Should I eat Shellfish

Should I eat Shellfish

I love seafood of all different kinds. It all taste so good to me. But a friend of mine who has been studying the old testament told me something I didn't know before. We can't eat Shellfish**. What am I to do? For now I have ask for forgiveness, and I have not touched any non-finned seafood.

**Leviticus 11:9-12
9These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.
10And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:
11They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.
12Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.
 
Most of the OT rules don't aply to us. Take "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" that only aplied in the OT time. The Rules that mostly aply to us are the NT ones.
 
Please refer to the words of Christ in Matthew 5:17-18 (KJV), "5 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."

The Health Laws in Leviticus and other places were not Commandments, but rather instructions for healthful living. Our bodies have not changed at all since God created them and He knows what makes them sick. The 'Unclean' in Leviticus, including pigs and shellfish are scavengers. They clean up the decay and dine on things that would make a maggot upchuck. They RETAIN any toxins that they consume in their flesh - especially pigs, because they do not have sweat glands and can not rid themselves of the toxins.

Some persons use the statement in 1 Timothy 4:4 (KJV) where it says, " 4 For every creature of God [is] good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:"

HOWEVER, you MUST go back to verse 3 to pick up the subject as translated from the Greek - 1 Timothy 4:3 " ...Forbidding to marry, [and commanding] to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth."

LOOK at the highlighted words... which God hath created to be received. God DID NOT create scavengers to be consumed, so the statement in 1 Timothy 4:3 is taken out of context by those who do not wish to maintain God's Health Laws and eat whatever they wish to.

Christ said in the quote in Matthew 5:17-18 (KJV) that NONE of the laws would be changed. Please take Him at His Word...

Please review a very in depth study based upon the original Manuscripts as found here:

www.biblestudygames.com/biblestudies/healthyfood.htm
 
Hi GDD, while I believe that God gave the Hebrews a divine dietary guide at the same time He promised them divine health we are not under any legalistic restrictions to do so- so it is a matter of whats healthy and what you like - I love shrimp crabs etc but I know that they are full of cloesterol and like most scavengers aren't the healthiest meal.
 
Pastor Gary,

I have a question about this passage quoted in your link"

Leviticus 3:16-17
V16 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the LORD's.
V17 It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that ye eat neither fat nor blood.

Didn't the priests mentioned in 16 burn the fat as a sacrifice to God? Before Christ laid down His life as the ultimate sacrifice, Jews had to sacrifice animals for forgiveness of their sins. Now, our sins are cleansed by the very blood of Christ, not animals.

Paul addresses this issue for us in Romans. The early Church was divided between foods that were clean and unclean. Paul concludes that after Christ's sacrifice, all foods became clean:

Romans 14:13-18
13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

If you feel God is telling you that a food is unclean, then it is unclean to you. If you are with others that believe a food is unclean, then it is best to avoid eating that food with them to avoid being a stumbling block. However, Paul does not find any food unclean. Of course, this scripture applies to much more than dietary guidelines, but it is particularly relevant to this discussion.
 
Peter’s Vision
ESV Acts 10:9 The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up fon the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 10 And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 11 and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 14 But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is kcommon or lunclean.” 15 And the voice came to him again a second time, m “What God has made clean, do not call common.”


"What is the meaning of the words impure and unclean? The Jew could eat the meat of only those animals which God had declared clean, that is, ruminants and those with cloven hoofs. All other animals were impure and unclean. The large sheet let down to earth contained clean and unclean animals. When God told Peter to kill and eat, he did not make a distinction between these two categories. By contrast, Peter distinguished between clean and unclean; he regarded the clean animals defiled because of their association with the unclean animals.19
b. “Do not consider unclean what God has made clean.” This is the second time a voice speaks from heaven and answers Peter’s legitimate objection. The voice conveys the message that God, who formulated the dietary laws for his people Israel, can also revoke them according to his sovereign will. God has made the animals clean; therefore, Peter with his fellow Jewish Christians can disregard the food laws that have been observed since the days of Moses (compare Rom. 14:14). Literally the Greek text can be translated, “What God has made clean, do not continue to call unclean.”
When does God abolish die dietary laws for Jewish Christians? The moment God removes the barrier between the Jew and Gentile, the validity of the food laws ceases. Abolition of these laws means that Jewish and Gentile Christians enter into a new relationship and accept one another as equals in the church. God himself removes the barrier, for he is the lawmaker.
c. “This happened three times.” The heavenly voice is unable to convince Peter until he has heard it three times. Peter should have remembered Jesus’ teaching that food does not make man unclean when it enters his mouth (Matt. 15:11). Three times the heavenly voice speaks to Peter to tell him that God has made all foods clean. By implication, God is teaching Peter that with the abolition of food laws Peter can now associate with Gentiles and have table fellowship. After hearing the heavenly voice three times, Peter is convinced. When the chief spokesman for the twelve apostles and the leader of the Jerusalem church heeds the voice, the sheet is suddenly taken up to heaven. This return to heaven once again indicates that God himself has opened the way for the gospel ministry to the Gentiles."
Kistemaker, Simon J. ; Hendriksen, William: New Testament Commentary : Exposition of the Acts of the Apostles. Grand Rapids : Baker Book House, 1953-2001 (New Testament Commentary 17), S. 380


"This vision brings to mind the teaching of Jesus as recorded in Mark 7:14–19. In his debate with the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus had taught that it was not foods taken into the body that caused defilement, but thoughts and words which proceed from the heart and mouth. Mark then adds the comment, “In saying this, Jesus declared all foods ‘clean.’” Peter’s vision reinforced this teaching of Jesus. But even in Mark 7 the words of Jesus are brought into close connection with attitudes toward people. Just after Jesus made these comments, he healed the daughter of a Gentile woman. Purity regulations about eating were associated with purity regulations in associations with people.
Gaertner, Dennis: Acts. Joplin, Mo. : College Press, 1993 (The College Press NIV Commentary), S. Ac 10:16

The larger point seems to be that the earlier dietary laws, as well as the laws regarding how the Jews should dress, and so many of the ceremonial laws etc were all meant to keep the Jews separate from their Gentile neighbors.... they were to be a people "set apart" and the sad truth is that the Jews (just as we do) failed in this regard..... however, with the coming of Christ the wall of separation between the Jew and Gentile was broken down, the temple curtain was torn in two.... all signifying that the things that the Jews were told to do so as to protect their ethnic separate identity, after the coming of Christ, were no longer valid..... since it was no longer necessary to insist on ethnic separation, it was also no longer necessary to insist on the sorts of externals that were in place to keep the Jews and Gentiles separate people groups.... and the dietary laws fall under this category.....

for those who want to insist on the continuance of the dietary laws.... do they shave the sides of their beards? If so, this is in direct violation of the Old Testament commandment! ;) (Lev. 21:5) if not, why keep the dietary laws but not the laws concerning how to dress and shave? This seems to be arbitrary.....

lastly, there is no slippery slope here, that is to say that if the dietary and dress codes are no longer valid, therefore it must also be the case that the moral laws are no longer valid.... this does not follow at all.... unless a law is repealed in the NT, as the dietary laws were, as the dress codes were abolished (or in some cases modified as Paul had to deal with the issue of head coverings with the Corinthians) as the wall of ethnic separations were broken down, the laws remain in effect.... just because it is no longer forbidden to eat sushi, it does not follow that it is no longer forbidden to commit adultery....

blessings,
Ken
 
Well even from a non Biblical viewpoint eating shellfish might not be such a good idea. They do tend to pick up pollutants, and can have high levels of mercury and such.
 
although following those laws was a healthy idea violating them was CERIMONIAL uncleaness and we really don't nned to concern ourselves with old covenant ritual- Paul gave the church only 2 rules for dietary consumption.
 
although following those laws was a healthy idea violating them was CERIMONIAL uncleaness and we really don't nned to concern ourselves with old covenant ritual- Paul gave the church only 2 rules for dietary consumption.

good point!! (though its not that big of a deal, it seems to be James who originally said these things (Acts 15:13) ).....

these passages, for those who may not know, are

(Acts 15:19-20) Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.

latter this same information was put into a letter and read by Silas and/or Judas (Acts 15:27) to another congregation:
(Acts 15:28-29) For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell."

blessings,
Ken
 
as far as the health issues go.... you can get sick from ceremonially "clean" animals if you are not careful as well... beef can carry parasites and pass on disease just as easily as anything else.... mad cow anyone....? avian flu...? ever hear of anyone getting sick from eating improperly prepared turkey? chicken? of course!!

blessings,
Ken
 
As a meat amrket manager I reccomend that you cook you meat :D
 
I tend to agree that a lot of the things that were mentioned in the OT do not apply to us now. Maybe it is just wishful thinking because I don't want to see Red Lobster go out of business because everyone quits eating shellfish. But after God created a new covenant with man, I thought that changed a lot of stuff. In the OT it says an eye for an eye, but in the NT, Jesus says if someone hits one cheek to turn the other one to them (pretty loose translation). If not for the new covenant, shouldn't we still be sacrificing animals or do we pick and choose which parts of the OT we still want to adhere to.
Even though shellfish may not be the most healthy thing in the world, I don't believe that God is going to punish you for eating them.
One question I have though, aren't all fish pretty much scavengers?
 
It says in 1 Timothy 4:1-3:
4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

If God has made something for us to eat, why would He not want us to eat it? That's a good question about the Old Testament though...but it's kinda like how people placed burnt offerings on the altar as sacrifices to God. Do you still see Christians doing that today? No, you don't. This is a really good forum though. We're living in the latter times today, because it is after Jesus rose again.
-Kid
 
oooooo padleford.... that was bad..... lol...... but bad or not... it brought a smile to my face.... thank you for your sense of humor!!! and for keeping things light when stodgy old bookworms like myself can get waaayyyy too serious waaaayyy too quickly... blessings to you young man....

Ken
 
I love seafood of all different kinds. It all taste so good to me. But a friend of mine who has been studying the old testament told me something I didn't know before. We can't eat Shellfish**. What am I to do? For now I have ask for forgiveness, and I have not touched any non-finned seafood.

**Leviticus 11:9-12
9These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.
10And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:
11They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.
12Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.

Galatians 5:1-6

in Christ
goldenroad
 
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