The Cherry Picking Accusation

Firstly, there is lots of variety in the Bible. If you pick up a Bible and flick through it you will find hugely different content in different sections. You have history, wise sayings, prophecy, law and poetry in the Old Testament, then you have the gospels, (the accounts of the life of Jesus), and letters in the New Testament. The Bible begins with the breaking of the relationship with God by Adam and Eve in Genesis 3 after the creation record, and ends with the restoration of that relationship in Revelation 21. Everything in between is focussed on the means of repairing that relationship, namely Jesus Christ, his life, death and resurrection.

The whole of the Old Testament looks forward to him, beginning directly after the breaking of the relationship with God. In Genesis 3:15 Eve is told that she will have a descendant that will crush the serpent’s head. (The serpent was representative of the disobedience that had broken the relationship with God).

“And I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; her offspring (Jesus) will attack your head, and you will attack her offspring's heel."

The word translated “attack” here, in the original language, Ancient Hebrew, can also be translated to crush or break. In other words, Eve’s descendant, Christ, was to deal the serpent’s descendant, sin and death a fatal blow (to the head). Additionally, the serpent’s descendant would hurt Eve’s descendant but not with a permanent, fatal blow, which is what ultimately played out in his life and death. It was a horrifically difficult and painful ordeal for him but was not ultimately fatal because the Lord God raised him to life again.

So, from the moment of that promise in the third chapter of Genesis, Jesus Christ becomes the focus of the whole Old Testament. We are shown again and again that people, even the ones that God chooses, are incapable of living up to God’s standards. They all make mistakes and they are all disobedient to God. But all the way through there is the promise of this perfect man that would come, the one that would show God’s character and put self to one side. He is in the promises to Abraham in Genesis 22 and to David in 2 Samuel 7. He is spoken of throughout the prophecies and poetry. Bit by bit a picture builds up of this man that will come: Jesus.

Then comes the New Testament. In the gospels (Matthew – John) we finally have the perfect man come onto the scene, only to be rejected and killed. He is then raised from the dead and taken up to heaven with the promise that he will come again in Acts 1. The rest of Acts then talks about the formation of the early churches. The letters of the apostles that follow lay down the guidelines for behaviour both as individuals and churches as a whole. Then finally comes Revelation. Revelation looks forwards, from the time that it was written, around 90CE, prophesying the things that will happen between then and the return of Jesus.

What I hope we can gather from this introduction to the Bible, is that Jesus is the focus of the entire book, since he is the means by which the relationship of man to God is repaired. Therefore, he is the lens through which we should be viewing the Old Testament, even the law of Moses, which is usually the basis for the accusation of ‘cherry picking’, or selective worship.

So having seen that Christ is the lens through which we should view the whole Bible, let’s look at passages that are often singled out in the law as things Christians don’t do. We’ll then try to understand the principle of what’s being said in those passages. Finally, to test whether we have come up with the right principle, we’ll see if we can find that principle in the New Testament. In that way, we are viewing the Old Testament through the lens of Christ, which is what we said we should be doing.

Separation

Firstly, Leviticus 19:19:

“nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.”

Lots of people cite this as a law that Christians don’t keep and therefore are not following the Bible. However, like much of the law, it is the principle here that is really important. Look at the rest of that verse:

“You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material.

Following the command to “keep my statutes”, we are given three different commands in that verse, aren’t we?

1. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind
2. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed
3. Nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material

I think it’s pretty obvious here the point that God is making, isn’t it? It’s essentially the same lesson repeated three times. The principle that God is teaching Israel by this law is that they need to be separate. Throughout the law God reminds them again and again, that He rescued them from slavery and that they are His chosen people. However, with that privilege comes the responsibility of living differently, being separate and distinct from the other nations, not just to mix in with them. By obeying these laws, they were reminded in their everyday life of this fact. Their life was not made any more difficult in obeying these commands, but by obeying they kept these lessons at the front of their minds whether they were dealing with animals, crops or clothing.

So, we have come up with a possible principle behind the law. How do we test whether are right in what we have said? Well, we look at our theory through the teachings of Jesus, does Jesus teach that believers need to separate themselves in some way?

All the way through the New Testament in particular, (although it is in the Old Testament as well), Jesus refers to himself as the “light of the world”. Believers are urged to come to the light and to walk in the light. This is in contrast with those in darkness, those who have not come to Christ. John 11:9-10 clearly show this contrast.

The clearest teaching on this is from the Apostle Paul who himself received the gospel from Jesus Christ, (Galatians 1:11-12, 1 Corinthians 11:23 and 1 Corinthians 15:3). In 2 Corinthians 6:14 Paul says:

“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?”

Clearly the Apostle Paul is expecting that believers keep themselves separate from those around them in terms of the way they live their lives Ephesians 5:8-11:

“Therefore, do not become partners with them; for at one time, you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”

This principle of the separation of light and darkness, those who follow Christ and those who follow the ways of man, is repeated again and again as we read the New Testament. It is exactly the same lesson as God is teaching the people of Israel in the Old Testament: do not take up the habits of those around you, I have chosen you, saved you, and I expect you to be different.

Clean and unclean

“If Christians say they follow the Bible, why do they still eat bacon sandwiches?”

I have to confess; the first time I was asked this I was at a bit of a loss. Not because I didn’t understand the question, but because I really didn’t know why it was ok that I was eating a bacon sandwich, but the Israelites were commanded not to eat pork.

Having looked at the principles behind this prohibition however, once again the mist begins to clear. Before we do that however, let’s have a look at practical reasons that some of these animals were not allowed to be eaten.

Carnivores and omnivores: Accumulate all kinds of toxins and parasites from their prey that are then passed on to people through their meat. There is no way to tell what any particular carnivore has been eating - for example, sick animals.

Fish and shellfish without scales or fins: Filter feeders like oysters and clams are notorious vectors for highly contagious viruses, including Norovirus and Hepatitis A. As well as this Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) and Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning (ASP) are severe risks of eating shellfish. On top of all this fish without scales or fins are more often than not bottom feeders, whose diet includes organic waste. Because of this, the same risk factors apply as with carnivores (above).

In general, we can say that the practical value of these laws for a people who couldn’t have known why they were being given was immense. At the time these laws were given there was no knowledge of parasites or communicable disease. Sometimes I think we forget how recent these developments are.

It wasn’t until 1865 that Dr. Igor Semmelweis suggested that Doctors should wash their hands between patients, and was derided and mocked for the suggestion. Yet there are commandments concerning the importance of washing in the Law of Moses and not just washing but washing in running water. In the same way, the Lord God protects his people by giving them laws on what they can and cannot eat long before that.

So, these laws were given to protect the Israelites practically, until the world in general had caught up with the fact that some foods could transmit disease and parasites.

What is the spiritual value? Because, if we believe that the whole Bible is still relevant then there must be a meaning for us in all this in fact judging by the previous laws we looked at about separation, then there should in fact be spiritual things that God wanted the Israelites to get from these laws too.

While the laws of separation were valuable on a national level (keeping themselves separate from other nations etc), what were they to do about those within the people of Israel who didn’t want to follow the Lord who the Lord saw as unclean? How could they discern who these people were? How could they discern who they should be friends with, which families were suitable for their children to marry into? To do this God gives them the law of clean and unclean animals.

As we saw earlier, whether an animal was counted as clean or unclean depended mostly on its diet. So, what were the Israelites to look at to discern between who was suitable or unsuitable to be part of their lives? It was not what these people ate in their diet, but what they consumed with their minds.

So, we have come up with a possible principle and spiritual application for this law. If we look at this through our Jesus lens then we should find similar things taught in the New Testament by Christ. Let’s have a look at Matthew 15:17-20:

And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."

The point is that it’s not what you eat that makes you clean or unclean in God’s eyes, but what is in your mind, what dominates your thoughts and motives.

The carnivores and shellfish of the practical example in the law, take death, disease and filth into themselves in their diet and it makes them physically poisonous to human beings. If the people we associate with enjoy death, violence and filth, if they glory in it, consume it with their minds (whether that is via, TV, the internet, books or whatever) they become spiritually poisonous to people who want to follow God’s ways. So, God gives us this rule so that we can look at people when we get to know them and see what they take in, what their interests are, what kind of books or TV programs they like, and decide just how close we want to get to that person. Are they going to spiritually poison us? Or is it safe to spend time with them?

In conclusion, (and I hope this hasn’t just come across as trying to justify my bacon sandwich consumption), I hope what we can see is that God gave the laws on food and separation to the Israelites in the Old Testament for two reasons. Firstly, to keep them safe from disease or predators that have absorbed the toxins from their prey. But secondly to enable them to make good spiritual decisions about the company they keep. We can tell that both of these reasons are true, firstly because advances in medical science have shown it to be true and secondly because Jesus is still teaching the same principles in the New Testament.