Swine — The Other White Meat (Update)

“Tell me the truth,” the man cried.  But when it was given, he said, “That’s not it.”  He couldn’t recognize truth because truth must be spiritually discerned.  The inability to recognize truth and the common propensity to believe a lie is an inherited trait.  Our great-grandmother Eve, didn’t recognize truth and believed a lie.  Her husband Adam followed his wife’s lead, and ever since, it’s been like mother like daughter, like father like son. 

Jesus Christ said of His Father in John 17:17:

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

God is His Word.  John 1:1:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

God is His Word and His Word is truth.  Consequently, to know the truth means that you must know God.  Knowing of someone and truly knowing someone are substantially different, and the latter requires intimate knowledge.  In etymology (the study of words) there is a foundational rule known as the “rule of first occurrence.”  Its basic principle deems that a word’s primary definition is established when a word is first used in history.  The first time know or knew is used in the Scriptures as intimate knowledge, is found in Genesis 4:1:

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

Intimate knowledge of God can only be obtained through Jesus Christ.  Luke 10:22:

All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.

I Corinthians 2:14:

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Intimate knowledge of God and the ability to recognize truth requires one to be born into God’s family—born a second time—literally, born again; this time born of the Spirit of God.  This can only be realized through repentance, believing upon the saving blood of Jesus Christ and following the Lord in His Holy Word.  Are you ready to recognize truth?  Would you like a brand-new name, a brand-new Father, and a brand-new life, free of guilt and shame?  Would you like a life filled with measurable eternal purpose?  We have good news!  Today is your day of salvation.  Click onto “Further With Jesus” for immediate entry into the Kingdom of God.  NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID, Leviticus 11:7-8:

7  And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.

8  Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.

MAN SAID: The Bible’s dietary laws are irrelevant teachings of religious superstition.  Pork is good food.  It’s the other white meat.

Now THE RECORD.  Many e-mail messages come to GodSaidManSaid concerning the law and the Old Testament.  There are Christian groups that teach that the New Testament Christians basically have no need for the Old Testament.  This is terribly untrue.  These believers are not aware that Jesus Christ and the apostles quoted directly or referred to the record of the Old Testament around 300 times.  The Bible teaches that the law is a schoolmaster, bringing us unto Christ.  It is absolutely foundational and necessary for a clear understanding of all aspects of the plan of salvation and the very mind of God.  Galatians 3:24-25:

24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

Jesus speaks of the law in Matthew 5:17-18:

17  Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

For more information on this issue, click onto the following subjects:

A Matter of Law

The Difference Between Clean and Unclean

The Law and Sabbath – Part One

The Law and Sabbath – Part Two

Things Strangled

All of the commandments in the Old Testament are either fulfilled in Christ or carried over intact into the New.  Examples of commandments carried over would be directives against murder, stealing, idolatry, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, consuming blood, things strangled, etc.  Concerning Christ’s fulfillment of the law, Colossians 2:16-17 reads:

16  Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

17  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

An excellent example of the shadow and fulfillment of the law would be the Passover.  The Passover observance is in remembrance of the final plague God placed on the Egyptians, the cruel slave masters of the children of Israel.  Exodus 12:3-14:

3  Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:

4  And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.

5  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:

6  And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

7  And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.

8  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

9  Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof.

10  And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.

11  And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover.

12  For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.

13  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

14  And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

When the destroying angel saw the blood applied to the lintel and the two side posts of the door of the house, he was commanded by God to pass over and not to kill the firstborn.  The children of Israel are commanded to keep the feast of the Passover forever.  Remember, this commandment must be fulfilled in Christ or carried over into the New Testament.  This commandment was fulfilled on Calvary.  The blood that Jesus Christ shed for our sins, when applied to the lintel and door posts of our hearts, is our protection from Satan, the destroying angel.  He must pass over.  John 1:29:

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

I Corinthians 5:7:

...For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Jesus Christ is a Christians’ Passover, which is observed regularly when a Christian partakes of the Lord’s Supper.  Note that the law of the Passoverwasnot destroyed, but fulfilled in Christ.  By the way, Jesus Christ was crucified on the Jewish Passover.   

Much of the law was observed by God’s people long before Moses, such as clean versus unclean, capital punishment, circumcision, the Sabbath, and more. 

When reading the Old Testament, you’ll notice that God spends considerable time addressing a man’s diet.  There appears to be a type of spiritual umbilical cord.  It is very clear that things we ingest have a direct bearing on our spiritual condition.  Consider the effects of alcoholic beverages, illegal drugs, high sugar consumption, food coloring, etc.  The Scriptures certainly point to the spirit dwelling in the belly.  Jesus said in John 7:37-40:

37  In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

38  He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

39  (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

40  Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.  

For more information on this amazing truth and its ramifications, click onto “The Holy Ghost and Your Belly.”

This GodSaidManSaid feature will repeat much of the information from “Swine...The Other White Meat,” published on this website in June 2001, with new information added.  First, we’ll list excerpts from the 2001 feature:

The God of the universe, who created the human body by Christ Jesus, gave explicit instructions about the food we should put in our bodies.  Remember, God's Word is our owner's manual.  The supernatural instructions were given in the very beginning of time, thousands of years ago, long before their phenomenal wisdom was discovered by modern science.  Only the wise Designer‑Creator could ever have known the benefits of His dietary commandments.  This is just one more proof that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

This GodSaidManSaid subject will deal with one specific commandment of God's Word concerning the human diet.  It should be noted that the New Testament believer can pray the prayer of faith over his food and access God's purifying power (I Timothy 4:3‑5).

Unfortunately, the vast majority of the world's population is not born of God through Christ Jesus and cannot access God's blessings.  Therefore, it would be wise for them to follow God's dietary laws.  Purely from a biological (not legal) position, a believer would be wise to follow God's dietary laws as well.

God calls the swine unclean.  In the Old Testament, an unclean person was one who had touched the dead, had a running issue or oozing sore, or was or came into contact with a menstruating woman, etc.  The term “uncleanness” means one is in a contagious situation.  Those contaminated were quarantined.  The swine is called unclean, which means it is contagious and will bring harm to those who eat its flesh or touch its carcass.

Dr. David Macht of Johns Hopkins University reported on the toxicity levels of the flesh of animals and seagoing creatures.  In Dr. Macht's research, all unclean (listed in God’s scriptures) creatures measured toxic, with the pig ranking extremely toxic, at about the same level as the rat and groundhog.  In regard to the human body's metabolism, it is ill‑equipped to handle unclean meats.  Unclean meats digest in only three hours while the clean meats that God commanded us to eat digest in up to 18 hours.

In a 1988 report, E. A. Widmer, Ph.D., professor and program director of environmental health, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University, had this to say in the following excerpt:

Pork consumption is now associated with coronary heart disease, cancer and certain communicable diseases.  Pigs are noteworthy as hosts for the intestinal trichina roundworm, Trichinella spiralis, which causes the disease trichinosis, a disease with symptoms that doctors often attribute to intestinal flu, pneumonia, or rheumatism.

A more complete list of symptoms of the trichinosis infection were listed by the Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center of Infectious Diseases.  Nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue, fever and abdominal discomfort are the first symptoms of trichinosis.  Headaches, fevers, chills, cough, eye swelling, aching joints, muscle pains, itchy skin and diarrhea or constipation follow the first symptoms.  If the infection is heavy, patients may experience difficulty coordinating movements, and have heart and breathing problems.  In severe cases, death can occur.

Additionally, Dr. Widmer had this to say about pork tapeworms: “Tapeworms are yet another problem that eating pork poses.  The adult pork tapeworm can reach a length of 10 feet, and can live for several decades in the small intestine.  If infection is widespread, it can simulate a brain tumor, epilepsy, or other neurological or psychiatric disorder.  People become infected with the adult tapeworm by eating undercooked pork infected with bladder worms.  Pork is also implicated in breast cancer, prostate cancer, and cancer of the colon.”

H. Fred Troutt, VMD, Ph.D. and Julie Funk, DVM, conducted research in order to estimate the prevalence of swine herds infected with pathogenic Yersinia enterocolitica.  In the remainder of this feature we will refer to it as “YE.”  They reported:

YE is a food-borne pathogen estimated to cause annually 3,000 to 20,000 cases of human disease in the United States.  The most prevalent clinical signs in human beings (children are the most frequently affected) are abdominal pain and fever; diarrhea and nausea; vomiting may also occur.  The disease can range in severity from self‑limiting gastroenteritis to potentially fatal septicemia.

Troutt and Funk examined 103 lots and 3,375 individual pigs for carriage of YE.  Of these, 92.2% were found to contain pigs carrying YE.  Finally they reported, “The results support the hypothesis that pigs are a significant potential reservoir for human infections by YE.”

Another curse man has reaped because of his disregard for God's Word is an infection of the intestinal tract and less commonly, the bloodstream, called campylobacteriosis, herein after referred to as “C.”  If the number of cases of C reported by the New York City Department of Health in 1998 is consistent by percent of population across America, nearly a quarter of a million people are infected by it.  C is generally spread by eating or drinking contaminated water or food (especially undercooked poultry or pork), or by contact with infected animals.  Common symptoms of C are mild or severe diarrhea (traces of blood may be found in the stool).  Other symptoms include fever, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.

The pig likes to scavenge and eats just about anything, such as rotting carcasses, dead insects, worms, garbage and dung, including its own and that of other pigs.  It's an unclean animal, and input produces output.  Input rotting carcasses and dung; output pork chops made of rotting carcasses and dung.  [End of quotes]       

The Biblical prohibitions in the Old Testament against unclean foods are considerable.  Avoiding these foods is critical to the unsaved and makes good biological sense for everyone.

J.S. Rubin, N.M.D., Ph.D., in his book, The Maker’s Diet, weighs in with the following.  He partly refers to research conducted by author E. Josephson in his book, God’s Key to Health and Happiness.  Rubin writes:

Pork products in particular top the list of favorite foods for many Americans.  Some don’t realize their favorite snacks or food items come from swine.  The pig did not make the Creator’s list of “clean” animals for a very good reason.  Clean animals that chew the cud have an alimentary canal and a secondary cud receptacle.  Essentially, they have three stomachs available to process and refine their clean, vegetation-based food into “flesh” in a process that takes more than twenty-four hours in general.

Pigs or swine, on the other hand, never limit their diet to vegetation.  They will eat anything they can find—including their own young and sick or dead pigs from the same pen.

Josephson claimed the pig’s single stomach arrangement was very simple in design and function and that it was combined with a limited excretory organ system: “...four hours after the pig has eaten his polluted swill and other putrid, offensive matter, man may eat the same [swill] second handed off the ribs of the pig.”

With impeccable logic, Josephson adds, “Did anything biologically happen to the swine [since Bible times], or did the digestive tract of man have some kind of miracle transformation?  No, the Bible, science and experience have all proven the contrary.”

Regarding scavengers of the sea, we see media warnings about toxic crabs, clams, and oysters of the East Coast each spring or summer.  Why?  Scientists literally gauge the contaminate levels of our oceans, bays, rivers, and lakes by measuring the mercury and biological toxin levels in the flesh of crabs, clams, oysters, and lobsters.

Consider Dr. Rothschild’s explanation of the toxic effects of what the Bible calls “unclean” foods:

Do not consume any meat of scavenger animals comprising pork, all shell fish varieties, skin fish which are scale-less fish, scavenger birds, snakes and most reptiles.  The reason for this [Biblical] prohibition is dual.

The first consists in that the meat of such animals is about ten times more perishable, difficult to preserve, than that of the allowed animals.  Frequently people do not realize a piece of meat is already poisonously spoiled until they perceive the toxic symptoms . . . [and have already] ingested it.

The second reason consists in the scary fact that the . . . by-products that originate from digesting such scavenger meat are highly poisonous.  We’re referring specifically to the so-called death enzymes, such as cadaverine, putrescine . . . these death enzymes are extraordinarily useful in nature.  Without their assistance no flesh would revert to dust . . . they are extremely useful to break down a corpse, but terribly inconvenient in a living human body.  [End of quote]

Note the following, published by Dr. Reginald Cherry in his book, The Bible Cure:

Notice that certain types of animals were unclean to eat, particularly swine and seafood such as shrimp or oysters that did not have scales.  Why?  The Bible cure revealed the potentially unhealthy (unclean) attributes of these meats centuries before science uncovered that pork could carry the deadly trichinosis infection and that shrimp or shellfish retain heavy metals—mercury or lead—in their flesh.

Those with infectious diseases such as leprosy were quarantined to protect the general population from contracting these diseases.  Earlier I mentioned the Torah’s prohibition against eating fat or blood (Lev. 7:26).  This prohibition against consuming blood concurs with our present medical knowledge that blood can be a vehicle for spreading infectious diseases.  F. H. Garrison, in his classic study on medical history, writes:

The ancient Hebrews were in fact the founders of prophylaxis, and the high priests were true medical police.  They had a definite cure of ritual hygiene and cult cleanliness. . . .  The Book of Leviticus contains the sternest mandates in regard to touching unclean objects, the proper food to be eaten, the purifying of women after childbirth, the hygiene of the menstrual period, the abomination of sexual perversions, and the prevention of contagious diseases.  In the remarkable chapter on the diagnosis and pervention of leprosy, gonorrhea, and leukorrhea (Leviticus XIII:XV), the most definite common-sense directions are given in regard to segregation, disinfection (even to the point of scraping the walls of the house or destoying it completely), and the old Mosaic rite to incineration of the patient’s garments and other fomites.  [End of quote]

God’s Word is truth.  Embrace it and have “life and have it more abundantly.” 

GOD SAID, Leviticus 11:7-8: