might collapse. What is this? I haven’t eaten this in a long time. But God instructs us on clean and unclean meats, and it challenges us to obey despite our, what appears, the appearance. It doesn’t seem like a really big deal. What’s the big deal if I eat a slice of pepperoni pizza? It’s not the end of the world. I was eating it before. In so many ways, refraining from eating unclean foods, particularly in our culture and all over the world, when you see a million, I told you, what’s the leading, the most consumed meat in the world is pork. In many ways, staying away from unclean meats is an act of faith. It’s a form of delayed gratification. And that’s really the hidden lesson that I want to end with. It’s an act of faith.

Deuteronomy 14. Let’s go back there. Deuteronomy 14. Verse two. Let’s read one verse and read one more that I didn’t read at the time. Deuteronomy 14, two. Deuteronomy chapter 14, verse two, “For you are in holy people unto the Lord your God.” Remember, we read this, “And the Lord has chosen you to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations upon the earth.” Actually, we did not read this earlier. This is the one we skipped. So God is saying you’re holy, you’re chosen, you’re peculiar, I’m calling you unto myself above all the nations that are upon the earth. Then he backs it up with, “you shall not eat any abominable thing.”

Brethren, when we stay away from unclean meat, we are standing apart from the world. We are in a righteous way separating ourselves from the world. We are peculiar in that way. What makes us peculiar when we turn down meats that we shouldn’t be eating? Matthew seven. Matthew seven. So many verses that talk about being a light, standing out from the world in a good way, in a positive way.

Matthew seven, verse 13. Matthew 7, 13, powerful principle. “Enter you in at the straight gate.” So it’s straight, it’s narrow. Almost picture you have to kind of turn to the side in order to get through it. “For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there be which go in there at. Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leads unto life and few there be that find it.” Way more people eat pork than those who don’t. What’s the big deal? Seems like it’s okay. Well, brethren, it’s a powerful metaphor for God’s way of life. It’s a powerful metaphor.

Proverbs 14. Proverbs 14. Verse 12. Proverbs 14, verse 12. “There is a way that seems right unto a man.” It looks fine. I checked it out. I researched it. It’s fine. It looks fine. It seems right. “But the end thereof are the ways of death.” Brethren, everything is not always what it seems. We know that. It’s God’s people. Satan is an illusionist. He makes things look opposite of what they are. It’s easy to follow the crowd. It’s less resistance, less ridicule. Many of our kids are faced today, the class, they order pizza and everyone’s eating it and they’re looking. It’s like, oh, they only got pepperoni on the pizza. Aren’t you hungry? No. And they have to avoid it. They have to avoid it. It’d be so easy, ah, I’ll take a piece. No big deal. No big deal.

All the laws of God, including clean and unclean meats, it becomes a certain test. It can be a quiet test. It can be a test even in your own mind. But it becomes a test. Will I choose God’s way or not? Which way will I go? Which decision will I make? Do I follow God or do I follow the crowd? What a powerful lesson. Powerful lesson. Let me encourage you though. Let me encourage you. It could be hard.

Galatians chapter six. Galatians chapter six. It could be hard in the moment when you have to make the decision. Let me encourage you. Actually God encourages you. I’m just going to read it. Galatians chapter six, verse seven. Galatians chapter six, verse seven, “Be not deceived.” Don’t be fooled. Take note. Don’t be fooled about what you’re about to read. “God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For he that sows to his flesh, of the flesh shall reap corruption. But he that sows to the spirit, shall of the spirit reap life everlasting.” I love the positive and negative nature of that. There’s a positive side.

Brethren, we reap what we sow. When we stand for truth, when we decide, you know what? I’m just going to follow God in this way. Even when no one’s looking, I’m not going to eat a ham sandwich. There’s a positive thing that we reap from that, physically and spiritually. When we stand for truth, we stand for what God would have us to do, even when no one’s looking. But so many are, sadly, are deceived. He said, “be not deceived. God isn’t mocked.” His words are what they are. Don’t be deceived. But many are deceived.

Ecclesiastes chapter 8. Why are they deceived? Why are they deceived? Ecclesiastes chapter 8. They’re deceived for a reason. And it’s human nature. Human nature. Ecclesiastes chapter 8. Verse 11. Ecclesiastes chapter 8, verse 11, “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily…” because we don’t chomp down on that slice of pepperoni pizza, on those ribs, on those scallops, on that lobster, on that crab, and slurp up those oysters, “Because sentence,” or the sentence, the result of that doesn’t happen right away, “…therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” It’s no big deal. It doesn’t matter. I can eat whatever I want. Why are you focused on that?

Brethren, be not deceived. And yet we’re talking food. But there’s other elements that this applies to as well. God is simply taking a physical law and he wants us to glean spiritual lessons from it. Time will fool us. Ah, you know, it’s no big deal. It didn’t really happen. You know, the first time you do it, you’re looking around, how’s this going to end? Second time, third time, fourth, fifth, sixth, tenth, oh, I’m fine, it’s no big deal. No big deal. Brethren, don’t be fooled. Don’t be fooled.

No, okay, we’re not going to eat pork, but are we tithing? I’ll skip this week. I’m not going to tithe this paycheck. I’m not going to pay second tithe. I’m not going to keep the Sabbath properly. No big deal. “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily,” we find ourselves, we can find ourselves, just willing to do and go against what God would have us to do. Brethren, don’t be fooled. God is not mocked. Be not deceived. Obeying God when it’s unpopular or even when we don’t fully understand why, that builds faith. It builds our spiritual resilience. It builds our conscience. It strengthens us to know, you know what, I’m standing for what’s right. I’m doing what’s right.

So we’re not only healthy physically when we avoid those unclean foods, we’re also healthy spiritually because we have our convictions. There’s certain things that we will or will not do. It’s huge. It’s huge. God wants us to be different, to be peculiar, to stand out as his people. Every time we saw, each time, in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, other examples too, but in a direct way, each time we saw God lay out the commandments, he laid out the commandments and he laid out the clean and unclean meats doctrine. Notice how he said, you know what, you’re my people. Holy, peculiar, different, standing above. We can’t miss that. We can’t miss that point. That’s what this doctrine is all about.

This doctrine, brethren, as I conclude, this doctrine is so much more than just about meat. It’s important, and it is about meat, but it’s so much more than that. It’s so much more than that. First, we saw that God wants us to be pure. He wants us to be clean, like he is. He doesn’t even want us sacrificing…. Back then, they didn’t even sacrifice unclean animals. They had to sacrifice clean animals. God wants us to be pure, not just physically, but also spiritually, just like he is.

Also, we saw that God is no respecter of persons. He used that whole unclean, and that whole doctrine and understanding of clean and unclean meats, He used that to be able to say, you know what, I’m not just working with Jews, I’m working with all sorts of people. He used that doctrine to do that. That’s huge.

Finally, and I’ll say, most importantly, it just shows that it’s an act of faith. Yes, eventually, if you eat those foods, they will have a detrimental health, be a detriment to your health, but it’s not right away. It’s often not right away. But brethren, it takes faith. It takes faith to not do it anyway. That means we’re going to stand out. Who would have thought? Who would have thought all that could come from this doctrine, this most important doctrine in the Church? The doctrine of clean and unclean meats? So brethren, the next time you turn down that slice of pepperoni pizza or you skip the shrimp cocktail at the buffet, just know that you’re doing it for much bigger reasons.