I received the following invite on Facebook regarding a church July 4Th celebration: "Join us for an evening of celebrating our Freedom here in America with authentic Carolina BBQ, a host of Christian Bands/Live music, Games for the children, door prizes, and so much more! This is an opportunity for you to plan an enjoyable 4th of July Celebration and at the same time be a part of History in the making! The new ***************** is being built and all proceeds go to the building fund for a project that is well underway by the miraculous provision of God and His people! We invite you and your family to join us for food, fun and festivities! BBQ Pork, Hot Dogs, Baked Beans, Potato Salad, Cole Slaw, Rolls & Dessert Iced tea and lemonade." The invite is no doubt sincere. However, the more I thought about it, the more compelled I was to write concerning a subject that I have previously written about. The subject is food. In Leviticus 11, the Scriptures instruct us in what may and may not be eaten. Verse 7 says: "and the pig, for though it divides the hoof, thus making a split hoof, it does not chew cud, it is unclean to you." (NASB) The pig is unclean and may not be consumed by the people of YHVH.
Is this really important? I ask, "Is being holy or set apart important?" At the conclusion of the instruction regarding permissible foods, verse 44-45 says: "For I am YHVH your Elohim. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth. For I am YHVH who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your Elohim; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’” It would seem clear from an honest reading of the scriptures, that what you eat can make you unclean, i.e. unholy. The Hebrew word for "unclean" in verse 7 is tame. It means either ritual or moral uncleaness. Both types of uncleanness is serious to YHVH. The Hebrew word for "holy" in verse 44 is qadhosh. It means both sacred ceremonially or morally. The idea is to be separate from the unclean. We as a community who follow YHVH and His Son Yeshua are to be separate from those who don't follow Him. One way of separation is to make meals a sacred occasion. We eat what YHVH has said we may eat. Eating is not about my choices; eating is about following YHVH and His Son Yeshua. The community you are a member of is very important. Is your community clean or unclean?
The church invite means well. I will not be going. Candidly, I don't think Yeshua will be going either, unless He brings His lunch.
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