Many people are taught that Jesus/Yeshua declared all animals clean and are currently fit for human consumption. However, if we really take a closer look and examine this not only Scripturally, but logically, we will find out that this is simply not true.
I understand that this may be a difficult area for some, however I hope that in reading this, it may prompt you to do further research and most importantly seek out the Father humbly in prayer. May this also be an encouragement to others who have been revealed this truth, and also glorify our King and Saviour, Yeshua/Jesus.
So, where do we draw the line?
Can we call a pig food, and not a horse, cat or dog?
Thankfully, God already drew the line for us on what is considered food outlined in Leviticus 11.
Part of loving God, is loving ourselves, and through that we may love others. Eating things that are harmful to your body, and that God has already laid out as something to not be consumed, is not something to delight in, and ultimately it really is something that needs to be dealt with in the heart. The inside of the cup has to be cleaned first.
We are to do all things unto glory to God. This includes what we eat both spiritually, and physically.
1 Cor 10:31Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Back in 2014, the Holy Spirit was leading both my husband and I into deeper truths and understanding of the Scriptures. During this time, He began to work in our hearts about eating biblically clean. When we learned the truth about clean and unclean animals, it made a lot of sense in how our bodies would react to such as I got sick from eating pulled pork, and my husband was allergic to shellfish.
Once the Spirit revealed the truth, and He got a hold of my heart in this area, I had no hesitation of throwing out all pork related items, and shrimp in our house, and the Holy Spirit has taken what I found to be “good” to be “disgusting”. It is about our heart, but what is more important is seeking after His; and once I had recieved that conviction, I was utterly disgusted that such was in our house, and had the desire to promptly remove it. Not only from our physical dwelling, but within my own dwelling(temple/tabernacle).
This is how we should feel about things that are egregious to our Father, and allow the desire of His heart to be imparted to us. This is not just in the area of pork, or unclean animals, but ALL sin in our life. The inside of the cup has to be addressed first, and not simply the outside. 
We are to be sanctifying both the inside and the outside, WHOLLY: body, soul and spirit.
♦2 Cor 7:1Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, LET US CLEANSE OURSELVES FROM ALL FILTHINESS OF THE FLESH AND SPIRIT, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.(KJV)
♦1 Thes 5:23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. MAY YOUR WHOLE SPIRIT, SOUL, AND BODY BE KEPT BLAMELESS at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.(KJV)
We have to remember that we are considered priests under the New Covenant:
1 Peter 2:9But you are a chosen people, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light(BSB)
And just like the Levitical Priesthood, we are to distinguish between the holy and the profane, clean and unclean. This includes not only spiritual matters, but physical as well.
Lev 10:10You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean,(BSB)
What people seem to forget, is that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, and what we do BOTH physically and spiritually are interconnected. We still have a physical body, and just like the fact that our physical body still needs rest, it also needs physical food to be nourished. We need to be concerned on what we consume, both spiritually and physically.
Jesus said to be holy as He is holy(1 Peter 1:16), and He was quoting from Lev 11:44-45, the same chapter it speaks of not eating animals that are unclean, lest you be defiled.
Lev 11:43Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby. 44For I am the LORD(YHWH) your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 45For I am the LORD(YHWH) that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. (KJV)
Eating spiritually unclean will defile your soul, and can lead to spiritual death; but eating physically unclean will defile your body, and can lead to physical death. Eating pork or other animals that God has declared unclean carry many parasites and diseases that can kill you.
Many believe that God only gave His dietary instructions to the Levites, and are not valid under the New Covenant; however, this is simply not true, and we can even look back to Noah, seeing that there was a distinction between the clean and unclean animals.
Gen 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 SHALL TAKE TO THEE BY SEVENS, THE MALE AND FEMALE: AND OF THE BEASTS THAT ARE NOT CLEAN BY TWO, THE MALE AND FEMALE; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.(KJV)
We can even see Noah offered up a clean animal for sacrifice:
Gen 8:20And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and TOOK EVERY CLEAN BEAST, AND OF EVERY CLEAN FOWL, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.(KJV)
There are a handful of Scripture passages that people use to justify eating pork etc, however, I just wanted to go over the two main ones that I find to be a regular “go to” for people, and was also a stumbling block for me as I was figuring all this out back in 2014.
Jesus did not declare all foods clean, as commonly taught according to Mark 7. This is a misunderstanding of text, which was unauthorized addition to the Scriptures in various translations. During the time I was trying to reconcile this passage myself, I was using the NIV, and at the time it was very confusing.
I was continually going in prayer to the Father, to help me reconcile what the Spirit was revealing. Finally one day, as I had finished reading the account of Yeshua casting unclean spirits into pigs(Mat 8:28-31), He said to me “Kellie, why would I cast unclean spirits into pigs, that are unclean, to then say that it is okay to now consume them?” I looked up from the text, and sat bewildered for a while, and then He opened my understanding.
The scientific composition of pigs did not change. They were created with a specific purpose, just like the other unclean animals, like clams, as clams act as a filter to clean the water. Oysters, clams, and other shellfish help remove excess nitrogen from waters by incorporating it into their shells and tissue as they grow. 
Vultures, another unclean animal, just like many ocean dwellers, are earth’s “clean up crews”. They are scavengers. Vultures were made without feathers on their head as to keep their head clean from the dead carcass and from spreading disease. Pigs/swine are also part of the “clean up crew” and will eat pretty much anything. They are very bad for you to consume. Swine and pigs have over a dozen parasites within them, such as tapeworms, flukes, worms, and trichinae. There is no safe temperature at which pork can be cooked to ensure that all these parasites, their cysts, and eggs will be killed.
Here is a good video on examining the science behind biblical clean and unclean animals:
So, within context of Mark 7, it was concerning the tradition of men, not God, pertaining to the washing of hands. This also correlates to Matthew 15. This has nothing to do with making animals clean for human consumption, nor did Jesus EVER declare such.
Mark 7:3For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, EXCEPT THEY WASH THEIR HANDS oft, eat not, holding the TRADITION OF THE ELDERS. 4And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. 5Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?
6He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7Howbeit in vain do they worship me, TEACHING FOR DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.
8FOR LAYING ASIDE THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD, YE HOLD THE 
TRADITION OF MEN, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. (KJV)
Here is a second witness within the account of Matthew:
Matthew 15:20These are the things which defile a man: BUT TO EAT WITH UNWASHEN HANDS DEFILETH NOT A MAN. (KJV)
Does this mean that we can consume anything without reaping the effects that it may have on our physical body? If we really step back and think about it, does it really make sense that Yeshua would say that we can eat whatever we want, even when it harms the very body that He created? If the scientific composition did not change, then how do we justify eating what God has told us not to?
The other Scripture passage that people will use is within Acts 10. However, when looking at the context of not only Acts chapter 10, but 11, we will see that this has to do with the gospel going to the gentiles, which Peter actually clarifies twice; not that dogs, cats, pigs, vultures, camels, etc., are now on the menu.
Acts 10:28And 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. (KJV)
Acts 11:16Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. 17Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? 18When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, THEN HATH GOD ALSO TO THE GENTILES GRANTED REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE.(KJV)
Even at the very beginning of the chapter, Peter had even said that he had not eaten anything unclean, and this happened several years after Yeshua was crucified.
Acts 10:14″No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
Yeshua had used this vision to show Peter that there is no longer a seperation between Jew and Gentile, which is why Peter then goes to the house of Cornelius, and many gentiles recieved the Holy Spirit, and were baptized.
♦Acts 10:34Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.(KJV)
♦Acts 10:44While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 45And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 47Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? 48And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.(KJV)
This following video, goes over these scripture passages that I have shared, as well as others that are commonly used out of context and misused to help those who are seeking clarity and to rightly divide the Word of God.
So, in conclusion I want to ask, where is your line drawn, and does it match up with God’s?
Wow kellie this is very heart searching,,,a few years ago my spirit was crying to be pure and Holy For Jesus and the food issues came into my heart and was totally going to go ahead and try to keep them but then argueing constantly with my husband who didn’t have the same conviction and also I run a canteen where they want hotdogs I felt like a hypocrite and also reading a verse where it says all creatures of God are good and we should not say they’re not ( paraphrasing) it says differently but you get the picture so I was trying to ignore the convictions that kept returning figuring it’s not of the Lord but I’m totally convicted again and am asking what I should do because my husband still brings home pork and. Expects me to make it 😢What can I do about all those things that stand and convict me ,,am I not a hypocrite if I cook it for other people and not eat it myself 😭?????
Hello Lorraine, thank you for reaching out and commenting. I hope that my answers edify and encourage you.
Both my husband and I were convicted at relatively the same time pertaining to eating clean. However, I can tell you that if it were just me that was convicted on such and my husband still had not, I know that regardless of how my husband felt about eating pork, shellfish, etc., he would honor and respect my conviction and would not expect or force me to cook or eat something that defiled my conscience or conviction. We would honor and treat another in the same manner if they were to come over to our house and did not eat any meat, and were vegetarian. If we knew that a friend, or family member did not eat meat, we would do our best in accommodating that person, and would not put before them something that they did not eat, as that would be looking to our own self-interests, and not others.
Phil 2:3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
My sister, for example, who is an unbeliever, knowing I do not eat pork, made sure that they did not cook any meal that had pork or other unclean animal when I had dinner over at their house.
A loving and godly husband/wife, or even another brother or sister, should not force another to go against their conscience or convictions, even if they themselves have not received such understanding or conviction from the Spirit. I would recommend that you set aside some time for you and your husband to lovingly discuss this. Let him know how you feel, and that you respect his decision to still eat pork, and that you understand it will still be in the home, however, that he would honor and respect your decision and conviction of the Holy Spirit. Let him know that you love him, but you can no longer prepare meals with such, and perhaps mention that you are willing to cook other meals, maybe even suggest getting some all beef bacon or hotdogs as an alternative.
Understand that as long as you are operating in the Spirit, you are not disrespecting, or dishonoring your husband. In staying true to your convictions and what the Lord is leading you to do, you actually honor your husband by being obedient to the Spirit, and perhaps in time your husbands heart will soften in this area.
1 Peter 3:1Wives, in the same way, submit yourselves to your husbands, so that even if they refuse to believe the word, they will be won over without words by the behavior of their wives 2when they see your pure and reverent demeanor.
After you discuss with your husband, I would set aside time to talk with your children, letting them know, that you love your husband, however, you cannot go against what the Spirit is leading you, and that it is not dishonoring to him to do so.
As far as your work is concerned, I do not have enough information to go off of, however I can give you a few suggestions as well as a personal experience of mine. A few years back we were in ministry with another couple, who also knew about eating clean, and while obeyed it themselves, were giving out unclean food during the homeless outreach, and expected us to as well. I strongly objected, and both my husband and I were in agreement and it was confronted. I could not within my means and control, hand out food to the homeless while representing the Lord, and His ministry to lead others into such. Within secular jobs it can be a little more difficult, especially in expressing your beliefs. Both my husband and I were in the military, and so, in certain situations and jobs you really have to rely on the leading of the Spirit. So, I would really submit those things to the Lord in prayer, and address the situation at home first. Perhaps you could sell beef hot dogs instead, maybe a work around could be made, or maybe the Lord will lead you to a different job.
Pertaining to the passage that you referenced, comes from 1 Timothy 4:4-5. This is another common passage that many have, and continue, to use out of context to support eating what they want; however, as I mentioned in my blog post, when you examine the context and logic of the matter, it simply proves to be false. I understand about being able to reconcile these passages, as the Spirit is convicting, as it was something that I wrestled with, as I mentioned within my post.
Now, let’s look at the whole passage:
1 Timothy 4:1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 4For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 5For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
This is what we need to believe in order to conclude that 1 Timothy 4:4 is is declaring all animals to be scripturally acceptable for food:
1) We would have to believe that teaching God’s dietary instructions are doctrines of devils and seducing spirits (4:1).
2) We would have to believe that teaching obedience to eating clean is departing from the faith (4:1).
3) We would have to believe teaching God has set apart (sanctified) certain animals as food in His Word is speaking lies and hypocritical (4:2).
4) We would have to believe that somehow all animals can be set apart, uncommon, sanctified, and holy by the Word of God, but at the same time, leaving nothing to be common and unholy.
5) We would have to conclude that God’s Word states nothing about animals being clean (food) and unclean (not food) and that all animals were always to be received with thanksgiving (4:3).
Now, is every creature of God good? Absolutely! However, each animal was designed with a specific purpose, and not all were made for human consumption, and this has not changed. Should we really receive animals that are scientifically bad for our body, that can lead to physical death in “thanksgiving” and that such is sanctified by the Word? When the Word tells us that our body should be sanctified wholly, body, soul and spirit? Do we sanctify our physical body by defiling it with an animal that can cause physical death due to parasites?
Finally, sister, be strong in the Lord, and allow yourself grace, as I know our Father is also giving when we are trying to be obedient and showing our reverence and love to Him. Stand firm, and not just in this matter, but all matters that He has and is leading you on. Don’t let the sword of righteous division discourage you in faith, rather let it fully pierce you, and then the hearts of others through your actions. I will be praying for you, and may the Lord direct your path. Peace and blessings!
1 Cor 16:13Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong. 14Do everything in love.
Wow you truely are beautiful inside and out 😍I have tears in my eyes because I truely belief what you are saying and it will be very challenging but I truely believe I need to pray for a lot of strength from The Holy Spirit and I will do all I can to try and do it peacefully,,that’s why I give in to my husband because sister phoebe said not to argue but it’s hard because we cannot talk about anything biblical because he just doesn’t see what The Holy Spirit is showing us and it’s very hard on me but thank you sooo much and please pray for us ,we have 9 children and just one married 6 boys 3 girls youngest twin boys ,,so it is very stressful trying to get all to see but I need to realize He who drew me will also draw them I just need to do my part 🙏🏻The Lord Bless you and you husband , family ,pray the Lords healing on your husband 🙏🏻😍😘
Thank you sister for your kind and edifying response! You are very welcome for everything, and thank you for reaching out to me, and sharing with me your heart. Thank you for your prayers and we will continue to lift you and your family up in prayer. Blessings.
Joshua 1:9Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”