A question to SD-Adventists.

[Esdra]

Hi all,

I have read recently that SDA stick to the **whole **OT, even concerning food.

This means that they inter alia don’t eat pork (and some are vegetarians, which is by the way not too bad. It’s upon one’s desicion)
But what I don’t get is, why do they stick to the “food rules” in the OT?

How do you interpret then Acts 10?

---

Peter’s Vision

09 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray.
10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance.
11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.
12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.
13 Then a voice told him, Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.
14 Surely not, Lord! Peter replied. I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.
15 The voice spoke to him a second time, Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.
16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate.
18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.
19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, Simon, three men are looking for you.
20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.
21 Peter went down and said to the men, I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?
22 The men replied, We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say. …]
**

or Matthew 15

17 Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body?
18 But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man ‘unclean’.
19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
20 These are what make a man ‘unclean’; **but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean’. **

In Christ,
Esdra

 

[rjtengkano]

Hi…
I posted something earlier but didn’t seem to get recorded but here we go again…

Let’s look at Acts 10 as the whole verse. Cornelius sent envoys to pick up Peter so he could visit him at his house. At the time Jews are not to associate with anyone non Jews… then God gave him that vision. He didn’t understand it that’s why he asked “Not so, Lord, I have never eaten anything that’s common or unclean”. But when the two men came, then Peter understood all of a sudden what the vision meant. Look at verse 28 how Peter explained his own interpretation of the vision:
“And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company or come unto one of another nation; but GOD HATH SHEWED ME THAT I SHOULD NOT CALL ANY MAN COMMON OR UNCLEAN” Then Peter went with them.
Moreover, if Peter wouldve been shown that it was okay to consume what’s unclean, had he not then already known? having spent so much time with Jesus, eating and drinking? Then he didn’t need to be confused anymore with vision. But the verse 28 is the meaning of that vision, so the context is not about food.

About Mat 15, you’ve already got it there verse 20, that the context is not about the food itself clean/unclean but eating with washed hands or unwashed hands (as it was considered unlawful then/unclean). What comes out of mouth comes from the heart (verses 16 to 19) that the heart may contain evil things mentioned there.

SDA teaches us to take our health very seriously. Many of us regard vegetarianism–under best of knowledge-- being the best way to approach holistic wellness (it’s even discussed outside christianity), aside of healthy lifestyle: not drinking, no coffee, no tobacco, enough rest, excercise, sunshine, etc. For when there’s healthy body, there’s healthy mind, what we need to achieve good character, perfection --be thou perfect because your Father in heaven is perfect. This can surely be achieved when His temple–our body-- is kept clean.

We must believe that God’s guidelines are based on love. We must understand that his laws aren’t burden. It’s all for the best of our own selves, including food we eat. Surely God created plants and animals for their own purposes, but NOT all is for us to consume! In our effort to strive for spiritual, mental and physical perfection in Him, If avoiding meat altogether is yet impossible, God gives us Holy Spirit to help us through wisdom and love to make the best choices to eat. And if we look at what He calls unclean are really not-so-clean animals. Is it a burden for us to follow? No. it’s His love for us so we can be healthy because we’ve been bought with a high price.

God bless…

 

[Gloria1]

My grandparents are Seventh Day Adventists and they follow the “Diet, Health & Vegetarianism” by Ellen G. White which is very helpful. My grandparents are old but very strong. According to a recent study, Adventists live longer than the average person. It is not a sin to eat pork but it is rather beneficial not to eat pork because pork is full of “bad fats”. Vegetarianism is another choice Seventh Day Adventist people make and it has so many health benefits.