What Kind of Meats Can We Eat According to Scripture?

This is from an email I got Friday Evening asking bout Meats that we are allowed to eat or not eat. I wanted to share the email with you all, as well as my response and teaching on this subject.

Jake what kind of meats can we eat, that the Lord says we can?
Much love to you,
xxxxx

Hi xxxxx,
Thanks for your question.
This has been an ongoing debate with many people for years. I am persuaded that YHWH wants good things for His children, and therefore
wants us to live a “good,clean,healthy lifestyle and diet”.There is also
the fact that YHWH said, “be ye Holy for I am Holy” and He has ALWAYS
wanted that for His children, that they NOT be like the rest of the
world, “Sanctified”, Set Apart, for His Glory.
I also came across this little tidbit of info, which lines up with what I
have been teaching all along. Based on Hebrews 11, those earliest
“Faith Fathers”, that had the “kind of Faith that pleases God” did so
WITHOUT the Torah even existed at that point. Listen to what YHWH told
Noah in Genesis 7[ about 1000 years before Moses being given the Torah;
Genesis 7

1And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

2Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are
not clean by two, the male and his female.

3Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

4For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every
living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of
the earth.

5And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

There was NO WRITTEN LAW of God at this point YET, Noah understood what God was saying and exactly what kind of animals were clean and unclean, WOW!!!

Now, back to your real question,, I will use the “New Living Translation” because it is done in a “plainer language”. The New Living calls them
“ceremonially clean and unclean animals”, SO I take exception with that
terminology, as the KJV doesn’t call them “ceremonially clean and
unclean” JUST unclean or detestable.
Leviticus 11 Ceremonially Clean and Unclean Animals
1 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Give the following instructions to the people
of Israel.
“Of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food. 3 You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud. 4 You may not, however, eat the
following animals[a] that have split hooves or that chew
the cud, but not both. The camel chews the cud but does not have split
hooves, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. 5 The hyraxhref=””>[b] chews the cud but does not have
split hooves, so it is unclean. 6
The hare chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is
unclean. 7 The pig has
evenly split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is unclean. 8 You may not eat the meat of
these animals or even touch their carcasses. They are ceremonially
unclean for you.

9 “Of all the marine animals, these are ones you may use for food. You may eat anything from the water if it has both fins and scales, whether
taken from salt water or from streams. 10 But you must never eat animals from the sea or
from rivers that do not have both fins and scales. They are detestable
to you. This applies both to little creatures that live in shallow water
and to all creatures that live in deep water. 11 They will always be detestable to you. You
must never eat their meat or even touch their dead bodies. 12 Any marine animal that does
not have both fins and scales is detestable to you.

13 “These are the birds that are detestable to you. You must never eat them: the griffon vulture, the
bearded vulture, the black vulture, 14 the kite, falcons of all kinds, 15 ravens of all kinds, 16 the eagle owl, the
short-eared owl, the seagull, hawks of all kinds, 17 the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, 18 the barn owl, the desert
owl, the Egyptian vulture, 19
the stork, herons of all kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat.

God states that cud-chewing animals with split hooves can be eaten (Leviticus 11:3; Deuteronomy 14:6). These specifically include the
cattle, sheep, goat, deer and gazelle families (Deuteronomy 14:4-5). He
also lists such animals as camels, rabbits and pigs as being unclean, or
unfit to eat (Leviticus 11:4-8). He later lists such “creeping things”
as moles, mice and lizards as unfit to eat (verses 29-31), as well as
four-footed animals with paws (cats, dogs, bears, lions, tigers, etc.)
as unclean (verse 27).

He tells us that salt and freshwater fish with fins and scales may be eaten (verses 9-12), but water creatures without those characteristics (catfish, lobsters, crabs, shrimp,
mussels, clams, oysters, squid, octopi, etc.) should not be eaten.

God also lists birds and other flying creatures that are unclean for consumption (verses 13-19). He identifies carrion eaters and birds of
prey as unclean, plus ostriches, storks, herons and bats.

Birds such as chickens, turkeys and pheasants are not on the unclean list and therefore can be eaten. Insects, with the exception of locusts, crickets
and grasshoppers, are listed as unclean (verses 20-23).

Why does God identify some animals as suitable for human consumption and others as unsuitable? God didn’t give laws to arbitrarily assert control over
people. He gave His laws (including those of which meats are clean or
unclean) “that it might be well” with those who seek to obey Him
(Deuteronomy 5:29).

Although God did not reveal the specific reasons some animals may be eaten and others must be avoided, we can make generalized conclusions based on the animals included in the two
categories.

In listing the animals that should not be eaten, God forbids the consumption of scavengers and carrion eaters, which devour other animals for their food.

Animals such as pigs, bears, vultures and raptors can eat (and thrive) on decaying flesh. Predatory animals such as wolves, lions, leopards and cheetahs most often prey on
the weakest (and at times the diseased) in animal herds.

When it comes to sea creatures, bottom dwellers such as lobsters and crabs scavenge for dead animals on the sea floor. Shellfish such as oysters,
clams and mussels similarly consume decaying organic matter that sinks
to the sea floor, including sewage.

A common denominator of many of the animals God designates as unclean is that they routinely eat flesh that would sicken or kill human beings. When we eat such animals
we partake of a food chain that includes things harmful to people.

As nutritionist David Meinz observes: “Could it be that God, in His wisdom, created certain creatures whose sole purpose is to clean up
after the others? Their entire ‘calling’ may be to act exclusively as
the sanitation workers of our ecology. God may simply be telling us that
it’s better for us believers not to consume the meat of these trash
collectors” (Eating by the Book,1999, p. 225).

The long and short, you can eat beef, fish with scales and fins certain insects[you can eat my share,lol] and any “bird not named in the
families listed above. SO you can eat chicken.
BTW, you want got to hell for eating the “detestable things”, BUT you
might get to meet your maker a little quicker. Hope this helped!
Love in Yahushua, Christ Jesus
Jake