Between my Ministry and my Natural Health practice, I am often asked to help decipher what most people consider to be a difficult-to-understand set of rules and regulations regarding what God considers to be "clean" and "unclean" animals. This is a handout that I prepared for a talk that I gave at an herb conference in 2003. I hope that it helps to "de-mystify" the issue and helps you to understand why G-d has provided these restrictions for our protection.

Most of Christianity has, in general, decided that the food restrictions of the Torah (the so-called "Old Testament") do not apply today. This opinion is based on an incorrect interpretation of what the Apostles wrote about "clean" and "unclean" food in the Apostolic Letters (the so-called "New Testament"). If G-d never changes, and the entire Bible is the Word of G-d, then how can what was "unclean" in the Hebrew Bible be considered "clean" in the Apostolic Letters?

We can go a long way to resolving this apparent conflict if we can just remember that the Apostles were all considered Jewish Rabbis who carefully observed the entire Torah, that the only "Scripture" they had was the Torah, that their target audience was overwhelmingly Jewish, and that the Jewish people have never considered anything on the "unclean" list to be included in the definition of "food." If the Apostle was ever discussing "food," he was talking only about those animals on the "clean" list, never those animals on the "unclean" list — they simply were not "food."
 

Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, "Tell the people of Isra'el, `These are the living creatures which you may eat among all the land animals: any that has a separate hoof which is completely divided and chews the cud—these animals you may eat. But you are not to eat those that only chew the cud or only have a separate hoof. For example, the camel, the coney, and the hare are unclean for you, because they chew the cud but don't have a separate hoof; while the pig is unclean for you, because, although it has a separate and completely divided hoof, it doesn't chew the cud. You are not to eat meat from these or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

"`Of all the things that live in the water, you may eat these: anything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in seas or rivers—these you may eat. But everything in the seas and rivers without both fins and scales, of all the small water-creatures and of all the living creatures in the water, is a detestable thing for you. Yes, these will be detestable for you—you are not to eat their meat, and you are to detest their carcasses. Whatever lack fins and scales in the water is a detestable thing for you.

"`The following creatures of the are are to be detestable for you—they are not to be eaten, they are a detestable thing: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, the kite, the various kinds of buzzards, the various kinds of ravens, the ostrich, the screech-owl, the seagull, the various kinds of hawks, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the horned owl, the pelican, the barn owl, the stork, the various kinds of herons, the hoopoe, and the bat. [They are either scavengers, or they eat shellfish, rodents, or reptiles, all of which are "unclean."]

"`All winged swarming creatures that go about on all fours are a detestable thing for you; except that of all winged swarming creatures that go on all fours, you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, enabling them to jump off the ground. Specifically, of these you may eat the various kinds of locusts, grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets. But other than that, all winged swarming creatures having four feet are a detestable thing for you. ...

"`The following are unclean for you among the small creatures that swarm on the ground: the weasel, the mouse, the various kinds of lizards, the gecko, the land crocodile, the skink, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. …

"`Any creature that swarms on the ground is a detestable thing; it is not to be eaten—whatever moves on its stomach, goes on all fours, or has many legs—all creatures that swarm on the ground; you are not to eat them because they are a detestable thing.'"

— Leviticus 11:1-42, CJB

Adonai said to Aharon the priest: "… you will distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean; …" (Lev. 10:10) G-d was not nearly as concerned with ritual purity in the dietary instructions as he was with physical cleanliness or uncleanliness.

The chart below tabulates the results of a 1953 study in which "Dr. David Macht of Johns Hopkins University reported the toxic effects of animal flesh on a controlled growth culture. A substance was classified as toxic if it slowed the culture's growth rate below 75 percent. In each case, the blood of all the animals Dr. Macht tested showed up more toxic than the flesh.

"The table … is based on Dr. Macht's study. The results show that the lower the growth percentage of the culture, the more toxic the flesh. Note that the animals and fish given to us by G-d for food are all nontoxic, but all forbidden animals lie in the toxic range. (Animals without percentage rankings in the chart were not studied, but are included here to provide a more comprehensive list of clean and unclean meats.)

"Don't get confused! Any number above 75 percent is nontoxic, or clean.

"This chart should make it easy for us to identify which meats we should choose to eat. It also makes it apparent we are eating many toxic substances that were not created for food.

"The differences between clean and unclean animals appear to be related to their primary food source and to their digestive systems. Scavengers that eat anything and everything are unclean, not suitable for food, according to the Bible. Animals described as clean, and therefore good for food, primarily eat grasses and grains.

"This examination of clean and unclean flesh could be a more revealing study considering today's modern toxicological technology. A loving G-d protects His people by showing them just which foods are safe. He summarizes His will in Leviticus 11:43:

"`Do not defile by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them.'

"… Note than an animal doesn't have to be a scavenger to be unclean. Horses and rabbits, for example, are unclean because they do not have split hooves. Although they are considered to be good food in some countries, studies have shown that horse meat often contains viruses and parasites. Rabbits, as innocent as they appear, are the cause of tularemia (an infectious disease) in humans.

"… One reason for G-d's rule forbidding pork is that the digestive system of a pig is completely different from that of a cow. It is similar to ours, in that the stomach is very acidic. Pigs are gluttonous, never knowing when to stop eating. Their stomach acids become diluted because of the volume of food, allowing all kinds of vermin to pass through this protective barrier. Parasites, bacteria, viruses, and toxins can pass into the pig's flesh because of overeating. These toxins and infectious agents can be passed on to humans when they eat a pig's flesh.

"… In the Biblical Archeological Review, Jane Cahill examined the toilets of a Jewish household in Jerusalem, finding no parasites nor infectious agents, but only pollen from the many fruits, vegetables and herbs they had eaten. A similar study about Egyptians revealed eggs from Schistosoma, Trichinella, wire worm and tapeworms, all found in pork. All of these organisms cause significant chronic diseases."

Compiled from Russell, Rex, MD. What the Bible Says About Healthy Living. Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell, 1999, pp. 76-78.

Clean and Unclean Meats
(Any number below 75% is toxic — See text for explanation)