| Author | Message | ||
| Gmatt Registered user Username: Gmatt Post Number: 41 Registered: 3-2005 |
Yesterday an Adventist friend asked me about why I eat pork. I explained that as a New Covenant Christian I don't consider Jewish dietary laws to apply to me, etc. I gave the New Testament approach. She pointed out that God had already given dietary laws before the Jews and referenced Noah taking clean and unclean animals into the ark. She brought up God's original plan for eating only nuts, seeds and fruits and that God introduced vegetables into our diets after the flood, along with clean meats. Long story short, I would like help from any of you who can explain Noah taking clean and unclean animals into the ark. It does seem that the clean/unclean animal laws were understood before God gave the Jewish food laws. | ||
| Gmatt Registered user Username: Gmatt Post Number: 42 Registered: 3-2005 |
It seems that I posted this under another thread. Please forgive me. How do I move this so I am not intruding on another discussion? | ||
| Honestwitness Registered user Username: Honestwitness Post Number: 808 Registered: 7-2005  |
I would ask her what it means to her that the New Testament teaches that "there is nothing unclean of itself." If she doesn't know where to find that verse, don't be overly helpful. Just tell her Paul said it and let her look it up herself. Or, you could do the same thing with the verse where Jesus declared all foods clean, or the one where he said it's not what goes in, but what comes out of a person that makes him unclean. The objective is to ask her what these passages mean to her. You can also ask her why she feels the instructions given to Noah apply to her. Then let her tell you how she has come to that conclusion. Remember the two Columbo questions? What do you mean by that? How did you come to that conclusion? This is a good opportunity to ask her a variation of each question. Honestwitness | ||
| Bskillet Registered user Username: Bskillet Post Number: 221 Registered: 8-2008 |
Ask her where Noah, or any one else, is commanded not to eat "unclean" meats before Sinai. Perhaps she doesn't know that "clean" means ceremonially "clean." | ||
| Colleentinker Registered user Username: Colleentinker Post Number: 9451 Registered: 12-2003  |
Another question you could ask is, What did God mean in Genesis 9:3 when He said "Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you as I gave the green plant"? How did you you come to the conclusion that God gave only "clean" animals after the flood? The clean/unclean concept of animals may have had to do with sacrifices. We aren't given any instructions for sacrifice before the flood, but we know people did sacrifice. Remember Cain and Abel and the animal skins Adam and Eve wore? Colleen | ||
| Gmatt Registered user Username: Gmatt Post Number: 43 Registered: 3-2005 |
Thanks everyone. I really appreciate your help. Just out of curiosity, did Ellen ever say that vegetables were given to eat after the flood but not before. The way I read Genesis 1:29 it would seem that both fruits and vegetables were given to Adam and Eve. Just wondered if my friend got that from EGW. Thanks again! | ||
| Philharris Registered user Username: Philharris Post Number: 1431 Registered: 5-2007  |
Let's stop and consider for a moment: Moses, who defined for the Hebrew people what "clean and unclean" animals are, wrote the book of Genesis including what we know about Noah and the flood. Moses simply states that all these animals were on the ark. It doesn't prove Noah knew anything about clean and unclean. However, considering all the rules that went with eating or even touching something "unclean", how could God have allowed them on the ark in the first place? To me, it shows that they were all "clean" in the time of Noah. Therefore, there is no reason to assume Noah or anyone else prior to Moses had this definition. The time, the place and the people were; Moses and the Hebrew people during the exodus when they were in the desert. Phil | ||
| Flyinglady Registered user Username: Flyinglady Post Number: 6549 Registered: 3-2004  |
In Genesis 7 is recorded the following: v 2 "Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a make and its mate'. In the notes about this verse it says "The unclean animals would only have to reproduce themselves after the flood, but the clean animals would be needed also for the burnt offerings that Noah would sacrifice and for food. Diana L | ||
| Helovesme2 Registered user Username: Helovesme2 Post Number: 1832 Registered: 8-2004  |
Clean and unclean is connected with the rituals of sacrifice. Assuming that Noah did know the difference between 'clean' and 'unclean', that only strengthens God's words that 'everything that moveth shall be food for you' means everything, not just 'clean,' or as some translations give it 'ceremonially clean.' |
