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Do Jewish Dietary Laws Apply to Christians

     We can clearly see that in the original creation man was a vegetarian: Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. After the Fall man continued eating only plants: Gen 3:18  thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field, though he now couldn't just pick it off the trees, but had to work hard for his food.

     When God decided to destroy the world, Noah was ordered to stock up on food to supply both his family and the animals in the ark: Gen 6:21  And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.  “All food that is eaten” would at this time have been vegetable.

     Yes, there were both clean and unclean animals in Noah's time, as God clearly tells him to take 7 pair of clean animals but only one pair of unclean animals into the ark: Gen 7:2  Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, the male and his female; and of the beasts that are not clean two, the male and his female. However, the dividing of the animals into clean and unclean had NOTHING TO DO WITH DIET. Animals were not eaten at all at this time. What it did have to do with was sacrifice to God: Gen 8:20  And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. God told Noah to take more of these animals so that there would be sufficient for sacrifice with enough left over to perpetuate the species.

NOTE that God did not command Noah to only eat clean animals:

        Gen 9:2, 3  And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air; with all wherewith the ground teemeth, and all the fishes of the sea, into your hand are they delivered.

       Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you; as the green herb have I given you all.

     There was only one command given to Noah: Gen 9:4  But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. This was the only command on diet given from the Flood until         the Israelites were given the Law. Interestingly, as we will later see, it was also the only dietary commandment passed along to Gentile Christians.

      

     In Leviticus God gave the Israelites a whole series of commandments as to what they could and could not eat. Notice that these commandments were given to “the children of Israel”. Lev 11:1, 2  And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the living things which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on     the earth.

                You can read the list for yourself, as it is quite lengthy. The important point is that it was given to the nation of Israel, not the Gentiles. It had to do with Israel being holy, separated unto God from the nations around them. Although some have drawn health parallels here, such as with pork, the Bible doesn't actually say these rules had anything to do with health.

                The Israelites were to be God's People, His chosen nation, representing Him to the world  around them, so they were restricted to eating the same animals declared clean and fit to offer   for sacrifices to God. There were many other non-dietary laws given to them for the same reason.

     The early church was mostly Jewish. Jesus commanded his disciples to go to the Jews first: Mat 10:5  These twelve Jesus sent forth, and charged them, saying, Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  Jesus later Himself witnessed to the Samaritans, and Peter led the way to taking the gospel to the Gentiles by visiting Cornelius. Eventually the Gospel was rejected by the majority of Jews: Act 13:46  And Paul and Barnabas spake out boldly, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you. Seeing ye thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

     As the Jews more and more rejected Christ as Messiah and more of the Gentiles turned to Christ, the Jewish believers began to try to make the Gentiles become Jews first (circumcision) and to follow Jewish laws and customs before becoming Christians. This caused a controversy in the church, which was finally settled at Jerusalem: Act 15:29  that ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, it shall be well with you. Fare ye well. The Bible clearly states that Gentile Christians are NOT bound by most of the Jewish dietary laws. In fact, leaving aside fornication (not a dietary law but probably the rule most broken by the Church today), eating meat sacrificed to idols is not really a problem in the modern church. Strangulation was likely forbidden because it leaves the blood in the animal, so can be lumped in with that rule.

     The only relevant rule as to what should or should not be eaten that might apply to Gentile believers today is the same one given to Noah, and for the same reason, given in Leviticus: Lev 17:11, 12  For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. This commandment was given in Noah's time before Israel existed, and when given to Israel, also included the Gentiles living amongst them. Blood represents life, and life is to be given back to God. Christ poured out his blood (life) for us on the cross.

     This doesn't mean we would lose our salvation if we ate meat with blood – salvation is by grace, not works. Even the Jews were only required to wash and wait a time if they violated the dietary laws, and perhaps make an offering. But you could make a case that Gentile believers should follow this rule.

     The final sacrifice was Christ shedding His blood on the cross. Shortly after-wards, the Temple was destroyed and the Jewish sacrifices ceased, as did the Jewish nation until 1948. You could also make a case that what was used for animal sacrifices isn't particularly relevant to the Christian today. 

     However, most Christians tend to try to follow this rule anyway, as far as possible. It would be difficult unless you raise all your own food – for example most store-bought chickens are strangled (suffocated) in foam. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/82050024435124316/

As Paul pointed out in regard to meat sacrificed to idols:

        Rom 14:17  for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

We are not to bring ourselves back into bondage to Law:

     Rom 8:14, 15  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

     Gal 5:1, 2  With freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that, if ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.

     Gal 4:9  but now that ye have come to know God, or rather to be known of God, how turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments, whereunto ye desire to be in bondage over again?