Clean or unclean. That is the Question. Many people just don't know what is good for them to eat and what is not. As we all know if we eat God's way we will lead healthier lives as we go through this (flesh), the 2nd earth age. I have had certain foods questioned by friends lately. Hence this study on what is a clean or unclean food. In this study we will only cover the health of the flesh. What you eat is not a sin against God, but a sin against yourself. It's either healthy or it's not. With Father's help I will do as good a job as I can in explaining the food laws. I will be using the Companion bible and the Strongs, Thayers, and Brown-Driver-Briggs Concordance from my PC Study Bible software that we ordered from the Chapel for most of my documentation. I may also use W.I.E. 98 encyclopedia. Let's start our study in Lev. 11.

Lev 11
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.

Here we are told what God created to be received.

3 Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.

These include deer, cows, moose, goats and lamb. In Deut. 14:4-6 we have more examples of the clean animals and a second witness that they are clean.


Deut 14:4-6
4 These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,
5 The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.
6 And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat.

I want to go to the Strongs so we identify what some of these animals really are for clarification.

Hart:
354 'ayal (ah-yawl');
an intensive form of 352 (in the sense of ram); a stag or male deer:
KJV-- hart.

Pygarg
1788 diyshon (dee-shone');
from 1758; the leaper, i.e. an antelope: -pygarg.
8377 te'ow (teh-o');
and tow' (the original form) (toh); from 8376; a species of antelope (probably from the white stripe on the cheek):
KJV-- wild bull (ox).

Chamois:
2169 zemer (zeh'-mer);
apparently from 2167 or 2168; a gazelle (from its lightly touching the ground):
KJV-- chamois.

Lev. 11:4
4 Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

As we can see in verse 4 there are those animals that do chew the cud but are still unclean or rather unhealthy to our flesh bodies because they do not have a split hoof.

5 And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

Coney:
8227 shaphan (shaw-fawn');
from 8226; a species of rock-rabbit (from its hiding), i.e. probably the hyrax:
KJV-- coney, Shaphan.

This word coney according to the companion bible means a rabbit. To quote what it says: coney=the old English name for rabbit

6 And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

This particular hare according to the Strongs and the Companion Bible is a creature that is most likely extinct. And in being so it is best to leave it in its Hebrew form un-translated because we don't have a hare that chews the cud in our time. I will insert the documentation from the Strongs and Thayers.

Strongs for "hare":
768 'arnebeth (ar-neh'-beth);
of uncertain derivation; the hare:
KJV-- hare.

Thayers for "hare":
768 'arnebeth-
hare; probably an extinct animal because no known hare chews its cud. The exact meaning is unknown and best left un-translated as "arnebeth"

7 And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.
8 Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.

Strongs definition of swine:
2386 chaziyr (khaz-eer');
from an unused root probably meaning to enclose; a hog (perhaps as penned):
KJV-- boar, swine.

Brown-Driver-Briggs definition of swine:
2386 chaziyr-
a hog, swine, a boar
a) swine (as forbidden food)
b) a wild boar

The "swine" or rather the "pig", was put here to clean the earth. It doesn't chew the cud and it doesn't have sweat glands. Since it has no sweat glands it retains all the toxins and chemicals it partakes of throughout it's lifetime. When you eat pork you take in all the toxins the swine has stored in it's meat and fat. Do you know that a pig will eat anything? If you were to through a human corpse into a pig pin there would not even be a bone left to find. In Isa.65:5 God says about those that eat swine "They are a smoke in my nose" but this is not just a flesh thing God is talking about. It is a spiritual thing also. You can read about this below.

The subject of whether or not pork is good for you is a hard thing to discuss with most people. This is especially true with Christians. The first thing they want to do is tell you that this is Old Testament or the old covenant. They want to bring out places like Acts chapter 10 or I Tim. Chapter 4. But lets go to another place in the word and see what the Father has to say about self-righteous hypocrites that think they are better than you but still eat swine flesh in the book of Isaiah.

Isa 65:3-5
3 A people that provoketh Me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;
4 Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
5 Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in My nose, a fire that burneth all the day.

I think that pretty well backs up the statement we said before these last verses. While we are on the subject lets go to Acts 10 and I Timothy chapter 4.

Acts 10:1-28
1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
2 A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

We can see in these 2 verses, that number one, Cornelius is not an Israelite but is of an ethnic race or better yet six day man. Another story for another time.

3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.

We see here that even though Cornelius was of the 6th day, God found favor with him and was going to answer his prayers and use Simon Peter. Father created us the way He wanted us to be and He looked and saw that is was good, very good.

5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
6 He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
7 And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually;
8 And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.
9 On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:
10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,

We see here that Cornelius sent 2 of his servants and a soldier to Peter as he was instructed to do by the angel. In the next verses is where a lot of Christians want to bring in the health laws saying that they are no longer in effect.

11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.

We see in these verses that God was using these animals as an example for Cornelius sake. # 1: Peter had never eaten anything that was not clean according to the health laws. # 2: even though he was told to kill and eat all 3 times he did not.

17 Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate,
18 And called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there.
19 While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee.
20 Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.
21 Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come?
22 And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.
23 Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.
24 And the morrow after they entered into Caesarea. And Cornelius waited for them, and had called together his kinsmen and near friends.
25 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.
26 But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.
27 And as he talked with him, he went in, and found many that were come together.
28 And he said unto them, Ye 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 hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

Now we find out what the vision was all about. It had nothing to do with food or changing the health laws at all. But what the whole vision was about is that Peter should call no man unclean or "common". Neither should anyone else. You see, because Christ paid the price, salvation was for all not just the Israelites. Now with Acts out of the way let's go to I Timothy 4.

1 Tim 4:1-4
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:

We see in the first verse that in the latter days (which is today friends) there would be some that would depart from God's word and listen to seducing spirits. Taking on doctrines of devils. If it doesn't line up with God's word it isn't of God. Most people at this point over-look the words in verse 3 "which God hath created to be received". And go right to verse 4 reading all is good and not to be refused. We should know better. But these same people are the very first ones to make statements like: God is the same God yesterday, today and forever, while at the same time saying: Christ did away with the Old Testament. We cannot follow God's plan if we don't have and read the whole letter He sent to us.

Lev. 11
9 These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.

Remember brethren: "whatsoever hath fins and scales" To name a few of these foods would include fish like tuna, salmon, bass and trout. The tuna, which is one I heard disputed about, does have scales but that are almost to small to see. But they are there. I for one like flounder, red snapper and trout.

10 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 unto you:

Here we have the carnivores and the scavengers of the waters. These include the Shark, Orcas, Octopus and squid just to name a few. Then there are the bottom dwellers like catfish, shrimp, crabs and lobsters. There are many that can be found in fresh and salt waters. Crabs are one and muscles are another. Let's not forget the crawfish. It looks like a small lobster and are good for bait but not good for eating.

Lev.11
11 They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.
12 Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.

Verses 11 and 12 are pretty self-explanatory. If it ain't got scales and fins don't eat it. "Ye shall not eat of their flesh".

13 And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,
14 And the vulture, and the kite after his kind;
15 Every raven after his kind;
16 And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,
17 And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl,
18 And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle,
19 And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

I want to put in a little note on the "bat" from the side column of the Companion Bible.

Bat: A vile creature and symbol of evil (Isa.2:20): comes last as a link between two classes, quadrupeds and birds.

Most of these birds we have heard of before. But we will put in documentation for a few of the others just in case.

Strongs for ossifrage:
6538 perec (peh'-res);
from 6536; a claw; also a kind of eagle:
KJV-- claw, ossifrage.

B-D-B for ossifrage:
6538 perec-
a bird of prey
a) perhaps the bearded vulture or ossifrage
b) perhaps an extinct animal; the exact meaning is unknown.

Strongs for cuckow:
7828 shachaph (shakh'-af);
from an unused root meaning to peel, i.e. emaciate; the gull (as thin):
KJV-- cuckoo.

B-D-B for cuckow:
7828 shachaph-
a ceremonially-unclean bird
a) a cuckow, a gull, a seagull, a sea-mew
b) maybe an extinct bird; the exact meaning is unknown

Strongs for cormorant:
7994 shalak (shaw-lawk');
from 7993; bird of prey, usually thought to be the pelican (from casting itself into the sea):
KJV-- cormorant.

Strongs for lapwing:
1744 duwkiyphath (doo-kee-fath');
of uncertain derivation; the hoopoe or else the grouse:
KJV-- lapwing.

Lev.11
20 All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you.

There is a lot in this verse. All is all-inclusive and fowls of course are birds. I will show the meaning for "that creep" from the Strong's and Brown-Driver-Briggs. But the "going upon all four" has several meanings. I am going to the Strong's and pulling from it the parts that fit the subject of food.

The one fowl that comes to mind here is a bird that lives in our oceans. Do not Penguins go upon all four? Are they not birds that fly in the water? This is the only one I can think of.

Strong;s for that creep:
8318 sherets (sheh'-rets);
from 8317; a swarm, i.e. active mass of minute animals:
KJV-- creep (-ing thing), move (-ing creature).

B-D-B for that creep:
8318 sherets-
teeming or swarming things, creepers, swarmers; used of insects, animals, small reptiles, quadrupeds

Strongs for four:
702 'arba` (ar-bah');
masculine 'arba` ah (ar-baw-aw'); from 7251; four:
KJV-- four.

7251 raba` (raw-bah');
a primitive root [rather identical with 7250 through the idea of sprawling "at all fours" (or possibly the reverse is the order of deriv.); compare 702]; properly, to be four (sided); used only as denominative of 7253; to be quadrate:
KJV-- (four-) square (-d).

Now lets look at a few clean birds from Deut.14.

Deut 14:20
20 But of all clean fowls ye may eat.

There are really not any listed by name but here is a guide line to go by. What is clean fowl? When looking at this ask yourself this question. What does it eat? Take a chicken for instance. It eats worms, insects and vegetation. Is it a carnivore? No. A rule to go by in deciding if something is clean for food or not is to look at what it eats. If it is a carnivore most will also scavenge for it's food in lean times. There are those creatures that God created to clean the earth. Vultures and eagles are both scavengers, eating both fresh meat and putrid meat. Chicken is a clean food as is the turkey. They eat insects, worms and stuff like ground corn. If chickens and turkeys are left to their own they pretty much eat the same things a duck eats. (Note: PM states that a duck is not a clean food) You be the judge. Just remember the rule of thumb. What do they eat?

21 Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth;
22 Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind.

I know, this sounds kind of gross. But even John the Baptist dined on honey and locust.

Verse 22:
Side notes from the companion: these: being all after his kind, are probably four different species of the same
Locust=swarming locust.
Bald locust=devouring locust.
Beetle=chargol (or wingless) locust.
Grasshopper=chargab locust, Num.13:33, Chron. 7:13, Ecc.12:5, Isa.40:22.

But I would be picky if I had to eat beetles. But as you read above this is not a beetle but a locust of sorts. Some of beetles have the ability to squirt when attacked.

23 But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you.

I found the following on uncleanness in the "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia" that was included as part of the software on the PC Study Bible software and wanted to add it in here.

UNCLEANNESS
1. In the Old Testament: (1) Uncleanness in the matter of food.-- The law as to clean and unclean beasts is laid down in . Notice that the law does not extend to vegetable foods, as does a similar law in the Egyptian religion. Four kinds of beasts are named as fit for food: (a) among quadrupeds, those that both chew the cud and part the hoof; (b) among fishes, only those having both fins and scales; (c) most birds or fowls, except, in the main, birds of prey and those noted for uncleanness of habits, are permitted; (d) of insects those that have legs above the feet to leap withal (e.g. the cricket, the grasshopper, etc), but those that go on all four, or have many feet, or go upon the belly (e.g. worms, snakes, lizards, etc), are forbidden. See, further, FOOD.
(from International Standard Bible Encylopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (C) 1996 by Biblesoft)

24 And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even.
25 And whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.
26 The carcases of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean.
27 And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even.

There are many of these types of animals. The dogs, puma, lion, leopard, bears and hyenas just to name a few. I think you can the idea from these.

28 And he that beareth the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you.
29 These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind,
30 And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole.

The creatures named here have other meanings than just the obvious. Lets go to the Strongs:

Weasel:
2467 choled (kho'-led);
from the same as 2465; a weasel (from its gliding motion):
KJV-- weasel.

Mouse:
5909 `akbar (ak-bawr');
probably from the same as 5908 in the secondary sense of attacking; a mouse (as nibbling):
KJV-- mouse.

This one is also from the word mouse meaning spiders or others with multible legs.

5908 `akkabiysh (ak-kaw-beesh');
probably from an unused root in the literal sense of entangling; a spider (as weaving a network):
KJV-- spider.

tortoise
6632 tsab (tsawb);
from an unused root meaning to establish; a palanquin or canopy (as a fixture); also a species of lizard (probably as clinging fast):
KJV-- covered, litter, tortoise.

Ferret:
604 'anaqah (an-aw-kaw');
the same as 603; some kind of lizard, probably the gecko (from its wail):
KJV-- ferret.

Chameleon:
3581 koach (ko'-akh);
or (Dan. 11:6) kowach (ko'-akh); from an unused root meaning to be firm; vigor, literally (force, in a good or a bad sense) or figuratively (capacity, means, produce); also (from its hardiness) a large lizard: -ability, able, chameleon, force, fruits, might, power (-ful), strength, substance, wealth.

Lizard:
3911 leta'ah (let-aw-aw');
from an unused root meaning to hide; a kind of lizard (from its covert habits):
KJV-- lizard.

Mole:
8580 tanshemeth (tan-sheh'-meth);
from 5395; properly, a hard breather, i.e. the name of two unclean creatures, a lizard and a bird (both perhaps from changing color through their irascibility), probably the tree-toad and the water-hen:
KJV-- mole, swan.

As you can see here the statement I made is very true. All is not as it seems a times.

Eat well, eat healthy, live long happy lives my brethren.
What you eat is your choice. It is not a sin unto death but a sin unto flesh. God will not punish you but your flesh will, by getting diseased and breaking down faster than need be. High blood pressure is a big one. Bad or high cholesterol is another. You heard it when you where a child and it stills hold true no matter what your age. You are what you eat! We are going to stop here. I will check out the rest of Lev. 11 to see if more of pertains to food. If it does I will add it in at a later date.

In His Service,
11-13-01