Don’t Eat the Bacon
The Duty of Holiness (Part 2)
You are the sons of Yahovah your God…For you are a holy people [set apart]to Yahovah your God; and Yahovah has chosen you to be a peculiar people to Himself, above all the nations on the earth. (Deuteronomy 14:1, 2)
This is Torah Living Daily Challenge—Episode 19—The Duty of Holiness (Part 2)
In Torah Living Daily Challenge episode 18, we looked at a portion of Torah that addressed the issue of death and grieving and Yahovah’s requirements for us in the way we view and respond to death. Although very brief, the issue being addressed in a single verse, the implications for the Torah Observant Believer in Y’shua Messiah are tremendous. The bottom line of this mitzvah was that we were not to follow the funerary or grieving traditions and practices of the surrounding pagan nations. This was a tall order for us as we were a mix-matched group of wandering folks—not just Hebrews. So many pagan customs and traditions were infused and widely practiced throughout our camp. Of note was the way we dealt with death—how we responded to death. We found that Father has sovereignty over all of creation and that included death. Death is not in the purview of man such that he decides how to treat and behave in response to death. And we found that as Torah Observant Believers in Y’shua Messiah that we had even greater responsibilities as it related to how we must view and deal with death. If you’ve not already done so, please check out episode 18 of Torah Living Daily Challenge to get the full dose of the challenge. Certainly, dealing with death is one of the hardest things that we as humans are at some point in our lives, forced to deal with. And as a holy people—a treasured possession of the Most High—we are still required to behave appropriately when death comes our way. We are to totally rely upon Him and His perfect wisdom and sovereignty. Granted, for some of us, this challenge is not easy—to remain a light to the world in the midst of grief—but with Yah’s precious Ruach haKodesh, we can do all things in Messiah that strengthens us. (Philippians 4:13)
Bacon
But now the focus turns to living holy lives as it relates to our diet. For the remainder of this portion, Father gives us clear instructions as to how we are to view the things in this world that we as the human race consume as food. Notice that I carefully stated—how we are to view the things in this world that we as the human race consume as food.
For many of us, one of the greatest challenges coming into the true Faith once delivered, was learning what things are acceptable to consume as food, and what things are not. For me, as an African American, growing up on the east-coast of the United States; raised on southern cooking and culinary traditions, to say that giving up some of the things I loved to eat as a child and young man was difficult is an understatement. Half of the meat products I consumed in my youth were pork based. Not to mention growing up in Baltimore, at the foot of the Chesapeake Bay, shellfish was an annual favorite that I looked forward to each year. Then I came into the Hebraic Roots Faith, only to find that all these things that I loved to eat as a youth were off-limits and that was devastating.
I had to reason within myself a few things: (1) why was Father being so dogmatic about us not eating pork and shellfish? Was He just being difficult? (2) Was there a way that I could skirt around this mitzvah and not be guilty or for that matter, caught consuming forbidden foods? (3) How do I tell my family that I no longer can consume the pork and shellfish and catfish that would be put on the dinner table whenever I’d visit? For me, it was a real quagmire. And to some extent, even after being in the Hebraic Roots for over a decade now, whenever I visit my family on the east coast, I’m forced to deal directly with this issue. This of course takes me out of my comfort zone, because I was raised to respect parents and elders. It’s easy to tell my brothers that I can’t eat that pork chop or I can’t eat crabs with them. But having to tell my mother and my aunt—both amazing cooks—that I can’t eat their meals of forbidden meats and fish was crushingly difficult.
Well, it took time, but I was able to accomplish it. It wasn’t easy at all. In fact, I found myself on a few occasions compromising the Faith and eating these forbidden foods in order to avoid dealing directly with the issue and the inevitable fallout that would ensue.
I guess the challenge as it relates to folks like me, is to figure out where the line in our lives will be drawn. Should my familial relationships be measured in the same vane as my relationship with Yahovah? For me, rejecting the forbidden foods that my mother and family members would prepare for me during my visits had the potential of leading to damage of my closeness and the overall relationship I’d shared with my parents and family for all of my life prior to coming into Hebraic Roots. In fact, this very thing has happened. I am for all intents and purposes dimly viewed by members of my family because of my Faith and my adherence to Torah Living and rejection of forbidden foods. It has troubled me and caused me a great deal of distress and grief. But then, I look to the relationship that I now have with Father, and my life is infinitely better for staying true to Torah. When I compare how my life would be if I compromised my convictions at the dinner tables of my family and the life I now have with Y’shua Messiah in the true Faith once delivered, I see clearly that the life abundant that Master spoke of (as recorded in John 10:10) is truly found on the side of holiness.
The challenge, then, is fulfilling one’s duty to holiness that Father requires us to perform. Surely, we could rationalize that Father prohibited our consumption of certain animals, fish and fowl, because of the deleterious effects that these things would have on our health. But beyond that; beyond the rational, comes the bigger picture that we are challenged to accept: accepting our identities and purpose—I mean truly embracing our identities and purposes as a chosen—an elect—a treasured people of Yahovah, and living out this reality in every aspect of our lives; including our diet. Yes, experts have shown that long-term consumption of these forbidden foods have the potential of causing us physical harm. But what the experts having shown is how compromising; how disobedience; how rejection of Torah will result in a broken relationship with Father and the health of our relationship with Yahovah must always be our primary focus and concern. He requires holiness in order for us to maintain that close relationship with Him that we all desire and that Father deeply desires to have with us collectively and individually. Indeed, Torah doesn’t make us holy. Y’shua makes us holy. Torah, however, is the instruction for living holy lives. Torah is the fulcrum of our Faith as true believers of Y’shua Messiah.
Thus, our Torah Living Daily Challenge for today dear friends is to fulfill our duty of holiness that Father has commanded us to perform. It is not easy. In fact, in our modern world, it can be downright impossible at times. But we can do all things in Messiah that strengthens us. We have Yahovah’s powerful, but precious Ruach haKodesh to aid us in fulfilling our duty to live holy lives.
Don’t give up. Don’t compromise. Stand on the side of holiness in all you do. In the end, Father will reward us and we will have the most unique relationship with the Creator of the Universe that is beyond the imaginations of men.
Until next time—may you be most blessed fellow saints in training. Shalom.