Part 2-Eating a Biblical Diet?

Leviticus 11:4
Nevertheless these you shall not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have cloven hooves: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you;

So, now we know a church that is providing nutrition to God’s children is one that rightly divides the word as it walks and ruminates in the scriptures, continually drawing out more and more Jesus. How do God’s laws of unclean animals apply to today’s church? We know from part 1 what we as Christians should be looking toward for spiritual nourishment; what are we specifically supposed to avoid and guard ourselves against?

We can think of these unclean sources of nourishment as “camel churches” or “pig churches”. These animals (along with the rock hyrax [a small pest, similar to a guinea pig] and the hare) are mentioned in the verses immediately after Leviticus 11:4 as unclean and are forbidden by God for consumption. The interesting thing about these animals is that they each possess one of the attributes of a clean and acceptable animal according to God’s law, but not both.

The camel chews its cud. It is capable of eating and then digesting food over and over again until it draws out the nutrition, but it does not have a completely divided hoof. A camel’s hoof is only partially divided. At the base is a solid pad connecting the hooves together. Camel churches digest the word of God and draw out Jesus, but they don’t stand firm in what He says. They’re able to glean the message of hope that Jesus brings throughout the Bible, but when it comes to holding fast to a true belief about what He said or did, they waiver. (Revelation 3:3 “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”)

Churches like this tend to believe that miracles, supernatural healings, angels, and demons are something that only happened or existed 2500 years ago. They are events that modern science can explain today and in some cases replicate. These are churches who falter and stumble, when push comes to shove, because they aren’t standing firm on the truth of Christ.

Then there are the pigs. Pigs are nasty animals that will eat just about anything. They’re big, loud animals with a sure foot, hard to topple. Pigs, however, regardless of how big and strong, loud and sure footed, don’t eat in a healthy manner! Pigs inhale their food, leaving no time for chewing or breaking down of the materials. They just open their mouths and swallow. While they get some nutrition from this process, it’s not the best or the healthiest way to be nourished!

Pig churches are very similar to real pigs. They grow at exponential rates standing firm in the truth that is God’s word, but they’re not drawing out all of the nutrition, all of the Jesus. These churches give relevant messages about today’s day and age using lessons from the Bible to illustrate certain principles or rules that should be followed in order to gain God’s full blessings, but they don’t reveal the truth hidden in the scripture, that is, Jesus. They preach the message of salvation through the cross and Jesus’ resurrection, but they fail to complete the story by explaining and expounding on the grace, forgiveness, and unmerited favor that the cross brought. Instead they hold fast to the teaching of law and works, rules and provisos in order to fully gain God’s favor. (Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.) They are sure that Jesus is the Son of God, but they aren’t proclaiming His complete message of grace and mercy because they haven’t taken the time to digest His word.

God doesn’t want us to get surface nourishment from His word. He wants us to get the fullness of His blessings by chewing, digesting, and meditating on His Son, Jesus Christ. By doing this our faith-footing will be firmly anchored in Christ (Matthew 7:24-25 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”) and our spiritual bodies will be healthy.