Why I Quit Eating Pork

Some time ago, I made some changes to the way I eat.

To be more specific, I quit eating pork. (And a few other things.)

Why?

Well, those of you who have been around a while, know that the bible and my faith are very important to me, and I continually study and learn from scripture. Studying and learning are things that never stop. Every time you read your bible… if you’re paying attention… you’ll see something you never saw before.

For instance, one of those things that I have come to learn, is that some things we have been told are null & void… Jesus (Yeshua) said they aren’t.

“Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah (God’s laws) or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete. Yes indeed! I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud or a stroke will pass from the Torah — not until everything that must happen has happened. So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness is far greater than that of the Torah-teachers and P’rushim, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven!”

Jesus (Yeshua) – Matthew 5:17-20 (CJB)

We aren’t living in the new earth. The old, corrupt earth is still here, and that means so is God’s laws – His Torah.

“But isn’t the Law abolished?”

That is exactly the opposite of what Jesus just said.

Don’t think that I have come to abolish the Torah (God’s laws) or the Prophets.

If the Law (the Torah) is gone, then that would make Jesus a liar. And he is not a liar.

The idea that we are not supposed to keep any of the law, is a statement that is often stated through a misunderstanding of what the law is…or that Paul was talking about more than one kind of law in his epistles. But that is a different conversation for another day.

God’s Torah (His Law) teaches all sorts of things – mainly, how to serve Him, how to live, and how to be a decent human. Like helping your neighbor’s animal that is distress, even if your neighbor is awful. Being good to your parents. Being honest and telling the truth. Those are certainly not outdated concepts. And yet… they are all part of the Law – the Torah of God. Much of the American legal system was originally based upon its principles.

And part of His “Guide to Living Life” is a list of the things He doesn’t want us to eat.

I mean, God made our bodies, so I’m pretty sure the maker knows what’s best.

“But you are not to eat those that only chew the cud or only have a separate hoof. For example, the camel, the coney and the hare are unclean for you, because they chew the cud but don’t have a separate hoof;  while the pig is unclean for you, because, although it has a separate and completely divided hoof, it doesn’t chew the cud.  You are not to eat meat from these or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.”

Leviticus 11:6-8 (CJB)

That pretty much did it for me.

“But didn’t God tell Peter to eat all sorts of animals and not to call them unclean?”

The next day about noon, while they were still on their way and approaching the city, Kefa (Peter) went up onto the roof of the house to pray. He began to feel hungry and wanted something to eat; but while they were preparing the meal, he fell into a trance in which he saw heaven opened, and something that looked like a large sheet being lowered to the ground by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals, crawling creatures and wild birds. Then a voice came to him, “Get up, Kefa, slaughter and eat!” But Kefa said, “No, sir! Absolutely not! I have never eaten food that was unclean or treif.” The voice spoke to him a second time: “Stop treating as unclean what God has made clean.” This happened three times, and then the sheet was immediately taken back up into heaven.

Kefa was still puzzling over the meaning of the vision he had seen, when the men Cornelius had sent, having inquired for Shim‘on’s house, stood at the gate and called out to ask if the Shim‘on known as Kefa was staying there.  While Kefa’s mind was still on the vision, the Spirit said, “Three men are looking for you. Get up, go downstairs, and have no misgivings about going with them, because I myself have sent them.”

Acts 10:9-20 (CJB)

If you read that story above in context, you’ll see that the dream he was having, had nothing to do with food. Continue reading in the book of Acts, and you will see that he says exactly what this dream was about.

 As he talked with him, Kefa went inside and found many people gathered. He said to them, “You are well aware that for a man who is a Jew to have close association with someone who belongs to another people, or to come and visit him, is something that just isn’t done. But God has shown me not to call any person common or unclean; so when I was summoned, I came without raising any questions. Tell me, then, why did you send for me?”

Cornelius answered, “Three days ago around this time, I was at minchah prayers in my house, when suddenly a man in shining clothes stood in front of me and said, ‘God has heard your prayer and remembered your acts of charity. Now send to Yafo and ask for Shim‘on, known as Kefa; he is staying in the house of Shim‘on, a leather-tanner, by the sea.’ So I sent for you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now all of us are here in the presence of God to hear everything the Lord has ordered you to say.”

Then Kefa addressed them: “I now understand that God does not play favorites, but that whoever fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him, no matter what people he belongs to.

Acts 10:27-35 (CJB)

Peter’s dream was about people.

Prior to studying this, for some time I had been feeling like I needed to give up pork anyways, if for no other reason, but for my health. I had been having some ongoing issues, and decided that taking that step couldn’t possibly hurt.

After all, how often do doctors tell you to eat less of it when you are trying to be healthier? I think there’s a reason for that.

Though I did have to joke when in the spring of 2021, our homestead was invaded by a herd of wild pigs, “Doesn’t it figure that I stop eating pork and this happens? Why couldn’t it have been a herd of angus cattle??? LOL”

But that said, I know I have made the right decision for me.

I have had lots of questions about the rest of my family. Did they stop as well?

Most of you know that we are now empty nesters, and it is just the two of us. I gave up the pork, but never demanded my husband do the same. If he wants to make himself a pot of beans with bacon in it, by all means he is free to do so.

He actually likes to cook and often makes things like pinto beans for himself to enjoy, as I have never been a fan. I may have lived in the south for most of my adult life, and I may love cornbread, but beans have never won me over.

I am not about to force my decision on him. After all, King Solomon (my 95th great grandfather) said, “It is better to live on a corner of the roof than to share the house with a nagging wife.”

What About the Recipes?

The recipes that I have written in the past that contain those ingredients, I will leave here for anyone that wishes to use them. I’m not going to delete my pork recipes or anything like that. My website here is not only my own personal cookbook, but is also a resource used by thousands of readers every month. I simply will no longer be publishing any new recipes that contain ingredients like that.

If there are substitutions that can be made, I have been going back and adding those as options to the recipes. For instance, many things that contain bacon, can be made with turkey or beef bacon instead. Many pork recipes can be made with turkey or chicken. There are often – though not always – alternatives to most recipes.

Click Here to see all of the Biblically Clean recipes here on the website.

As I have always said, I am not an expert at all things, nor do I know everything. But I continue to study, to learn, and this is the direction that I am headed. If you do not agree, that is fine.

Just study it for yourself, read your bible and sharpen your iron.