http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0512.htm
Deutoronomy 12:
15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh within all thy gates, after all the desire of thy soul, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which He hath given thee; the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the gazelle, and as of the hart.
22 Howbeit as the gazelle and as the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat thereof; the unclean and the clean may eat thereof alike.
32 All this word which I command you, that shall ye observe to do; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
In Genesis we see that God gave man and woman all plants and fruits to eat, not animals :
Genesis 1:
28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Our Lord Jesus told us that it is not what goes into a man that is a sin but what comes out of his mouth for what comes out of man's mouth is from the heart... Peter was given a vision by Christ as we see in Acts :
Acts 10:9-16, in which a huge sheet full of unclean animals is lowered from heaven, and a voice says, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." However, without hesitation Peter replies, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean" (verse 14). The Voice then responds, "What God has cleansed you must not call common" (verse 15).
Though this was meant to be that Peter should not distinguish between Jew and Gentile yet it still refers to the eating of animals, for Christ did not condemn Gentiles for eating all animals nor did He restrict them to the Jewish laws . The only restriction is that if we know that the meat we eat has been dedicated to a god then we cannot eat of it, i wonder if Halal meat falls under this...
According to Jews the gazelle and the deer are clean animals but they cannot be offered as sacrifices in the temple but Jews can eat of an animal even though not sacrificed to God... this is what this Rabbi says:
http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/12304/can-jews-eat-unclean-animals-when-blood-is-removed
As you can see, these verses are describing the offering of sacrifices and the consumption of meat. Prior to the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, when an Israelite wanted to eat meat (which usually was only on special occasions), he would offer an animal as a sacrifice to God on his "backyard alter," (במה\במות) and partake of the remainder, thus including God in his meal. (Source.) These verses prohibit the use of "backyard alters" once the Temple has been built. Since sacrifices are restricted to the Temple, if an Israelite wished to eat meat, he no longer has to offer it as a sacrifice. "But whenever you desire, you may slaughter and eat meat..."
Only ritually "clean" or "purified" Jews who had immersed themselves in the mikvah were allowed in the Temple, whereas ritually impure individuals (such as one who came in contact with a dead body) were prohibited. One might think that only ritually pure individuals would be allowed to eat meat. Verse 15 teaches us that this is not so, "the unclean and clean alike" can eat from the meat.
Why does the verse mention the gazelle and the deer? Rashi explains that they're mentioned to illustrate that the logical extension of the above holds true. Gazelles and deer, while kosher, are not permitted as sacrifices in the Temple. But since the Israelite no longer has to offer the animal as a sacrifice before eating them, he is now permitted to slaughter and eat the gazelle and deer.
In Genesis man was not made to eat animals, i guess once out of the Garden then he killed and ate... the words 'clean and unclean' have different meaning than what is commonly perceived, still i am curious as to why God told the Jews specifically what they can eat... can't be just for health reasons.
i only see Jesus in the Bible eating fish with honey as is recorded, never is there a mention that Christ actually ate of meat even at Passover, though many say it is implied because He observed all Jewish laws. Some 5 years ago i gave up eating all warm blooded animals, i only eat fish because Christ ate fish, and by the way fish with honey is very good, and a Bible diet is supposed to be very healthy...
Deutoronomy 12:
15 Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh within all thy gates, after all the desire of thy soul, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which He hath given thee; the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the gazelle, and as of the hart.
22 Howbeit as the gazelle and as the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat thereof; the unclean and the clean may eat thereof alike.
32 All this word which I command you, that shall ye observe to do; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
In Genesis we see that God gave man and woman all plants and fruits to eat, not animals :
Genesis 1:
28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Our Lord Jesus told us that it is not what goes into a man that is a sin but what comes out of his mouth for what comes out of man's mouth is from the heart... Peter was given a vision by Christ as we see in Acts :
Acts 10:9-16, in which a huge sheet full of unclean animals is lowered from heaven, and a voice says, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." However, without hesitation Peter replies, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean" (verse 14). The Voice then responds, "What God has cleansed you must not call common" (verse 15).
Though this was meant to be that Peter should not distinguish between Jew and Gentile yet it still refers to the eating of animals, for Christ did not condemn Gentiles for eating all animals nor did He restrict them to the Jewish laws . The only restriction is that if we know that the meat we eat has been dedicated to a god then we cannot eat of it, i wonder if Halal meat falls under this...
According to Jews the gazelle and the deer are clean animals but they cannot be offered as sacrifices in the temple but Jews can eat of an animal even though not sacrificed to God... this is what this Rabbi says:
http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/12304/can-jews-eat-unclean-animals-when-blood-is-removed
As you can see, these verses are describing the offering of sacrifices and the consumption of meat. Prior to the building of the Temple in Jerusalem, when an Israelite wanted to eat meat (which usually was only on special occasions), he would offer an animal as a sacrifice to God on his "backyard alter," (במה\במות) and partake of the remainder, thus including God in his meal. (Source.) These verses prohibit the use of "backyard alters" once the Temple has been built. Since sacrifices are restricted to the Temple, if an Israelite wished to eat meat, he no longer has to offer it as a sacrifice. "But whenever you desire, you may slaughter and eat meat..."
Only ritually "clean" or "purified" Jews who had immersed themselves in the mikvah were allowed in the Temple, whereas ritually impure individuals (such as one who came in contact with a dead body) were prohibited. One might think that only ritually pure individuals would be allowed to eat meat. Verse 15 teaches us that this is not so, "the unclean and clean alike" can eat from the meat.
Why does the verse mention the gazelle and the deer? Rashi explains that they're mentioned to illustrate that the logical extension of the above holds true. Gazelles and deer, while kosher, are not permitted as sacrifices in the Temple. But since the Israelite no longer has to offer the animal as a sacrifice before eating them, he is now permitted to slaughter and eat the gazelle and deer.
In Genesis man was not made to eat animals, i guess once out of the Garden then he killed and ate... the words 'clean and unclean' have different meaning than what is commonly perceived, still i am curious as to why God told the Jews specifically what they can eat... can't be just for health reasons.
i only see Jesus in the Bible eating fish with honey as is recorded, never is there a mention that Christ actually ate of meat even at Passover, though many say it is implied because He observed all Jewish laws. Some 5 years ago i gave up eating all warm blooded animals, i only eat fish because Christ ate fish, and by the way fish with honey is very good, and a Bible diet is supposed to be very healthy...