Old Testament Food Laws
The United States government has an organization called the Food and Drug Administration (or FDA). The FDA is designed to protect U.S. citizens by making laws about what can and cannot be sold as food. It tells companies how clean their factories must be, what kinds of containers food can go into, and how food must be prepared. The FDA also makes rules for restaurants about how they must cook certain foods. These are designed to keep people from getting sicknesses that can come from food and bacteria in food. Many smart scientists work for the FDA and do their best to keep people safe.
Most ancient nations in the past had nothing like the FDA. People sold food however they wanted to, prepared it however they could, and had no regulations. When we go to the Bible, however, we see that God inspired Moses to make a list of “food laws” for the Israelites. In Leviticus 11, we find a list of animals that were “clean” and “unclean.” The Jews could eat the clean animals but not the unclean ones.
PASS ON THE PIG
One of the most well-known Old Testament food regulations was the rule for the Israelites not to eat pigs (Leviticus 11:7). This rule shows the value of the biblical laws regarding clean and unclean animals. During the days of Moses, proper food preparation and cooking conditions did not always exist. Certain meats, if contacted raw or under-cooked, have greater potential to carry parasites and other harmful bacteria that can infect humans.
Due to the fact that pigs are scavengers and will eat practically anything, they often get parasites (such as tapeworms) and bacteria when they eat the carcasses of dead animals. These parasites and bacteria can, and often do, live in the pigs’ muscle tissue (what we would call their meat). Fully cooking the meat can kill these harmful organisms, but failure to cook the meat completely can spread disease. Most people understand parasites and germs today. In fact, most pork (pig meat) bought in grocery stores contains nitrates and nitrites that have been injected into the meat to kill harmful germs. But Moses and the Israelites did not have access to such modern knowledge.
FINS AND SCALES
God’s rule for the Israelites about eating animals that live in water was simple. They could eat all the animals that have both fins and scales. This was an important rule, because many of the most dangerous fish or other animals that live in water do not have both scales and fins. For instance, the blowfish (also called the pufferfish) has fins but does not have scales. It is an extremely poisonous fish that contains a powerful poison in its ovaries, liver, and other organs that is deadly. This toxin, called tetrodotoxin, is thought to be more than 1,000 times more deadly than cyanide. A tiny drop of it can kill more than 20 adults. As odd as it sounds, blowfish is served as a delicacy all over the world, especially in Japan and other Asian countries. As a delicacy, it is called fugu, and is prepared by certified, licensed chefs. The toxins can be removed successfully, making the food edible, but the procedure often goes wrong. Due to the extreme danger involved in eating fugu, it is illegal to serve it to the Emperor of Japan! The Mosaic instructions concerning edible fish would have helped the Israelites avoid the dangerous blowfish, as well as danger posed by eating other toxic sea creatures such as certain jellyfish, sea anemones, and octopi.
SHELLFISH
Shellfish, such as oysters, do not have scales and fins and would have been on the list of unclean animals that the Israelites could not eat. While many people eat oysters today, there is some risk involved. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has produced material warning people about the dangers of eating raw or partially cooked oysters. In fact, the CDC warns that some raw oysters can contain the bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, which can be fatal to those who eat a raw oyster that is contaminated. This fact helps us see the wisdom of the Mosaic food regulations. In a time when proper handling and preparation procedures were difficult to achieve, the best course of action simply would have been not to eat potentially contaminated foods.
BATS ARE OFF THE MENU
In Leviticus 11:19, we learn that bats were unclean. The Israelites were not supposed to eat them or even touch their dead bodies. In modern times, we have learned that this rule would save many lives. Bats are very dangerous to eat. They can carry more than 100 viruses and sicknesses that humans can catch. In fact, bats often carry rabies, a disease that can be deadly to humans. It is so common for bats to carry rabies that people who study them say we should assume that all bats have rabies and not touch them.
How could Moses have known to tell the Israelites not to touch or eat bats? He did not have the FDA or modern science to warn him about the dangerous diseases they carry.
REPTILES AND FOOD POISONING
In Leviticus 11, Moses stated that reptiles such as the large lizard, gecko, monitor lizard, sand reptile, sand lizard, and chameleon were unclean (Leviticus 11:29-31). Immediately following this listing of reptiles, the text states: “Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening” (11:31).
Interestingly, reptiles have a much higher rate of carrying Salmonella bacteria than do most mammals, especially those animals listed as clean in the Old Law. Salmonella can cause severe fever, diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps, and dehydration. This bacterium is usually what people get when they are said to have food poisoning. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has repeatedly warned people about the possibility of being infected with Salmonella passed through reptiles, since as much as 90% of reptiles carry it.
Interestingly, a person can get Salmonella without even touching a reptile. If a person touches something that has touched a reptile, the bacteria can spread. When we read Leviticus 11:32-47, we see that anything that touches the body of a reptile was supposed to be washed or destroyed. Of course, the Israelites did not know about Salmonella, but after reading Leviticus 11:32-34, it seems as though a microbiologist was present with Moses to explain the perfect procedures to avoid spreading bacteria from reptiles to humans.
CONCLUSION
In Deuteronomy 6:24, we read that all of God’s rules are “for our good always.” When we read about the food laws in Leviticus 11, we learn two things. First, God was looking out for the health and well-being of the Israelites. His food rules were designed to keep them from getting sick and having problems, much like the rules written by the FDA. Second, we learn that the Bible is inspired by God. The food laws show a knowledge of germs and disease that modern humans did not learn for thousands of years after Leviticus was written. Only God could have told Moses what to write so that the rules were perfectly accurate and helpful.
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