Discussing Food With My Nephew (Part 2 of 3)

Another contextual error that believers make is to elevate food from its supporting role to a leading actor in the story of Cornelius’ salvation.  Although prominent in Peter’s vision, food is not central to the story, but was only used by God as an allegory to convey a deeper truth about mankind.  In Peter’s vision, the sky opened up and a sheet descended carrying “all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the air,” (Acts 10:12).  The vision is understood to contain both “clean” and “unclean” animals.  Peter was then commanded to “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” (Acts 10:13), but he was puzzled by the command saying, “Lord…I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.” 

While food was central to the vision, the greater context of the passage is not about food, but an analogy classifying people in terms of clean and unclean, as Jesus spoke concerning His disciples, "Not all of you are clean," (John 13:11).  A clean condition was required for any worshiper entering the temple complex.  If a person came in contact with a dead body, or in contact with someone who touched a dead body, he had to undergo a purification process that required a minimum of seven days.  During that time, a worshiper was not permitted to enter the temple for daily worship.   

To prevent potential contamination, first century Jews avoided interaction with "unclean" Gentiles, as expressed by Peter to Cornelius, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him,” (Acts 10:28).  Before Peter would follow the servants of Cornelius, to enter the house of Cornelius, Peter had to be convinced that the action was consistent with the will of God, and not contrary to the commandments of sanctification, “Be holy for I Am Holy,” (1Pet 1:16).

Somewhere between the time of his vision and Cornelius’ house, Peter came to correctly understand that the vision was not about food, but that “God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean,” (Acts 10:28).  The use of food in Peter’s vision was never intended to be a statement on the permissibility of certain foods, but to convey the truth that no man should be called “unholy or unclean.”  Without this perspective, Peter would have resisted any request from Cornelius’ servants since first century Gentiles were largely idol worshiping, often child sacrificing pagans whose lifestyles contacted dead bodies and other significant forms of uncleanliness, (1Cor 6:9-11). 

As a rule, first century Jews, including the apostles and disciples, avoided Gentile homes and limited their time in the common marketplace.  The Essenes were probably the most fanatical of the Jewish sects on this approach.  We appreciate this fact from the large number of copies of the Book of Jubilees discovered in Qumran, roughly twice the number of ancient copies as existed prior to their discovery. In the Book of Jubilees, we read,

“Separate yourselves from the gentiles, and do not eat with them, and do not perform deeds like theirs.  And do not become associates of theirs, because their deeds are defiled, and all of their ways are contaminated, and despicable, and abominable.  They slaughter their sacrifices to the dead and to the demons they bow down; and they eat in tombs.  And all their deeds are worthless and vain. (Jubilees 22:16-17)” [1]

Although believers accept a position that all races have access to the promises of Abraham through Jesus Christ, the growth of the church was originally limited to Jews, and then Samaritans.  Prior to the pouring out of the Spirit on the family of Cornelius, Gentile access to the promises of Abraham was constrained to proselytes who converted to Judaism, (Matt 23:15).  Cornelius became the first Gentile to enter the Church and the basis for the apostles’ decision in Acts 15.  This Cornelius’ story would not have occurred as written apart from Peter’s willingness to follow the servants of Cornelius.  God used food in the vision received by Peter, but the vision was never intended to change the dietary restrictions previously established through the Law.

The understanding that Gentiles had access to the promises of Abraham without becoming Jews was first demonstrated by the outpouring of the Spirit on Cornelius’ family (Acts 10:44), and was subsequently affirmed by the ruling of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15.  The decision of the Jerusalem council removed the previous requirement that Gentiles convert to Judaism and submit to the full weight of the Law, including circumcision.  Most believers fail to appreciate that the audience of the Acts 15 ruling was limited only, “to the brethren in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles,” (Acts 10:23).  The non-Gentile (Jewish/Samaritan) believers remained under an obligation to all the commandments, including the dietary restrictions, as observed by James who spoke in a “matter of fact” way to Paul saying, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed and they are all zealous for Law,” (Acts 10:20).  

(to be continued...)

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[1] Paul Within Judaism, “The Question of Assumptions”, Karin Hedner Zetterholm, page 102

Discussing Food With My Nephew (Part 1 of 3)

I think it is true, as some have observed, that food offers the most frequent opportunity to discuss the Jewish Roots movement with our fellow believers.  Such was the case last Saturday night with my nephew at a family dinner in Dallas.  Without sinking into too much detail, it is safe to say my nephew was not overwhelmed with my explanation as to why I do not eat pork.  When I returned home, I thought it best to address some of the misunderstandings in the principle passages used to argue the abolishment of the dietary commandments and email my nephew, which I did.  Having gone through the exercise, I thought I would post on the Dusty Disciples....

While most believers are under the impression that the dietary commandments contained in the Law have been repealed, this position is not supported by scripture.  The Gentile believer was never under the dietary restrictions commonly referred to by the term “kosher”, while the Jewish believer was not released from the greater obligation to the commandments by the Jerusalem council of Acts 15.  The confusion and false impression that the dietary commandments have been repealed is principally based on three passages taken out of context in scripture.  The first occurs in an account from the gospel of Mark, 

"The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, ‘Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?...After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying them, “Listen to Me, all of you and understand: there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him: but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man…When he had left the crowd and entered the house, His disciples questioned Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?” (Thus He declared all foods clean.)” (Mark 7:5&14-19, NASB) 

In any study of scripture, it is always essential to place a verse in the greater context of the biblical passage.  To quote the late biblical scholar Dr. Dwight Pryor, “A text without a context is just a pretext to say anything you want.”  The old saying, “You can make the Bible say anything”, is only possible when an individual verse is removed from the associated context.

In the passage above, Jesus was responding to the Pharisaic halakic (legal) observance that hand washing was required before meals to prevent the contamination of “clean” foods, (Mark 7:1-7).  Stated as a question, can permissible “clean” foods defined by the Law (Deut 14:3-20), be disqualified because they come in contact with unclean hands?  The question is a subset of the broader discussion on the cleanliness laws, given by God to separate and sanctify the Jewish people, teaching them to “distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean,” (Lev 10:10-11).  Only in a clean condition can a person enter the temple and approach the LORD Who dwells above the mercy seat over the Ark of the Covenant.  The bulk of the cleanliness laws are found in the Book of Leviticus where the temple priesthood is repeatedly told, “Be holy for I am holy,” (Lev 11:44).

Although believers are quick to dismiss the cleanliness laws as old and outdated, they establish the unchanging principle that a holy God must be approached in a holy condition, as testified by the words of David, “Who may stand in His holy Place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart,” (Psa 24:4).  Even King David alluded to “clean hands” as a prerequisite for approaching a holy God, so the Pharisaic position was not without merit.  The apostles also spoke to the principles behind the cleanliness laws, “let us cleanse ourselves…perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor 7:1), and “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy,” (Acts 10:15). 

While most people would agree that washing our hands before eating is a good practice, the practice was never stated in scripture as a specific commandment, except for priests working in the temple.  A food defined as “clean” by the Law, remained “clean” even when eaten with dirty hands.  The context of the passage is not about permissible foods, as is frequently assumed, but whether or not permissible foods can be disqualified by unclean hands.  The focus of the passage is confused by the introduction of the statement, “Thus He declared all foods clean.”  This latter sentence is not only inconsistent with the context, but also not in the original Greek, as demonstrated by the parenthesis around the words.  While I generally like the NASB translation, you will not find this sentence in the ESV, KJV, or YLT.  Most scholars have concluded that this sentence was a later addition inserted by an early translator, who was making an editorial comment that was not consistent with the context of the passage.

Jesus concluded this gospel discussion with a teaching moment, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man.” (Mark 7:20).  In these words, Jesus alluded to the well-known story of Mariam, who spoke against her brother Moses and became leprous, an unclean condition, (Num 12).  In other words, Mariam sinned by speaking against Moses and became unclean.  Her unclean condition is demonstrated by the leprosy she received.  This becomes an example for all believers to guard what comes out of our mouths; be “slow to speak and slow to anger,” (James 1:19). (to be continued...)

- Back Home Again - Scott

Is a Sinless Life Possible (Part 5 of 5)

Sinful acts are not predestined.  Although sin is a powerful force (1Cor 15:51), it can be resisted, (James 4:7), “Because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world,” (1John 4:4).  When sin exhibits too much authority over our life, it does not automatically reflect an absence of effort on our part, but it does indicate an absence of Divine Assistance available from the fullness of the Spirit within us.  Although I may not have yet achieved the fullness of the Spirit, I should take reassurance in knowing that a greater fullness of the Spirit is not only possible, but promised, “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off,” (Acts 2:39).  Only by obtaining a greater fullness of the Spirit can an individual be empowered by the Divine Assistance capable of resisting the evil inclination that tempts us in our flesh. 

I confess that I have not yet achieved a life free from sin, but I do believe the continuing presence of sin reveals the opportunity for a greater filling of the Spirit.  I am convinced, as was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, that all human beings are capable of crying out to God for Divine Assistance whether we lay crippled along the road (Matt 20:31), sinking into the water (Matt 14:30), or nailed to an adjacent cross (Luke 23:42).  If we cry out in earnest sincerely of heart, the LORD will respond, for the LORD “jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”.  It is God who gives “greater grace” to those who “cleanse their hands” and “purify their hearts”.  Those who submit to God will be empowered to resist the superhuman forces of the devil until he will flee, as written,

“Do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?  But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” (James 4:5-10)

“When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh” (The Cost of Discipleship - Dietrich Bonhoeffer). 

THE END - Scott