Eating To Our Own Destruction
by YahChannah
At the most recent Sabbath meeting with the TOI group, the subject of eating the unclean (ie pig) was discussed and certain ones promoted the idea that if you were starving, you could eat unclean creatures and you were then only 'unclean until the evening'.
Leviticus shows us that this premise is patently incorrect. We are clearly told 'you are not to eat the unclean' and there is nothing added that says… but if you do…
There are certain topics in Torah where we are simply told 'DO NOT'. The
matter of eating unclean creatures is one of them.
Provisions are made for the touching of the unclean and for touching the body of
a clean animal that has died of itself (immersing in water and being unclean
until the evening). Not so, for direct disobedience and rebellion involved in
deliberately doing that which YHWH has said 'Do Not!'
We cannot go by the teachings of man, whether friend, husband, wife, preacher or
rabbi that would abrogate the clear edicts of YHWH
From the Stone Edition Tanach:
Leviticus 11:
1 Hashem (YHWH) spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them.
2 Speak to the Children of Israel saying: These are the creatures that you may eat from among all the animals that are upon the earth.
3 Everything among the animals that has a split hoof, which is completely separated into double hooves and that brings up its cud- that one you may eat.
4 But this is what you shall not eat from among those that brings up its cud
or that have split hooves: the camel, for it brings up its cud, but its hoof is
not split.
(The following are listed in the same manner as unclean: hyrax, hare, pig)
8 You shall not eat of their flesh nor shall you touch their carcass-- they
are unclean to you.
9-12 speaks of the sea creatures and directs us as to what we may eat and what
we may not.
13-23 speaks of the birds and insects and tells us what we may eat and what we
may not.
These are the 'you shall not eat' and 'you shall eat' instructions. You may eat
those given for food and to eat any other is a direct violation of YHWH's
ordinances of clean and unclean, food and non-food.
Verse 24 speaks of how you become contaminated by these unclean creatures
(please note: these were never given as food to us)
24 You become contaminated through the following-- anyone who touches their
carcass (the carcass of an unclean creature) becomes contaminated until evening.
25 One who carries their carcass shall immerse his clothing and be contaminated
until evening; they are contaminated to you.
(Again, please note that these are never food)
verse 39-40 then refers to food, the clean animal that is allowed to us for
food.
39 If an animal that you may eat has died, one who touches its carcass shall
become contaminated until evening
40 And one who eats from its carcass shall immerse his clothing and remain
contaminated until evening and one who carries its carcass shall immerse his
clothing and remain contaminated until evening.
(Remember 39-40 is speaking of a clean animal that has died. An animal that was
given by YHWH to man for food)
Verses 44-47 says:
44 For I am Hashem, your God (YHWH, your Elohiym)-- you are to sanctify
yourselves and you shall become holy, for I am holy; and you shall not
contaminate yourselves through any teeming thing that creeps on the earth.
45 For I am Hashem (YHWH) Who elevates you from the land of Egypt to be a God
(Elohiym) unto you; you shall be holy, for I am holy.
46 This is the law of the animal, the bird, every living creature that swarms in
the water; and for every creature that teems on the ground;
47 to distinguish between the contaminated and the pure, and between the
creature that may be eaten and the creature that may not be eaten.
Same verses from the JPS
1. And HaShem spoke unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them
2. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: These are the living things
which ye may eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.
3. Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is wholly cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that may ye eat.
4. Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that only chew the cud, or of them that only part the hoof: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but parteth not the hoof, he is unclean unto you.
8. Of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcasses ye shall not touch; they are unclean unto you.
24. And by these ye shall become unclean; whosoever toucheth the carcass of them shall be unclean until even.
25. And whosoever beareth aught of the carcass of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.
39. And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die, he that toucheth the carcass thereof shall be unclean until the even.
40. And he that eateth of the carcass of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even; he also that beareth the carcass of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.
44. For I am HaShem your G-d; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy; neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of swarming thing that moveth upon the earth.
45. For I am HaShem that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your G-d; ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
46. This is the law of the beast, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that swarmeth upon the earth;
47. to make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.
(Same comments given for the Stone Edition apply for the JPS)
From the NAS, corresponding verses to Leviticus:
Deut 14:1-21
1 "You are the sons of the LORD your God (YHWH your Elohiym); you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead.
2 "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God (YHWH your Elohiym); and the LORD (YHWH) has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
3 "You shall not eat any detestable thing.
4 "These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,
5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep.
6 "And any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two {and} chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat.
7 "Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the rock-badger, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you.
8 "And the pig, because it divides the hoof but {does} not {chew} the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses.
9 "These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat,
10 but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
11 "You may eat any clean bird.
12 "But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard,
13 and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds,
14 and every raven in its kind,
15 and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds,
16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl,
17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant,
18 the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat.
19 "And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten.
20 "You may eat any clean bird.
21 "You shall not eat anything which dies {of itself.} You may give it to the alien who is in your town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to the LORD your God (YHWH your Elohiym). You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
(NAS)
In conclusion, unclean animals may not be eaten but if your dog dies, you may bury him but please do not eat him.
Touching the corpse incurs a period of quarantine so that any contamination
you may have contracted will not be spread to the tribe.
These laws are not contingent on 'as long as'.
The greater good cannot apply because a higher (or more important law) is not somehow being upheld here. Our personal life is not more important than Torah. Torah was written for His nation.
Please Read: Daniel chapter 3, the story of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah and their refusal to disobey YHWH in some vain attempt to save their lives.