Leviticus 11:7, Deuteronomy 14:8 (Pigs Unclean as Food?)

MUSLIMS say that the BIBLE PROHIBITS PIGS as FOOD.

They base their claims on the following verses:

LEVITICUS 11:7
The pig, for even though it has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed, it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.

DEUTERONOMY 14:8
And the pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. You shall not eat their meat, and you shall not touch their carcasses.

Do these prove that PIGS or PORK should NOT BE EATEN?

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A. QUICK RESPONSE:

The PROHIBITION on eating PIGS was GIVEN SPECIFICALLY to the ISRAELITES. NOT to ALL MEN.

Both LEVITICUS 11:7 and DEUTERONOMY 14:8 are DIRECTED at the ISRAELITES. NOT the WORLD, especially NOT TO MUSLIMS or CHRISTIANS. (LEV 11:1-2; DEUT 10:12)

When GOD BECAME MAN in the PERSON of the LORD JESUS, HE REMOVED the PROHIBITIONS about FOOD. (MARK 7:18-19; ACTS 10:11-16)

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B. EXTENDED ANSWER:

The FACT that PIGS were PROHIBITED to ISRAELITES ONLY is clearly seen in LEVITICUS 11:1-2

"The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them:

"Speak to the PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, saying: From among all the land animals, these are the creatures that you may eat.
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The same is CLEAR from DEUT 10:12:

"So now, O ISRAEL, what does the LORD your God require of you? Only to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,"
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a. Why did GOD FORBID ISRAELITES from EATING PIGS (and MANY OTHER ANIMALS LEVITICUS 11)?

HE WANTED to SEPARATE THEM from PAGANS. And FOOD is ONE THING that CAN BRING THEM NEAR the NON-BELIEVERS.

LEVITICUS 20:23-26
You shall NOT FOLLOW the PRACTICES [SEXUAL IMMORALITY ETC] of the NATION that I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.

But I have said to you: You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God; I HAVE SEPARATED YOU from the peoples.

You shall therefore make a distinction between the CLEAN ANIMAL and the UNCLEAN, and between the UNCLEAN BIRD and the CLEAN; you shall not bring abomination on yourselves by animal or by bird or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have set apart for you to hold unclean.

You shall be holy to me; for I the LORD am holy, and I HAVE SEPARATED YOU from the OTHER PEOPLES be mine.

The GOAL of GOD in the BEGINNING was to SEPARATE HIS PEOPLE, the ISRAELITES, from the OTHER PEOPLES or NATIONS to PREPARE THEM for a SPECIAL MISSION: To be the PEOPLE THROUGH WHOM HE WOULD BECOME MAN.
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b. AFTER GOD BECAME MAN and FULFILLED ALL the LAW and the PROPHETS (MATTHEW 5:17-18) HE CHANGED the MISSION of ISRAEL. From being SEPARATED, THEY were to BRING HIS COMMANDMENTS and TEACHINGS to ALL NATIONS.

MATTHEW 28:19-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

That meant, GOD was REMOVING ALL the PROHIBITIONS that SEPARATED to ISRAELITES from OTHER PEOPLE so that THEY COULD BE WITH THEM and TEACH THEM HIS SAVING GOSPEL.

That is WHY GOD REMOVED the PROHIBITION on FOOD, including the PROHIBITION against PIGS. HE has MADE ALL FOODS CLEAN.

MARK 7:14-15, 18-19
Then he called the crowd again and said to them, "Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile."

He said to them, "Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
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In ACTS 10:11-16, GOD MADE it CLEARER that HE WAS REMOVING the PROHIBITION on FOOD through a VISION HE GAVE to PETER, the FIRST of the APOSTLES and the FIRST POPE.

ACTS 10:11-16
He [PETER] saw the heaven opened and something like a large sheet coming down, being lowered to the ground by its four corners.

In it were ALL KINDS of FOUR-FOOTED CREATURES and reptiles and birds of the air.

Then he heard a voice saying, "Get up, Peter; KILL and EAT."

But Peter said, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is profane or unclean."

The voice said to him again, a second time, "WHAT GOD HAS MADE CLEAN, YOU MUST NOT CALL PROFANE."

This happened three times, and the thing was suddenly taken up to heaven.

LATER, GOD REVEALED to PETER that EATING the FOOD ONCE PROHIBITED to ISRAELITES was to ACCEPT the NON-ISRAELITES from whom GOD INITIALLY SEPARATED THEM FROM.

The PURPOSE was to GIVE the NON-ISRAELITES the SAME SAVING MESSAGE of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

ACTS 11:12, 17-18
"The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them [GENTILES] and us [ISRAELITES].

If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?"

When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, "Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life."

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So, THAT is WHY PIGS are NO LONGER PROHIBITED.

MUSLIMS have the WRONG IDEA (and STILL PROHIBIT PIG MEAT) because THEY NEVER ACCEPTED the WHOLE MESSAGE of GOD. THEY NEVER KNEW the REAL MESSAGE that GOD HIMSELF GAVE to MEN.