One of the reasons I carefully went through Mark chapter 7 is because that is one of the classic parts of the Bible people use to somehow demonstrate that CLEAN and UNCLEAN distinctions no longer exist and thus we shouldn’t be concerned about whether a certain food or practice is UNCLEAN or not.
As I explained, Yeshua absolutely did NOT do away with kosher eating but was speaking out against the manmade tradition of ritual hand washing.
And we can find this same story in Matthew15:1-20.
Matthew 15 is synoptic with Mark 7.
In other words, we have the same story as told by two different authors.
So, again, when we come to the end of the story (Matthew 15:20), the same conclusion is reached.
“These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”-NIV
Or the King James Version…
“These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.”-KJV
Yeshua was ABSOLUTELY NOT talking about Kosher eating here.
If you’re a Christian, think of Matthew 15:20 being rendered as follows:
“These are what defile a person; but eating KOSHER FOOD with unwashed hands does not defile them.”-NIV
Of course, since Yeshua was a Jew speaking to other Jews, the idea itself that somehow the distinctions between clean and unclean foods no longer existing would have been unthinkable.
It would never have been necessary for Yeshua to go out of His way to stress He was only talking about Kosher foods.
In addition, if Yeshua really meant that CLEAN and UNCLEAN distinctions no longer exist in the New Testament era, we’ve got a serious problem with quite a number of New Testament verses showing that they do exist.
For example…
“For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.”-Ephesians 5:5
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”-2 Corinthians 6:17
“I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”-Revelations 21:22-27
Also, recall that I’ve talked about what I’ve dubbed the “As-in-heaven-so-on-earth” principle on a couple of occasions.
Again, this means that our universe is made out of dual realities that simultaneously co-exist.
There is a physical world and there is a spiritual world.
If there is HOLY in the spiritual world, its counterpart must also exist in the physical world.
If there is UNCLEAN in the spiritual world, there must also be UNCLEAN in the physical world.
Check out the following verses showing that UNCLEAN things also exist within the spiritual realm even AFTER Yeshua’s coming.
“Yeshua called his twelve disciples and gave them authority to drive out unclean spirits and to heal every kind of disease and weakness.”–Matthew 10:1
“In their synagogue just then was a man with an unclean spirit in him, who shouted,…”-Mark 1:23
“Crowds also gathered from the towns around Yerushalayim, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits; and every one of them was healed.”-Acts 5:16
“For many people were having unclean spirits driven out of them, shrieking; also many paralytics and crippled persons were being healed.”-Acts 8:7
So the New Apostolic Scriptures also testify to the fact that UNCLEAN still exists in both the physical and spiritual world.
Therefore, to say that Yeshua somehow did away with distinctions between the CLEAN and the UNCLEAN would lead to theological error at best or outright blasphemy at worst.
And no, you don’t get to rewrite the Biblical list of what you think is CLEAN or UNCLEAN according to your own subjective whims based on what you think is the Holy Spirit.
If you feel like the Holy Spirit is telling you its okay to eat ham sandwiches or bacon with eggs, think again.
I would test that spirit.
We don’t have the authority to change God’s Word.
Oh and by the way, the ONLY source we have that tells us what is CLEAN and UNCLEAN is the Torah alone.
You are NOT going to find the definitions of CLEAN and UNCLEAN in the New Testament.
You have to STUDY the Torah.
With that said, the next time we meet, let’s start getting into the actual text of Leviticus Chapter 12.
Leave a Reply