Sh'mini (Eighth) Leviticus 9:1-11:47 2Samuel 6:1-19 Luke 7–9 Thankfully, They Got It Right! This week brings us to the Torah reading regarding what is clean and what is unclean. It contains possibly the most controversial and hotly contested debate of our day. Let's approach it with reason and read it for just what it says. Leviticus 11 is a direct message to the Hebrews about what is food and what is not food. Remember, they have just come out of a pagan land with pagan practices. They have eaten what the Egyptians ate with no knowledge of what was good for the body and what was harmful. The instructions Noah knew seem to have been lost along the way. They just ate anything that tasted good. (Sound familiar?) To this people, HaShem gives basic dietary laws that even medical science of our day agrees with. Doctors and nutritionists of our day will tell you that the animals which scripture states are unclean are not good for our health. Recent reports say that bacon can be altered in such a way that it is now good for your heart, but I wonder how long it will be before we find they were wrong. Through the years many have tried to make scripture say something it does not say, to validate taste buds. Let's look at a couple of examples. When Yeshua or Paul talked about all foods being clean, keep in mind that they were talking about what was considered food in that day. Unclean animals were simply not considered food. To bring this into today's society, I was just with friends who were speaking of their time in an Eastern country. They spoke of having to watch the menu very closely because it was easy to order dog instead of beef. That really turns my stomach. I mean, I love my dog, but once in a while she really aggravates me. No matter how aggravating she may be though, I have never once thought about putting her on the barbeque grill. I just do not think A-1 could help that go down! The other example of misinterpretation is Peter's vision. Go back and read it carefully. Peter was a prejudiced man as we see from some of Paul's writings. He battled with this prejudice for quite some time. It took something dear to Peter's heart to get through to him. In this case God used unclean animals. It got Peter's attention! Notice in Acts 10:17 Peter was struggling over what the vision was all about when a knock was heard at the door and the vision became clear. The vision had nothing to do with pork chops and shrimp. The vision was about taking the Good News of Yeshua to the Gentiles. Paul understood this same principle in 1Timothy 4:4. He stated that everything HaShem created is good because it is made holy through the Word of God and prayer. This has been misquoted over the years taking out Word of God and simply quoting it as everything is holy because of prayer. Paul understood that you could pray all day and it would not change the words HaShem had given two thousand years earlier. The word holy simply means something set apart for a purpose. What He has stated is food is holy or set apart in this world for us to receive as nourishment. In that same line of thought, a pig or a lobster is also holy in that it is set apart to be a cleaner of the earth. Your kitchen mop may be holy in that it is set apart for cleaning the floor. I dare say you would never look at it while you are mopping and wonder what that would taste like with mayo and a bit of ketchup. Peter and Paul got it right on that day. That’s a good thing; otherwise I as a "former gentile" would not be sitting here writing about a Jewish messiah who never once broke the Torah. I might instead be out in the back yard considering what kind of seasoning would make filet of puppy taste the best! Peter, Paul and the rest of the disciples got it right in their day. Because of that the former gentile can now be a part of the Kingdom of God. Maybe if we would get it right we would be a bit healthier, in our body and more physically fit to serve Him on this earth as part of that Kingdom!