Jesus redeemed us from the law. However, Old Testament laws continued to serve an important purpose, because many of them protect people from dangers science would not discover for centuries. Here are examples in addition to the recently mentioned hand washing and burying of “night soil”:
- Don’t eat fish without scales and fins. Reason? The shrimp, crabs, lobsters, catfish, eels, and even sharks—are “bottom feeders” consuming carcasses of dead fish and animals, and a great deal of “fish poop,” making these the riskiest of underwater meals. The even, “all-over” cooking provided by modern kitchens greatly reduces the risk, but may not eliminate it entirely.
- Don’t eat animals unless they both chew the cud and have split hooves—and pork is particularly unclean. Reason? The unusually high parasite load. Before modern cooking, people often picked up roundworm infections from not only pork, but “bear, walrus, and horse” (quoting mayoclinic.org).
- Don’t eat blood. “Life is in the blood, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh” Genesis 9:4. Reason? The high bacteria and iron count pose health risks.
- Don’t eat fat. Reason? Science has only recently discovered the health risks of too much animal fat in our diets. Not only “marbleized steaks,” but ground beef and pork products, especially bacon, are loaded with animal fat, leading to heart disease, stroke, etc. Animal fat can take years off your life. And God warned us in the Old Testament:
“All FAT belongs to the Lord. This is a PERMANENT statute throughout your generations, wherever you live: you must not eat any fat or any blood” Leviticus 3:16-17.
This is why we should study ALL the scriptures. The “boring” O.T. law remains relevant. In fact, God promised to protect us from many diseases if we followed His laws:
“If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, … and keep His statutes, then I will not bring on you any of the diseases that I inflicted on the Egyptians” Exodus 15:26.
God, teach us to honor your law.
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