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20/9/2013 Edible InsectsHi Ben Insects have 6 legs... But Lev 11:20-23 seems to suggest differently... I can buy the argument that locusts have 2 hopping legs on top of 4 legs.... But i cannot reconcile verse 23, because NIV says "insects that have four legs"..... Leviticus 11:20-23 “‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you.There are, however, some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. But all other flying insects that have four legs you are to regard as unclean. My reply Bible is a religious document so you got to read it in its context. In Leviticus , Moses was discussing foods that the Israelites were allowed to eat and foods that were forbidden. The topic of edible insects has to be discussed in this religious context. So Moses gave simple instructions. Edible insects must have wings, walk with 4 legs and have 2 more jointed legs for hopping. And then Moses gave specific examples. locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. Moses was writing a practical guide for a layman rather than writing a scientific paper. A good discussion on this topic can be found at http://creation.com/are-praying-mantises-kosher Hi Ben Your response is helpful, It answered the question of "What is edible?" And I am fully convinced that the Bible is right in its description of insects that fly and have 4 walking legs and 2 jumping legs. However, it also seems that both questions are avoiding the question of "Why did Moses say 'But all other flying insects that have 4 legs you are to regard as unclean'?" Because that verse raises the following questions: Why say "all other ..." Was Moses referring to the mosquito/butterfly/winged-ant in any of what he was saying? Was Moses omitting non-flying insects like ants? My reply Yes all other flying insects like mosquito, butterfly , winged ant and non flying insects are omitted. I think Moses gave the example of locust , katydid, cricket or grasshopper because the prior instructions may still be vague in its interpretation. I have attached Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations on edible insects. It describes the culture of insect eating among many nations. Many of these practices started from ancient times. Clearly the law of Moses was to restrict the range of insects the Israelites were allowed to eat.
Grasshoppers and locust are rich in protein. Both these insects are herbivores so there is less chance that eating them will transmit diseases. Imagine eating dung beetles that is not properly prepared for human consumption. An example is Dung beetles is a delicacy in some part so Thailand. Dung beetle is an insect that feeds on dung - literally . Here is an advertisement on dung beetle. http://www.thailandunique.com/edible-dung-beetles These food laws and ceremonial laws were given by God to the Israelites so that they are a people set apart for God and easily identifiable.It is the same concept that God wants to set Christians apart from other people groups.. The 10 commandments , the civil laws, ceremonies , festivals , clean & unclean food , circumcision is primarily for this purpose.Because of these laws the Israelites could not mix with other races. The differentiation of clean and unclean food was that the Israelites would not be able to join the dinner table other peoples. God also said they could not marry other races. But with scientific progress we can find the wisdom of God instruction. That God’s choice of ceremonies and food was not random. For example before modern farming, sheep was the healthier source of meat. Ancient farming of pigs poses serious health issues From wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig Pigs can harbour a range of parasites and diseases that can be transmitted to humans. These include trichinosis, Taenia solium, cysticercosis, and brucellosis. Pigs are also known to host large concentrations of parasitic ascarid worms in their digestive tract. The presence of these diseases and parasites is one reason pork meat should always be well cooked or cured before eating. Today trichinellosis infections from eating undercooked pork are rare in more technologically developed countries due to refrigeration, health laws, and public awareness. Some religious groups have dietary laws that make pork an "unclean" meat, and adherents sometimes interpret these health issues as validation of their views. Pigs have health issues of their own, of course. Pigs have small lungs in relation to their body size and are thus more susceptible than other domesticated animals to fatal bronchitis and pneumonia.Some strains of influenza are endemic in pigs (see swine influenza). Pigs also can acquire human influenza. Pigs can be aggressive in defending themselves and their young. Pig-induced injuries are thus not unusual in areas where pigs are raised or where they form part of the wild or feral fauna. Human cysticercosis especially neurocysticercosis as a cause of epilepsy is still a major health problem in modern India and Latin America. I have attached the following reference
The ceremonies of washing hands, maintaining cleanliness , proper disposal of corpses saved a lot of Jews during the Black Death. All these was before the germ theory in the 19th century.
God is the creator of all things. He gave the Israelites these laws and they do not conflict with the laws of nature ( biology , medicine, physics). Neither do Moses 600+ laws conflict with each other. From this oneness, we can see that God is real. This is so unlike national laws that change over time or contradict with one another. Lawyers and accountants are paid lots of money to find loopholes to exploit. And so unlike me as a father, sometimes I set contradictory house rules for my kids. Anyway we are no longer under the law of Moses. We as Christians are better off with God’s law written in our hearts. See Hebrews 10:16-18. In Matthew 5, Jesus was describing the law that will be written in men’s heart vs Moses laws. We are not to be angry with a brother or sister; we are not to lust, not to divorce, not to take revenge and we are to love our enemies. In this we have fulfilled Moses law and much more. Coming back to food, Jesus has declared all food as clean Mark 7:18-19 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) I love pork. And I am willing to try eating insects if I can convinced the preparation is clean Ben with inputs from Yap Wei Hua Comments are closed.
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"The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law " Deuteronomy 29:29
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This website is the sole property of Dr Benjamin Cheah
Materials excluding links on this website are not copyrighted. They may be reproduced and distributed without fees.