- 7 hours ago
The Common Sense Bible Study crew reads Romans 14:1–3 and discusses what “weak in faith” means, contrasting common interpretations that the Torah is “done away with” with the idea that weak believers are often new, cautious, or unsure of boundaries, so they build extra “fences” around commandments and can become divisive over ambiguous issues. The group compares biblical examples of faith (the centurion, the Syrophoenician woman, Gideon, Barak) and emphasize welcoming newcomers without judging or despising them.
Jay argues that the “vegetables only” issue likely relates to conscience and idolatry, outlining New Testament eating controversies (fasting traditions, handwashing, eating with Gentiles, blood, and food offered to idols) explaining that intent and association with pagan worship drive the conflict. Modern parallels include Passover leaven debates, halal meat, kosher slaughter concerns, and disagreements over calendars and Sabbaths, warning that quarreling over opinions harms fellowship.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
Follow me on X: https://jaycarper.com/twitter
Follow me on Facebook: https://jaycarper.com/fbat
Follow me on Whole Bible Community: https://jaycarper.com/ttn
Jay argues that the “vegetables only” issue likely relates to conscience and idolatry, outlining New Testament eating controversies (fasting traditions, handwashing, eating with Gentiles, blood, and food offered to idols) explaining that intent and association with pagan worship drive the conflict. Modern parallels include Passover leaven debates, halal meat, kosher slaughter concerns, and disagreements over calendars and Sabbaths, warning that quarreling over opinions harms fellowship.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
Follow me on X: https://jaycarper.com/twitter
Follow me on Facebook: https://jaycarper.com/fbat
Follow me on Whole Bible Community: https://jaycarper.com/ttn
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LearningTranscript
00:00:01Welcome back to Common Sense Bible Study and a journey through the book of Romans.
00:00:05We finished Romans chapter 13 last week, and we finished the entire chapter in less than
00:00:11two weeks, which I think is definitely a record for us.
00:00:16And we're starting Romans 14 tonight, another chapter loaded with potentially controversial
00:00:23topics, or at least in some circles, they're controversial.
00:00:25I suspect that most of us are on the same page with these things, but I'd like to give
00:00:30it a full treatment anyways, because other people who may not think of or may not read
00:00:37the scriptures in quite the same way will be listening to this later.
00:00:41And I want to make sure that everybody who wants to hear this is going to get as well
00:00:46rounded and as thorough an examination of these verses as possible.
00:00:52So just as a reminder of where we're at, we're in chapter 14, which is still in the
00:00:58section where Paul is talking about living at peace with God and man.
00:01:03He is speaking to both Jews and Gentiles, or people who identify themselves as Jews and
00:01:08Gentiles, all grafted into the same tree of Israel.
00:01:13Sometimes he is more directly addressing Jews, and sometimes he is more directly addressing
00:01:19the Gentile believers.
00:01:20This section is really isn't directed at any particular group.
00:01:25There's no part of this book that doesn't apply to everybody.
00:01:28But Paul seemed to more have the Jewish people, the Jewish believers in Rome in mind when he
00:01:34wrote chapters two through five.
00:01:36In chapters nine through 11, he was more speaking to the Gentile believers.
00:01:43So 14, living at peace with God and man.
00:01:47And in the last chapter, chapter 13, there was quite a bit about living at peace with people
00:01:54outside of the congregation, with government, your neighbors, people who might want to be
00:02:00your enemies to persecute you.
00:02:03And of course, those things apply inside the congregation too.
00:02:06And there is controversy about in the beginning of chapter 13, when he's talking about rulers,
00:02:13whether those are, you know, synagogue rulers or civil government rulers.
00:02:17And as far as his main, the main thing he's trying to get across, I don't think it really
00:02:23matters which one, because the same principle applies no matter what.
00:02:27And now in this chapter, we're back more talking about the Jews and the Gentiles within this
00:02:33one congregation getting along with each other.
00:02:35Some people who knew more of the scriptures had a longer tradition of obeying the commandments
00:02:42or certainly obeying them any particular way.
00:02:46And then the Gentile believers who were still learning it and trying to figure out exactly
00:02:53how all these foreign traditions fit into their lives.
00:02:58So let's move on and read the first part, chapter 14.
00:03:03As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.
00:03:08One person believes that he may eat anything while the weak person eats only vegetables.
00:03:13Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass
00:03:17judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
00:03:21Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?
00:03:24It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld, for the Lord is
00:03:29able to make him stand.
00:03:31One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.
00:03:35Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
00:03:38The one who observes the day observes it in honor of the Lord, the one who eats in honor
00:03:43of the Lord since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains abstains in honor of the
00:03:48Lord and gives thanks to God.
00:03:50For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.
00:03:54For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord.
00:03:58So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.
00:04:01For to this end Christ died and lived, again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and
00:04:06of the living.
00:04:08Why do you pass judgment on your brother?
00:04:10Or you, why do you despise your brother?
00:04:12For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
00:04:15For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue
00:04:19shall confess to God.
00:04:20So then, each of us will give an account to himself to God.
00:04:24Account of himself, sorry.
00:04:26The usual interpretation of verse 1 is that the one who is weak in faith is someone who
00:04:34doesn't understand all of that the law has been done away with, and now you're able to
00:04:40do all the things that the law said you couldn't do before.
00:04:43Not all of them, of course, because nobody really believes that you can, you're free to
00:04:48commit murder or commit adultery or whatever.
00:04:50But just the things that, usually when people say this, they mean things that are distinctively
00:04:56Jewish, keeping the Sabbath day, eating kosher, wearing tzitzit on your clothes, all those
00:05:03kinds of things.
00:05:04And this is what most people believe this is talking about.
00:05:07The one who is weak in faith thinks he has to do more stuff in order to be pleasing to
00:05:12God.
00:05:13And the one who is strong in faith believes that he doesn't have to do anything, that he
00:05:19doesn't have to keep the Sabbath.
00:05:20He doesn't have to avoid eating pork or bugs or whatever.
00:05:26But is that really what is being talked about here?
00:05:31Anybody want to offer an opinion before we really get into it?
00:05:35And by getting into it, I don't mean quarreling over opinions.
00:05:38I think it may be referring to those that are new to the faith, because they bring a number
00:05:46of, they bring part of the world into the faith, and they have to contest with that, and they
00:05:54have to struggle with that.
00:05:56I have seen many a church that attempts to throw people that have just found the Lord into
00:06:05positions of leadership.
00:06:08And I think that to be unwise, I think there's a concept of eldership that has to do with
00:06:13age.
00:06:16So, but to get back on point, I'm sorry, we get a little off there.
00:06:20I would equate it to that, or at least part of it.
00:06:25Okay, good.
00:06:26Anybody else want to offer an opinion on this, on the one who is weak in faith?
00:06:31It seems like the word faith is a key word here.
00:06:36We tend to think of faith as something you do mostly in your mind, but when you look at
00:06:43the faith chapter, Hebrews 11, where it talks about all these great men of faith, they're
00:06:51all commended for doing things, not just thinking things.
00:06:55Yeah, very true.
00:06:57Yeah, we've talked quite a bit about the concept of faith versus faithfulness or intellectual
00:07:04assent to a fact or trust in somebody and loyalty to that person and how all of these things
00:07:13relate to the concept of faith.
00:07:15And they all play into it.
00:07:17They're all part of the idea.
00:07:19But yeah, the biblical idea of faith is a lot more than just believing that something is
00:07:23true.
00:07:24It is believing that someone is true and then acting on that belief and being true in return.
00:07:32Anybody else have a thought on what the one who is weak in faith means?
00:07:37Okay, that Syrophoenician woman that went to Yeshua for healing for a daughter, and Yeshua
00:07:49said, it's not meant for me to take the children's bread and give it to the daughter.
00:07:55And her response was, even the dog eats the crumbs that falls from his master's table, would
00:08:06she be considered someone as weak in faith?
00:08:11Because she was not a believer as such.
00:08:16But I guess she heard about Yeshua and the great work that he was doing, and her daughter
00:08:25needed healing, so she went to him.
00:08:28Would that be considered someone that's weak in faith who didn't know anything about the
00:08:36entire Hebrew belief system, but desired to get her daughter healed?
00:08:45Yeah, I don't think so.
00:08:47No, looking at Scripture, we see, I'm trying to think of the example.
00:08:53Who was the one where Yeshua said he had not seen such faith in all of Israel?
00:08:58Wasn't that a centurion?
00:09:00A Gentile?
00:09:01The centurion.
00:09:03I think he did mention something about faith with her.
00:09:07I know he said that about the centurion.
00:09:11Yeah, I was just scanning for that.
00:09:13But was that not the widow with a mother?
00:09:16No, the Syrophoenician woman who went to him for a daughter to be healed.
00:09:24I can't remember where exactly he was.
00:09:26No, but didn't he reference her as being faithful?
00:09:29I don't recall.
00:09:31He might have.
00:09:32I'm not sure.
00:09:32But the one I was thinking of was the centurion.
00:09:35I know the centurion he did, but I can't remember.
00:09:39But I think he did.
00:09:41I, you know, I think he did.
00:09:45Well, in Matthew 8, 10, we have in this section of Scripture, we have the centurion who comes to Yeshua
00:09:53and says, you know, my servant is sick and, you know, he's going to die.
00:09:57Or he's suffering, suffering terribly and come heal him.
00:10:01And Yeshua says, sure, I'll come and heal him.
00:10:03And he says, no, no, you don't have to come because you can just say the word and he will
00:10:07be healed.
00:10:07And Yeshua responds saying, truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.
00:10:13And this is a centurion.
00:10:16He's not Jewish.
00:10:17I mean, he might know something of the culture and the commandments, but he didn't grow up in the synagogue
00:10:23and, you know, learning Torah.
00:10:26But Yeshua says that he has more faith than anybody he's met in Israel.
00:10:30And then, on the other hand, look at his disciples when he tries to teach them about the leaven of
00:10:36the Pharisees or about feeding the second multitude.
00:10:43And he says, oh, you of little faith, have you learned nothing?
00:10:48And there's a contrast, I think, on one hand, to somebody who doesn't know anything but still believes in who
00:10:54God is and what he can do.
00:10:55And that's a kind of faith that's very powerful.
00:10:57It's not a weak faith at all.
00:11:00And on the other hand, someone who knows lots of stuff but doesn't understand it or doesn't really believe it.
00:11:08And that's a weak faith.
00:11:10The concept of faith is a little bit fuzzy at times because it can mean different things in different contexts.
00:11:16And in this case, is Paul talking about someone who knows the scriptures and doesn't believe them?
00:11:23Or is he talking about somebody who is unfaithful?
00:11:27Meaning he knows them or whether he knows them or not, he's unfaithful to God because he doesn't believe God
00:11:32or doesn't do what God said to do.
00:11:35I just found it.
00:11:37I just found it.
00:11:38Yes, I agree with you.
00:11:42But I just found the scripture.
00:11:45Yeshua did say, oh, woman, great is your faith.
00:11:49Excellent.
00:11:51And our daughter was healed.
00:11:53Yes, he did mention that your faith was great.
00:11:56Okay.
00:11:57All right.
00:11:57Okay, so I agree with what you're saying, but verse one references welcome him.
00:12:09So there is something to that particular phrase, which is implying to me that you are just entering into this
00:12:23community or belief system or whatnot.
00:12:26So I see what you're saying about faith having action, but that doesn't really address the welcome him part.
00:12:35Yeah, and that's a good observation because that really does, that is important in understanding this verse.
00:12:42I think, not think, from what I'm reading in Romans 14.1, really, as you were mentioning, Jay, it's so
00:12:51contextual to what the whole chapter goes on to describe.
00:12:57And I would agree with, I think, what the other gentleman is saying, that this is really about a person
00:13:04who is perhaps just entering to starting to, you know, keep the commandments or follow Shabbat or eat clean or
00:13:15whatever.
00:13:15And in the context of that aspect, I think this person who is weak in faith needs to be still
00:13:23welcomed, but not get into quarrels over opinions.
00:13:28So that's kind of where I'm at with it.
00:13:31And of course, when you're talking about the woman who was, whose daughter was healed, I think she was like,
00:13:38June was saying she was a Gentile.
00:13:42And then because she said, was it the same woman who said that, you know, even the dogs get crumbs?
00:13:48Was it the same woman?
00:13:51So I think that's a different context again, right?
00:13:55Yeah, it's a different kind of faith.
00:13:57It's a different kind of faith.
00:13:59Yeah.
00:13:59So that's all I have.
00:14:00So, yeah.
00:14:01Thanks.
00:14:02Well, I think that, you know, all of these things in combination are really, are very helpful at getting to
00:14:08the point of what Paul is saying.
00:14:09That this is about people who are new to the faith.
00:14:12In general, maybe not always, but fairly, that's probably mostly what he's talking about.
00:14:17And he is talking about people who, who believe God's promises and what, and God's word.
00:14:27But it's not that these people trying to get this worded, right?
00:14:35It's not like he's talking about people who know the word and don't believe what God said.
00:14:41That's not the kind of lack of faith that he's talking about.
00:14:45He's talking about people who may not have confidence that they understand the word or know all the ins and
00:14:54outs and don't know exactly where the boundaries are.
00:14:56And so they're erring on the side of caution and saying, I don't want to screw up.
00:15:02So I don't want God to strike me with lightning or, you know, whatever, whatever this God I've just discovered
00:15:08is does.
00:15:08So I'm going to go way overboard trying to do the right thing.
00:15:13And so it's not even talking about somebody who is disobedient necessarily.
00:15:18But somebody who is fearful that God is going to strike them for doing the wrong thing or just ignorant
00:15:26about what it is they're supposed to be doing.
00:15:28And so since they don't understand the nuances of the commandments, they are for themselves, they're putting up fences around
00:15:37fences.
00:15:38If you're not familiar with that term, it's a common way to describe all of the rabbinic rules that have
00:15:45been built up around the actual written commandments.
00:15:47So when God says, I'm trying to think of a good example, honor the Sabbath.
00:15:57So you have a refrigerator and you have, you have the special stove and, you know, all of those accoutrements.
00:16:05Yeah.
00:16:06And you've got an elevator that you don't have to push any buttons.
00:16:09Right.
00:16:09Right.
00:16:10Yeah.
00:16:10So rather than risk potentially violating the Sabbath by creating an electrical circuit, they automate it all so that the
00:16:21elevator just goes up and down all day and opens the door on every floor.
00:16:24So nobody has to accidentally push a button.
00:16:26And this is a fence around a fence.
00:16:29And not many people would would probably say that pushing a button in an elevator is really breaking the commandment.
00:16:35But just to be sure, because maybe it is, we're just not going to push any buttons.
00:16:42And, you know, setting up a specific distance, you can carry a key in your pocket, but you can't carry
00:16:50it in your hand.
00:16:51Rules like that.
00:16:53And it's just to make sure that you don't even get close to violating the commandment.
00:16:58And I really think that that's what Paul is talking about here.
00:17:02And, you know, as we continue to talk about the controversies that he's addressing, I think you'll see why that's
00:17:09the specific kind of weakness that I think he's talking about.
00:17:13Well, it's interesting.
00:17:14If somebody comes to the faith, there's usually an exuberance and a, oh, man, I've experienced something that is incredible.
00:17:22I want to share it with everybody.
00:17:23And there's nothing wrong with it.
00:17:25In fact, it's a good thing.
00:17:26It probably is reminding those that have been in the faith for quite some time, wow, that's what I should
00:17:32strive for.
00:17:33There's a sense of a purity to it, but there's a craziness to it as well.
00:17:39And, you know, trying to temper that and mold that, that's a difficult thing, you know.
00:17:48It's just because you don't want to squash and basically discourage somebody in what they are truly experiencing.
00:17:58But you also want to bring them into proper understanding.
00:18:03Yeah.
00:18:04And that is, I mean, that really is exactly what Paul is talking about.
00:18:10And the most common interpretation of this chapter is that Paul is talking about the commandments and saying, you know,
00:18:20God commanded to keep the weakly saddle.
00:18:23God commanded to eat only clean animals.
00:18:29And Paul is saying, you know, only the people who are weak in faith, they still think they have to
00:18:33keep all these commandments.
00:18:35And people who are strong in faith, they know that, you know, these commandments don't apply anymore and we can
00:18:40eat whatever we want.
00:18:41And we can take a Sabbath or not take a Sabbath or take it on any day we want.
00:18:45That's the typical interpretation of this passage.
00:18:51And I think that it's easy for people to believe that because they're not exposed to the actual controversies that
00:18:57were happening in Rome.
00:18:59But if you spend a few years in a Torah observant congregation, you will know exactly what Paul is talking
00:19:06about because you will see it with your own eyes.
00:19:08And it's got nothing to do with whether or not we should keep the Sabbath or whether or not we
00:19:12should keep clean.
00:19:14It's more about how do we do these things and where are the boundaries?
00:19:20You know, some of the some of the things I want to say crazy and Scott started it.
00:19:25So I'm going to go with crazy.
00:19:27Some of the crazy things that we see in Torah observant congregations or pronomian is, I think, a more neutral
00:19:34word.
00:19:34I don't want to use the term Hebrew roots because it's loaded with so much baggage, but the baggage is
00:19:40really what I'm kind of talking about here.
00:19:41So maybe I should just use that term.
00:19:44People argue about does the Sabbath begin at sunset or does it begin at midnight or does it begin at
00:19:51sunrise?
00:19:53Is the Sabbath counted from the new moon or is it just a continuous cycle of seven days?
00:19:59What is clean?
00:20:00Is duck clean or not?
00:20:03What about people actually argue about whether chicken is clean?
00:20:06In turkeys and maybe a shark is clean because if you use a microscope, you can't actually see something that
00:20:13looks like scales.
00:20:14So these arguments happen all the time within these communities because people are relearning the commandments that their ancestors forgot.
00:20:25And they are mixing with people who have been keeping the commandments for years or decades or even their whole
00:20:31lives, just like what was happening in Rome.
00:20:34So we had the Jewish community who was temporarily exiled and then came back.
00:20:40And we have the Gentile believers who were, I mean, they weren't abandoned by the Jews because the emperor kicked
00:20:46them out.
00:20:47But they were left alone in Rome, mostly alone, trying to figure this stuff out on their own.
00:20:52And now the Jews are starting to come back.
00:20:54And the Gentiles, while in the absence of the Jewish believers, they had started developing their own culture and their
00:21:01own interpretation of the commandments.
00:21:03And now we've got these two cultures that are trying to fellowship together and experiencing conflict.
00:21:09And these new believers get so excited about the new things that they're finding, the new commandment all the time,
00:21:15a new concept, a new idea about God.
00:21:18And these things can be really exciting.
00:21:20I mean, I don't, I think just about everybody who crosses that line from being the typical Sunday Christian who
00:21:30believes that everything except the Ten Commandments have been done away with over into a law-abiding Torah-keeping believer
00:21:38gets really excited for a period of time.
00:21:42And, you know, they want to argue about everything.
00:21:45And it's not because they want to argue necessarily.
00:21:48I mean, some people do, but it's because it's really important to get it right.
00:21:52And they feel like they've got to understand this.
00:21:54And everybody else has to understand it, too.
00:21:56Or you're all condemning yourselves by keeping the Sabbath wrong.
00:22:02And most of the things that we end up arguing about are things that God didn't really explain very well.
00:22:09Like, when does the month start?
00:22:11You know, outside of Torah-keeping circles, who cares?
00:22:15Nobody knows.
00:22:16Nobody even thinks about it.
00:22:18But when you start keeping the commandments and you start trying to keep God's appointed times on the days that
00:22:24he said, well, then it becomes important.
00:22:27Does the new moon start at the conjunction?
00:22:29Is that where the month begins?
00:22:32Or does it start when you see the first sliver of the moon?
00:22:35Does it start when you see it where you live?
00:22:37Or when two people see it in Jerusalem?
00:22:41The Bible just doesn't say.
00:22:42It is totally silent about how do you determine when the month starts.
00:22:47So this is something that's a matter of opinion.
00:22:50We have to figure it out.
00:22:52Now, obviously, maybe not obviously if you haven't studied it, but God's appointed times are designed to be kept as
00:22:59a community.
00:23:00Everybody's supposed to be doing it on the same day.
00:23:04So if everybody decides in their own mind which day is the right way to do it, then we're not
00:23:11really doing it.
00:23:12Because we're supposed to be doing it on the same day.
00:23:15And that will become important as we go a little bit further into this chapter.
00:23:19I'm just kind of giving a perspective of what's really happening here in Rome.
00:23:24And if you want to see it with your own eyes, find a Messianic Jewish or a Torah-observant congregation
00:23:32in your area and go fellowship with them for a few years.
00:23:36You have to be patient.
00:23:37But after three or four years, you will get a really good feel for what Paul was talking about in
00:23:42this chapter.
00:23:43Yeah, quarreling over opinions.
00:23:45I'm experiencing it right now.
00:23:47There's some people that are doing tabernacles today, as a matter of fact.
00:23:51I've done that myself before.
00:23:53Yeah, I've done that myself before in terms of, oh, it's a new moon.
00:23:56And then I have a friend that does a rotating Sabbath.
00:24:02And she changes her Sabbath every month to reflect the new moon.
00:24:08And from my perspective, it is very divisive because I don't know how you can survive work-wise because your
00:24:16weekly work week is changing every month.
00:24:21But these issues are very dear to these people.
00:24:26And the quarreling thing is important to mention, too, because I remember the first time I met this individual.
00:24:36One of the first conversations was, there was Passover on the 14th day or the 15th day.
00:24:43And I had no opinion.
00:24:45Then he wanted to jump right into the Trinity and this and that.
00:24:47I'm just like, okay, so you have more knowledge than me or you're more opinionated than I.
00:24:53And quite frankly, just squashed my wanting to deal with him.
00:24:55And I don't.
00:24:56To this day, if I hear of an event that he's going to, I just don't really want to have
00:25:01that type of a, you know, my knowledge is more than your knowledge type of comparison.
00:25:07Because it's not a big deal to me, you know, but quarreling will retard fellowship.
00:25:18It just does.
00:25:21So that's, I think, an important thing to point out in this.
00:25:24Yeah.
00:25:25And anything that is not clearly spelled out in scripture is something that Paul is talking about here.
00:25:32Quarreling over opinions or matters of opinions.
00:25:35I mean, if, if God was very clear, I'm of the opinion that he was very clear about which day
00:25:41is the Sabbath.
00:25:43And we can use history and extra biblical records.
00:25:47Next few verses are going to challenge you, Jay.
00:25:49Yeah.
00:25:51In some people's minds, it will, I'm sure.
00:25:54But, you know, we have independent sources from the Bible to know what, how the Jews of the first century
00:25:59kept the Sabbath.
00:26:00And that means we know how Yeshua did it, because he did it on the same day as everybody else.
00:26:05So I don't, that's one of those things where I just don't understand how people can think that scripture is
00:26:13not crystal clear.
00:26:14But they still argue about it.
00:26:17Yeah, that's, that's not really the point.
00:26:20It's the arguing over ambiguous things that is the point.
00:26:24But, yeah, so we'll get into some more of those things here in a little bit.
00:26:27Anybody else have any observations about this verse before we move on?
00:26:32What about Gideon?
00:26:35And when the angel of the Lord told Gideon that he's a mighty man of valor, but Gideon didn't see
00:26:45himself in that position.
00:26:49And he questioned God when he brought out the fleece and he said, well, look, let Jew fall on the
00:27:00fleece and not on the ground.
00:27:02And when he experienced that, then he brought out the fleece again and said, let Jew fall on the ground
00:27:11and not on the fleece.
00:27:13And he did experience that.
00:27:16And still, when God told him to go and carry down the altar, the pagan altar that his father had
00:27:22built, he did not go during the day because he was afraid.
00:27:28He went during the night.
00:27:31Would you consider him as one who is weak in faith because he was afraid of his father?
00:27:39And he didn't see himself as a mighty man of valor.
00:27:44Then God saw him as a mighty man of valor.
00:27:50Because even with this Syrophoenician woman, Jesus saw her as a woman of great faith.
00:27:58Right.
00:28:00Right.
00:28:00For the systems because she wanted her daughter to be, and that's to show us when we really want something,
00:28:09we may not be following a certain, say, religion or may not have certain beliefs.
00:28:17But once we have made our mind that we want something, we will go all the way to get that.
00:28:25I mentioned this woman because it's out of desperation she went to go to Jesus.
00:28:32But Jesus saw her as a woman of great faith.
00:28:38And I think that's what a part of comes in when Paul says not to quarrel over opinions because Jesus
00:28:46saw her different than other people may have seen her because she was not an Israelite.
00:28:54She was a Gentile.
00:28:57But he was desperate.
00:28:58And Gideon, he was afraid of his father.
00:29:04And he did not see himself as a mighty man of valor.
00:29:10But God saw him because God knew what he was going to do with him.
00:29:16And I feel that sometimes we who might be weak in faith, God sees us differently because he has great
00:29:26plans for us.
00:29:27I think that's true.
00:29:29And Gideon's story reminds me of the father.
00:29:33I think he brought his son to Yeshua.
00:29:36And if I remember right, his son was an epileptic or something like that.
00:29:41And Yeshua said, do you believe that I can heal him?
00:29:45And the man replied, Lord, I believe.
00:29:47Help my unbelief.
00:29:49And I think that's the same place that Gideon was in.
00:29:52He was, he both believed and he was afraid.
00:29:54It's like, Lord, I believe you can do this.
00:29:57But are you really going to do this through me?
00:29:59That doesn't seem likely.
00:30:03And where he was lacking faith was in God's judgment about who was the right person to do this.
00:30:11And God knows you.
00:30:13God knows every single one of us.
00:30:15And if he picks somebody for a job, then that person is qualified for the job.
00:30:20Because God knows what the job needs.
00:30:23And so we look at ourselves and, you know, we seem like grasshoppers compared to the giants that God is
00:30:30sending us against.
00:30:33But God sees us for the giants that we can be.
00:30:36The giants that he intends us to be.
00:30:39And so when the angel calls Gideon a mighty man of Yahweh, Gideon might not have seen himself that way.
00:30:45But God knew who Gideon could be and who he was going to make him become.
00:30:50So what Gideon needed to do was get past.
00:30:54He had faith.
00:30:56He had faith to believe in God.
00:30:58But he didn't have faith to believe in what God said about him.
00:31:02And that just needed, he needed some experience.
00:31:07He needed to see it.
00:31:08Hopefully that makes sense.
00:31:10Any other thoughts on verse one?
00:31:13What about Barak?
00:31:15When God sent Deborah to tell him to go out against the enemy.
00:31:23And he said he wouldn't go unless Deborah goes.
00:31:28And Deborah had to go, but then Deborah said that he wouldn't get any honor.
00:31:34A woman is going to get that honor because he was supposed to defeat Cicero.
00:31:40But it took a woman, I think it was Jail or something.
00:31:44I can't remember him.
00:31:45He's the one who put the nail in his stemper.
00:31:49So to me, he didn't display any faith.
00:31:56And the victory didn't come to him.
00:32:00Yeah, I see him, again, a lot like Gideon, where he had enough faith that someone that he could see
00:32:09had a connection with God, like Deborah.
00:32:12He could trust in that relationship.
00:32:15He just didn't have faith in his own relationship with God.
00:32:18And obviously the faith isn't in the relationship.
00:32:21The faith is in God himself.
00:32:23He just needed some help.
00:32:26He was definitely weak in faith.
00:32:28And that's the faith you're talking about?
00:32:31I don't think that's what Paul is talking about here.
00:32:34I think what Paul is talking about is someone.
00:32:38Well, in a way it is because he's talking about someone who is just learning the commandments.
00:32:44And because he doesn't have faith in his own understanding of the commandments, he's going way beyond what he needs
00:32:53to do.
00:32:53Or he is being very careful not to get even close to violating a commandment.
00:32:59And whether that's because he's afraid God is going to smite him, or because he doesn't really believe that God
00:33:07gave the commandments exactly as he meant them, or because he doesn't have faith in his own understanding.
00:33:13It's hard to judge that.
00:33:16But it's really more about his understanding of the commandments than anything else, I think.
00:33:23Although it could be also about his faith in God to forgive when he screws up.
00:33:31And, you know, if a person believes that God is going to smite him for any little offense, then he's
00:33:37going to be very careful not to come close to doing those offenses.
00:33:40But really, that's a lack of faith in God.
00:33:43Because, you know, God said that he's eager to forgive.
00:33:46He doesn't want to destroy anybody.
00:33:49So, as long as we're not in rebellion against him, as long as we are trying to be obedient and
00:33:53moving closer to it, and we are sincerely trying to do the right thing, even when we screw up at
00:34:00times, I don't, you know, God isn't just waiting up in the clouds with a lightning bolt to strike you
00:34:05dead for every little offense.
00:34:09And I think that's a little bit of what might be going on here, too.
00:34:12All right.
00:34:13If there's not any other comments on verse 1, are we ready to go on to verse 2?
00:34:18All right.
00:34:19Verse 2 and 3.
00:34:21One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats any vegetables.
00:34:25But not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment
00:34:30on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.
00:34:33So, Paul just got through saying, welcome the one who is weak in faith.
00:34:38And now he's saying God has already welcomed him.
00:34:41So, this is somebody who is what we would call saved.
00:34:45His sins are forgiven.
00:34:47He is part of the congregation.
00:34:48This person is part of Israel.
00:34:50He has been grafted in.
00:34:53But the controversy here.
00:34:56One believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
00:35:03So, this is where we really get into the difficulties in this passage, or begin to.
00:35:08Is there anywhere in scripture where we are commanded to eat only vegetables?
00:35:13Oh, I was thinking of Adam and Eve.
00:35:16They had only vegetables.
00:35:18Yeah.
00:35:18Yeah, good.
00:35:19And before the flood.
00:35:21That's about the only time.
00:35:24And I don't want to get into the...
00:35:27I mean, that was all they had, right?
00:35:30Well, yeah.
00:35:31This is what God had given them as food.
00:35:34He didn't have to tell them, you know, don't eat pigs and don't eat mice, but you can eat these
00:35:38other things, because he had not given those things to them as their due.
00:35:44And, you know, we'll get into that some other time, because that would take us off into another rabbit trail.
00:35:50But, yeah, that is the only time in scripture where God instructs people to eat vegetables.
00:35:56And he doesn't say, don't eat meat, but he says, the seed-bearing plants are the things that I've given
00:36:02you for food.
00:36:03So, we can assume that people weren't supposed to eat meat before the flood.
00:36:07That seems reasonable.
00:36:09But, obviously, this letter was not written before the flood.
00:36:12Like, this is long after that.
00:36:14And there are even times where people are commanded to eat meat.
00:36:18You know, at Passover, everyone is commanded to eat the lamb.
00:36:21Unless you're an uncircumcised male, and then you're commanded not to.
00:36:25But everybody in Israel would eat.
00:36:27And there are peace offerings and all kinds of other events or acts of worship which involved eating meat.
00:36:39So, clearly, there's nothing in scripture that forbids eating meat.
00:36:46So, this weak person is dealing with something that God didn't even command.
00:36:53And the real question is, why?
00:36:56What is the problem?
00:36:59There are five things that I could come up with.
00:37:04You know, five things in the New Testament where eating was, could be considered a sin by somebody.
00:37:13And the first one is in the case of fasting.
00:37:16And on this one, let me pull it up here.
00:37:20Matthew 9.
00:37:22Somebody want to read Matthew 9, 14 through 17?
00:37:27I'll put the next one in the chat so somebody can grab it.
00:37:31I will do it.
00:37:319, what?
00:37:3214 through what?
00:37:33Yeah.
00:37:339, 14 through 17.
00:37:35Okay.
00:37:37Then the disciples came.
00:37:39I'm sorry.
00:37:40Then the disciples of John came to him saying, why do we and the Pharisees fast?
00:37:46But your disciples do not fast.
00:37:48And Yeshua said to them, why do you guess mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?
00:37:54The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them.
00:38:00And then they will fast.
00:38:03No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment,
00:38:09and a worse tear is made.
00:38:11Neither is new wine put into old wineskins.
00:38:15If it is, the skin bursts, and the wine is spilt, and the skins are destroyed.
00:38:20But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.
00:38:26And the controversy here is that the Pharisees, and evidently John's disciples too, had traditional fast days.
00:38:33And I believe it was, I want to say Monday and Thursday are the days that the Pharisees fasted.
00:38:40And they treated this as a commandment.
00:38:43But there's nothing in scripture that says you're supposed to fast on any particular day of the week.
00:38:47And Yeshua clearly says that fasting is a good thing in the right context.
00:38:52And that's what the patch and the unshrunk cloth and the new wine and old wineskins, that's what this is
00:38:58about.
00:38:58There's a time and a place for certain things.
00:39:01But if you put them in the wrong place, then you're going to cause problems.
00:39:05And fasting has its place, but it's not commanded on a particular day of the week.
00:39:11If you want to fast every day, or I mean, not every day, obviously, then you die.
00:39:15But if you want to fast every Tuesday, you go right ahead.
00:39:19You fast and pray, spend time with God, I'm sure you will get some great value out of that.
00:39:24But it's not commanded anywhere.
00:39:26The next one, somebody have Matthew 15?
00:39:29I can read it.
00:39:32There's verses 1 and 2.
00:39:34Matthew 15, 1.
00:39:35And then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,
00:39:41Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders?
00:39:45For they do not wash their hands when they eat.
00:39:49Yeah, thank you.
00:39:51And this is another one where the Pharisees believed that there was a commandment that you had to wash your
00:39:57hands before you could eat.
00:39:59And, you know, they had good rational reasons for this.
00:40:03If you happen to have touched something that was unclean, then you don't want to defile yourself with that.
00:40:09So you wash your hands to make sure you get the uncleanness off, and then you can eat.
00:40:13But this is a man-made thing.
00:40:16God didn't say that you had to wash your hands before you eat.
00:40:20That's a good practice.
00:40:22Yeah.
00:40:22Paula wants me to emphasize, even though it's a good practice, Paula, the dietician, is wanting you to know that.
00:40:28Okay.
00:40:29Hygiene.
00:40:30Yes, for hygiene purposes.
00:40:32And if you can, if you find some spiritual value in hand-washing, then you go right ahead and do
00:40:38that, too.
00:40:39Acts 10, 28 and 29.
00:40:44Somebody want to pull that one up?
00:40:47I'll take it.
00:40:48Okay, go ahead.
00:40:49He said to them,
00:40:51You yourself know that it is not permitted for a Jewish man to associate with a non-due or to
00:41:01visit him.
00:41:02Yet God has shown me that I should call no one unholy or unclean.
00:41:09So I came without objection.
00:41:12When I was sent for, I asked then, What is the reason why you sent for me?
00:41:23Okay, and this is after Peter had the vision of the sheets coming down from heaven filled with all kinds
00:41:29of animals and God said, kill any.
00:41:31So Peter explains that the vision wasn't about food, not directly about food anyways.
00:41:36It was about people and fellowshipping with people.
00:41:39And this was another rule about ritual uncleanness, not like unclean meat, but about something that might be defiled, something
00:41:50that would be otherwise clean that has become defiled.
00:41:53And since non-Jews, since Gentiles, didn't follow the same rules that Jews did, they would frequently be in a
00:42:01state of ritual uncleanness.
00:42:03Maybe they ate pork that morning, or maybe they touched the corpse of an unclean animal, or they were at
00:42:11a pagan temple.
00:42:12And so a Jew would not go into the house of a Gentile because they might accidentally touch something that
00:42:17had been defiled by one of these other purposes.
00:42:20And they definitely would not eat with a Gentile, or they would not eat food that had been prepared by
00:42:26a Gentile, because the Gentile's hands were unclean.
00:42:29The dishes and utensils were unclean.
00:42:35It didn't even matter if it was pork or beef or chicken or whatever.
00:42:39That wasn't the point.
00:42:40The point was that there was uncleanness being passed from the Gentile and his house to the food.
00:42:46And so they had rules against eating in a Gentile's house.
00:42:49Or eating with Gentiles, as long as the food was prepared by a Gentile.
00:42:54You could eat with a Gentile as long as you brought your own food.
00:42:58So that was a little awkward.
00:43:00Acts 15, 20.
00:43:02Someone want to look that one up?
00:43:05I've got it.
00:43:06I actually read verses 19 and 20.
00:43:10Okay.
00:43:11Therefore, my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write
00:43:18to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled
00:43:26and from blood.
00:43:29And the one that I want to highlight there is blood.
00:43:32So this is something that God definitely commanded not to eat.
00:43:35But it was a concern because Gentiles didn't always keep that rule.
00:43:41So the Jerusalem council wanted to make certain that Gentiles knew that they were not supposed to be eating blood.
00:43:48And so that included animals that had been strangled because then they couldn't be bled properly.
00:43:53And one more, Revelation 2, 14.
00:43:56I can read this one.
00:43:58But I have a few things against you because you have there some who hold to the teaching of Belaam,
00:44:03who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols,
00:44:09and to commit acts of sexual immorality.
00:44:12And that was the letter from Yeshua to the church at Pergamum, or I should say the congregation at Pergamum.
00:44:20And he says the same thing to the congregation at Thyatira.
00:44:25Scrolling down here.
00:44:28Verse 20.
00:44:29But this I have against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess.
00:44:34And she teaches and leads my bondservants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to
00:44:40idols.
00:44:42So these are talking about eating the meat of animals that have been sacrificed to idols.
00:44:48So there are, as far as I can tell, these are the only five categories or five rules about eating
00:44:56that are discussed in the New Testament in relation to something that might be considered a sin by someone.
00:45:03Fasting.
00:45:03If you're not fasting on the days that the Pharisees prescribed, then you were sinning because that was against the
00:45:10traditions.
00:45:12Eating with unwashed hands, because now you're defiling yourself by defiling your food and then eating it.
00:45:19Eating with Gentiles, because they might defile your food, and then you defile yourself by eating it.
00:45:25Eating blood, because God commanded you not to.
00:45:28And eating meat sacrificed to idols.
00:45:31Now, this one is a little bit more difficult, because there's nothing in Scripture that says, do not eat meat
00:45:39sacrificed to idols.
00:45:41So we have to figure out what is Yeshua actually talking about.
00:45:46And this is actually in the Acts 15 ruling, too.
00:45:50Eating things sacrificed to idols.
00:45:52And it's discussed at length in 1 Corinthians.
00:45:55There are three chapters, 8 through 10, that talk about this one topic.
00:46:00And the controversy here isn't that the meat itself is unclean or defiled or anything like that.
00:46:07As long as it's something that God has otherwise said is good to eat, it's not a sin to eat
00:46:13that meat because it's just meat.
00:46:15And as Paul explains in 1 Corinthians, it's not the meat itself that is a problem.
00:46:21It's the association with the idol.
00:46:24So, if you were to go to a pagan temple and participate in the sacrifice, you would be expected to
00:46:31eat some of that meat.
00:46:32And this happens in God's worship, too.
00:46:35At his temple, if you go and bring a peace offering or a sin offering, you and other people are
00:46:41going to be eating some of this meat.
00:46:43This is part of the act of worship.
00:46:46And this is true in all pagan religions, even those pagan religions that did human sacrifice.
00:46:51The priest or the people who brought the offering or both were expected to eat some of this offering.
00:46:58It's part of the fellowship with that God.
00:47:02So, there's this something that happened in pretty much all pagan cities.
00:47:08I mean, this was not supposed to happen in God's worship, but it happened in most pagan religions.
00:47:15If somebody brought a sacrifice and the priest and the offerer ate some of it, well, there'd be a lot
00:47:21of meat left over.
00:47:22I mean, unless this is a small bird, it's too much meat for a couple of people to eat.
00:47:28So, they might have a feast with their family or something, but then a lot of the meat would then
00:47:31go to the market.
00:47:33Some of it would belong to the temple, and then they would sell it at the market.
00:47:36Or a farmer would come into town on occasion, make a sacrifice at the temple, and then bring the rest
00:47:42of the meat to the market and sell it at his stall.
00:47:45So, now if you eat meat that has been sacrificed to an idol, are you participating in the pagan worship?
00:47:53This was the question they were dealing with.
00:47:55This is the question that Paul is addressing in 1 Corinthians 8 and that Yeshua is addressing in Revelation 2.
00:48:02And Yeshua says that whoever this was who was teaching the doctrine of Balaam and this woman Jezebel, whoever she
00:48:09was, they were teaching people to eat meat sacrificed to idols.
00:48:14And I'm convinced that what was actually happening was they were participating in the offering, in the sacrifice.
00:48:22Now, whether you were there at the temple or not isn't really relevant.
00:48:26It's what is in your mind and what is your purpose in eating this meat?
00:48:30Are you eating the meat in order to honor the pagan god, to have communion with this god, or to
00:48:36honor it?
00:48:37Or are you eating meat just because it's meat and you need something to eat?
00:48:41And that makes a critical difference.
00:48:44The difference between slaughtering an animal at the butcher or slaughtering an animal at an altar is intention.
00:48:54You're doing it here just because you need meat.
00:48:56You're doing it here because you are worshiping a god.
00:48:59But once that meat leaves the temple or the slaughterhouse, it's just meat.
00:49:04Unless you have the intention to eat it as part of the sacrifice.
00:49:08So, in 1 Corinthians, Paul explains that all of these pagan gods are nothing.
00:49:13They have no real authority on earth that you don't give them.
00:49:17So, as long as you're not giving them that authority, the meat is just meat.
00:49:21And if it doesn't bother your conscience, and if you're not honoring that god,
00:49:26whether intentionally or through a guilty conscience, then, you know, just eat meat.
00:49:35But if it bothers your conscience, because you can't help but think about the pagan god that received this sacrifice,
00:49:43or because you are participating in the worship itself as part of a festival or, you know, something, a feast
00:49:50or something,
00:49:52then you've crossed the line.
00:49:54You're not supposed to do that.
00:49:55And this is a real fuzzy gray area.
00:49:58If you grew up in a pagan culture, you have, there's an altar on every other block.
00:50:06There are constant sacrifices going on.
00:50:09And you, your whole life, you've taken part in these sacrifices, and you've worshipped these pagan gods.
00:50:17And now, you have a new god who says, you will have nothing to do with this idolatry.
00:50:25When you go to the market and you buy a steak, when you eat it, your entire life,
00:50:32you have always thought, I am eating this in honor of Jupiter or Apollo or some other pagan god.
00:50:39And now, you're eating it and trying not to think about any of those gods.
00:50:43You try to, you're thanking Yahweh.
00:50:45Thank you, Yahweh, for giving me sustenance.
00:50:48And now, I'm going to eat this meat because it's just food.
00:50:51There's nothing religious about it.
00:50:53How do you get that pagan god out of your mind when it's been there your whole life?
00:50:58And so, when someone, one of these pagan, former pagan Gentiles,
00:51:04becomes a believing citizen of Israel and gives up all of their idolatry,
00:51:11one who is weak in faith is going to have serious trouble making that division
00:51:17and saying, I can't eat meat without thinking about these other gods.
00:51:23Or, I'm afraid that I'm participating in the sacrifice if I'm eating a piece of meat
00:51:28from an animal that was offered to Zeus.
00:51:32So, I'm just going to eat vegetables because I don't want to risk it.
00:51:35So, this is the person who is weak in faith because he doesn't understand what God has done.
00:51:42Not because he thinks God's commandments have been thrown out,
00:51:46but because he can't figure out for himself where the dividing line is.
00:51:50And he doesn't think that God will forgive him for blurring the line a little bit.
00:51:57But, where God didn't give us a hard, black and white definition of what's acceptable in this case and what
00:52:03isn't.
00:52:03I mean, clearly we know that participating actively in the sacrifice, that's evil.
00:52:11But, where exactly does it become not a sin?
00:52:15It's in your intent, which is going to be a very hard thing for people to juggle internally.
00:52:21And that's where your conscience and your faith really comes into play.
00:52:26So, does that make sense in this context?
00:52:29It certainly does.
00:52:31I think this scripture is going to be used a lot by the church.
00:52:36I argue all of the kosher food is done away with and you can eat whatever you want.
00:52:43They have a much easier argument trying to take this verse in that context than what you just presented,
00:52:52which I think is wonderful.
00:52:54But, you know, it's just a reality, unfortunately.
00:53:00You know, as you were speaking, Jay, I was reminded of my background, growing up Hindu, right?
00:53:07The way Hinduism works, it's passed on from family generation through tradition.
00:53:13You know, you're born into the Hindu faith.
00:53:17You can't become a Hindu, if that makes sense.
00:53:20So, in my culture, in my home, of course, so many idols worshipped.
00:53:27And, of course, there was a central temple that, you know, mom and dad used to go to.
00:53:31Now, what is interesting is that India, being predominantly a vegetarian nation,
00:53:37they would not sacrifice meat or animals, but they would sacrifice, like, offerings to the idols, like, fruit and vegetables
00:53:49and that kind of thing.
00:53:52So, it's the same thing, Jay, that it really is the intent.
00:53:58And when I read scriptures like this in Romans or 1 Corinthians or even what you just read in Revelation,
00:54:07when you come to the truth, you will struggle with this initially.
00:54:13Initially, when your faith is new, for a person coming from, like, a different pagan culture or having practiced all
00:54:22these things,
00:54:23you have that initial struggle.
00:54:26But the more you understand and the more you read scripture,
00:54:32it literally is the word of God that starts cleansing you from the inside out.
00:54:36And that's when you start to see how merciful the Father is and how he deals with each of us
00:54:46with our own weaknesses
00:54:47and then, you know, is able to strengthen us as we not only continue to read his word,
00:54:53but as I have started following keeping the Shabbat and keeping the festivals,
00:54:59not in, like, a ritualistic way, but with great, what should I say,
00:55:04with so much thankfulness and gratitude that the Father has been merciful enough to give us these really clear-cut
00:55:14instructions to follow.
00:55:16And I see it as so clear that if you just follow it and just do what he's saying,
00:55:24there is this huge blessing on the other side.
00:55:27But I'm just thinking that I completely identify with what is being said here,
00:55:34because, yeah, initially, people who are like me coming from a pagan culture are kind of weak in faith
00:55:40because we are so worried and so concerned that, oh, my gosh, if I do this, is it going to
00:55:45displease the Father?
00:55:48So, yeah, I mean, these are great scriptures to think about
00:55:52and really seek the Father's heart as to what is he saying in this?
00:55:57And what is Paul really saying in this?
00:56:00So, yeah, I mean, it's amazing.
00:56:02But thank you.
00:56:03Yeah, thank you.
00:56:04That is awesome.
00:56:06It is, it's a very, it's valuable to all of us to be able to talk to somebody who did
00:56:12come from a culture like that,
00:56:13because most of us didn't, most of us grew up in a, in a Christian culture that's been Christian for,
00:56:19you know, at least 1500 years.
00:56:22And we have our own paganisms to think about, but we frequently don't think of them that way.
00:56:28Yeah, you never, you were never Catholic, too.
00:56:31No.
00:56:32Yeah, and that's, you know, I interact with Catholics online all the time.
00:56:37And just the idolatry is just mind-blowing, and I, and they don't see it that way.
00:56:44And I don't get it.
00:56:45I don't understand.
00:56:47But I didn't grow up in a Catholic culture.
00:56:50So, I mean, I had family members, like my grandmother was Catholic, Catholic light.
00:56:55She wasn't a real stickler.
00:56:57She didn't, like, have statues of Mary and Joseph and that kind of stuff up around her house.
00:57:01So, couldn't really tell the difference with her except when we went to Mass.
00:57:05And that I went to Mass maybe twice in my whole life.
00:57:09There was one, there is one thing in my own experience, though.
00:57:13When I first started, when I first decided that I needed to start keeping Torah, and I really started taking
00:57:20the scriptures seriously.
00:57:22You know, I had already given up.
00:57:24I didn't celebrate Christmas, Easter, or Halloween.
00:57:28Halloween was the easiest one to give up because, I mean, my whole life, it was like, what does exactly,
00:57:33does this have to do with God?
00:57:35And, you know, I know the Catholic Church's arguments about it, and I don't find them convincing at all.
00:57:40And the origins of Halloween are very obscure.
00:57:43And I don't have a lot of faith in anybody's arguments about where that particular holiday came from.
00:57:50But there's so much obvious paganism tied up in it that I can't get around it.
00:57:56And it occurred to me one day when somebody brought, you know, a bowl full of Halloween candy to work.
00:58:03Is eating Halloween candy eating food sacrificed idols?
00:58:07And that really bothered me for a while.
00:58:10And I had to go talk it out with my pastor at the time.
00:58:14And at one time, maybe way back in the distant origins of Halloween, that would have actually been a real
00:58:20thing.
00:58:22Nobody's actually offering candy to fake gods.
00:58:25I mean, they're doing these things because they have inherited traditions from pagan religions.
00:58:30And that's a bad thing that God said not to do.
00:58:33But they're not actually worshiping any idols or offering sacrifices to anything at the time.
00:58:39And even then, based on Paul's arguments in 1 Corinthians, as long as you're not the one participating in it,
00:58:47it's just candy.
00:58:48It might be bad for you.
00:58:49But it's not food sacrificed to idols.
00:58:51So, I had to deal with my own tiny little piece of that at one time.
00:58:57I felt that way.
00:58:59Yeah, I think a lot of us felt that way about one thing or another.
00:59:03I dealt with it.
00:59:08Because I grew up where we embraced the Hindu culture, the Muslim culture, the African culture.
00:59:22And then we had the locals, like the Amerindians and all that.
00:59:29But when these holidays come around, like Diwali, where it's a festival of lights and the light of deers and
00:59:37all that.
00:59:38And they cook.
00:59:41We may have friends who are Hindus.
00:59:45And they will invite us.
00:59:48We will go and participate in the celebration, eat their food.
00:59:55The same thing when the Muslims celebrate Eid.
00:59:59They will kill their cows because Muslims eat cows.
01:00:08And they will eat pork, but they eat cows and goat something.
01:00:14And they will send us this food and we will eat.
01:00:18So, some people will not eat because they say that these animals and the foods that they cook are offerings
01:00:28to the gods.
01:00:30And they won't participate.
01:00:31But I know I used to eat.
01:00:36And as we grew up amongst these people, one of my best friends as a little girl was an Indian
01:00:44girl.
01:00:45She was a Hindu.
01:00:46Her name was Sati.
01:00:49And we grew up amongst all these, you know, multicultural people.
01:00:55And we know about their customs and we embrace them and we participate in the celebration.
01:01:03So, sometimes when you see scriptures like this, now you would have this reflection.
01:01:09Well, I mean, in those days you did it in ignorance.
01:01:12But as you just mentioned, you are not actually doing the sacrifice.
01:01:20And this is meat that was cooked and whether it was offered to these gods, you may not know.
01:01:29Because the family normally be in the circle of celebration, right?
01:01:38They don't, especially the Hindus, they never invite strangers when they have, like, when they're planting their flags.
01:01:49And, you know, they'll have, like, a private ceremony where they will lie by the dears and all that and
01:01:55say the prayers of these different gods.
01:01:58When it comes to the foods and sharing out and all that, then, you know, outsiders, they will, you know,
01:02:08have them participate in all that.
01:02:10But we never really thought that it wasn't Christian-like, I don't know if you want to put it that
01:02:19way, to eat these foods.
01:02:23Because we don't know when they have these private ceremonies, what is being said, what is being done.
01:02:30But all we know is that the foods used to be tasting good and we want to eat the prasad
01:02:34and all the Indian delicacies,
01:02:37whether it's Muslims or Hindus, whether it's Muslims or Hindus, and then you have the Africans.
01:02:42They, too, also plant their flags in honor of, you know, the African forefathers and all that.
01:02:49So this scripture makes a lot of sense.
01:02:52And we are not to criticize or ostracize people when they don't want to eat meat or, you know, they
01:03:04are abstaining from certain foods at a certain time.
01:03:11And we are not to criticize them for that.
01:03:15Because, as you said, there is no place in the Bible that tells us we must not eat certain foods.
01:03:22Where we know that pork and all that and Leviticus 11 tells us about the foods that we are supposed
01:03:29to eat.
01:03:31But Peter had that vision and said, not so, Lord, you know, I've never eaten anything clean or common or
01:03:40unclean.
01:03:41So it already was established what the Jews were eating.
01:03:49So, I don't know.
01:03:51I really don't know.
01:03:53This is one scripture that always perplexed me.
01:03:57You know, I never really had a clear understanding about it.
01:04:02So, yeah.
01:04:04Well, hopefully we can clear that up in the next couple of weeks.
01:04:06Could this passage potentially also be referencing things like they don't know if the meat was killed in a kosher
01:04:13manner?
01:04:14Or were those laws not really in place at that time?
01:04:17Yeah.
01:04:18Well, it could have something to do with that.
01:04:20Most people in most cultures will bleed the animal out when they kill it.
01:04:25And, you know, that is the only thing that's commanded.
01:04:27That you're supposed to bleed the animal and pour out the blood and don't eat the blood.
01:04:33And the rabbis have added lots of rules on top of that.
01:04:37And, you know, I'm sure that they had some rules like that.
01:04:40A Jew would probably not buy meat from a Gentile slaughter or butcher or whatever.
01:04:46Because they don't know how the meat was handled.
01:04:48They don't know whether it was, you know, cut up using the same tools and on the same countertops or
01:04:55whatever as pork or whatever else.
01:04:59So, I'm sure that could be part of it.
01:05:02Yeah.
01:05:03I was just asking.
01:05:04I was just thinking about that.
01:05:05And then the other thing I was thinking about is this also could apply in our modern day when it
01:05:11comes to things like, you know, like local fellowships.
01:05:15You know, we see stuff like this.
01:05:17There's a lot of questions around Passover, around like what is leaven?
01:05:22Some people omit baking powder and baking soda.
01:05:27Some people omit yeast.
01:05:30I could see that in our modern time that there are things that, you know, if somebody says, I don't
01:05:36eat any leaven, like any kind of leaven, no chemical leaven, no yeast, no nothing.
01:05:42That to allow them to just have that opinion and do that is something that we should do if that's
01:05:48what they believe.
01:05:49Good point.
01:05:49And not like argue with them, not say, oh, no, you can have, you know, you can't have yeast because,
01:05:55you know, that's what Hametz means or like whatever, but that you can have, oh, yeah, you can have chemical
01:06:01leavening.
01:06:02Because it's just not really an issue.
01:06:04It's not something that we need to like push somebody to do.
01:06:07If we believe differently, then we should just leave it at that.
01:06:12Yeah, that is a great one.
01:06:14Very relevant to us because, yeah, people do have very different opinions on what constitutes leaven for the purpose of
01:06:21Passover.
01:06:22And, you know, the rule in our house is if it has grain and I want to say yeast, but
01:06:27it's really about the fermentation.
01:06:29Like if it has fermented grain or the potential of fermentation, then we get rid of that for Passover.
01:06:37But I don't worry about baking soda or yeast extract or even yeast that is in something that doesn't have
01:06:48any grain like wine.
01:06:50I mean, it's all dead.
01:06:51There's no potential for further fermentation.
01:06:54So I don't really worry about that.
01:06:56I don't think that's what's being talked about.
01:06:58But I do know that other people will remove anything that has yeast extract, any kind of yeast byproduct, baker's
01:07:07yeast, dead, living, whatever.
01:07:09If it's got yeast, they get rid of it.
01:07:13If flour or lentils gets wet, well, now it has the potential to grow yeast and ferment, so you get
01:07:19rid of it.
01:07:21And if people want to do that, I mean, if that is meaningful to them and they believe that's what
01:07:26God means, then by all means, they should do that.
01:07:28And we don't have any business passing judgment on them.
01:07:31I disagree.
01:07:32But, you know, that's the rule for my house.
01:07:35I'm trying to obey God the best that I know how.
01:07:37And they are, too.
01:07:39Yeah, that's a pretty relevant example for the Pronomian crowd.
01:07:43But I think there's another one, too.
01:07:46You know, as we have millions more Muslims in the United States now than we did just 20 years ago.
01:07:54And this raises a question for a lot of people who don't want to eat halal meat.
01:07:59And halal is like the Muslim version of kosher.
01:08:03And their rules are a little bit different than the Jewish rules.
01:08:07There are kinds of animals that a Muslim can eat that, you know, God commands not to.
01:08:13And, of course, they don't follow rabbinic rules.
01:08:16They have their own version of it.
01:08:18And the question is, is halal meat because it is prayed over or blessed or something in the name of
01:08:27Allah?
01:08:27Does that constitute meat sacrifice to idols?
01:08:31And a lot of people believe it is, and they won't touch it.
01:08:33If they know that meat is halal, they won't have anything to do with it.
01:08:38I'm of the opinion that I don't really care who blesses the food I'm eating.
01:08:41It's not going to change the meat.
01:08:43It doesn't, there's no altar, no sacrifice or anything like that involved.
01:08:47I'm not participating in anybody's religion.
01:08:50As long as it's meat from an animal that God says we can eat and it was bled properly,
01:08:57I'm not concerned about whether an imam blessed it or whatever it is they do to make something halal.
01:09:05But if it bothers somebody, they shouldn't eat it.
01:09:08And we shouldn't pass judgment on them for it.
01:09:11We should respect that.
01:09:13So when we buy food from the meat from the grocery store, how do we know that that meat was
01:09:21properly drained, the blood was properly drained and all that?
01:09:25Well, if it's slaughtered in the United States, then it was properly bled.
01:09:29Because there are rules that the USDA has for commercial slaughterhouses where they have to bleed the animal out.
01:09:35Now, they might collect the blood and do stuff with it.
01:09:38They might, you know, make blood sausage or do who knows what with it.
01:09:42I don't know.
01:09:43But, you know, if you buy a steak at the grocery store, then it was bled properly.
01:09:48You know, if you want to go further and kosher your meat by using kosher salt or something to, or
01:09:55soak it to draw more blood out, really the, I mean, you're always going to get some red fluid from
01:10:01meat.
01:10:01And it's kind of a technical difference between blood and myoglobin because there is fluid in every cell in your
01:10:10body.
01:10:11Every cell of every animal has fluid in it and it all has color.
01:10:14And a lot of the red fluid that drains out of meat that has been properly bled, it looks like
01:10:20blood, but it's not actually blood.
01:10:22It's this cellular fluids and it's called, and it turns red because it contains myoglobin.
01:10:28Whereas hemoglobin is the chemical that turns red, blood red.
01:10:33So it looks a little bit different, but that's kind of a technical definition.
01:10:38So a lot of people aren't happy with that and they would rather kosher their meat and soak every bit
01:10:44of blood or every bit of fluid out of it that they can.
01:10:48And, you know, I don't want to do that with my meat, but I'm not going to blame anybody else
01:10:52for doing it.
01:10:53They're trying to go above and beyond God's commandments.
01:10:56So more power to them.
01:10:58And, you know, if that's what you want to do, that's extra work, but you go right ahead.
01:11:05I don't think there's anything wrong with it.
01:11:07So what about liver?
01:11:10Oh, yeah.
01:11:11Liver, you know, God allows us to eat liver.
01:11:14It's not forbidden in scripture.
01:11:16As long as the animals bled properly, I don't see a problem with eating liver.
01:11:20Liver, if you, as long as you can stand it.
01:11:23Oh, there's a big problem with eating liver.
01:11:26It stinks.
01:11:27I actually like liver if it's well-prepared.
01:11:31My dad used to eat it raw.
01:11:33Oh, that's disgusting.
01:11:34Yeah.
01:11:35That was to help him when he was feeling anemic.
01:11:37Yeah.
01:11:38No.
01:11:39Yeah.
01:11:39I've heard about people who do that.
01:11:41There's a, there's a guy, this health guru, so to speak, who does lamb liver and he does it
01:11:50cold and raw.
01:11:51It'll put it in a blender and blend it up into a smoothie.
01:11:54And that is just about the most disgusting thing I've ever heard.
01:11:57Oh, that's disgusting.
01:11:59Yeah.
01:12:01We're on verse three and we're already talking about this.
01:12:05Let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats for God is welcome to.
01:12:10Oh, and let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains.
01:12:13So either direction, you know, someone who goes above and beyond will often look down on
01:12:18the one who doesn't and think you're playing fast and loose with God's rules.
01:12:24But as long as that person is technically obeying God's commandments and believes that
01:12:30this is what God really meant, then accept that and respect it.
01:12:35You can talk about it and you can disagree.
01:12:38There's no problem with that.
01:12:39As long as it doesn't become a hostile argument, as long as you're not tearing each other down,
01:12:44calling each other hypocrites for having a difference of opinion.
01:12:48Differences of opinions are just fine.
01:12:51And it's a mark of maturity to be able to disagree with somebody on something that's
01:12:56ambiguous in scripture and still fellowship, still be friends.
01:13:00That's what grownups do.
01:13:03And that's how we need to treat each other.
01:13:06Here's something that you might want to look up, just because if you're interested in ancient
01:13:12cultures and the things that were going on in Rome at the time that Paul wrote this letter,
01:13:18look up the Roman week.
01:13:21Do some research on how did the Romans count the week?
01:13:25We know that we got some of the days of our week, the names from Roman gods.
01:13:30And from, we got the names of the months from Roman numbers and gods and emperors, but the
01:13:38Romans didn't always follow a seven day week.
01:13:41So if you're interested in that, and this might actually help you to understand a little bit
01:13:47what was going on in Rome, do some research on how the Romans actually use their calendar
01:13:52and especially their concept of a week.
01:13:55Yeah.
01:14:00Yeah.
01:14:00Yeah.
01:14:00Yeah.
01:14:00Yeah.
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