Keeping Kosher?

“The man who eats everything must not look down upon him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does.”  Romans 14:3 (NIV)

The verse above actually deals with those who ate “only vegetables,” most likely a self-inflicted restriction based on Daniel chapter one, where Daniel does not eat of the kings food but only eats vegetables.  Of course, our reading of Daniel, in a Jewish context, tells us that Daniel most likely did not eat of the king’s food because it wasn’t kosher.  Even the meat obtained from kosher animals was most likely not kosher, as these animals were not slaughtered in a way that would have been considered kosher.  So we need to keep in mind that when Paul is talking about the weak in faith, he is referring to people who only eat vegetables, not to those who keep kosher.  

However, the spirit of the verse above remains the same, meaning, let’s not judge one another by the food we eat or chose not to eat.  As a believer in Yeshua living in Israel, I have friends who keep strict kosher diets per the rabbinut with separate utensils for meat and dairy, and friends who will eat bacon cheeseburgers.  Each is living according to what God has or has not put on their heart.

As I wrote last week in my post Why David Loved the Law, the law is meant to show justice, mercy and faithfulness. It is meant to make us holy, separating us from the ways of the other nations and to help us seek the Lord. It is not meant to be a burden to us. If God calls you to separate yourself by keeping kosher, then keep kosher.  If he doesn’t call you to keep kosher, and you see no compelling argument to do so, then don’t. It is between you and God and we must not condemn one another for our decisions.  What follows here is purely for intellectual discussion.

I mentioned last week that Noah knew the difference between clean and unclean animals, even before the law was given to Moses. If there is no difference, why would God make a distinction? Is the distinction for eating or just for making sacrifices? Of course, you may be asking why we are having this discussion?  Didn’t Yeshua declare all foods to be clean in Mark 7?  And if not, surely Peters dream in Acts 10 shows us that we are to eat everything, right?  

First, let’s read Mark 7. I suggest you read the full story from verse 1 to verse 23 to make your own decision.  Here, I’m just going to quote verse 5 (NIV):  So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?” This story is talking about the Pharisees tradition of ritually cleaning their hands, not about the food they were eating. However, if you’ve read the whole story as I suggested, we cannot dismiss what is written in verses 14 to 22, which I will summarize by quoting the NIV translation of verse 15: “Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’”

Much like the story of Hezekiah’s Passover festival last week, Yeshua puts an emphasis on a man’s heart above being ceremonially clean. God healed the participants at the feast whom didn’t make themselves ceremonially clean beforehand, but had set their hearts on seeking God.

In verse 19 (NIV), Mark adds in parentheses; “in saying this, Jesus declared all foods ‘clean.’” According to the commentary in my NIV Study Bible, Yeshua has declared all food clean at this point in time (just as Mark wrote with those exact words), and references Peter’s dream in Acts 10:9-16, but there are some issues with this “declaration.” I am not a Greek scholar, but David H. Steran writes in his Jewish New Testament Commentary, the original Greek does not include the word “declare” but instead uses a dangling participial clause, reading literally, “cleansing all the foods” (David H. Stern. Jewish New Testament Commentary. Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications, 1999.) which gives a little more leeway in how it could be interpreted. Some messianic believers argue, if we look at this in a Jewish context, pork and shellfish would not have been considered food, since the Torah prohibited them. Therefore, in this statement Yeshua is only removing the responsibility of having to clean their hands and their food as opposed to making non-kosher food kosher. Additionally, if Yeshua had indeed declared all foods to be clean while with the disciples, why would Peter need a dream to tell him that all foods were clean?  After all, Peter says in Acts10:14, “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” I think Yeshua might have said something to Peter in the three years of his ministry about burdening himself if Yeshua thought there was a problem.

Let’s take a look at Peter’s vision.  Again, I would suggest that you read the entire chapter of Acts 10 so that you know the full context.  For the sake of space, I am only including verses 11-20 that tell us Peter’s dream:

He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.  It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds.  Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate.  They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.

While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you.  So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”

Although many people believe this to be a clear indication that we are to eat everything, we see in verse 17, Peter himself is not so clear about the meaning. Then three men come to the door, and the Spirit says to him, do not hesitate to go with them. Why would Peter hesitate to go with them?  Because they wanted to take Peter to Cornelius’ house, an unclean gentile, which was prohibited by Jewish custom. But Peter goes. Why? This is what Peter says to the Gentile crowd gathered at Cornelius’ house in Acts 10:28:

He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.”

We see that Peter has determined the meaning of his dream is that he should not call gentiles impure or unclean, because God has called those gentiles clean. So, if Peter interprets his dream this way, why do we interpret it to mean something else?

We can argue that our bodies are Temples, and just as many of us use this argument against smoking, we could apply the same argument to the health benefits of keeping kosher. However, this is exactly what the Pharisees were doing in Mark when they required the washing of hands before eating. They were cleansing their hands just as a priest would cleanse himself before making a sacrifice, and Yeshua spoke against this practice.

Don’t worry if you are unclear as to my position on whether or not we should keep kosher. To be honest, I don’t have all the answers, just more questions. I do not agree with those that say the New Covenant scriptures clearly indicate we are not to keep kosher anymore, for the reasons I noted above. I also do not agree with those that say we all must keep kosher, because of Mark 7:15 and a number of other similar verses.

There are some dietary laws that I believe the New Covenant is clear about. In Acts 15 the Jewish believers write a letter to the non-Jewish believers. Verse 29 (NIV) reads; “You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.”

Abstain from food sacrificed to idols. Not very popular these days.

Avoid blood. That one is pretty clear.

Abstain from the meat of strangled animals. This refers to Exodus 22:31 (NIV); “You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs.”  Basically, only eat an animal that was killed for the purpose of eating it.

Other than that, you have to make the decision for yourself. Just make sure in deciding for yourself, you do not let your decision cause you to break the most important commands. “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40, NIV)