Abstain.1985

Abstain

Ref. 1985

BIBLE READING: Acts 15:20

The Acts 15 passage is crucial to our understanding of exactly how much of the Torah the Gentile must take upon himself. Very briefly, I'll tell you the "What" and then the "Why" of each point:

1. Abstain from things contaminated by idols.

Why?: The Shema is central to Jewish theology, and last thing that falls from the lips of a Jew at his death. "Hear Oh Israel the Lord our G-d. The Lord is ONE!" If you get everything else wrong in life, don't mess up on this one. There is only ONE G-d, and He is jealous and He will not tolerate IDOLATRY! So, the most natural and primary thing to pass on to Gentiles entering into the Body of the Messiah from pagan idolatrous nations is, "Hey, Listen up you nations, Get this right... The Lord is ONE! Not three, not five and not fifty."

Stay away from idolatry. You are about to enter into a covenant relationship with the G-d of Israel, and you shall be bonded with the commonwealth of Israel. So if you ever hope to have fellowship with the House of Israel, run the other way from your idolatry."

2. What: Abstain from Fornication.

Why?: We have a set of family purity laws in the Torah that G-d laid out so that we would take our sexuality seriously. Much of them are recorded in Viyikra (Leviticus) 15 & 20. All of these instructions deal with the concept of fornication and define a fornicator as one who fails to keep these instructions. They include when to have sex with your partner, and when not to, with whom, and without whom, how a woman should dress and how a man should dress, when you clean enough for Temple Service, and when you are not. All of these instructions, and more are tied up in the one word "fornication." The Gentiles are every bit as much responsible to keep these instructions as members of the Body of Messiah, as Jews are, if any fellowship between the two distinct groups can every be shared or assumed on any level of relationship, without causing the Jew to stumble, whether it be a local congregation gathering for prayer, sitting in the same chariot together, or within the context of an intimate relationship between a Jew and a Gentile.

3. What: Abstain from what is strangled.

Why?: In plain Hebrew, this injunction means that Gentiles must eat in accordance with Kashrut (Biblical not rabbinical) if they ever desire to sit down at the same table with a fellow Jewish Believer and share a meal, which was the primary context and excuse under which fellowship would normally occur. If you take your liberties in this area, you will succeed at nothing but chasing the Jew away from his faith, and declaring, against the council of Elders in Jerusalem, that G-d's instructions to the Jew (the Torah which he holds dearer than life itself) are no longer important to him or to the Gentile being grafted in to the Jewish root. If the meat has not been slaughtered correctly, or if the meat in any way is treif (unclean), then abstain from it. This includes crap and shrimp and squid, and ... and... and...

4. What: Abstain from blood.

Why?: For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life -- Vayikra (Leviticus) 17:11). Say goodbye to your steaks cooked up rare. Stay away from "juicy" hamburgers cooked in all those red natural juices. Stay away from the blood. Jews AND Gentiles are forbidden to eat it. It is a testimony to the world that we are different and understand the terms of G-d's redemption. It also paves the way for fellowship between Jew and Gentile, which before these injunctions, was forbidden in the Torah before Y'shua ratified it and signed its annex in His own blood.

Yes, Acts 15 cannot be played-down or explained away. It is there for all of us. Now all we have left is to obey.

Abstain

Of note:

How many believers in Messiah practiced to the letter what is spelled out regarding sexuality, especially the commands regarding separation of men and women during her menstrual cycle. If people still practice the "separation" today, we would like to know how people actually practice this. Does the wife go to a hotel or something for a week. Despite any humour, it is actually a serious question.

They interpret this event through the doctrinal teachings which came from a Catholic church and a Protestant reformation that still has within it doctrines which came into being as a result of departing from the roots of Christianity

They read Acts 10 without reading the entire book of Acts

So, let me begin to explain.

Yeshua/Jesus was Jewish. The disciples of Yeshua/Jesus were Jewish. Not only were they Jewish but they were Orthodox Jewish. It was a belief in the 1st century that when Messiah would come that the non-Jews would begin to embrace Judaism, faith in the G-d of Israel and the Messiah. However, they also believed that the non-Jew would convert to Judaism according the doctrines of Jewish law as they were in that day.

Peter was an Orthodox Jew. Today, he would be considered an Ultra Orthodox Jew. It was taught and Peter practiced the belief that if a non-Jew entered into the house of the Jew that this would endanger the Torah observant Jew of being unclean because the non-Jew would not be following the various laws of ritual cleanliness as would the Torah observant Jews.

Therefore, the belief in the 1st century was:

1) When the non-Jews would accept Messiah, they would convert to Judaism

2) A Jew (who practiced ritual cleanliness) should not allow a ritually unclean non-Jew into his house because the habits of the non-Jew could endanger the Jew to become ritually unclean.

With this in mind, let us examine the book of Acts. In Acts 2, we have the day of Pentecost has arrived. The feast of Pentecost is a Jewish feast day. It is called Shavuot. Acts 2 is NOT the birthday of the Church. The word church is the Greek word, "Ecclesia". It is the Strong's Word (1577). The word "Ecclesia" means "a called out assembly". In the Thayer's Greek Lexicon, the corresponding Hebrew

word is the word "Kahal". The word Kahal is the Strong's Number (6951) in the Strong's Hebrew dictionary. The word "Kahal" is translated as "assembly" or "congregation" in the King James Bible. But, it could just as easily been translated as "church".

Let's look at Acts 7:37-38 it is written:

"This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me, him shall ye hear"

This is quoting and referring to Deuteronomy 18:15:

"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me: unto him ye shall hearken" Acts 7:38: "This is he, that was in the CHURCH in the WILDERNESS with the angel which spake to him in the MOUNT SINAI and with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us"

This is quoting and referring to Deuteronomy 18:16:

"According to all that thou desirest of the Lord thy God in Horeb (MOUNT SINAI) in the DAY of your ASSEMBLY (KAHAL) (CHURCH)..."

The time at Mount Sinai is also called the DAY of ASSEMBLY

(CHURCH) in (Deut 9:10 and 10:4).

So, Biblically the birthday of the "church" (KAHAL) or (ASSEMBLY) was at Mount Sinai. The word (KAHAL) means "a called out assembly of people". This is the same definition as "ekklesia" or church in Greek.

At Mount Sinai, the Torah was written upon a heart of stone. In Acts 2, this covenent was RENEWED and was the Torah written upon a heart of flesh (Jer 31:33, Ezek 36:26-27) so with the indwelling Holy Spirit, God's people could have the POWER to keep His Torah (but not for salvation) but for instruction in living our lives in a way that is pleasing to our Heavenly Father by yielding to the Holy Spirit so that we would not yield our bodies to the evil inclination (the flesh).

In Acts 2, there were 3,000 souls saved. They were all Jews. Those present in Acts 2 were Jews from the nations of the earth who came to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast according to G-d's instruction in Deuteronomy 16:16. In Acts 2:5 it is written:

"And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven".

In Acts 10, Cornelious, a centurion (non-Jew) and one who feared the G_d of Israel was given a vision by G-d to see Peter. In Acts 10:1-3 it is written:

"There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornilious, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, a DEVOUT man and one that FEARED GOD with all his house which gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always. He saw in a VISION ..."

In the vision, Cornelious is instructed to go to Peter's house. Cornelious departed along with two other men. In Acts 10:5, 7 it is written:

"And now send men to Joppa, and call one Simon, whose surname is Peter ... And when the angel which spake unto Cornilious was departed, he called two of his household servants ..."

When Cornelious and his men were on their way to see Peter, G-d gave Peter a vision of "all manner of four footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air" (Acts 10:12) and Peter was told to eat. Three times Peter was told to eat and three times Peter said, No. Then, G-d said in Acts 10:15:

"And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What G-d hath cleansed that call not thou common (unclean)"

Notice that the context of the story is Cornelious (a non-Jew) being told to see Peter (a Torah observant ultra-orthodox Jew) who otherwise would not let Cornelious into his house. The context of Acts 10 is not about food. In the mind of Peter, Cornelious (a non-Jew) would be considered "unclean". But, we are told in the story that Cornilious was a fearer of G-d (Acts 10:2). Therefore, G-d viewed Cornilious as being "clean" because he was a believer and a follower of the G-d of Israel but Peter would consider Cornilious as "unclean". Therefore, Peter doubted the meaning of the dream.

In Acts 10:17: "Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had

seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelious had made inquiry for Simon's house and stood before the gate"

Now, the issue becomes, "Will Peter let Corniliuos and his friends into his house?". At this point in time, Peter understands the vision and decides to let them into his house seeing that G-d was telling Peter that these non-Jews should be viewed by Peter as being "clean". The "unclean animals" in the vision were symbolic of the non-jew Cornelious and his friends. Peter was told THREE times to eat. In Acts 10:19 it is written:

"While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, THREE men seek thee".

So, the THREE times that Peter was told to eat represented the THREE non-Jews who came to Peter's house. So, what did Peter do? Peter let them into his house. In Acts 10:23:

"Then called he them in, and lodged them ..."

If we continue reading in the book of Acts in chapter 11, we see that the Jewish BELIEVERS in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah questioned Peter that he let non-Jews into his house and ate with them. In Acts 11:1-5, 18

"And the apostles and brethren that were in Judea heard that the GENTILES had also received the word of G-d. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcism contended with him saying, you went into MEN UNCIRCUMCISED (non-Jews) and did EAT WITH THEM. But, Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying, I was in the city of Joppa praying and in a trance and I saw a vision ... When they heard these things, they held their peace and glorified God, saying, Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life"

Therefore, by understanding the HISTORICAL context of the story in Acts 10 and by reading the entire book of Acts including the story in Acts 11 which follows through with the story in Acts 10, we can see CLEARLY that the issue being discussed is NOT G-d doing away with the dietary laws but the ISSUE was if Jews would call non-Jews as "unclean" who believed in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah or if they would have table fellowship with them.

MANY in the church today refer to Peter's vision in Acts 10 and teach that this vision was about G-d doing away with the dietary laws in the Torah. However, by studying the background of the 1st century and by reading the ENTIRE book of Acts and not just Acts 10:13-16 and read it out of context, we can understand the meaning of the text and see how Acts 15:20 is consistent with this thought.

We were curious to know how many believers in Messiah practiced to the letter what is spelled out regarding sexuality, especially the commands regarding separation of men and women during her menstrual cycle. If people still practice the "separation" today, we would like to know how people actually practice this. Does the wife go to a hotel or something for a week. Despite any humor, it is actually a serious question.

I can't tell you how many believers practice the Torah, but there should be more than what is apparently is now.

No, the woman does not have to go to a hotel. Just abstain from sexual contact, for one week. This is all the scripture requires. The womans condition is called in Hebrew "Nidah" and depending on orthodox you are, this will determine how far you physically separate as well. If you wife needs a hug during her cycle, by all means give it, in my opinion. Otherwise you are just being cruel. The various customs concerning "Taharot Mishpacha" or "family purity" can be found in many

Jewish publications and books. I'm sure Eddie can direct you to sources, for those who want to find out details. But remember that Judaism is going to build a lot of fences around fences around fences to keep you from breaking the Torah, and some of the customs get downright rediculous.

Secondly, in regards to the third point below. . . Please put this in context of Acts 10 where God seemingly does away with the laws of Kosher in a vision given to Peter.

Eddie wrote:

Therefore, by understanding the HISTORICAL context of the story in Acts 10 and by reading the entire book of Acts including the story in Acts 11 which follows through with the story in Acts 10, we can see CLEARLY that the issue being discussed is NOT G-d doing away with the dietary laws but the ISSUE was if Jews would call non-Jews as "unclean" who believed in Yeshua/Jesus as Messiah or if they would have table fellowship with them.

Stay away from "juicy" hamburgers cooked in all those red natural juices.

I always thought that the juicyness (if that is a word [see my English is as bad as my Hebrew]) was due to grease. Albeit, this is not good for you, > but it is certainly not blood. Am I wrong, or are you talking about > something else than the traditional fast food hamburger?

Acts 15:20

1. What does "Abstain from things contaminated by idols" mean. What things in our culture are contaminated by idols? How is this relevant in today's culture?

Our culture is full of Idols just like the world was full of them 2000 years ago. If something directs you to serve it, or any created thing, then stay away from it. The Lord your G-d is a jealous G-d. Do not put any other god before Him. The application of this is up to you. There are plenty of examples.

2. Does "Abstain from Blood" include blood transfusions? Is it only referring to meat cooked rare?

Yes. This is a dietary restriction in its context, but I'm sure that you could find other applications, within reason. Medical issues involving blood are not in view here.

3. I was surprised to read that "Abstain From Fornication" also includes how people dress. Is it then correct to say that one who dresses provocatively would be fornicating? In other words, this goes beyond a sexual relationship outside of marriage?

Absolutely. This is why the Torah forbids that a man should dress like a woman and a woman like a man. Today, this does not mean that a woman cannot wear pants. It just means that a woman should not wear cloths that would be considered by the common person to be those of a man.

4. How can one know if meat was strangled or not? We shop at the supermarkets and there is no way of knowing. Please expound on this.

This is really a problem. In Judaism, as in all the Torah, the redeemed community lives together and the profane is not mixed with the holy in everyday life. But we do not have this situation today. The best way to observe this instruction is just to remember that "strangled" just means "treif" or "unclean" and if you stay away from the obvious foods, that the Torah is clear about, you will be going a long way in the right direction. Unless your whole community is blessed with its own "Shochet" or "Kosher" butcher, there is not much more you can do, unless you become a vegetarian.

Of note:

First, it is interesting that this e-mail points out the O.T. laws on sexuality. Coincidentally, my wife and I were recently discussing this. We were curious to know how many believers in Messiah practiced to the letter what is spelled out regarding sexuality, especially the commands regarding separation of men and women during her menstrual cycle. If people still practice the "separation" today, we would like to know how people actually practice this. Does the wife go to a hotel or something for a week. Despite any humor, it is actually a serious question.

From Eddie:

I forwarded this question and a couple other questions from our members in another note for Uri to make a response regarding Acts 15:20.

Secondly, in regards to the third point below. . . Please put this in context of Acts 10 where God seemingly does away with the laws of Kosher in a vision given to Peter.

Interested in your feedback and comments!!!

Hal,

PLEASE DON'T take this comment personal but the reason why so many Christians refer to Acts 10 as an indication that G-d did away with the laws of Kosher in his vision to Peter is the following:

1) They never studied the setting of this event from the perspective of the 1st century

2) They interpret this event through the doctinal teachings which came from a Catholic church and a Protestant reformation that still has within it doctrines which came into being as a result of departing from the roots of Christianity

3) They read Acts 10 without reading the entire book of Acts So, let me begin to explain.

Yeshua/Jesus was Jewish. The disciples of Yeshua/Jesus were Jewish. Not only were they Jewish but they were Orthodox Jewish. It was a belief in the 1st century that when Messiah would come that the non-Jews would begin to embrace Judaism, faith in the G-d of Israel and the Messiah. However, they also believed that the non-Jew would convert to Judaism according the doctrines of Jewish law as they were in that day.

Peter was an Orthodox Jew. Today, he would be considered an Ultra Orthodox Jew. It was taught and Peter practiced the belief that if a non-Jew entered into the house of the Jew that this would endanger the Torah observant Jew of being unclean because the non-Jew would not be following the various laws of ritual cleanliness as would the Torah observant Jews.

Therefore, the belief in the 1st century was:

1) When the non-Jews would accept Messiah, they would convert to Judaism

2) A Jew (who practiced ritual cleanliness) should not allow a ritually unclean non-Jew into his house because the habits of the non-Jew could endanger the Jew to become ritually unclean.

With this in mind, let us examine the book of Acts. In Acts 2, we have the day of Pentecost has arrived. The feast of Pentecost is a Jewish feast day. It is called Shavuot. Acts 2 is NOT the birthday of the Church. The word church is the Greek word, "Ecclesia". It is the Strong's Word (1577). The word "Ecclesia" means "a called out assembly". In the Thayer's Greek Lexicon, the corresponding Hebrew

word is the word "Kahal". The word Kahal is the Strong's Number (6951) in the Strong's Hebrew dictionary. The word "Kahal" is translated as "assembly" or "congregation" in the King James Bible. But, it could just as easily been translated as "church".

Let's look at Acts 7:37-38 it is written:

"This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me, him shall ye hear"

This is quoting and referring to Deuteronomy 18:15:

"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me: unto him ye shall hearken"

Acts 7:38:

"This is he, that was in the CHURCH in the WILDERNESS with the angel which spake to him in the MOUNT SINAI and with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us"

This is quoting and referring to Deuteronomy 18:16:

"According to all that thou desirest of the Lord thy God in Horeb (MOUNT SINAI) in the DAY of your ASSEMBLY (KAHAL) (CHURCH)..."

The time at Mount Sinai is also called the DAY of ASSEMBLY CHURCH) in (Deut 9:10 and 10:4).

So, Biblically the birthday of the "church" (KAHAL) or

(ASSEMBLY) was at Mount Sinai. The word (KAHAL) means "a called out

assembly of people". This is the same definition as "ekklesia" or church in Greek.