When God chooses people, from the face of the earth as he treasured possession. you are the children of the Lord, your God. Deuteronomy 7: 6-11.
This tells us that when we are to be clean based on:
- separation decided by God: when he said what was clean and what was unclean Deuteronomy 14: 11, hooves that are separate; God decides which animal with hooves are clean. Then he calls what is ceremonially unclean, what you eat that is unclean, Deuteronomy 14:21, but if what you want
Set apart by God makes us clean as we do his will. Romans 14:2 clearly tells us that ‘One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables.’ So, Daniel 1: 8 – 11 “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. 9 Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel, 10 but the official told Daniel, “I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your[c] food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you.”
Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, 12 “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.” we see here two things from Romans 13 and conclude on one. The conclusion is Romans 14: 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is Unclean. the two things we see is that according to Romans 14: 2 Daniels faith was probably weak because he wanted to eat vegetable. Secondly, the scriptures say in our second observation Romans 14: 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. So, if one decides something/someone is clean i.e. all things God created are clean but if in eating it, causes someone else to stumble then don’t eat? why because it is not eating in faith. The idea of segregation is like a calf hoof (the split of it) spoken about in Number to denote separation or consecrations for the work of God. Not because it one hoof was bad, and the other was good. It simply meant God had to make something or someone better for his use.
So why then did Daniel believe eating the meat would defile him. The Israelite under the law had many ceremonial laws. In Nehemiah 5: 14-15 “Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ATE the FOOD allotted to the governor. 15 But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels[a] of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that.”
The Jews at the time were making an outcry that their leaders were selling their people out as slaves (Nehemiah 5 vs 8), they were asking King Artaxerxes to charge their people more interest and tax leading to the Jews having to sell vineyards, field and homes during famine. Therefore, they had no food this would lead to heavy burden being placed on the poor. so, Nehemiah would not eat the food nor wine because it was from heavy burdens of people where they lorded it over the people. He believed it would defile him and out of reverence for God he did not eat from the king’s food.
In verse 18 of Nehemiah 5, he says this “Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.” The long and short of the story is he made the Jewish leaders to take an oath not to sell their people.
Romans 14: 23 tells us what is clean and unclean, “But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.” why you may ask because of the way we consider things. Romans 14: 6 tells one person may considers eating certain food (my friend used to say its sexual appetite because its food, but I tell him as long as its according to Gods will) as bad and another doesn’t. (perspectives). Someone may consider one day more sacred than another, and someone will consider every day alike. Also, Romans 14: 13 passing judgments on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister, can change one’s perspective. The devil did this he cast doubt on what God said to Eve, telling her if she ate, she would not die (the example has a negative connotation on what clean and unclean is) but it shows the effect of doubt. Even Judas doubted Jesus. So, there is an unhealthy doubt and healthy doubt but when it causes one to stumble when its healthy (what one eats and drinks Colossians 2: 16) it’s not good as it causes someone to fear and SIN, but when it’s an unhealthy doubt as with Satan asking eve to eat and disobey God, it caused her to stumble. The long and short of the story, God gave Eve an instruction not to eat the apple because it was not good for her, and she would die. It is only God who tells us what is good and what is not Good. This is why he gave the same ceremonial laws to the Israel because he was trying to test their obedience (Deuteronomy 14) for outward cleanliness (see Hebrew 9). However, if you don’t hear God say its unclean then it is not unclean, and we see this in Acts 10: 13 – 17. God said the wild beast is clean.
Excerpts:
God’s word is truth. Grace and truth appeared to all men and that truth is Jesus. the works he brought to us by the cross is GRACE. The voice of truth is the word of God made flesh in the person of Jesus Christ; the truth does not cause us to stumble it preserves us. The word became flesh and dwell amongst men, the truth preserves the work Jesus wrought for us and preserves us but telling people what to align with; what to choose brings condemnation, this is why the scripture says let no man insult you in what you eat or drink. so, when something is aligned with the truth of God’s word that all things is good and not unclean but brings condemnation to that person (stumbling) it is sin on the other person’s end. However, if it’s aligned with God instruction or words, it preserves the person. Doubt not confounded in truth leads to a lie and thus stumbling. This is why Thomas doubt had to be verified by the one who is true, and that truth is Jesus. So, he did not stumble but believed. I guess no one is as clean or should we say as holy as the lord, therefore one decides who is clean or unclean but the lord. For he is the Lord who sanctifies – Jehovah Mekoddishkem.
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