Chapter 14
This is supposedly the final nail in the coffin to prove the abolition of Torah, as allegedly this chapter legalises the consumption of all foods, inclusive of unclean foods listed in Torah. Additionally, it seems that Holy days inclusive of the weekly Sabbath are no longer of any importance in Paul’s understanding and revelation from Yeshua Himself. Voluminous pages have been scripted rejoicing at the abolition of Torah as a result of the fleshly desires of the clergy, convinced in their minds that the Holy Spirit has led them to these apparent revelations.
If this is indeed true, then surely Paul was at the very least suffering from a mental condition with much of the hallmarks of schizophrenia, characterized by bipolar behaviour. How can he for the last 13 chapters lay out a clear case of justification by/through faith unto Holy Spirit led good works to satisfy Torah which is holy, just and good, only to flip the script in chapter 14 and tell us we may eat all foods, and disregard any day we feel fit to? If that is the case, then I personally would no longer be trusting of any of his epistles, and would have my faith in Yeshua as the Messiah, greatly endangered.
At first glance when read solely in English, and especially in the KJV and other versions sprouting out of it, admittedly it appears as if that is indeed Paul’s message. But as diligent students of scripture we are compelled to take that extra mile to discover whether or not scripture is indeed lining up with scripture, and it is what I shall present very carefully, hopefully leaving you oh beloved, without a shadow of a doubt in your mind that a great travesty has been committed by preachers to promote and perpetuate the lie of abolition of the very laws of Yehovah Elohim that ushered out of His mouth.
V1 Straight out of the blocks Paul introduces his message concerning how to deal with the newly converted believer who is immature, and not strong in the faith, that is Christianity. It must be borne in mind the general course of the Christian walk established thus far for the Gentile born-again believer:
a. Belief in Yeshua as our Messiah who died and shed His blood for our sins.
b. Justification through faith.
c. A need to initially abide by the basic commandments agreed upon at the council of Jerusalem Acts 15:19-20.
d. Learn the principles of Torah as taught every Sabbath to follow in Holy Spirit newness of life Acts 15:21.
This is the recommended set of steps to encourage the upstart to follow, rather than spiritually and mentally bludgeoning them from the outset of their Christian journey with judgement and reprimanding for failing to follow Torah laws, which they do not understand nor can relate to. All needs to be done in a patient and timely manner rather than doubtful disputations, which may push away the newly won soul for Messiah.
V2 Again bear in mind that this is in reference to the mature believer cognizant of Torah versus the immature upstart. The Gentile world in Paul’s time was full of vegetarians and vegans, as much as we do today e.g. Hinduism, Jainism, Mahayana Buddhism and Rastafarianism. Hence Paul is identifying the weak upstart as presenting with preconditioned beliefs which may clash with Christianity.
He contrasts this weak upstart with the mature believer who believes he may eat all things. This does not mean everything under the sun as this would be inclusive of excrement, blood, and other awful things on earth, but quite obviously vegetables and meat i.e. an omnivorous diet. Paul however has not sanctioned the eating of ritually unclean food as most preachers readily rush to conclude. He is simply separating the two camps viz herbivorous immature believer versus omnivorous mature believer.
Being an omnivorous believer does not mean that you are more mature than an herbivorous believer. Paul is relating to state of mind i.e. one that knows biblically that he is allowed to eat both vegetables and meat (within the confines of Torah allowances) is clearly more mature than one who strictly believes that meat is disallowed altogether. Hence one who chooses to be a vegetarian/vegan but is aware that Torah permits meat, would be declared mature in Torah knowledge and maturity as long as he does not preach against these provisions in Torah against meat eaters. Conversely one who eats meat and vegetables does not necessarily fall into the category of the mature knowledgeable Christian, especially if he eats all meats inclusive of non-Kosher creatures thus exposing his immaturity in scriptural understanding. Therefore, we need to be very careful henceforth when analysing Paul’s words throughout this chapter, as they are very precise to preclude ambiguity.
V3 He then exhorts that the omnivorous mature believer must not despise the herbivorous immature believer, nor should the herbivorous judge the omnivorous, as Elohim has already justified both camps through/by faith regardless.
V4 Since by choosing to be in covenant relationship with Yehovah Elohim, we submit ourselves as servants/slaves to Him, no servant/slave in His camp has the right to judge another as if he were the master. It is for Elohim to decide how to deal with whomever may step out of line willingly or ignorantly, and will decide to make him stand to righteousness if ever he should stumble and fall. The message is do not play Elohim and do not butt your nose in other people’s lives and force your beliefs and judgements upon them, nor try to do Yehovah Elohim’s job and just concentrate on being right with Him as a faithful servant should.
V5 krino/separate/esteem/distinguish/choose. Firstly, note that ‘alike’ is in italics meaning it was added by the translator and was not in the original manuscript. Paul is again separating those who separate and esteem one day from the rest i.e. the Sabbath and Holy day-keeping mature Christian cf Lev 23, versus the new upstart who sees all days as the same and hence is oblivious of the Holy days/feasts of Yah. Paul advises for each man to be convicted in his own mind obviously according to his level of growth and knowledge and wisdom in his Christian walk. We are all at different stages in our walk, hence why some are referred to as babes in Messiah, still carnal, as opposed to the spiritual cf 1 Cor 3:1.
V6 Paul then clearly reveals in his train of thought that he is not at all condoning the ignorance of the immature Christian of not appreciating or knowing the importance of Elohim’s holy days. It is crystal clear that those who regard the day, do so unto Yehovah, and those that do not, unfortunately it is also to Yehovah, that they do not regard it. Hence for us that observe the day, it is not our jurisdiction to judge non observers, as they may still be growing in Torah knowledge slowly but surely, and it is up to Yehovah to deal with such a situation, as He knows the hearts of every man.
It is unfortunate that many enlightened Christians such as Messianic and Hebraic roots believers, castigate Sunday worshippers for instance, forgetting that they once used to be in the same area of darkness, instead of rather patiently assisting them in receiving the same light in this area by sound scriptural exegesis. If he had said it is not to Yehovah that they do not regard it, then Paul would have then meant that the regard of the day is indeed irrelevant. But he never wrote that. Disregarding the holy days inclusive of the Sabbath, is to so do to Yehovah. How can one thus incorrectly conclude that these holy days have been done away with when in Leviticus 23 we are told by Yehovah Himself that these are Yehovah’s days (not man’s, not Israel’s, not of the Jews) and additionally that they are forever? Lev 23:2,21,31,41.
As for he that eateth (the omnivorous mature believer) he does so to Yehovah, and he that eateth not (the herbivorous novice believer) also does so in his yet to be spiritually enlightened capacity to Yehovah too, both parties giving thanks in their different states of spiritual maturity.
This statement of Paul’s has absolutely nothing to do with eating Kosher, but is addressing our different positions in our journey of spiritual growth according to enlightenment and maturity in scripture, veganism versus meat eating being used as a means of contrasting this reality of different levels of maturity in the Christian walk amongst the body of Messiah.
V7-9 Again Paul reiterates that as servants/slaves/doulos of Messiah we are no longer living our lives for ourselves, but rather to please Messiah in good service, and we die not for our own glory either, but for Messiah’s. Hence, we have no right to be scrutinizing other believers’ lives with the intention of judging them, instead of giving exhortation, as we are not their masters, but fellow servants, who should be building up others and not bringing them down.
Equally we should not judge men of old, for instance those who lived in the dark ages of Roman Catholic prohibition of Bible ownership and literacy, who may have preached in their very limited capacities that which we now know today in our free world of Bible ownership as contrary to scripture, as we do not know the intentions of their hearts, which may actually have been better than the intentions of our enlightened selves! Ultimately knowledge of scripture does not necessarily mean greater standing in Elohim’s estimation, provided the heart’s intentions are good. The Pharisees and Sadducees bear testimony of such foolhardiness cf the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector of Luke 18:9-14.
V10-12 When you really deeply consider the matter at hand, how foolish we must feel for even daring to judge another believer or anybody else for that matter, who may genuinely not have had the same opportunity as us to be brought to scriptural truth for any of a multiplicity of reasons. Take for instance an individual who was born into a Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or communist community, who has never been allowed nor afforded the opportunity to know of Yeshua, let alone the Bible itself. We are not all born into a free world of religious freedom, and even within Christianity itself, some are born into extremist Catholic or extremist reformed communities e.g. Northern Ireland vs Republic of Ireland, and hence are indoctrinated from childbirth into beliefs whose barriers are difficult to near impossible to break.
Therefore, who are we to judge as if we shall be beside these fellow human beings on the day of judgement? Be rest assured we shall all go through individual judgements, and nothing we can say or do will determine another’s fate on that dreadfully terrifying day, when we shall individually give account to Yehovah of our heart’s intents. Let us spend our journey on earth raising up others, encouraging patiently, instead of pulling down and discouraging, as this may only lay coals on our heads despite our delusional intentions for good to prevail. Satan truly uses even the most innocent intentions on our parts against us, hence why we need to walk led by the Holy Spirit at all times as we cannot outwit the devil of our own accord. V11 quotes Isa 45:23.cf Phil 2:9-11.
V13 Instead of majoring on judging others’ lives, let us rather judge that spirit of judgement against others that causes frustration and increases the chances of tripping up an already weaker brother in Messiah.
V14 This verse causes great rejoicing amongst despisers of Torah, as a perceived victory in justifying their doctrines is read into it. It is absolutely necessary that we read the Greek manuscript in which this was originally written very carefully. Firstly, Paul expresses without question that he is fully persuaded and knows what he is about to write to be true, as Yeshua the Messiah directly informed him of this, so we cannot argue with his teaching. The Greek word translated 'unclean' in the KJV is koinos. It is a terrible shame to have translated it as thus, as it actually means 'common' as used in Acts 2:44;4:32; Titus 1:4; Jude 1:3.
The Holy Spirit, true to form leaves His mark in truth to dispel ambiguity in scripture in Acts 10:14,28 and 11:8 where Peter in his dream of unclean animals in all these instances uses the term common and unclean to differentiate the two meanings. We literally have 3 witnesses in these scriptural passages. Peter uses koinos for ‘common’ and akathartos for ‘unclean’, of which the Greek word describes ceremonially/ritually unclean of food, or of being morally unclean. In the LXX Septuagint in Leviticus 11 which outlines clean versus unclean foods the Greek word used throughout for unclean is akathartos. The Hebrew word used in the original manuscripts of the Tanakh is even more descriptive of the state of uncleanness. 'Tame' is the word used which means 'foul or impure' ethically and religiously.
A quick lesson needs to be given of states of cleanliness/purity in Torah. When offering sacrifices in the tabernacle and later on in the temple, each Israelite was considered common and clean or common and unclean. The priests who conducted the sacrificial rites for the laity, had to ensure that they were in a state of holiness which increased in degree depending on their location in the tabernacle i.e. the High Priest being at his holiest after very great preparation on the day of atonement to enter the holy of holies. Hence for instance at the gate of the tabernacle was as far as the common Israelite man could approach. The Israelite needed to be sure that at the very least he was not unclean/impure as a result of various behaviours listed in Torah e.g. leprosy, menstruating, having eaten unclean creatures within the last 24 hours, suffering from discharges of the genitalia, having given birth recently for example.
The regular priests, by virtue of being descendants of Aaron were expected to not only be clean but also to be in a certain degree of holiness depending on the duty to be carried out, and were additionally required to wash their hands and feet at the bronze laver to be in a state of purity/cleanliness and holiness for them to be eligible to handle the animals to be sacrificed, which would become pure once handled by them, in order for them not to defile the holy altar of sacrifice.
A Bible principle laid forth in the OT is that something unclean is destroyed by holiness. However, something common if put through the right preparations to become clean, may be made holy and hence may then be eligible to handle holy paraphernalia without risking death cf 2 Sam 6:6-7. Thus, there are various states that one must go through before achieving holiness: move from common and unclean to common and clean. Then from common and clean to holy. With this background understanding Acts ch 10 becomes clear as day.
Coming back to v14 Paul as was Peter in Acts ch 10, was directly informed by Yeshua that there is nothing common of itself as it is either rendered clean or unclean cf Acts 10:15 which was the response to Peter’s fear in 10:14. It is an immutable fact that some creatures were created clean for human consumption and others unclean. We may not at this point understand why, but one day when we shall no longer look through a glass darkly 1 Cor 13:11, Yeshua shall reveal all these truths to us.
Paul having established that there is nothing common of itself for consumption’s sake as the theme clearly states, then as before, regarding days of observance and consumption of meat versus vegetables, he repeats the theme of spiritual enlightenment and maturity, whereby we should not judge if one feels anything to be common. There is no inference whatsoever when this is understood that Kosher versus non-Kosher food is being addressed here, but rather the understanding on one’s part whether food is common or not.
V15-16 Paul then solidifies his argument by stating that if your fellow immature Christian brother (reference to the vegetable eater) in his state of ignorance is grieved by your meat eating ways (within Torah parameters of clean vs unclean of course), then you may actually be inadvertently causing him to doubt the Christian faith and hence be a stumbling block to him, despite the fact that your knowledgeable self is living righteously! He exhorts us in such a case, to at least give up meat-eating if necessary for the sake of not losing that immature soul who is still very weak and frail in his belief i.e. let us win souls at our expense by all means necessary, as Satan is playing a very dirty game using our good against the growth of the not so well informed and not so mature upstart Christian. Yeshua’s statement to be as wise as serpents yet harmless as doves should now more than ever make sense to the student of scripture Matt 10:16.
V17-19 With this understanding in mind of occasionally having to restrict your diet for the greater good of soul winning for Messiah, we must realize that meat and drink should no longer be important in our lives, especially for the kingdom Of Elohim, where doubtful disputations regarding such may cause a weak believer to stumble. Let us at all times strive to seek righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, which is Elohim’s will and approved of men as it leads to edification of the weaker souls.
V20 There should be a comma inserted after the word meat for it to make sense i.e. we must not destroy the great work done by Elohim to win a lost soul by quibbling over eating of meat vs eating of vegetables. Eating all things i.e. vegetables and meat is indeed pure in Elohim’s eyes, but Satan can twist this seemingly harmless reality to cause offence to the immature weak vegetable-eating new believer, hence inadvertently making you evil in losing that brother through your refusal to restrict your diet until the weak brother is brought to that liberty of Kosher meat-eating in Torah!
V21 Hence we are admonished to give up our rights from time to time of eating Kosher meat and drinking wine, if it should cause the weak immature Christian devoid of knowledge of liberty to do so in Torah, to stumble. There are many Christian denominations of today that frown upon drinking wine or even eating meat outright such as the Seventh Day Adventists.
V22-23 In closing Paul exhorts us to have Elohim-given faith for Elohim first and foremost, and desist affecting the faith of the weak Christian who is still unsure of what is permissible and what is not, by eating that which in his present state of ignorance could push him away from faith. Maintenance of FAITH is ultimately the theme of paramount importance addressed in this chapter.