Clean Living - Clean Eating

The Finding Emet radio program aims to help listeners understand and live the truth of the Bible from a Hebrew perspective. The teaching ministry of Brother Daniel Rendleman of Emet Ministries is featured, and more resources can be found on their website. The main message is that Yahweh has big plans for us and desires to bless us. His plan is for us to be a set-apart people, to obey his voice and commandments, and to live according to his will. The Torah, or law, is seen as Yahweh's instruction book for living, and by choosing to follow it, we choose life and blessing. Hello, and welcome to the Finding Emet radio program. Emet is the Hebrew word for truth. This program will help you understand and live the truth of the Bible from a Hebrew perspective. The Finding Emet radio program features the teaching ministry of Brother Daniel Rendleman of Emet Ministries. Prepare your heart to receive the Emet, the truth of the scriptures. More audio lessons and teaching articles are available at the www.emetministries.com website. Please visit our site to find all things spiritual, including a free online Bible search program, or submit your prayer requests. That's www.emetministries.com, or www.findemet.com. CD copies of this teaching are available for free by submitting a request at the website. Let's welcome our teacher, Daniel Rendleman, as he helps us find the Emet. James McConkie, whoever that is, once said that there are no two leaves, no two jewels, no two stars, no two lives that are alike. That every life is a fresh thought from Yahweh. We're a fresh thought from Yahweh. And I'd like to begin today's teaching by reminding you and telling you that Yahweh has big plans and great plans for us. Amen? He has a will and a desire to prosper us, to bless us. He said that we are to be fruitful and multiply. Did He not? He said that we are to be fruitful and multiply. And in John chapter 10, verse 10, Yeshua promised us abundant life. Not just life, not just, oh, this is ho-hum, this is how it goes. But He wanted us to enjoy life, to have abundant life. Yahweh has a plan for our lives. Amen? Now, many of us, or many people, many believers, their whole struggle is to know the plan of Yahweh, figure it out, to tap into it, and then guess what? Stay out of His way. Amen? Know His will, tap into His will, follow His will, and then stay out of His way. In Deuteronomy, or Devarim, chapter 14, verse 2, we can see clearly what Yahweh's plan is for us as a people, and individually, each and every one of us. Deuteronomy, verse 2 of chapter 14. It says, You are a kadosh people, a holy people to Yahweh, your Elohim, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a treasured possession, a people for Himself above all the nations that are upon the earth. So, if you want to know what Yahweh's will is for you, it's very simple. You are to be a kadosh people, a set-apart people. In King James, you are to be a holy people. What does holy really mean? If you were to ask some people, they'd say holy means to be quiet, to be reverent, to be still in church. You've got to be holy in church or so. But it says, in Hebrew, it says kadosh. It means to be set-apart, that we are set-apart people unto Yahweh, and He's chosen us. So, turn to your neighbor, turn to your neighbor and say, He chose you. He chose you. He chose us. Hallelujah. He has chosen us to be set-apart, to use us. And a very similar verse is in Exodus, chapter 19, verses 5 through 6. And in Exodus, chapter 19, is the giving of the Torah, or the giving of the law of Mosheh to the nation of Israel. And in Exodus, chapter 9, verse 5, it says, Therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my commandments, then you shall be a peculiar treasure to me above all the peoples, for the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a set-apart kadosh nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel. He says that if we obey His voice, then we shall be peculiar. Then we shall be set-apart, then we shall be above all the people, then we shall be a kingdom of priests, then we shall be a holy nation. How does it all come about? By obeying the word of Yahweh. In that same chapter, in verse 10, it says, And Yahweh said to Moses, Mosheh, Go to the people, set them apart today and tomorrow, let them wash their clothes, be ready for the third day. On the third day, Yahweh will come down in the sight of all the people, on Mount Sinai. So here, we see that being set-apart for Yahweh meant being cleansed, or being clean to Yahweh. Amen? That here, He tells us He's going to exalt us above the world, to set us apart to Himself. That Yahweh has chosen us, and He doesn't choose junk. You're not junk. No matter what the world says, we aren't junk. And He doesn't want us satisfied with junk either. Amen? We are to live His will in this world, and He's given us His will with the Ten Commandments. I mean, the Ten Commandments. Isn't that right? Right? Come on. Most people view them as the Ten Suggestions. And the Ten Commandments were not, let me make this clear, multiple choice. It's not like you get to choose which ones you get to obey. Many people, though, are kind of supermarket believers. They pick and choose exactly what they want. I remember as a child, I would go to the grocery stores with my grandfather. And I'd say, stores. We would make it a shopping day. I'd go up to see him, and we'd go to five or six grocery stores to find the best deals. And I remember that he could make the best boiled peanuts in the world. You know, nothing in the world is like a good boiled peanut. I mean, it is a delicacy. So he would make them, he would boil them, but he would hand-pick them. We would go to Piggly Wiggly. I don't think that's a kosher grocery store, but we'd go to Piggly Wiggly. And we would go to this huge mound of green peanuts. You know, three foot by three foot, huge mound that they would have. And he would literally hand-pick two or three pounds of peanuts. Go through each and every one of them. Well, guess what? Number one, Yahweh has hand-picked us. He's gone through the peanuts of the world, and he's found us. Amen? Okay? So we all know we're a little nutty. We're peculiar people. But number two, we're not to be like that and just pick the commandments we're going to obey. The Torah, or what's called the law by most of Christianity, is considered His living instructions. This is Yahweh's best for us. If you want to know how life is to be lived here on planet Earth, you read the instruction book. You know? I went out and bought a lawnmower. It was scary. Okay? I'm just being honest with you here. I went out and bought a lawnmower, and I had to read the instruction book. I took it out, and I said, okay, this is my new lawnmower. I want to make sure I'm doing this right. And I actually read the instruction book, yes I did, on the lawnmower. How to put it together, how to crank it, how to put the gas in it. Yep, where to put the gas. That's right. I didn't know where that was. It even gave me, like, drawings on how to cut the grass. It said, go north to south one week, and the next week go east to west, and to do this and to do that. And I read it, and I was like, I was amazed at the things that I learned, you know, with the lawnmower. I mean, come on. You're probably way past two or so, but I'm not a very mechanical person. I have a hard time putting peanut butter and jelly sandwich together, much less a lawnmower. I actually called my father-in-law and said, Don, I'm putting this together. He said, well, I'll come by in an hour to see, you know, how many people you've killed. Because he was very concerned this was going to turn treacherous. But we got it put together. I read the instructions. I was actually able to get the grass cut, believe it or not. With that, with this lawnmower that I was able to put together, with these instructions that I was able to follow, with these instructions that I was able to follow, I was able to do it the right way. I was able to put it together the right way, and it crunk, it cranked, it started. How about that? Praise Yahweh. Miracles still happen. Well, Yahweh has given us instructions for living here on earth, an instruction book, the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, and yet many people were kind of like, I know how to live? Come on now. You laughed at me because I read the instruction book on a lawnmower. But how many people were, I know how to, all you've got to do is turn a couple knobs, put a couple screws in and yank it and go. You know, many of us feel that way about life. I know how to do it. I've seen people do it. I've cut grass before. I've lived life before. I don't need to read the instruction book. Yet Yahweh's Torah is his instruction book for living. And it's not that we have to obey Torah. Let me make this clear. You don't have to obey. You don't have to do anything. Isn't that right? In America, all you've got to do is pay taxes and die and inhale secondhand cigarette smoke. That's about all you have to do in America. And it's not that you have to obey Torah. You get to obey it. We get to obey it. We are privileged in the fact that we can learn and live his word. Amen? There's a difference there. You know, people ask me sometimes, do I have to wear tzitzit? Do I have to eat kosher? Do I have to worship on Shabbat, Saturday? Do I have to keep the feast? Do I have to do this? Do I have to do that? And my answer to them, no, you don't have to. But if you want to follow his word, then you will. You will make a conscious effort and choice. So we are to do that. Amen? And when we do choose to do that, we are choosing life. Everybody say life. Hallelujah. Devarim. Deuteronomy 30. This mitzvot, verse 11, this commandment, which I command you this day, is not hidden from you. Neither is it far off. It's not in the heavens that you should say, who will go up to the heavens and bring it to us? Neither is it in the sea that you should say, who will go to the sea and find it for us? Verse 14 of Deuteronomy 30. But the word of Yahweh is near to you, in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it. See, I have set before you this day life and blessing, or goodness, death and evil. Verse 16. And I command you this day to love Yahweh your Elohim, to have your walk in his ways, to shemer his mitzvot, to guard his commandments, his chukim and his mishpotim, that you may live and multiply. Now, the chukim of Yahweh are the commandments that we really can't understand. It's like Yahweh says, six days shall you labor, the seventh day is a day of rest. Why specifically the seventh day? Well, that's a chukim. Yahweh chose it, he commanded it, that settles it. And his mishpatim are judgments that we usually can understand. But here, it tells us that if we do these things, Yahweh will bless us. And he tells us here that I have called heaven and earth, verse 19, to record against you this day. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose chayim, choose life, that you and your seeds may live. That is Yahweh's will for us, amen, to choose life, that we could be abundant in our faith. In Exodus chapter 15, verse 26, it says, if you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh. What do we have to do? Diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh, and do what is right, so we listen, then we do what is right, and give ear to his commandments, mitzvot, and shomer his chukim. Shomer in Hebrew means to guard, or to keep his chukim. If we guard or keep the commandments we don't understand, he says, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I have brought upon the Egyptians, for I am Yahweh, Rapha. Read it again. And if you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh, your Elohim, and do that which is right in his sight, and give ear to his mitzvot, shomer his chukim, I will put none of the diseases upon you which I have brought upon the Egyptians. I am Yahweh who heals you. I am Yahweh, Rapha. Yahweh's will is to bless us, and that blessing comes as we obey his mitzvot. What specific mitzvot? How many mitzvot? All of that. Well, we've studied that. We've looked at that before. And I encourage you to go back and listen to the teaching on the Emet Ministries website called Torah Restoration, Torah Restoration, as it talks about that, or the CD Living in Divine Space. But if we see in Leviticus 19, in Leviticus 20, the commands here in these two chapters cover every aspect of life you can imagine. It tells us in Vayikra 19 and 20, and I just encourage you just to read and study these two chapters. It begins in saying, speak to the children of Israel that you shall be set apart. Verse 2, you shall be kedoshim, for I, Yahweh your Elohim, am holy, or kadosh, am set apart. We are to reflect Him to the world, amen? We are to reflect His goodness, His greatness. He is holy. He is set apart. He is kadosh. We are to be the same. It goes on and says, what does that mean? It says, number one, don't make idols. Don't go to sorcerers. Don't consult horoscopes. It talks about bearing a grudge. When you bear a grudge, when we bear a grudge against someone, we are not acting set apart, are we? We're acting like the rest of the world. It says, do not tattoo your body. It says, do not curse your father or your mother. It says, do not curse a deaf person. Curse a deaf person. You might not know a deaf person, but if that person can't hear what you're saying and you're speaking negative about them, then you're cursing a deaf person. Think about that. It says, you shall not shave your beard off. It says, you shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal in these chapters. It says, do not lie. It goes on and on and on. It says to distinguish between the clean and the unclean foods. And this is all about our calling as Israel. You want to know Yahweh's will for your life? Leviticus 10, 10 and 11. You want to know Yahweh's will for you? Turn with me to Leviticus 10, 10 and 11. You may put a distinction, a difference between that which is set apart and defiled and between the unclean and the clean. You may teach the children of Israel all the commandments which Yahweh has spoken to them by the hand of Moshe. That is our call. That is Yahweh's will for us that we are kadosh, that we put a difference between the clean and the unclean, between the holy and the profane or the defiled, and then teach people what Yahweh says in his word. Now, in some of Yahweh's commandments, some of them make sense. They're rational. They just make sense to do certain things. It makes sense in our world, do not lie, do not steal, doesn't it? Now, many people choose not to, however, these things make sense. Some of the commandments in the Torah do not make sense. That's where Emunah comes in, or faith. You've got to trust him to believe that. And if we look at Leviticus chapter 19 and 20, we see sorcery, horoscopes, adultery, stealing and lying and bearing grudges are all put on the same level as what we eat. So today's teaching is all about that, and it's called clean living, clean eating. Clean living, clean eating. Because being set apart is not just about following a list of rules that the church sets for us. It's not just about going to church on Sunday and being real quiet and standing where we're supposed to stand and saying amen when we're supposed to amen. But it's about how we live. The worldly Greek mindset says, you know, you can believe one thing and you can act another way. Take, you know, Bill Clinton, for example, and what happened while he was president and the adultery that he was into. He said he was faithful to his wife. He said that. But yet his actions proved otherwise. That's not being set apart, is it? That's not being holy, is it? Being holy is more than just wearing a kippah or wearing a talib or saying some Hebrew phrase. It's more than just going to church. It's about how we live every single day, day in and day out. Are we people of integrity? Are we people of honesty? And are we people who are going to follow his word? We are to be a set apart witness in how we act, how we talk, how we dress and even, yes, even how we eat. The Bible speaks clearly about this. It talks about food. It talks about gluttony. It talks about how we as believers should be a shining example of good health, holy eating of people. One of the most well-known Jewish practices, one of the most well-known practices of the Jewish religion is of eating foods that are only deemed as kosher, eating foods only deemed as kosher. And the word kosher in Hebrew is Strong's number 3787, Strong's number 3787, which means straight, right, acceptable, blessed, to succeed or to prosper. If something is kosher according to the Hebrew, then it's straight, it's blessed, it's right, it's acceptable, it's a success, it's going to lead to your prosperity. Now for food to be deemed kosher according to the Jews, it is to pass a strict rabbinical examination. Rabbis have to watch over it. They do a blessing and it's got to pass through a code of Jewish law and some of what they do is truly biblical. Some of what they do is not. That's part of their sin. That's part of their area of sin where they add to the Torah of Yahweh. For example, slaughtering the animal in a humane way is biblical. The scriptures say that the meat that we are to eat is to be slaughtered in a humane way. Withholding from shellfish, withholding from pork, biblical, but many other laws that the rabbis or that Judaism has added to this are just that, they're additions and they're really improper interpretations. Let me give you an example. The Jews won't eat a cheeseburger because there's a prohibition of, do not boil a kid in its mother's milk. Baby goat in its mother's milk is what it says. So they take that to mean you don't mix meat and milk, meat and dairy products together. So they won't eat a cheeseburger. By the way, you can't even put cheese on chicken. Now think about that for a minute. Does that even make sense? How could cheese and the chicken come from the same animal? How could cheese and egg, indeed, you know, you've got to be careful. You don't mix meat and dairy. No chicken sandwich with cheese. They even have certain dishes that are for dairy products, some that are for meat products, and they'll wait at least an hour if they eat dairy before they eat meat. Now part of the problem with that is that man's improper interpretation of the scripture because we can read in Genesis chapter 15 and Genesis chapter 14 that Abraham, Avinu Abraham, our father, it says, mixed milk and meat and ate them together. Go and read that. So that's an improper interpretation. We don't need to fall into that. Amen? So we've got to understand if we're going to look at clean eating that we're not just going to follow what the Jews say, but we're going to examine it and we're going to see what's biblical. Speaking of Jews, there's this rabbi, got to tell you a story, Monty. He goes into a Jewish deli, you know, a good kosher deli, goes to see his friend, and Herschel is the name of his friend, and they're just sitting down and they're greeting each other, and Herschel recognizes that Monty's got his golden teeth. So he asks him about it. He says, Monty, you know, tell me about those. He says, oh, he says, I just got them. He says, I have seven pairs. Seven? Why in the world would you need seven pairs of teeth? He said, oh, he said, you know, I'm a strict, you know, I eat kosher all the time. He said, I've got one set just for eating meat. I've got one set just for eating dairy. I've got one set just for eating foods that are parvae. He said, I've got one set just for eating at Passover. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. 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He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. He said, wow. It may not be materially poisonous, but it's spiritually poisonous. It's spiritually sickening. We might not see the instant impact, we have some thick skin, we have some fat back. We might not see an instant impact, but as the arteries of the heart are clogged by eating too much pork, by eating the wrong foods, the arteries of our soul is clogged when we eat things that Yahweh does not consider to be food. Eating unclean food makes us unclean. Eating unclean food means that we are taking the light that Yahweh has and we're putting it under a bushel. We're hiding it. It's not what Yahweh wants us to do. We can't be an example to the world if we eat whatever we want. And that means just eating over eating. One of the seven deadly sins is to be a glutton. So what does it mean to be a glutton? It means to eat after you're full. And I don't know about you, but I'm guilty of that. I'm learning. I don't want to do that. It tells us in Proverbs 23.2, this is a really great verse, Proverbs 23.2, put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony. Wow. It says you might as well commit suicide. Cut off your eating, it says, if you're given to gluttony. We would be a lot healthier if we as a people would only eat when our stomach growls. Think about that for a minute. Your growling stomach, scientists tell us, is made to tell you when you're hungry. When you get that stomach pain. But most of us, what happens? Twelve o'clock comes around, it's lunchtime, the bell rings at school, time for the kids to eat lunch. They go eat lunch. Oh, it's dinnertime, six o'clock. We might not, I don't know about you, but I've had many a meals when I wasn't even hungry. And I ate, and I ate, and I ate, then I had dessert, then I had an after dessert, dessert, then I had a midnight snack, then I went to bed. And the next day, I hiccuped all day and I had heartburn and chest pains and all of this. Many times we eat and it's not that we're even hungry. Do you know what it is? It's our body telling us we need water. There's a great book out there, it's called, You're Not Hungry, You're Thirsty. We need water, not just liquids, but water. Many in the world of Christianity say that we don't have to keep the kosher laws or eat clean foods because Yeshua, or Jesus, declared all things to be clean. He freed us from the law. That's a personal conviction. Let me tell you, it's not true. In Acts chapter 10, verse 14, Peter, Kepha, remember him, the guy that walked on the water? In Acts chapter 10, verse 14, he shows us that they had been keeping kosher for 10 years after Yeshua died. 10 years. Don't you think that if he could just eat anything, he would have already done it? They were doing that. There are many misunderstandings in the newer testament regarding kashrut. And let me say this, Yeshua never repealed the laws of eating clean animals, of eating kosher. Yahweh does not change his mind. He has a divine plan for us. Amen? Didn't we say that before? He has a will for us, and he only wants us to eat clean animals. In Luke 16, 17, it says, it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one bit of the Torah to pass away, including the kosher laws. Isaiah 40, verse 8, the grass withers, the flowers fade. But the word of Yahweh remains forever. So let's look at a few verses that are in the newer testament, or in Hebrew, the Brit Kadeshah, and see what the word says. We'll start in Mark chapter 7, verse 9. You can also read Matthew's version of this in Matthew chapter 15. But in Mark chapter 7, in verse 9, you can pick certain verses and make them say anything you want to say. Isn't that right? Mark chapter 7, verse 9, it says, and he said to them, full well you do reject the commandments of Yahweh that you may keep your own tradition. He says in verse 15, there is nothing from without a man entering into him that can defile him. But the things that defile come out of him. Those are they that defile him. If any man has ears, let him hear. And many go to that verse, and they go to this verse, and they say, oh, when nothing goes into me can defile me. It's only what comes out of me. Well, if you go and you read Matthew's version, in Matthew chapter 15, you realize, and you read this in context, it's all about washing of hands. The tradition of the Hebrews then was to always wash your hands before you ate. Now, we know that's not a bad idea. However, Yeshua was pointing out that eating with dirty fingers is not going to defile you and make you spiritually unclean. Amen? He was making it clear the tradition of handwashing starts in Matthew chapter 15, not that which goes into the man that defiles him, but that which comes out of him, this defiles him. Coming from the heart. And notice also here that with this, he was saying, don't put your tradition above the word of Yahweh. He wasn't saying not to wash your hands. I think that's a good thing for us to do. Amen? You know, we want to eat with clean hands. Who may have sinned? One of the clean hands and a pure heart. However, don't put that over the word of Yahweh. The issue here, he was not making all foods clean because all foods were already clean. Food in the Bible is only the animals listed in Leviticus 11. Everything else are animals. You got to understand that to get kosher eating. In 1 Timothy chapter 4, 1 Timothy chapter 4, and I'm going to turn there in King James so we can read it here to see what everyone's reading. 1 Timothy chapter 4, starting in verse 1, 1 Timothy 4, now the Spirit speaketh expressively that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. 1 Timothy 4, 2, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron. Verse 3, forbidding to marry, commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving. For it is to be sanctified by the word of God and by prayer. Reading out of King James Version. Now many people read this and they say, wait a minute, look at verse 4. Every creature is good, nothing to be, you know, I can eat anything, nothing to be refused as long as I pray over it. As long as I give thanks, my shrimp is okay, my snail is okay, my cat is okay to eat. Absolutely not. You've got to see it in context. Because this verse would normally look like it contradicts what the Torah says in Leviticus 11, does it not? It looks like it repeals what the word says. But look at this. It says in verse 5, for it is sanctified by the word of Yahweh and by prayer. If the food has been sanctified by Yahweh in his Torah, by his word, then it is good to eat. But if it's not been sanctified or set apart by Yahweh as food in Leviticus 11, then it's not good to eat. Do you understand that? You've got to read it into context. That the creatures good for food are those that have been sanctified by Yahweh and by prayer. Every creature of Yahweh is good, nothing to be refused if it is sanctified by the word of Yahweh. So, remember again that the only foods we are to eat have been sanctified by the word of Yahweh in Leviticus 11. It points back to Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. Acts chapter 10, verse 1, there was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, a devout man who feared Yahweh, but he was a Gentile. Acts chapter 10 is all about the Gentiles, all right? And we see in Acts chapter 10 that an angel spoke to Cornelius and it was telling him to go to Peter, go to Kepha. In verse 9, it tells us that Peter went up to the housetop to pray. And don't we know that Peter has a problem praying? What does he do every time he prays? We read about it in the Gospels. He falls asleep, doesn't he? He keeps falling asleep. And in verse 10 it says, and he became very hungry and would have eaten, but while they made ready, as they were cooking, he fell into a trance. He had a vision. So he was hungry. And guess what his vision was about? It was about animals. There you go. He saw heaven opened, a certain vessel descending, it had been a great sheet knit on four corners. All manner of four-footed beasts of the earth and wild beasts and creeping things and fowls, all types of animals were there. And it came a voice saying, Peter, rise up, kill and eat. And notice in verse 14, he said, not so, I have never eaten any unclean thing. Even after Yeshua died, he said, I still have not eaten anything unclean. Verse 15, and the voice spake again, saying, what Yahweh has cleansed, you should not call common. You should not call unclean. This was done three times and received up again. And then it says that Peter went out and had a barbecue sandwich. No it doesn't. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. It tells us here, Peter goes up to the housetop to pray, he has a vision, he's hungry. He sees animals. Yahweh uses what's on his mind to speak to him. Doesn't Yahweh do that to us? Doesn't He use what's on our mind to speak to us, to give us dreams and visions? And here, he says he immediately goes. The men from Cornelius were there, and he called and asked them. And they went and they met. And he said, you know what? The word of Yahweh is not just for the Jews, it is for the Gentiles. It is for the nations that have been scattered all throughout the world. Verse 28, and he said unto them, ye know that it is unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company or to come unto one another of another nation. But Yahweh has showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Verse 28 makes it clear. He says, Yahweh has shown me I should not call any man unclean. He doesn't say any food unclean, does He? He's not talking about food in this chapter. He's talking about men. Yahweh was using food as a object lesson for him. He didn't go have barbeque hash afterwards or shrimp. Look at verse 35. But in every nation, he that fears him and worketh righteousness is accepted by him. Every nation. He got the message from Yahweh, but it was not about, you know, eating those foods. In Acts chapter 15, in verse 20, it says those who are just coming to the saints are to stay away from paganism, idolatry, are to not eat things strangled or blood. If they were repealing the clean laws, why would Acts chapter 15 say don't eat things strangled or that have blood in them? It makes no sense, does it? We've got to view it from a Hebraic perspective. Colossians chapter 2, verse 16. Colossians 2, verse 16. Let no man judge you, therefore, in meat or in drink or in respect of any holy day or new moon or Sabbath days, which are shadows of things to come, but the body is of Messiah. Acts, excuse me, Colossians chapter 2, verse 16. When you read this, you will see in the King James, there's a word in parentheses. There's ever a word in parentheses or italicized in the King James that means it was added by the translators to try to help you understand it. How many know we don't need their help? Amen? The word here that's italicized and put in the parentheses is the word is. So let's read it as it should have been written. Let no man judge you, therefore, in meat or in drink or in respect or in holy days or the new moon or Sabbath, which are shadows of things to come, the body of Messiah. But the body of Messiah. It does not say but the body is of Messiah. The body of Messiah should judge on issues of Torah. It is not the world's job to judge us on what we eat or how we celebrate or how we keep Shabbat or how we keep new moon. It is the body of Messiah. It is the concern of the assembly. If you look at Colossians chapter 2, verse 4, this is talking about the assembly. And to be honest with you, they shouldn't have to judge us because we should be keeping Shabbat and the new moons and eating properly. Keeping kosher is Yahweh's will for us. It's how he blesses us and keeps us set apart. Isaiah 52, 11, come out from among her, be separate, touch not the unclean thing, be clean and bear vessels of Yahweh. It says this again in 2 Corinthians chapter 6. It tells us in Revelation 21, 27, that in the new Yerushalayim, in the new Jerusalem, there's not going to be a Maurice's barbecue pit, OK? It says no one or nothing shall enter the new Jerusalem that is unclean. Revelation 21, 27, there shall by no means enter into it whatever is unclean, neither anyone doing an abomination and falsehood, but only those written in the Lamb's book of life. That means if your name is written in the Lamb's book of life, you shouldn't be doing or eating things that are unclean. Can you see that? You shouldn't be eating or doing things that are abominations. How do we do it today? I want to challenge you on a few things. Number one is to abstain from unclean foods. Not to eat them. It even says that their carcasses make you unclean. Touch not. Live a lifestyle free from them. How do you do that? Number one, you've got to watch what you eat. You've always heard it said you are what you eat. Well, you've got to watch what you eat. Watch the ingredients. Pork is in all types of things we don't even know. Like enzymes, pork enzymes, gelatin, for example, is derived from ground up pork hooves. Jell-O, gelatin, is ground up pork hooves, but they boil to make it jelly. So there is vegetable gelatin, there is fish gelatin, and there's beef gelatin that's kosher. That's okay. But I don't want the ground up pork hooves, so you've got to be careful what you eat. Be careful with shellfish. Be careful when you're eating. Make sure that the foods are clean and kosher, not rabbinically, but biblically. It's okay to have a cheeseburger. But I want to challenge you a couple things. Number one, make sure you're eating clean animals. Did you know that kosher eating is free? Absolutely free. It's free of impurities, it's free of contaminants, it's free of animal cruelty, it's free of compromise. It's also expensive, however, kosher meat is free. You don't have to worry about mad cow disease if you're eating kosher. If you're eating, make sure that the blood has been removed. Cook it. The Jews today take their meat, even if it's been butchered kosherly and the blood has been removed, and they salt it. That's where kosher salt comes from. Most people use kosher salt just to put on their steps when it ices up. That's about it. But the purpose of it was to put your meats in it, let it soak, and to drain all of the blood and the impurities out. Leviticus chapter 3, verse 16 and verse 17 specifically say that we are not to eat blood. And it even says we are not to eat fat. But the fat is Yahweh's. Praise Yahweh for that. Leviticus 3, 16, and the cohen shall burn upon the altar, it is food of the offering made by fire. What is? The fat and the blood. It is not to be eaten. Leviticus 7 speaks of this as well. Verse 23, speak to the children of Israel, you shall eat no manner of fat, of ox or of sheep or of goat. And the fat of the beast that dies by itself, the fat which is torn by living creatures, may be used in any other use. You shall not by no wise eat it. For whoever eats the fat of beasts, of which men offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh, even that being that eats it, shall be cut off from his people. Verse 26, moreover, you shall eat no manner of dom or blood, whether it be a fowl or beast in any of your dwellings. Whatever being it is that eats any manner of blood, even that being shall be cut off from you. In Leviticus chapter 20, it speaks of Sha'anet, the law against mixing, says don't wear clothing with linen and wool. But we've got to be careful that we don't mix our foods. Before we eat any meat, a couple of things to consider. Is it kosher? Is it clean? People ask me, do you eat kosher? And normally I say no, I eat clean. I don't eat rabbinically kosher. However, I'm starting to question whether or not my eating of clean foods is kosher, is biblical. I want you to think about a few things. For it to be kosher, it's got to be drained of blood. Right? For it to be kosher, it's got to be killed properly. Right? For it to be kosher, it's got to be killed properly. Right? For it to be kosher, it's got to be killed properly. Right? For it to be kosher, it's got to be killed properly. Right? For it to be kosher, the blood's got to be spilled on the ground after it's been eaten. That's what the Bible says, I'm not making that up. So is it really kosher? Burger King. I used to manage a Burger King. I did some things there to make it as kosher as I could. However, when you go to eat out, most restaurants use the same fryer for sausage and bacon as they use for French toast and tater tots and chimichangas and whatever else. Chicken, same fryer. Think about it. You go to a buffet, is it really kosher? They got ham right beside the, you know, the sweet potato that, you know, the sweet potato looks good, but, you know, has it been mixed? You know, what about fatback in the vegetables? I mean, that's a common thing. That's a common thing. Think about the cooks. Is it really kosher? Are they washing their hands after they touch an unclean meat? Is it really kosher? Think about pots. In Leviticus 11, 32 through 43, it talks about don't eat food, don't even use a pot that has had an unclean animal in it. An earthen vessel. A few days ago, going through a McDonald's drive-thru, I got one of those iced coffees. Oh, they're so good. Let me tell you. The best thing in the world. And I'm drinking it. It's huge. It's like 32 ounces. I'm going to be bouncing off the walls later that day, and I'm just drinking it and drinking it. 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Don't forget the Levite. Deuteronomy 14, 29. Don't forget the Levite when it comes to eating kosher. But the priests have a place in declaring the foods, clean or unclean. Clean or unclean. If the meat that we bought has not been slaughtered properly, is it really kosher? Think about that. Now, many of us say, well, we can't afford kosher meat. Correct? I mean, let's be honest. It's very, very expensive. So we need to be careful. I want to tell you about a precept in Hebrew called marit ayin, marit ayin. M-A-R-I-T-A-Y-N. M-A-R-I-T-A-Y-N. Marit ayin. Marit ayin. Ayin is one of the Hebrew letters. And ayin, it's the word for eye or sight. Marit is a mixing. Or the mixing that we have ma'ariv at the time of the day where sunset is coming. The mixing there. It appears to be that way. Marit ayin means if it appears to break. Marit in Hebrew means to break. Like you've got the breaking of the ma'ariv of the sunset in the day. Ayin means to appear, to look. And the Jews, the Orthodox keep marit ayin as a principle. They say, if it appears to break, Torah, don't do it. Even if you're not. Now, that's a big challenge. Because guess what? People look at us and they say, well, if the rabbi's doing it, then it must be okay. If Karen's doing it, then it must be okay. If Gil's eating it, then it must be okay. 1 Corinthians 10.29 says, Do not partake of anything that will offend or upset your brother. Romans 14.21 says that we should not eat meat or drink that causes others to stumble. Matthew 22 says, Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Marit ayin. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, the rakakodesh. And if we're going to provoke, I've got to go there. If we're going to provoke our brothers to jealousy, then we've got to get more serious about how we eat. Not just eating kosher, but eating good. Amein? Eating clean foods. Eating organic foods, even. That are better for us. So if you can choose between organic and processed, choose organic. There are different groups of Judaism that regard the commands of kosher differently. Some are more obedient and strict than others. The Orthodox, for example, are very strict. They are extreme. They only eat foods that have the OU stamp on them. Look at a bag of chips or a Coca-Cola. It'll have a U with a circle around it. That means it's been certified kosher by the Orthodox Union. You can go to their website, OU.com, the Orthodox Union, and see lists of thousands and thousands of foods that they have certified clean, kosher. In fact, actually, about 40% of the foods in our grocery stores are already kosher, certified by them. They only eat meat that are kosher butchered, salted. They don't ever mix meat and dairy. They only eat out if it's a kosher restaurant. Conservative Jews keep kosher, but they relax it when they're eating out and they're less strict than the Orthodox. They'll eat things that maybe have a K with a triangle on them. That's another kosher symbol. And they sometimes may eat lobster. Reformed Jews just ignore the laws completely. They eat pretty much anything they want. So as we return to the faith of Messiah, as we return to the faith of the Apostles, many Messianics, many Nazarene Israelites, kind of fall between Reform and Conservatives. We're kind of lax here. We're learning. Now I'm not saying we've got to be as strict as the Orthodox, but what should our attitude be? What should our attitude be? Is it really kosher? I just want to ask you that. Next time you go out to eat, next time you go to eat, is it really kosher? Ask yourself that. Because we are a witness to the world. It tells us in Isaiah chapter 66 that when Messiah returns, that the pagans, the unobservant, the pig eaters are going to be destroyed. I don't want to be among them. Amen? I'm sorry, but I don't want to be among them. Isaiah 66 verse 17. They that set themselves apart and purify themselves in the gardens, one behind one another, with the tree in the midst, eating pig's flesh and the abomination and the mouse, shall be taken away together, says Yahweh. For I, knowing their works and their thoughts, shall come. I will gather all nations and tongues. They will come and see my glory. I will put a sign on them and send some of them as survivors of the nations. It says in verse 20, they shall bring all of your brothers of an offering out of the nations, of the horses and chariots and litters, and upon wagons, upon swift beasts. He says here that I'm going to execute judgment, verse 16, and for by fire and by the sword will Yahweh plead with all flesh, and the slain of Yahweh shall be many. I don't want to be among them. So that means I've got to be a little more careful in how and what I eat. And praise Yahweh, I can do that. Because He's setting me apart. Yahweh has great plans for us, amen? He says we are to be the light to the world, to take the truth to those around us. So we are to learn His Word and apply it. And the struggle to overcome the stomach. Many people, their God is their stomach, amen? I mean that's why weight loss, you can cut on TV and see tons of infomercials. Richard Simmons, you know, America's Biggest Loser, all these different shows about losing weight. What if we would just get back to Yahweh's plan for man, we would be more healthy, we would be better off. In Philippians 3.19, it says, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose glory is their shame, whose mind is unearthly things. When we focus so much on food, isn't that an unearthly thing? Many times our God is our belly. And this is a hard subject. I want to finish with Luke 21. Luke 21. Luke 21. Verses 34 through 35. Let's start at verse 33. Luke 21.33. Luke 21.33. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your heart be weighed down with gluttony and drunkenness and worries of this life, and so that day come upon you suddenly. For as a trap shall it come on them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch, therefore, and make prayer always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and stand before the Son of Man. Here it says we're not going to have our heart weighed down with gluttony or what we're going to be eating or overeating and drunkenness and worries of this life. Take no thought about what you're going to eat or what you're going to wear, but the world spends so much time on that. Focus on Yahweh, learn His word, learn His will. Three principles. Number one, eat foods Yahweh created as food. If it's not a food according to Yahweh, don't eat it. That means abstain. You're living a fasted lifestyle. So number one, eat foods Yahweh created as food. Number two, don't alter Yahweh's design. Don't alter Yahweh's design. These genetically modified foods and all these other things, don't alter His design. Number three, don't let food become your God. Don't let food become your God. Kosher choices are choices that obey His word. So my challenge to you today is to be more careful. To seek to walk in His ways even more. That we know what the word says and we act upon it. We know what the word says and we act upon it. Jeremiah 29.11 Behold, I know the thoughts I think about you, says Yahweh. Thoughts of shalom and not evil, to give you a good hope in the end. Yahweh chooses to bless us as we obey His word. He's got great plans for us, amen? So as we learn Torah, as we learn kashrut, and as we make ourselves more set apart, we can walk in those blessings. There's a lot to be said. There's a lot we have said about the subject. This is a beginner. This is a primer to get us starting, get us studying, get us learning what the word says. That we are to be a light, we are to be set apart as Yahweh is set apart. Deuteronomy 14.2 For you are a holy people to Yahweh. Yahweh has chosen you to be a treasured possession, a people for Himself, above all the nations and upon all the earth. Father Yahweh, we just pray that we can remember this and know this. That we have been chosen as a peculiar people, a treasure for You. And You've called us to be clean, to be holy as You are holy. We know that Yahshua wouldn't eat at many of the restaurants that we've eaten at. We know that Yahshua wouldn't eat many of the foods that we've eaten in the past. We know that Yahshua kept a strict kashrut diet. We know that He obeyed Your Torah. We know that He did not disobey Your word, but He was the living Torah. Father, forgive us, cleanse us, and help us to make better decisions in the future. Father, help us to watch ingredients. Help us to watch what we eat. Help us to eat when our stomach growls and to watch, Father, that we don't become gluttony. Guilty of gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins. Father, we know that they accused Yahshua of gluttony. Father, we know that they accused Yahshua of being a Beelzebub. But Father, we know that a house divided against itself cannot stand. So, Father, help us to win over our house, our bait. Because we are the house of Yahweh, the temple of the living Yahweh, the Ruach HaKodesh. Father, we pray that we can make kosher decisions and choices. That we can be a light and example to those around us. Father, there is no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yahshua. That You have set us free from the law of sin and death. And that, Father, through the blood of Yahshua, if we will confess our sins and seek Your face. That You are faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Father, we just pray that our days would be days of being kadosh. We could be kadoshim. We could be set apart for You. Father, teach us what that means. Draw us closer to Your love. Renew us as in days of old. Father, I just pray that this message that's been shared today would be a blessing, would be a help, would be a challenge. That, Father, You have great plans for us. You desire to bless us, not harm us. Not cause us to just be weighted down with a bunch of laws and rules. But to free us from sickness. To free us from pain. To free us from all the problems that we have. So that we could walk after You. Father, we thank You that Yahshua died for us. So that we could live for You. That Yahshua set on the resurrection and the life. He that believes in Me, even though He is dead, yet He shall live. Father, we bless You. We praise You. And we thank You. Hashem Yahshua we pray. Amen and Amen. Thank you for listening to the Finding EMET radio program. Please visit our website to learn more about the EMET, the truth of the scriptures. Search the Bible. Submit your prayer request. Or read an article on various subjects. The website is www.FindEMET.com. That's www.FindEMET.com. CD copies of this teaching are available for free by submitting a request at the website. Or write to us at EMET Ministries, 1310 Trent Street, Newberry, SC 29108. That's EMET Ministries, 1310 Trent Street, Newberry, SC 29108. Thank you again for listening to Finding EMET with Daniel Rendleman. May you find the EMET. And may the EMET, may the truth set you free. Finding EMET Finding EMET