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Fred R. Coulter—June 12, 2010
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Now a question has come up: What about eating meats that the Bible says are unclean. Should we do it? Have they been cleansed? We just heard the account about surgery that was done on a woman who went to visit her relatives in Mexico and ate raw pork and came back and she had a brain parasite. Let's ask the questions this way:
- Is God a God of love? Yes!
- Are His laws based on His love? Yes!
- Would He have us do something that is detrimental to us? No!
- Would He tell us to be careful in doing things that would be detrimental to us? Yes, such as breaking the commandments, and so forth.
- Is He interested in our health? Of course, He wants us to be healthy.
Let's go to 1-Timothy 4:4 from the King James Version: "For every creature of God is good... [And most of them stop there. They read the next part and say:] ...and nothing is to be refused, if it is received with thanksgiving." So if we ask a special hard prayer over the ham, it's safe to eat. That's what they look at. I've corrected it in the Faithful Version to make it read what it should read. Now even in the King James you can come to understand that it doesn't mean you eat every creature. Does it now define what 'every creature' means? Does it mean anything that's living? What does 'every creature' mean?
Verse 1 (KJV): "Now the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons... [We see that with all the occult and everything going on right now. What is this latest movie that they have? Avatar! Pure occult, pure occult, pure Satanism. 'Oh, it's a wonderful movie, greatest one.' Well, in this world run by Satan, of course it would be.] ...Speaking lies in hypocrisy... [You've experienced that haven't you, from the pulpit?] ...having their conscience seared with a hot iron... [Like the one you had, 'Well, no we don't do that at all anymore.' ...forbidding to marry... [Catholics] ...and commanding to abstain from meats... [Now we're into vegetarianism.] ...which God has created to be received with thanksgiving... [So there are special ones God created to be received with thanksgiving.] ...by them who believe and know the Truth.... [What is Truth? The Word of God! So what did God create to be received with thanksgiving, which comes from the Truth of God?] ...For every creature... [in that category, not every creature clean and unclean.] ...every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused, if it is received with thanksgiving: For... [Now notice carefully. Even in the King James it has it right here.] ...it is sanctified... [What does sanctified mean? Made Holy.] ...by the Word of God... [And you can find that back up there in v 3 with Truth.] ...and prayer" (vs 1-5). Now that puts an entirely different light on it—doesn't it? "For it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer."
So this limits every creature to what? To those who believe and know the Truth, so it's limited to the Truth, and it's limited to the ones that are sanctified by the Word of God, and then prayer. So therefore, in the Faithful Version, here's how I translated it, so that it would be easier to understand, so you wouldn't have to go through all those machinations of it.
Verse 3: "Forbidding to marry; and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received... [So certain meats were created to be received.] ...with thanksgiving by the faithful, even by those who know the Truth.... [That's more of a literal translation. You have to know the Truth. If you don't know the Truth, you don't know which ones they are.] ...For every creature of God... [Now I inserted this italic phrase here:] ...designated for human consumption... [Now why did I put that there? So what I did with this, I clarified it by putting 'designated for human consumption,' because of those who know the Truth and sanctified by the Word of God. That tells us that every creature, not every one—because some are clean and some are unclean—so it has to be 'every creature of God designated for human consumption] ...is good, and nothing to be refused, if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is sanctified... [made holy] ...by the Word of God and prayer" (vs 3-5).
[Discussion and questions from audience]
That's why we go back here to Leviticus 11, and it lists out the clean and the unclean. You can get the flesh rot from raw oysters, where the flesh rots and the only way they can stop it amputate the arm. That's ugly, that's terrible. There is one on National Geographic about this little boy who was crawling around out in the park and he happened to be where raccoons came. Raccoons have a particular parasite in them that's in their feces, and he got it on his hands, got it into his body, and he started coming down with pain and crying. Then he was losing his vision, and the family doctor misdiagnosed it. I surprised watching how many times the family doctor misdiagnoses, then it finally goes off to a specialist. He had this parasite that was eating out his brain. It only came from raccoons. So they went out and captured the raccoons and tested, and sure enough the raccoons had it. So this is why God says be clean, here are the foods to eat.
Leviticus 11:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them, 'Speak to the children of Israel, saying, "These are the animals which you shall eat among all the animals that are in the earth.... [Sanctified by the Word of God, directly spoken by God to Moses and Aaron.] ...Whatever divides the hoof and is cloven-footed, chewing the cud... [Now the Hebrew just says cud, which means chewing the cud, so there's another italicized word added.] ...among the animals, that you shall eat. Only, you shall not eat these among those that chew the cud, or of those that divide the hoof: the camel, for he chews the cud but does not divide the hoof, he is unclean to you. And the rock badger, because it chews the cud, but does not divide the hoof, it is unclean to you. And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof, it is unclean to you.... [And you can get some pretty serious infections if you eat rabbit. They have a bacteria in them.] ...And the swine, though it divides the hoof and is cloven-footed, yet it does not chew the cud; it is unclean to you"'" (vs 1-7). You know, it would be interesting to see stats on swine, especially, to see what the incidences of these are, and what are the some of the contaminants as a result of their manure and things.
"'"You shall not eat of their flesh... [It doesn't say you can eat it if you cook it well done. It doesn't say you can eat it if you have a refrigerator.] ...and you shall not touch their dead body.... [Because you can get contaminated.] ...They are unclean to you…. [Now what if one dies and you have to dispose of it? Put some gloves on and do what you have to do, and then wash up.] …These you shall eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, those you shall eat. And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing that is in the waters, they shall be an abomination to you. They shall even be an abomination to you. You shall not eat of their flesh, but you shall have their carcasses in abomination. Whatever has no fins nor scales in the waters shall be an abomination to you"'" (vs 8-12).
I saw on National Geographic, because I only watch documentaries and news and that's about it, because I can't stand these silly soaps, they're mindless worthless. I saw another special on a fellow down in Iowa or Nebraska that they would go out crawdad fishing. What they did when they got the first crawdad, the first ones they caught, then they'd go back to their camp and they'd crack open the raw crawdad and eat it. And he got some kind of parasite that just about killed him. It affected the brain from that crawdad. So granted, people can eat a lot of those things and it doesn't appear to affect them, but over a number of years it will.
[Discussion and questions from audience]
"'"And you shall have these in abomination among the fowls. They shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the black vulture, and the bearded vulture, And the kite, and the falcon, according to its kind; Every raven according to its kind; And the ostrich, and the great owl..."'" (vs 13-16) and so forth. If you find anything about vultures or buzzards they can actually eat anthrax and it passes through their system and comes out non-toxic. How's that for a digestive system! Amazing! Then the ostrich, the gull, the small hawks, little owl, all of those, and so forth. Chickens are fine. You can eat locusts. I've never tried it (v 22). All the rest are abominations.
You see these guys, they go out and they eat termite larva and things like that. Chicken and quails good! Deer are fine! Then when you come to Deuteronomy 14, you have another set of those things, which then lists the animals that are not to be found necessarily in the wild. Yeah, it lists all of those that are found in the wild.
Deuteronomy 14:1: "You are the children of the LORD your God. You shall not cut yourselves nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.... [I don't know exactly what that means. I don't know if it's clear back on the head, or whatever it is.] ...For you are a Holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a specially treasured people to Himself, above all the nations that are on the earth" (vs 1-2).
- He wants you healthy
- He wants you happy
- He wants you wise
- He wants you obeying God
—so that He can bless you.
"You shall not eat any abominable thing. These are the animals which you shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, The deer, and the gazelle, and the roe deer, and the wild goat, and the mountain goat, and the wild ox, and the mountain sheep. And every animal that divides the hoof, and divides it into two hooves, and chews the cud among the animals, that you shall eat" (vs 3-6). Then it lists again the ones you shouldn't eat that chew the cud.
Verse 10: "'And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat. It is unclean to you. You shall eat all clean birds'" (vs 10-11). Then He lists all the kind you shouldn't eat, even the bat down there the last part of v 18. I can't feature eating a bat, they're just a flying mouse. Over in Southeast Asia when they harvest the rice, they have a rat feast. Have you ever seen that? They herd up all the rats and they roast them. One delicacy is small, little baby mice, fried crisp and you eat bones and all.
Let's come to Mark 7 and let's answer the question concerning making all meats clean. Let me get the handy-dandy NIV here and let me read the verse where it says, Mark 7:19. In the Faithful Version I have the correct translation of it. Let me read it here in the NIV. Here's how they translated it: "In saying this, Jesus declared all foods 'clean'"
When you have a committee of scholars, how many really believe God? You have Protestants, you have Orthodox, you have Catholic, you have feminists, you have homosexuals, all on the committee. They wrote what they believed, not what it says.
Now let me read it in the King James—does it a little better—and let's see what it says here in Mark 7. Then we'll follow the rules of Bible study of reading the context and coming down to what the conclusion is here. Mark 7:19 (KJV): "'Because it enters not into the heart, but into the belly and goes out into the draught..." Now what is the draught? The sewer!
[Discussion and questions from audience]
Let's answer the question: What does this v 19 mean in relationship to the rest of the chapter? Just like you said, they tell you one thing in church, then you go home and read it, and it was exact opposite of what they told you in church when you read it. Let's go back and read the context. Let's start in v 1, now we'll read it in the Faithful Version.
Mark 7:1: "Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes from Jerusalem came together to Him.... [Now who were the Pharisees and scribes? They were the leaders of Judaism—right? Would they eat anything unclean? Was there unclean food available for them to eat? You read the account of the swine that's across the Sea of Galilee that Jesus sent down into the sea, but what were those swine for? Those were for the Romans to feed on, the Jews did not eat it. The Pharisees didn't eat it, it's not a question of clean or unclean meat. So that's not the topic. Anything they ate would be clean food. What then becomes the question?] ...And when they saw some of His disciples eating... [unclean food—NO!] ...eating with defiled hands... [What are defiled hands according to Judaism?] ...(that is, unwashed hands)..." (vs 1-2).
In other words, they found them just coming from whatever they were doing, picking up their food and eating it, not going and washing their hands according to the ritual, which is in the Code of Jewish Law. The washing of hands came from the code of Jewish law. You find another occurrence where the disciples were walking through the grain field, and rubbing the grain in their hand and eating it. Obviously, they didn't wash their hands, put in their mouth. When Jesus broke the bread, gave it to the disciples to give everyone, there's no hand washing there. So this here is unwashed hands. That's the topic!
"For the Pharisees and all the Jews, holding fast to the tradition of the elders... [That tells you where it comes from right there.] ...do not eat unless they wash their hands thoroughly. Even when coming from the market, they do not eat unless they first wash themselves. And there are many other things that they have received to observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and brass utensils and tables.... [So here was the question brought out concerning that.] ...For this reason... [That is the reason of washing hands.] ...the Pharisees and the scribes questioned Him, saying, 'Why don't Your disciples walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?'" (vs 3-5).
"And He answered and said to them, 'Well did Isaiah prophesy concerning you hypocrites, as it is written, "This people honors Me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men." For leaving the commandment of God, you hold fast the tradition of men, such as the washing of pots and cups; and you practice many other things like this'" (vs 6-8). And you'll see when you get that book that it has it all right there.
[Discussion and questions from audience]
Notice what happens then when you practice tradition instead of God's way: "Then He said to them, 'Full well do you reject the commandment of God, so that you may observe your own tradition'" (v 9). That's exactly what you said about your training in Catholicism—right? Don't even read the Bible, reject it. You follow their traditions; same way with Judaism. Then He gives an example, which was really pertinent, because they didn't have social security in those days. They didn't have retirement, and so the children would help their father and mother.
"'For Moses said, "Honor your father and your mother"; and, "The one who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death." But you say, "If a man shall say to his father or mother, 'Whatever benefit you might receive from me is corban' (that is, set aside as a gift to God)... ['Oh, well, I've got to give this to God.'] ...he is not obligated to help his parents." And you excuse him from doing anything for his father or his mother, Nullifying the authority of the Word of God by your tradition which you have passed down; and you practice many traditions such as this.' And after calling all the multitude to Him, He said to them, 'Hear Me, all of you, and understand. There is nothing that enters into a man from outside which is able to defile him... [By what? Unwashed hands!] ...but the things that come out from within him, those are the things which defile a man. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.'…. [Have you ever eaten potatoes from your garden you didn't get every bit of dirt off? Where did the dirt go? Went inside! Where did it go the next day? Outside! That's what he's talking about.] …Now when He went into a house away from the multitude, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable. And He said to them, 'Are you likewise without understanding? Don't you perceive that anything that enters into a man from outside is not able to defile him.... [Spiritually!] ...For it does not enter into his heart, but into the belly, and then passes out into the sewer, purging all food'" (vs 10-19).
So then He explains the true defilement and explains about human nature. And when He explains this, He's explaining how they came to have the hand washing as superior to the commandments of God—from the evil heart. "'For from within, out of the hearts of men, go forth evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickednesses, guile licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness'" (vs 21-22). And that's your leading TV channel.
[Discussion and questions from audience]
The subject is to wash hands or to not wash hands, and unwashed hands cannot make you sick unless you have had your hands in feces or something like that. Even in surgery what do you do? The main thing is to be clean. And what cleanness are you looking for? Getting rid of all the possible bacteria and virus that can be transmitted, because it will defile the body physically and you may get an infection and lose a patient. You don't want that. Obviously, if we're filthy dirty, yeah, wash your hands. But if you're doing just like they're doing, walking and travelling and your hands aren't dirty and you don't have to ceremonially wash them. When you get the Code of Jewish Law and read it, it will be something.
[Discussion and questions from audience]
It does matter what you eat, because there's a physical defilement and there's a spiritual defilement. Physically going in, of food and things like that. The topic is not eating unclean foods and any food even unclean is good to eat—the topic is the clean foods they were eating without washing their hands. That would not defile them, either physically, because it goes through the system and out into the draught, but human nature from within really is that which defiles. So that's what He's trying to teach here.
The Jews would go one step further and say, 'You are unclean and unacceptable to God unless you washed your hands.' So they carried it to the extreme the other way. What happens with most of the religionists, they carry it to the extreme the other way and say you can eat anything unclean. So that's a problem. The Jews were stressing that if you don't wash your hands, then you are spiritually unclean. Jesus is saying if you don't wash your hands and you get a little dirt in you, it goes out into the sewer, or the draught. Then He turned around and said, 'The real problem is human nature and all of these things that come from within, these defile you spiritually.' Now you can defile yourself physically, too, like with pork.
When I first come to understand about pork I was working in Sandy's Kitchen as one of the chefs down there. I'd work from four to midnight. I'd come in about 3:30 because I got out of college and came on down, I was working there at night. The first thing I would fix was a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich. I would cook the bacon crisp and I would put lots on it and gobs of mayonnaise, slice the tomatoes thick. After all, I got my food without having to pay. And I never noticed it until I quit, because right at that timeframe I was starting to understand the Truth. Then I learned I shouldn't eat pork, so I quit. Then I noticed I wasn't burping all night like I was when I was eating the bacon.
[Discussion and questions from audience]
Did they have unclean meats that the Jews were eating? No! This also shows something, too. Unless you understand what it was like back then, what the real issues were, you don't know what's being said. But if you come in and say, like the NIV changes the Word of God, and says, 'Thus declaring all foods clean.' Then where are you? How many people are sick because of eating all the unclean foods? How many cases of trichinosis have you come across?
[Discussion and questions from audience]
Question on the Eucharist or Communion:
You'll find that the Eucharist, and can probably get that in The Two Babylons, originated in ancient Egypt, to the sun-god. And it was called an unbloody sacrifice. It is a counterfeit of the covenant Passover that Jesus instituted for the disciples. That was entirely different. According to the calculated Hebrew calendar the Passover is observed once a year on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Now that's not equivalent to January, for today. That's equivalent to March/April for today. Once a year, because you renew the covenant. And the foot-washing should be done also, because that's a renewal of the baptism. We've got a big thick Passover book, third edition coming, so you'll be able to get that, and go through it step-by-step. But all of these other things are a counterfeit.
[Discussion and questions from audience]
There's a whole Passover ceremony going through the various Scriptures of what Jesus did in breaking the bread and the wine, the foot-washing, and then we include the words of the covenant, which are John 14, 15, 16, and 17. Which then really shows that the renewal of the covenant—to understand the covenant, you'll be able to understand that as you step-by-step go through the Passover book. If you're not baptized you should not participate in the Passover. There's only one real baptism, all the others are dunkings.
(go to the next track)
To get through this a little quicker, we'll summarize some of these verses and get down to the critical ones. Acts 10:1, Cornelius, a centurion of the Italians. So that means that they were uncircumcised. Verse 2: "A devout man who also feared God with all his house, both in giving many alms to the people and in beseeching God continually in prayer." So even before God sending an angel to tell him what to do, he was also beseeching God from the heart. God recognized that, sending an angel and told him to go get Peter and where to go. So he took two of his servants, a devout soldier, and sent them on.
Now in v 9: "And on the next day, about the sixth hour, as they were journeying and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray. And he became very hungry and desired to eat. But while they were preparing the mea [obviously] a trance fell upon him; And he saw the heaven opened; and a certain vessel descended upon him, like a great sheet, bound by the four corners and let down upon the earth; In which were all the four-footed beasts of the earth, including the wild beasts, and the creeping things and the birds of heaven. Then a voice came to him, saying, 'Arise, Peter, kill and eat'.... [Notice his answer. We are close to ten years after the resurrection and ascension, maybe a little more.] ...But Peter said, 'In no way, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean'" (vs 9-14).
Now this is the first time you come up with the word common. Common then comes from the code of Jewish law. To give you an example what common means, it means this: the code of Jewish law says that if you have a Gentile working for you and fixing your food in your house under your supervision, all the food is common. If you are not there, even clean food becomes unclean, because a Gentile has handled it. So this is what we're talking about here.
Though there were all unclean animals that it showed which were depicting the nations, they were not depicting the things to eat, because he said, 'In no way, Lord, for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean,' which shows that that far after the resurrection he was still not eating any of the unclean foods.
[Discussion and questions from audience]
We're going to see we get into Judaism here in just a little bit, and that's why the word common picks up here, because you don't find the word common any other place in the Gospel, but you find it here.
"And a voice came again the second time to him, saying, 'What God has cleansed, you are not to call common.' Now this took place three times, and the vessel was taken up again into heaven." (vs 15-16). Then what happened, three men showed up at the door. They asked for Peter, Peter came down, and Peter went down to the men. Verse 19: "Then, as Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, 'Behold, three men are seeking you; now arise and go down, and go forth with them, doubting nothing, because I have sent them…. [So here three Gentiles show up at the front door and say, 'Where's Peter?' He's to go with them.] …And Peter went down to the men who had been sent to him from Cornelius and said, 'Look, I am the one you are seeking. For what purpose have you come?'" (vs 19-21). Then they explained a good report was directed by a holy angel to come here. The next day Peter went with them, so it was a two-day travel. He came to Caesarea and Cornelius was expecting them. Now notice what happened here, another good indication that he was not the pope.
Verse 25: "And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet, worshiping him.... [And he said, 'Oh, that's a good boy, kiss my ring.' No, he didn't!] ...But Peter raised him up, saying, 'Stand up, for I myself am also a man.' And as he was talking with him, he went in and found many gathered together. And he said to them.... [Now this is very clear, v 28, because this interprets the whole chapter.] ...'You know... [as a Gentile living in Judea] ...that it is unlawful for a man who is a Jew... [one who practices Judaism] ...to associate with or come near to anyone of another race...." (vs 25-28).
Please note, nowhere in the law did it ever say not to associate with a Gentile or the stranger. Strangers should be treated equal and the same, all the way through, same law. Now if he wants to take the Passover, or he wants to devote himself to the Lord, he's to be circumcised. The Jewish law said, 'Oh, these Gentiles, they're dirty, they're unclean. You have nothing to do with them, they're animals, they're scum,' and they believe it to this day, though they don't overtly tell you.
"...it is unlawful... [Not God's law, a law of Judaism.] ...for a man who is a Jew... [one practicing Judaism] ...to associate with or come near to anyone of another race. But God has shown me that no man should be called common or unclean'" (v 28). No man, not the eating of animals. The animals only symbolized the Gentiles. The comment was made: 'I get hung up on arise Peter, kill and eat.' Yes, because He was asking him to do something that He knew he would not do for the lesson that he was to go with those three Gentiles, which he would not do, because he could not associate with them or come near them, and three show up at the door. That would be an attention-getter.
[Discussion and questions from audience]
Then you've also got this. You go back and you look in Dan. 7, the Gentile kingdoms. You've got a lion, you've got a bear, you've got a leopard, depicting these big empires. So what happened with all of these animals that were purportedly unclean, which they were, God was showing that all the nations of the world now would be acceptable upon what? Repentance and devotion to God!
God has shown it, now v 29: "For this reason, I also came without objection when I was sent for. I ask therefore, for what purpose did you send for me?" Then Cornelius explains it, he was told to send for him and bring him.
Verse 33: "Therefore, I sent for you at once; and you did well to come. So then, we are all present before God to hear all things that have been commanded you by God.' Then Peter opened his mouth and said, 'Of a truth I perceive that God is not a respecter of persons'" (vs 33-34). And the exclusivity of the Jews, even to this day, is a respecter of persons; many reasons for it. I've heard Jews say, 'Well, we've gone through so much, I think God hates us; we've been chosen that way.' Well you see, any Jew that truly repents, that will be lifted.
[Discussion and questions from audience]
I only know of one Jew who has completely forsaken all tradition and all that thing. Even the Messianic Jews, they say, 'Well, this is tradition.' Only one and that is Michael Heiss, who worked with me on the translation for the Old Testament. If you really get into it, they will say, 'Gentiles have Noahide laws.' They go back to Gen. 9 and say, 'This is the only thing the Gentiles are expected to do.' It's rare that you will find a Jew that will totally forsake it all. Michael Heiss turned down interest-free loans to set up his own big haberdashery business and everything, and he turned it all down, every bit of it.
Now let's go on and we'll finish it here and then we'll answer the last question. "But in every nation... [That's why all the unclean animals.] ...the one who fears Him and works righteousness is acceptable to Him. The word that He sent to the children of Israel, preaching the Gospel of Peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all), you have knowledge of; which declaration came throughout the whole of Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism that John proclaimed" (vs 35-37).
Like Paul told Festus and Agrippa, 'You know this wasn't done in a corner, it was known everywhere.' All those miracles, all those healed people. He healed thousands and thousands and thousands. What would they do when they go home? 'I was with this man Jesus and he healed me. Look I'm healed! I was a leper, I was blind.' Then the story of the man who was born blind and all of that. So this was far and wide, it was everywhere. Then he talks about the baptism of John.
"Concerning Jesus Who was from Nazareth: how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all the things that He did, both in the country of Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed Him by hanging Him on a tree'" (vs 38-39).
Now, just to answer a little sidebar question here. The cross is not like the Catholic cross. They would take a big tree, strip it down, and put two iron hangers there. They would be like a U-joint going up, and then they would nail these with their big long spikes into the tree, so that a crossbar could be put there. So it was a tree that became a cross with the crossbar. So when Jesus was carrying His cross, it was not like it shows in any of the movies where He's carrying this big, huge cross. He was carrying His crossbar. So when they got there, they nailed his hands to the crossbar, they lifted Him up, and then nailed His feet to where the foot stand was. So that's why you find it tree; cross, and both of those come from the Greek 'stauros.' And they used them over and over again, because they crucified so many people. Those iron arms which were attached to the tree were like U-holders.
Then God raised Him the third day, all the people, so forth, "…commanded us to preach…. To Him all the prophets bear witness, that everyone who believes in Him receives remission of sins through His name…. [Now here's the day. Here's something very interesting and a principle to know about changing a law: If God gives the law, God must change it, not man.Very important, especially pertaining to the Sabbath. Would you say that circumcision is a lesser of the law than the Sabbath? Yes!] (But notice what he did with circumcision here): ...While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came upon all those who were listening to the message" (vs 42-44).
Now that becomes very important because now God is showing that physical circumcision has been replaced with spiritual circumcision. Now you can say 'done away,' but every time God does away with a letter of a law, He brings in a spiritual application of the law. That's why it's called circumcision of the heart. That's greater than circumcision of the flesh. The Jews, also for proselytes, forced them—the Gentiles—to be circumcised. When they would go into the synagogue there was the God-fearing circumcised Gentiles in this corner over here, the women in that corner over there, and the Jewish men up front. So there was the respecter of persons all the way through with that.
Now while they were listening, the Holy Spirit came upon them and the believers from the circumcision, because there has to be witnesses. You can't have something as spectacular as this done without witnesses. Just like the apostles were the witnesses of the resurrection, not that they saw it, but the resurrected Christ.
"And the believers from the circumcision were astonished, as many as had come with Peter, that upon the Gentiles also the gift of the Holy spirit had been poured out…. [So God changed it, elevated circumcision of the flesh to circumcision of the heart.] …For they heard them speak in other languages and magnify God...." (vs 45-46). Just like how? It was at the temple on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came. Same thing—right? Equal treatment—right? Coming directly from God—correct? Yes!
Now to the Jews who practice Judaism this is astonishing, because 'we can't keep company with them, we can't associate with them, we can't go to the market where they are. If we have a Gentile servant working in our homes, must be supervised otherwise the food becomes common or unclean.' Even clean food. You'll see in the book, Code of Jewish Law, that if a Gentile servant is kneading bread and there's no supervision from a Jew, it's unclean. Well, it's not unclean, bread is not unclean, wheat is not unclean. There are unclean animals, but that's how they classified it to be super righteous. So what did he say? "...'Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized..." (v 47).
God had to give the Holy Spirit first to show that they would receive the Holy Spirit, and then they were baptized, because God was intervening to change it. After that, the Gentiles were baptized first and then the laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit. Just like at the temple when they received the Spirit, being there. BAM! the first time for them. Here it is the first time for the Gentiles. So they were baptized.
Then when he came back to Jerusalem, the circumcision party said, Acts 11:3: "…'You went in to men who were uncircumcised and did eat with them.'" So Peter was called on the carpet. So then he explained and they said, 'Well, who can fight against God?' Although the circumcision party rose in power a little later on.
Again, when you come to any Scripture and you come with a preconceived notion and you read in what you think it says, because you want the outcome, which has already been predetermined in your mind, the Truth is different than your preconceived understanding as you go into it. Then you have added on top of it, if you're keeping Sunday and not the Sabbath, your eyes are already blinded and in order to not admit the blinding they do what you said, 'Well, we can't understand that.' They don't want to say, 'Well, we're blind. We don't know anything about it.' However, if they would repent and keep the Sabbath as a start and continuing seeking God, all of these things would clear up.
[Discussion and questions from audience]
Does all good come from God? Before you answer it, think on that. We could label it a little differently: Does all apparent good come from God? What two trees were in the Garden? Tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Not all good comes from God. It doesn't mean it's totally wrong, it just means it's mixed in with evil.
Let's come to Hebrews 6 and we'll show the substance of the Eucharist. Now it's not talking about the Eucharist, but it's talking about the sacrifice of Christ. This becomes important from this point of view. The Eucharist is called what? The sacrifice of the mass! What is the priest doing when he utters the special words? He is commanding Christ to come into the bread and wine. Does Christ still have flesh and blood, as the resurrected Son of God? No! He's a spirit being! He can appear as a human being, but He's not human, He's spiritual. So He has no flesh and blood to give. Since the Passover is to be once a year, to do this any time you want to—and I explain it in the Passover book and the Passover book is going to be one of those things you read a part of it, you read some more of it, you read some more of it, and you go through and each chapter builds and builds, so by the time you get done you get a full picture of the sacrifice of Christ, repentance, Passover, bread and wine, foot-washing, traditions of the Jews, the whole thing. You get the whole shot there.
Now in Hebrews 6 it's talking about the unpardonable sin, but we can get a principle here. Hebrews 6:6: "If they have fallen away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing that they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves..." And that's what the sacrifice of the mass is. They are crucifying Christ again. They are publicly holding Him in contempt, and that's what the Eucharist does, because it rejects the Passover, rejects the instructions of Christ.
And he talks about here in v 1: "Therefore, advancing beyond the beginning principles of the doctrines of Christ, we should go on to perfection..." So what they have done, they have rejected those things, crucifying Him again. So every Eucharist is demanding that Christ come into that bread and come into that wine in a sacrifice again, renewing over and over again. Whereas, back here in Heb. 9 it talks about the sacrifice of Christ.
Hebrews 9:25: "Not that he should offer Himself many times, even as the high priest enters into the holy of holies year by year with the blood of others; For then it would have been necessary for Him to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now, once for all... [That's why the Passover has the symbolism of the bread and the wine, not the doctrine of transubstantiation that His blood in wine is there, because He was sacrificed once and His blood was shed once for all. And they say, 'Well, it still tastes like bread and still tastes like wine, but it's really His flesh and really His blood.'] …But now, once and for all, in the consummation of the ages, He has been manifested for the purpose of removing sin through His sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this, the judgment; So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many..." (vs 25-28). See, just once, not every sacrifice of the mass.
Then we come over to Hebrews 10:12: "But He, after offering one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down at the right hand of God. since that time, He is waiting until His enemies are placed as a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has obtained eternal perfection for those who are sanctified" (vs 12-14).
[Discussion and questions from audience]
Speaking of the Christmas tree:
Do you know what the Christmas tree really pictures? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Celebration of the rebellion in the Garden of Eden. All the ornaments on it are sex ornaments, or idols, or angels and how you drape around the decorations, it's a serpent coiling around the tree. And how you have the star on top, the morning star that fell, Lucifer.
Like I said, when you first come to the understanding that you have been deceived, you say, 'Okay, well, I've been deceived on this.' And then, wham, there's something else, 'Well, I've been deceived on this.' Then something you've done all your life that is so natural, and Satan is very clever, he wraps up all the family ties within it. Then 'that's really what it's about?'
[Discussion and questions from audience]
Keep in mind that major events happen after the Feast of Tabernacles, always. That's the September 23-30. That's when it happened in '87, that's when it happened after 9/11, we had it then leading up to it, then 9/11, then everything went down in October, and they cut the interest rate to zero and everything to try and keep things going. George Bush said, 'To help get the economy going, everybody go out and go shopping. Be patriotic Americans.'
Is there any truth that the Ark of the Covenant was in Ethiopia and was flown to Jerusalem? No! They don't know where the Ark of the Covenant is. Jeremiah was the last one to have anything to do with it and he was a priest. So he could handle it and he could have Levites help him do it, to bury it somewhere under the temple archives. Now exactly where that is, we don't know, because where the Wailing Wall is and the Mosque of Omar that's not where the temple really was. It was south of that, 600-yards south of that near the Spring of Gihon. So there may be some place there where it's buried, if that's where it is. And when it comes times to know, then God will lead them to find it.
Scriptural References:
- 1-Timothy 4:4, 1-5 (KJV); 3-5 (FV)
- Leviticus 11:1-16
- Deuteronomy 14:1-6, 10-11
- Mark 7:19 (NIV, KJV); 1-22 (FV)
- Acts 10:2, 9-16, 19-21, 25-29, 33-39, 42-47
- Acts 11:3
- Hebrews 6:6, 1
- Hebrews 9:25-28
- Hebrews 10:12-14
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- John 13-17
- Acts 10:1
- Daniel 7
- Acts 10:42
Also referenced: Books:
- Code of Jewish Law by Solomon Ganzfried & Hyman E. Goldin
- Judaism: A Revelation of Moses or a Religion of Men? (coming soon)
- The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop
- The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
FRC:lp Transcribed: 6-30-10 Formatted: bo—7-5-10
