Jay Carper's Blog, page 9

Parsha Devarim – Apostolic Readings, Commentary, and Videos

ReadingsDeuteronomy 1Mark 6:5-13Ephesians 4Ephesians 6:10-201 Timothy 6:11-21Deuteronomy 2:1-3:22Luke 12:4-34Romans 111 Corinthians 9:24-10:15Colossians 2:6-15Additional ReadingSoil from StoneAmerican TorahVideos Related to Parsha DevarimCaleb and the Heart of Praise – Hebron is in the heart of Judah, which means praised. Caleb’s heart was pure and faithful, and so God made him the patriarch of Judah and gave him land in the heart of Judah’s territory. Joshua 14:14The Book of Proverbs Is about Principles, Not Laws – The Book of Proverbs isn’t a collection of commandments or absolute promises. It’s about principles. It’s about being better, not perfect.

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Parsha Vayishlach – Apostolic Readings, Commentary, and Videos

ReadingsGenesis 32:3-33:17Matthew 5:21-26Matthew 18:21-22Matthew 26:36-46Romans 14:10-131 John 4Genesis 33:18-35:8Matthew 5:38-48Colossians 3:2-8Ephesians 6:10-20Genesis 35:9-36:43Matthew 5:27-30Matthew 16:13-19Matthew 28:18-201 Corinthians 5:1-2Additional ReadingSoil from StoneAmerican TorahVideos Related to Parsha VayishlachProverbs 5 and the Fires of Youth – One of the secrets to a long and happy life without regrets is learning to be the master of your passions and not allowing them to master you.Don’t Let Your Dark Side Speak for You – Everyone has a dark side. A wise man thinks before he lets it out, but the wicked let their evil inclinations control their words and deeds.Think Before You Retort! Proverbs 18:2 – It’s easy to throw back a retort on social media, but it’s not so easy to understand what the other person is actually saying before you start typing.Ensuring Your Legacy by Honoring Your Parents – There is a recurring theme in Scripture of first born sons being replaced by their younger brothers because they did not honor their parents. You can protect your legacy by ensuring the legacy of your parents.Joshua 10: The Amorite Alliance Against Gibeon – The enemies of God have no real friends, even among themselves. Any hint of repentance, and they will turn on you like cannibals.

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Parsha Miketz – Apostolic Readings, Commentary, and Videos

ReadingsGenesis 41:1-37 Luke 4:16-30John 2:18-22Revelation 18Genesis 41:38-42:17Matthew 2:13-23Matthew 5:2-12Luke 22:66-70Acts 11:27-30Genesis 42:18-43:23Matthew 19:28-30John 2:23-252 Corinthians 1:3-6Genesis 43:24-44:17John 8:14-19Romans 3:9-26Revelation 20:12-13Additional ReadingSoil from StoneAmerican TorahVideos Related to Parsha MiketzJoseph as a Prophecy of Jesus – Joseph’s life is one of the clearest living prophecies of the Messiah in all of Scripture. There are remarkable parallels between Joseph, Daniel, David, and #Yeshua, but especially between Joseph and Yeshua (aka #Jesus).Proverbs 21:3 and Pure Religion – If your religion doesn’t help to conform your heart to God’s, then it’s false and probably involves more worship of self than anything else.

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Parsha Vayechi – Apostolic Readings, Commentary, and Videos

ReadingsGenesis 47:28-49:27Matthew 19:28-30Matthew 20:1-16James 1:5-8Revelation 1:4-8Revelation 5:1-5Revelation 19:11-16Genesis 49:28-50:26Matthew 18:21-35Matthew 24:29-34Mark 10:42-45Luke 9:59-62Romans 8:28-33Additional ReadingSoil from StoneAmerican TorahVideos Related to Parsha VayechiApparent Discrepancies in the Tribal Allotments in Joshua 17-20 – Jacob prophesied Zebulun would be a haven for ships and their border would be at Sidon, but their territory was landlocked and far south of Sidon. What happened? (Joshua 19:10-16)

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Parsha Pinchas – Apostolic Readings, Commentary, and Video

ReadingsNumbers 25:10-26:51John 2:13-22Romans 9:30-10:51 Peter 2:4-12Revelation 3:14-22Numbers 26:52-27:23Matthew 9:35-38John 21:15-17Acts 1:15-26Numbers 28:1-29:40Mark 12:28-34Luke 14:12-24Philippians 2:14-18Hebrews 13:20-21Additional ReadingSoil from StoneAmerican TorahVideos Related to Parsha PinchasZelophehad’s Daughters in Joshua 17 – Zelophehad’s daughters in Joshua 17:4 weren’t telling Joshua & Eleazar what to do, just reminding them of a promise already made. This is how God works too. He wants us to remind him of his promises and to claim them for ourselves.

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Did God’s Food Laws Change After the Flood?

Being a Torah observant follower of Yeshua (aka Jesus) means living according to God’s instructions as given to Moses (aka Torah) and as illustrated and explained by Yeshua, including those rules that pertain to diet. Food is a very personal thing and other Christians are frequently dumbfounded that I don’t agree with them that God’s rules for eating were canceled by Jesus. Just read Mark! Read Romans! Haven’t you read Galatians!? Etc. Pick a New Testament book and there’s probably a verse in it that someone will interpret to mean that God no longer cares what anyone eats. I am convinced beyond any doubt that the vast majority of people–even well-educated and sincere believers in Jesus–have never even considered that those verses might be interpreted in some other way, let alone done any serious study on the matter.

American Torah (and other websites that have published my articles) holds other articles on this topic, but the same “counter” verses come up often enough that I think it’s worthwhile to the most common, including what they say and what they are claimed to say. I don’t have the time or inclination to address every possible relevant Bible passage, of course, but I hope that I will be able to add something useful to the collective dialog and encourage you to reconsider what you have been taught or what you might assume about others.

I will add the tag “kosher” to this and other articles on this topic so that you can easily find them here at American Torah and over at Soil from Stone.

And I will begin with The Beginning, Genesis…

Genesis 1:29 & 9:3

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

When God first created man in the Garden, he gave Adam permission to eat plants (“every seed-bearing herb”), but then after he destroyed the world in the Flood, he gave Noah permission to eat animals (“every living thing”).

This raises two questions: 

Did God’s Law change after the Flood?If God changed the rules once, could he change them again?God told Noah he could eat every living thing. Doesn’t that mean we can eat pigs and lobsters?

“Every seed-bearing plant” and “every living thing” are descriptions of categories. In other words, God gave Adam permission to eat from the category of seed-bearing plants and Noah permission to eat from the category of living things, but he did not mean for either of them to understand that they could eat absolutely any and every member of those categories.

If you get your drivers license and I tell you, “Congratulations! You can drive all kinds of cars now,” do I really mean that you are free to drive any and every motor vehicle you can find? No, because not every vehicle is yours, some vehicles require special licenses and training, and other vehicles are illegal to drive on regular roads. I think these two Genesis phrases would have been better translated as “the seed-bearing plants” and “the living things” to convey the intended meaning.

Leviticus 11:3 says, “Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat.” Does that mean that every cow is available for food to anyone? Clearly not. God did not give anyone permission to kill and eat his neighbor’s cow.

Let me give you a scenario as an illustration.

Your town has an ordinance against driving 18 wheelers on any streets within town limits. You don’t own an 18 wheeler, but your neighbor does. Are you allowed to drive his 18 wheeler on a country road without his permission? No, you aren’t. Not because of the town law–that doesn’t apply on country roads–but because it’s not your truck.

Now, if you take it into your head to become a long haul truck driver, you can get your CDL and purchase your neighbor’s rig. Then you will be free to drive it on that country road, but still not in town, not because it is illegal for you to drive an 18 wheeler, but because it remains illegal to drive it in town. If your neighbor had only loaned you his truck, instead of selling it, with the condition that you can only drive it downtown, you would be no more legally authorized to drive it than before, because his consent in the matter has no effect at all on the town’s ordinance against 18 wheelers within town limits.

Before the Flood, before God allowed Noah to eat animals, he told Noah to take seven pairs of every kind of clean animal into the Ark with him (Genesis 7:3), so God’s laws concerning what makes an animal clean or unclean existed and were in force at that time. God’s laws concerning what makes an animal edible to humans are identical to those that distinguish clean from unclean, and so it seems to me that those laws were also in force prior to the Flood, prior to God granting Noah permission to eat animals.

On the sixth day of Creation, he gave the Garden into Adam’s custody, but not for every purpose that Adam might desire. Adam’s responsibilities as a gardener allowed him to prune and harvest the trees, but not to burn the whole place down. Everything belongs to God, every rock, tree, animal, and person. Before the Flood, cows and sheep were perfectly edible to humans, but they belong to God, and God was (and is) free to disallow mankind to kill his cattle for food, not because it is immoral to eat a cow, but because it is immoral to eat someone else’s cow.

God’s instructions to Noah were not a change in his eternal Law that says “You may eat this kind of animal, but not that kind.” Rather, they were a change in how much authority over his own possessions God had delegated to mankind, much like a farmer allowing his hired hands to take a few chickens home with them in addition to their daily allotment from the harvest.

If God changed the rules about what we can eat once, could he change them again?

Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 are the primary passages of Torah that tell us which animals are clean and therefore suitable for food. (See this article for a brief explanation of what clean and unclean means.) God’s Laws concerning clean and unclean animals predate Noah, Abraham, and Moses and haven’t changed.

But if God can change the wages of mankind from plants alone to plants and animals, can he also reduce those wages again to plants only? Or to animals only?

I don’t see any reason why he couldn’t. They and we are all his creations to do with as he chooses.

However, he would need to send a prophet to tell us of the change in such a way that nobody would have any excuse for not recognizing his authority and the truth of his message. The last two times God sent such a message, the prophet who delivered it was the supreme, unquestioned human authority on earth. I am unaware of a single human being in over 1900 years whom I could point to as a certain and true prophet, let alone one with such unimpeachable credentials. If a prophet carried a word from God that was so fundamental to human existence as the revocation of permission to eat animals, surely it would have to be delivered in a similar manner to the original granting of permission.

Perhaps when Messiah Yeshua returns to establish his earthly kingdom in the land of Israel, he will make such a decree. I doubt it, but who am I to say?

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Parsha Vaetchanan – Apostolic Readings, Commentary, and Videos

ReadingsDeuteronomy 3:23-4:49Luke 7:18-35John 20:26-29Acts 9:1-61 Timothy 1Hebrews 3:7-19 Deuteronomy 5:1-6:3Matthew 19:16-30John 10:7-15John 17:1-102 Corinthians 3:1-15Deuteronomy 6:4-7:26Matthew 7:7-12Mark 12:28-34Luke 4:9-12John 15:18-27Romans 8:31-39Additional ReadingSoil from StoneAmerican TorahVideos Related to Parsha V’etchananPlow today. Harvest…next year? – Proverbs 20:4. YHVH is a God of order, patterns, and covenants. We work hard today with no expectation of immediate rewards–or even rewards in this lifetime–because God has created a world in which even an atheist can have faith that one thing inevitably follows another.Proverbs 22:15 and the Disciplining of a Child – People say that children are born pure and innocent, that prejudice and violence must be taught. We know from experience and Scripture that this is utopian nonsense. We are all born at war with our own evil inclinations and righteous behavior must be taught through wise discipline and repetition.

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Parsha Re’eh – Apostolic Readings, Commentary, and Videos

ReadingsDeuteronomy 11:26-12:19Matthew 7:15-23Acts 9:1-20Acts 11:1-181 Timothy 6:13-16Deuteronomy 12:20-14:29John 6:48-66Romans 14:1-41 Corinthians 10:14-331 Timothy 6:3-5,20-21Revelation 2:12-29Deuteronomy 15:1-16:17John 4:34-38John 8:31-38Colossians 3:1-171 Timothy 6:6-12,17-19James 2:14-26Revelation 19:6-9Additional ReadingsSoil from StoneAmerican TorahVideos Related to Parsha Re’eh Proverbs 6:12-19 and Fake News – Proverbs 6:12-19 warns against being a tale-bearer, a spreader of “fake news”. Don’t Go Back to Egypt! – Just like the Christian church, ancient Israel continued to faithfully serve God so long as the first generation of believers lived. As soon as that generation died, they slipped into general apostacy. Joshua 24:31Shavuot Calendar Controversies – Some people keep Shavuot on one day, some on another. Are some of those people simply rejecting the plain words of God?Shavuot: God’s Independence Day – Shavuot is a bit of an oddball among God’s feast days. It’s not clear from the biblical text exactly what it’s about, but there are some amazing parallels with the Exodus that give us some big clues.

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Parsha Shoftim – Apostolic Readings, Commentary, and Videos

ReadingsDeuteronomy 16:13-22John 7:1-15John 7:37-41Mark 12:41-44Deuteronomy 17:1-20Matthew 18:15-20Romans 13:1-71 Corinthians 5:9-131 Timothy 2:1-4Philippians 2:1-181 Peter 5:1-5Deuteronomy 18:1-20:9Matthew 18:15-20John 5:30-47John 7:43-52Acts 3:22-26Hebrews 7:1-10Hebrews 10:19-31Deuteronomy 20:10-21:9Matthew 27:24-26Luke 6:43-45Luke 13:6-9Acts 28:1-10Revelation 6Additional ReadingSoil from StoneAmerican TorahVideos Related to Parsha ShoftimJustice Is Your Responsibility – The people are responsible for executing judgment and extending mercy. They appoint judges, investigate crimes, render judgment, execute sentences, ensure fair trials, and provide shelter for the accused. Joshua 20:2
Social Justice vs God’s Justice – Universities, entertainers, and HR departments relentlessly push the ideas of social justice. There are daily riots and political demonstrations in favor of social justice. Black Lives Matter riots, gay pride parades, women’s rights marches…. Everyone is talking about justice, but does anyone know what it is? Proverbs 28:4-5 tells how anyone can fully comprehend justice. How to Be a King of Righteousness – Proverbs 16:10-16 and Deuteronomy 17:14-20 give instructions for being a righteous King in God’s eyes. These instructions are directed at Kings but they are valid for everyone who has influence and authority over other people. You can move your entire nation towards righteousness and justice by promoting God’s standards within your own sphere of influence.There Are Always Two Sides – It’s easy to believe the first news we hear, especially when it comes from a source we hold authoritative, but wait until you hear every side of a story. Be especially wary of people who try to prevent you from hearing the other side. Proverbs 18:17Ancient Boundary Stones and Traditions – Traditions get a bad rap, and there are some bad traditions, but they often exist for our protection. Be very cautious about disregarding a longstanding tradition. There might be a good reason for it. Proverbs 22:28The Jebusites and Messiah in Joshua 15 – Judah wasn’t able to drive all of the Canaanites from their territory in the time of Joshua. They had to wait for David, a foreshadowing of Messiah, to remove the stain of the Jebusites from Jerusalem.

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Parsha Ki Tetzei – Apostolic Readings, Commentary, and Videos

ReadingsDeuteronomy 21:10-22:7Matthew 5:17-20Galatians 3:13-14Colossians 3:18-21Deuteronomy 22:8-23:25Matthew 5:27-30Luke 6:1Acts 10:9-48Philippians 2:1-11Philemon 1:8-22Colossians 3:22-25Revelation 17Deuteronomy 24:1-25:19Matthew 5:31-32Matthew 6:1-4Mark 10:1-12Luke 20:27-381 Timothy 5:1-19Additional ReadingSoil from StoneAmerican TorahVideos Related to Parsha Ki TetzeiThe King of Ai and the Image of God – What do you do with the body of a dead, wicked king? Joshua 8:28-29

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