bekahcubed

Categories B3RD

Should I follow the OT “Food Rules”? (Part 2)

Leave a comment by

Last week, I discussed the “who” of the Old Testament dietary laws and concluded that the dietary laws were given to the people of Israel and not to the surrounding nations. Thus, Gentile believers have no obligation to keep the Old Testament dietary laws.

For the majority of believers, that’s enough for us to eat our bacon in peace.

But what about the Jews? Are they obligated to keep the Old Testament dietary laws?

To begin to answer that question, we must ask a second question of the texts (Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14): Why has God given these dietary laws to the Israelites?

The answer is easy to find, but not quite as easy to interpret. Leviticus 11:44-45 gives several answers:

  • For I am the Lord your God
  • For I am holy
  • For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God
  • For I am holy

Deuteronomy 14:21 repeats the above:

  • For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.

If we are to believe the Scriptures, we must understand that the reason the Israelites were to keep the dietary laws was because God is holy–and they were supposed to be holy like God.

In our modern understanding of the word “holy”, we struggle with how this fits. We see “holy” as being “good” or “clean” (which it is, in a sense). But “holy” goes beyond that. The word Kadesh, which is translated “holy”, literally means “apartness” or “separateness”.

God is apart from humanity, separate from us. He is the great Other, the One so far different from us, so far above us that we cannot attain to Him.

When God was calling Israel to be holy, He was calling them to be apart, separate, different from the nations around them.

To demonstrate how His people were different from the people around them, God gave them a collection of rules for proper behavior.

Some of those rules, what we call the “moral law”, spring from the nature of God or from the created order and, although they were given specifically to the people of Israel on Mount Sinai, they are universal for all humanity. Lying is wrong because God is truth. Murder is wrong because God is the author of life. Idolatry is wrong because God alone is worthy of worship. Adultery is wrong because God created marriage to reflect His faithfulness.

Others of the rules given to Israel are not universal. These laws had a specific target and a specific purpose. The laws regarding the sacrificial system were intended to reinforce the need for atonement and to point forward to the coming Sacrifice. The laws regarding how restitution is to be made if someone steals something or borrows and loses something or accidentally mistreats someone were intended for the government of Israel’s theocratic nation-state. Other laws, like the command to not wear garments mixed with flax and wool, were intended to set Israel apart from the nations around them.

The dietary laws, like the laws governing mixed fibers, were laws of distinction–laws intended to make Israel stand out from all the other nations of the world, just as Israel’s God stands out above every other god.

As mentioned last week, this series within a series on Old Testament “Food Rules” is going to keep going until it reaches its conclusion, probably another couple of weeks.

Categories What's on Your Nightstand?

Nightstand (June 2012)

16 Comments by

I’m trying to reduce my multitasking in order to promote safety–which means that I’ve been switching some of what used to be real reading for audiobooks (or having my Kindle read to me.)

This is very good for my safety, less good for my ability to quickly move through books (audiobooks are SOOO slow!) and my sleep time (I go through book withdrawals and end up reading WAY too late at night).

Top shelf

Top Shelf of Nightstand

This month I read:

Adult Fiction

  • Oblivion by Peter Abrahams
    I continue to enjoy Abrahams, even as I grow tired of the inevitable mention of sex (is that really necessary?) This one features a private investigator who is just getting started on a new case when he finds his memory wiped–three days in particular. Now he has to try to reconstruct what happened during those three days so that he can solve the case he knows that he’s on (but knows nothing more about) and so he can reclaim his life (figuratively and literally.) A definite page turner.
  • A Thread of Truth and A Thread So Thin by Marie Bostwick
    The first is a mildly Christian novel about a battered woman who gets taken in by a band of quilters; the second about a collegiate quilter who’s not quite sure about the direction her wedding plans are taking. I enjoyed the first book in this series years ago–and am glad I finally picked up the rest of the books.
  • Faith by Lori Copeland
    Faith signs up to be a mail-order bride in Deliverance, Texas–but gets there to find that she’s getting a silent husband and a cantankerous mother-in-law. I generally like “married-to-a-stranger” plots, but this one wasn’t a favorite.
  • Magi by Daniel L. Gilbert
    Rich with cultural and historical details, this short novel follows the Magi on their trip from Parthia to Jerusalem (they think) to pay tribute to the newborn king. Read my full review here.
  • Fit to Be Tied by Robin Lee Hatcher
    Cleo dreams of a family, but for some reason the men of 1916 Idaho don’t seem to want a jeans-wearing-ranch-wrangler. When she’s assigned to babysit reform supervise an English lord sent to America by his upset father, she’s less than thrilled. I enjoyed this second book in Hatcher’s Sisters of Bethlehem Springs series.

Bottom Shelf

Bottom Shelf of Nightstand

Adult Non-fiction

  • Always Talk to Strangers by David Wygant
    Rather an interesting book on how to find “the love of your life” simply by meeting more people. I reviewed it here.
  • The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs
    A.J. Jacobs has my dream job (sort of). He does experiments on himself for a living. This particular book chronicles a series of month long experiments that include practicing “radical honesty”, doing everything his wife says, and following George Washington’s rules for civil behavior. Oh, and not multitasking. The irony is that I’d broken my own unitasking pact to read the anti-multitasking chapter while doing something else. Sigh. I really enjoy Jacobs’ writing-although this particular book has a few raunchy moments that a sensitive reader should be aware of.
  • Maternal-Newborn Nursing Demystified by Joyce Johnson
  • Overcoming Thyroid Problems by Jeffrey R. Garber
    Put out by Harvard Medical School, this is a thorough guide to thyroid conditions. Read my full review here (my review also includes common symptoms of hypothyroidism–you should check it out and get screened if you recognize several of those symptoms.)
  • That Used to Be Us by Friedman and Mandelbaum
    The authors of this socio-political work consider themselves cautious optimists. They are concerned with how America appears to be falling behind (particularly behind China) in the world, but believe that America can still lead the pack–if we put our “American formula” to work. I have all sorts of notes in my notebook so that I can write a full review of this, but wonder whether I’ll get around to it.
  • What Would Your Character Do? by Eric Maisel and Ann Maisel
    A writing reference to put your own characters through their paces. This is probably one of the most useful things on writing I’ve read in a long time. Check out my full review here.

On Top of Nightstand

On Top of Nightstand

Juvenile Fiction

  • It’s a Baby, Andy Russell by David A. Adler
    Andy assumes that since his aunt says she doesn’t like animals, it means she’s going to try to make him get rid of his pets. After all, she’s making all sorts of rules around the house to prepare for when the baby comes home. Meh. I thought this little book was stupid, to tell you the truth.
  • The Diary of Pelly D by L.J. Adlington
    A dystopian novel of a sort, with a Diary of Anne Frank vibe. It was good and not good. Read my full review, if you’d like.
  • The Viking Symbol Mystery by Franklin W. Dixon
    I think I may be nearing the end of the Hardy Boys. Which means Trixie Belden is next. (Yes!)
  • The Last Full Measure by Ann Rinaldi
    Unlike the other historical novels I’ve read by Rinaldi, The Last Full Measure is not about a prominent historical figure. Instead, it’s about an ordinary girl, a citizen of the village of Gettysburg in 1863. This book gives a unique perspective on one of the most famous battles of the Civil War. I thoroughly enjoyed (even if it had me bawling at the end.) Mothers will want to be aware that, while the story never gets explicit, Tacy’s brother engages in premarital sex without any repercussions or apparent awareness of moral wrongdoing.
  • Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
    Read as part of Carrie’s “Reading to Know Bookclub” (Amy’s pick!) I enjoyed reading this but was a little turned off by how BAD Tom was. See my review for more details. (Oh-I’ve been reading listening to Huck Finn on my Kindle–and I REALLY like it. So it’s definitely not Twain I have a problem with, just Tom.)
  • At least 16 Children’s picture books

In Progress

Books Currently in Progress

Juvenile Non-Fiction

  • The Orphans of Normandy by Nancy Amis
    Actually, it’s incorrect to say that this is “by” Nancy Amis. Instead, Nancy translated the loose-leaf book written and illustrated by the orphans themselves, describing how they endured the Nazi occupation, took shelter during the Allied invasion, and eventually rejoiced to see American tanks. “That consoled them for all that they had lost.” This was a beautiful book.

Don’t forget to drop by 5 Minutes 4 Books to see what others are reading this month!

What's on Your Nightstand?

Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Food

2 Comments by

Thankful Thursday bannerIf you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m a big fan of food. I love to cook it, I love to eat it, I love to talk about it.

Food is a gift from God

I am so thankful for food.

This week I’m thankful…

…for hamburgers grilled and beans baked
My company had our annual Friends and Family Picnic last Thursday. We invite the whole community to come over to eat, bounce in a bounce house, listen to music, and try to dunk somebody in the dunk tank. It’s always a fun time and this time was doubly-fun because my folks came up from Lincoln to spend the evening with Grace and I.

…for meals that keep on giving
I checked out a cookbook called Cooking for the Week from the library the last time I was there. I’ve prepared the first set of meals. The first “weekend” meal involves roasting two chickens and serving them with steamed broccoli and herbed biscuits. (There was also supposed to be a cheesecake–I ended up buying the stuff to make the cheesecake, but haven’t yet put it together.) Then, you eat off of that all week long. Some of the leftover chicken and some of the leftover biscuits becomes chicken pot pie (which was absolutely delicious). Some of the leftover broccoli and broth were used to make a linguine recipe. All this is great–but I expanded it a little further with chicken enchiladas one night and all the fixings for chicken noodle soup prepped and in the freezer for a rainy day.

…for a Father’s Day lunch with surrogates
Gracie had to work and I desperately needed down-time on Sunday, so we stayed in Columbus on Father’s Day (we’ll be celebrating our Daddy this Sunday instead). Erik was so good as to let us (and some others of the young adults in the church) intrude upon his Father’s Day lunch out with his own family. It was good food and even better company.

…for bracingly fresh hand-squeezed lemonade after a bicycle ride
Anna has plans for next Sunday, so she went to Lincoln for the real Father’s Day–which meant that I didn’t have a car to take me to my Mission’s Prayer meeting Sunday evening. Not a problem–I hopped on my bike and rode out. By the time I got there, I was parched, though, and Joy’s homemade lemonade hit the spot.

…for Wendy’s Apple Pecan Chicken Salad
This stuff is amazing. I never used to go to Wendy’s, so I wouldn’t have known about this salad except that Cathy mentioned it one day. I drove through the next time I was in GI late–and I was hooked. Mixed lettuce, dried cranberries, apple bits, candied walnuts, grilled chicken, and blue cheese topped with a pomegranate vinaigrette. The half size is just right and doesn’t break the bank either. This is my new go-to meal when I’m going crazy (like when I’ve been working collaboratively on weight losses all morning and have a training for new Dietetics Association officers all afternoon and failed to leave time to eat!)

…for tried and true recipes (that someone else made)
Truth be told, I prefer to make novel recipes. But I love eating the oldies but goodies. I’m so thankful that Anna prepared some tuna casserole Wednesday evening. It reminded me of when Dad used to cook–and how we kids would complain. But really, I love the stuff.

Food can be a feast for the eyes, for the taste buds, for the olfactory bulb, even for the ear. It can be fuel for my busy body, medicine to heal the pressure ulcers (read-blisters) I gave myself by walking too fast in ill-fitting shoes. It can be a medium for communication and fellowship.

But above all that, it is a gift from God.

Thank you, Lord, for this gift.

Categories Homemaking

Pinterest Picks and Pans: Kitchen Miracle Cleaner

2 Comments by

If you’re on Pinterest, you’ve seen them, you’ve probably pinned them, and it’s quite possible you’ve never used them. They’re the household tips and tricks we ladies love to collect.

How do they do in real life?

Enter my reviews of Pinterest tricks I’ve seen and tried. Tricks like…

Kitchen Miracle Cleaner

The Link: One Good Thing By Jillee

The Trick: Mix baking soda and hydrogen peroxide into a paste and use it to clean just about anything

The Promise: Who can look at this before/after photo of Jillee’s jelly roll pan without frothing at the mouth?

The Attempt: I went to work on a loaf pan that’s seen better days. After 5 minutes of scrubbing, my pan definitely looks better (although nowhere near as nice as Jilly’s). But who has that kind of time to pretty up an already clean and functional pan that really doesn’t get shown to company that often? I don’t.

Pick or Pan? This may be a great trick for guck and grime on highly visible and hard to clean things (Jilly mentions using it on refrigerator handles), but it’s too much work with too little payoff to be used for cleaning everyday bakeware.

Categories B3RD

Should I follow the OT “Food Rules”? (Part 1)

2 Comments by

If you read last week’s post, in which I proclaim that there is no forbidden food, you already know what my answer to the title question is going to be.

I don’t believe that the believer in Christ has any obligation to obey the Old Testament dietary laws.

Saying that is the easy part. Judging by practice, this is the view of the majority of Christians worldwide.

But theology is not democracy, and majority vote means little by way of determining orthopraxy.

If we’re going to answer the question of whether New Testament believers are bound to obey the Old Testament dietary laws, we must look at Scripture itself.

The logical first step in this study is to look at the Old Testament dietary laws themselves. As we read through these laws, found in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, it is important to note who God is giving these laws to and why He is giving them these laws.

Observe the following verses, extracted from those two chapters:

“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth.”
~Leviticus 11:2

“For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
~Leviticus 11:44-45

“And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.”
~Deuteronomy 14:10

“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.”
~Deuteronomy 14:21

Our first question, when reading this text, should be to ask who God is giving these dietary laws to.

The answer should be plain. Leviticus 11 states that these laws were spoken “to the people of Israel”.

In Deuteronomy 14, we read a repeated refrain “it is unclean for you” (emphasis mine). The God who does not waste breath inspired those last two words as well as the previous ones. God does not declare these various animals unclean, period–He declares them unclean to the Israelites.

Furthermore, God declares that one of his “food rules” for the Israelites is explicitly NOT for the foreigners who live among them. The Israelites aren’t supposed to eat an animal who has been found dead–but they are more than welcome to give or sell it to the people around them that those others might eat the animal who was found dead.

An initial, simplistic answer to the question of whether a New Testament believer should follow the Old Testament food rules is apparent. New Testament Gentile believers clearly have no obligation to follow the Old Testament dietary law because the dietary laws were explicitly given to the people of Israel, and were not meant to apply to the people around them.

The Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 confirms this conclusion by stating that Gentile believers are not obligated to keep the law of Moses (contrast the Judaizers’ comment in Acts 15:5 with the apostle’s command in Acts 15:28-29).

As I’m getting a bit long, I’m splitting this post into as many posts as it’ll take to get through this topic. Judging from what I’ve got right now, it’ll be at least three, if not four or more posts. (And don’t worry, I will get to and discuss the Jerusalem council in more depth.)

Categories Homemaking

House Hunting and Self-Discovery

4 Comments by

I’ve been sorta house hunting.

Not seriously. I mean, I haven’t gotten pre-approved for a loan yet, or figured out logistics or what-not. It’s still just theoretical. Not that I haven’t been thinking about it for a rather long time. But I’ve started looking at what’s available again.

Along the way, I’ve been learning all sorts of things about who I am and what I really want.

I started with an open mind–a very open mind–about what I wanted. I looked at anything within my general price range. I’ve learned that there are definite things that I want and don’t want.

Things I want:

  • A Yard
    I grew up on three-quarters of an acre. We had a garden, mature trees, and a lawn. I want those things. Desperately.
  • Central Air
    It’s funny because I’m not really a huge fan of air conditioning (except that I pretty much have to use it due to nasty allergies). But what I’m really, really not a fan of is not being able to see out of windows. Window A/C stinks.
  • A Dining Room
    There’s little that brings me more pleasure than having people over to eat what I’ve cooked. Sunday dinner isn’t complete unless there’s at least a half dozen around the table–but preferably a whole dozen. I think nothing of having twenty-five people over for a Seder. So, yeah, a dining room is pretty important–preferably one that can easily expand into another room for those really big dinner parties.

Things I want but shouldn’t have:

  • An Acreage in the Country
    I want chickens and a pig and a cow (or maybe I’d have to settle for a goat). I want to be a lady-homesteader. I’m also a single woman who works and is a homebody–and who would end up being a recluse if she owned an acreage in the country. Not to mention that I really don’t have the diligence to keep animals alive. Maybe if I was at home full-time and I had a family to force me out of hiding, it’d be another story. For now, no cigar.

Things I don’t want:

  • A New House
    Every house that I’ve spent extended time in that has been built in the past 35 or so years has been really shoddily built. What’s more, every house in my price range that has been built in the past 35 or so years looks shoddily built in the real estate pictures. Doesn’t inspire much confidence. And then there’s the fact that most new houses lack anything resembling charm.
  • A small house
    I’ve tried to be open to small. I need to be open to small. I’m a single woman buying her first home, for Pete’s sake. But I’m also a single woman who LOVES to just have a couple dozen people over for a Seder. Or host a dozen girls for a sleepover. I’m a single woman who wants to be able to have roommates–and still wants a spare room for visiting missionaries or kids up to run 5-Day Clubs. Not to mention that I’m a crafter AND a reader–both of which hobbies take up significant amounts of space (I probably have 300 yards of fabric in my craft room at present–and several thousand books in my library.) Small houses just aren’t exactly suited to my lifestyle.

Things I (still) couldn’t care less about:

  • School District
    Surprised you there, didn’t I? :-)
  • A master bathroom
    I don’t think I need a bathroom per bedroom. I’m going to be the homeowner and as long as there’s one working BATH, I’m good. For potential roommates’ sake, a shower would be nice. For general goodwill, it’d be nice to have a powder room in addition to the bathroom with a bath (I tend to take a while in the bathtub if I’m working on a good book). But I don’t need a master bath.
  • An Attached Garage
    I have grown rather fond of not having to scrape my windshields in the winter, but having an attached garage is not one of my priorities. Anyone who can’t handle a walk through the elements from house to car probably shouldn’t own a house anyway. Sheesh!

So there you are: what I’ve learned about my preferences thus far.

Categories Book Reviews

Book Review: “Always Talk to Strangers” by David Wygant

Leave a comment by

Remember how someone said to never talk to strangers?

David Wygant suggests that to find the love of your life, you must do exactly the opposite.

Since dating is a numbers game, Wygant surmises, the more people you meet, the more people you’ll date. And the more people you date, the better your chance of meeting the love of your life.

Wygant lays out his “three simple tips” in Always Talk to Strangers:

  1. Prepare before you leave the house
  2. Figure out when and where to meet people
  3. Meet them

In 218 very readable pages, Wygant breaks down his three simple tips. First, he says, you need to make sure you’re reasonably attractive to the opposite sex by getting a mental and physical makeover. Second, you need to recognize opportunities to meet people (He suggests blind dating, internet dating, and meeting people around town.) Third, you need to know how to approach someone, introduce yourself, strike up a conversation, and end with their phone number in hand.

I found that Wygant’s overall philosophy makes a lot of sense. The simple fact of the matter is that if you want to marry a man, you first have to meet him. So if you increase your meetings, you should be increasing your odds of marrying.

Of course, there’s a lot more that goes into it than that–but Wygant’s focus is on the odds. He’s not going to tell you how to do things once you’re in a relationship–he’s just telling you how to meet people.

I can respect that. It’s refreshing to read something with such a narrow (maybe?) focus.

As I read, a couple of thoughts kept running through my head. The first was that all that meeting and dating sounds exhausting (On one occasion, the author suggests arranging dates at least four evenings a week–with different people that you’ve met online or around town). The second thought was “This wouldn’t have to just be about getting a date.”

The fact is, the “techniques” for meeting people could just as easily be used simply as a way of developing relationships with people around you. Socially isolated mothers could use it to maybe find some adult conversation on their limited forays out of the home. Christians who work in some form of “ministry” could use it to meet unbelievers with whom to share Christ (Yes, I know there are plenty of us who, at some time in our lives, have had virtually no contact with unbelievers.) Awkward folks (like me) could use it to develop friendships when they’re transplanted into a new context (a new job, a new town, a new school…) The possibilities are endless–and the techniques (recognizing opportunities to meet people in unexpected contexts, directly approaching people, using props to strike up a conversation, asking for someone’s number in a non-creepy way) are useful.

On the other hand, some of the information is specific to seeking out a date as opposed to just a friend. The author talks a fair bit about sex appeal and about telling someone you think they’re attractive (probably not the best “pick up” line for a same-sex friend). Also, the chapters on blind dating and internet dating are pretty much only applicable for someone seeking a date.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, Wygant is a secular author–with all the inherent values (or lack thereof). He takes a female liberation standpoint on girls taking initiative in relationships. He’s heavy on “sexy” and not so much on shared values or ideas. He apparently has no qualms about people jumping into the sack with each other at a moment’s notice.

So there are definitely things one wouldn’t want to learn from this book.

Nevertheless, it was an interesting read and one that I sort of wish I could put (partially) into practice.

Truth is, though, I’m struggling to keep my head above water without a lot of additional relationships. I simply don’t have the time or the energy to be actively pursuing a relationship right now. Maybe after I get my dietary manager done with her classes…

Rating:2 Stars
Category:“Relationships”
Synopsis:How to increase your odds of meeting “the love of your life” by meeting more people.
Recommendation: I can’t really decide. If you struggle to meet people (like I do) but really want to meet more people, this could be useful (if taken with a good dose of good sense). Otherwise, well, it’d be pretty pointless, wouldn’t it?

Categories Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday: Around the House

1 Comment by

Thankful Thursday bannerI’m not going to lie by pretending that I’m anything but a homebody.

One of my favorite places to be is in my own home–curled up on the couch hand-quilting, at my computer desk blogging, in the kitchen baking, on the dock reading.

One of the unfortunate consequences of having to work for a living, though, is that I’m not home nearly as much as I’d like. And when I am home, my time is rushed and the house a wreck.

Nonetheless, I’m thankful for home, such as it is.

Today I’m thankful…

…for a box of vintage patterns categorized by date, sitting in my computer room (still there from when I was searching online for the dates for those last elusive patterns)

…for the quilt that is progressing, sitting in the living room (still there from when I was working on it while watching movies with my sisters this weekend)

…for the antique serving dish in the dining room, bought for me at auction by a good friend (and not yet in its place because I haven’t had time to rearrange the china to showcase it)

…for the handcrafted shelf given to me by another good friend–and still sitting in the hall more than a year post gift

…for the almost clean countertops and full fridge in the kitchen. Now that my little sister’s living with us, I have more impetus to cook (or maybe I’ve just been eager to do so all along.)

…for the tools scattered throughout the garage, evidences that Beth and I are making progress with our birthday wall-hangers

…for the lawn mowed with love, proof of the W boys’ willingness to help me–and to help their sister fund her missions trip to Greece this summer

…for the dock out back and conversations with Ruth on that dock

…for the sister now sleeping in the guest room

I have a home packed with blessings, undeserved gifts from God.

Thank You, Lord, for my home. Thank you, Lord, for my friends. Thank you, Lord, for filling my home–and my heart–with oh so very much.

Categories B3RD

There is no forbidden food

2 Comments by

Since the original forbidden fruit, the history of humanity has been rife with food rules.

Don’t eat this, do eat that. That food is bad, that food is good.

Today’s modern dieter (and most women, regardless of their dieting status) have a deeply-seated conviction that some foods are bad (maybe even evil.)

Popular diet counsel might disagree over which foods are good and which foods are bad, but all of them agree that food is moral and some foods forbidden.

That is frankly unbiblical.

When God gave humanity food, He gave them all the plants and all the animals. In other words, He gave them everything for food.

Later down the road, after a group of Pharisees berate the Savior and His disciples for their eating habits, Jesus replies in a landmark exposition on food:

“Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.”
~Mark 7:14-20

In this passage, Jesus sets aright the wrong thinking of his day. Food cannot make one clean or unclean. Food is amoral.

Food enters through the mouth and is excreted at the bottom. It is external to the body, not internal to the soul.

Food doesn’t defile us, our hearts do.

In saying this, Jesus clarifies several hundred years of teachings and traditions regarding which foods one can eat and which foods one cannot.

As Mark, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote: “Thus he declared all foods clean.”

Perhaps we might still be able to excuse our attitudes and popular teachings about good foods and bad foods by saying that this is only one passage–and that the original context was about hand washing anyway.

But it’s harder to ignore the apostle Paul’s stunning of indictment of those who follow “deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons”:

“…who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”
~I Timothy 4:3-6

Here, Paul not only says that forbidding food is unnecessary, he says that it’s demonic.

That’s right. It’s demonic.

The enemy would have us live in a world of forbidden foods. He would have us concerned about eating the right foods and avoiding the wrong ones. He would have us plagued with guilt over the food in our cupboards or what we order in a restaurant.

God, on the other hand, created all foods good. Nothing is to be rejected.

God (through the apostle) does not stipulate what we should eat, but how we should eat it.

There is no forbidden food. All food is to be received with thanksgiving.

I know that this is probably one of my most controversial teachings about food. I also know that many will ask about the Old Testament dietary laws–since Scripture certainly contains plenty of food restrictions. I plan to address those next week, explaining how the Old Testament dietary laws have been fulfilled in Christ–and are not binding on the New Testament believer (either as a command or as a suggestion of what to eat and what not to eat).

Categories Theology

Sunday School in Review: Part 7

Leave a comment by

After hours trying to figure out how to teach Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, I gave up. In complete defiance to my usually very carefully typed lesson, I had no typed lesson, no handwritten notes. I opened my Bible to Nahum and started teaching.

In Nahum, we learned of God’s judgment on Nineveh–but wait, we asked, didn’t God show mercy to Nineveh? Why is He now going to destroy them?

In Habakkuk, we heard Habakkuk’s lament that God isn’t doing justice: “Why aren’t you giving people what they deserve?” We learned that God is just–which means that He DOES give people what they deserve.

My students had a legitimate question: “But didn’t we just learn last week that God is merciful–that He doesn’t give people what they deserve?”

I explained how God doesn’t give us what we deserve because Jesus volunteered to take what we deserved and give us what He deserved.

We moved on to Zephaniah to review the Day of the Lord–the day when God executes judgment on His enemies and shows mercy to the enemies that He’s made His friends.

We talked about God’s justice and God’s mercy. We talked about substitutionary atonement. We talked the salvation of God.

There’s no way I could have ended up there except for God’s orchestration of this unplanned lesson.

God is good.

I copied over my lesson for Zechariah and Malachi–and this time I don’t have any idea what I taught.

Ah, well. I guess we can’t remember everything.

Next week, I’d be moving into the New Testament–a terrifying chapter after the easy Old Testament.

Why do I say the New Testament is terrifying? I wrote about it on this blog as I moved into Acts:

“Teaching the Old Testament is easy.

Almost every line tells of our desperate need for salvation and our absolute inability to effect salvation of ourselves. Every line points forward, from where many of my students likely are (unregenerate) to Christ’s work.

Teaching the New Testament is hard.

The epistles are especially hard, since they’re written to believers. Most of the epistles answer the questions “What just happened?” and “Now what?”

Good questions, necessary questions, but ones I have a hard time teaching to little unbelievers.”

Read the rest of my explanation here.