acts 15:29 by W.J.
Wolfaardt
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The
29th verse of this chapter deals with the new gentile converts that came into
the Messianic faith. The portion that we wish to discuss is the agreement at
the Council of Jerusalem, where the apostles decided that the new gentile
believers must “abstain from what is offered to idols, and blood, and what is
strangled, and whoring.” offerings
to idols We will
first have a look at what is offered to idols. It is obvious that YHWH would
not want us to worship idols. But is it so obvious that He wouldn’t want us
to eat food offered to idols? Before we eat, we ask Him to bless the food we
are about to receive. We also thank Him for our daily bread. Can we with an
open heart thank YHWH for food which was ordained to another mighty one than
Him? I will not feel free to do so, even though all other mighty ones are
dead and without hearing! Even though other mighty ones or idols do not
physically exist, they are made separate by the beholder, and exists in the mind of the worshipper. The very though that man is making an image or idol of that which
does not live, is an abomination to YHWH. For this reason He said to Yisrael so often to destroy the idols of the land they
took possession of. YHWH is the only living Elohim, and does not need any
divided worship. He wants undivided worship. We must worship Him with our
completeness - our heart soul and being, and that includes our eating and
drinking. Another reason why we should not eat food offered to idols, is to
prevent us from offending our brothers and sisters in the faith. To me, the
thought of food offered to idols is already reason enough not to eat it. In
the ancient system of sacrifice such as the custom was among the Graeco-Romans, only a portion of the sacrifice was
ordained to the idol in the temple. The remainder of the meat was either
eaten in the precincts of the temple or at home. Sometimes the remainder was
sent to the market to be sold. Evidence of this practice is found in the Oxyrhynchus papyrus. It often happened that a public
feast was announced where animals were sacrificed to idols. Some of the early
believers were invited to these festivals, from where the question arose if
they should eat any of this meat. If we eat meat sacrificed to idols, it also
symbolizes that we pay respect to that idol. If I slaughter an animal, and
ask YHWH blessing on it, I dedicate my action to Him, and it is part of my
worship. When I eat the meat of that animal, I know that His blessings are
upon it, because I dedicated it to Him. This is nothing different from asking
His blessings upon the food before we eat. In saying this, I wish to
emphasize that YHWH will not bless and cleanse through prayer unclean food,
(I am referring to food forbidden to eat!) If a heathen slaughters an animal,
and dedicate the procedure to an idol, will you feel comfortable to eat the
meat of that animal? Will you sit at the table of a Hindu, allow him to
dedicate the food to Buddha, and then eat that food? I will not! Yisrael was warned about this in Ex. 34:14-16, Num. 25:1,2. blood The
word blood in Hebrew is MD, dam, which means, “that which when shed causes
death” - so described in Strong’s Concordance # 1818. This word, with the
exception of one occurrence (Yesh. 63:3), is always
used in the Tenach when referring to human or
animal blood. Blood in other words mean none other than life! Without blood,
a human or animal is dead. This is actually very obvious. We will now explore
the significance and importance of blood in Scripture. Through the ages blood
was and today still is a delicacy among many nations of the world - but
contrary to what Scripture teaches in this regard. Why is blood so important
in Scripture, and why are we not allowed to eat or drink blood. Yes, to those
who do not know, Scripture forbids us to eat or drink blood,
and that for very good reasons. The decree of Acts 15:29 means
that the teaching of the Torah about abstinence from blood did not change
when the Faith was brought to the gentiles. In fact, these four requirements
was nothing new at all, but simply a continuation of the requirements set in
the Torah in Lev. 17 & 19. If we closely examine these chapters, we will
see where the apostles got the four aspects from. The first command in
Scripture regarding abstinence from blood is found in Gen. 9:4, and also Lev.
3:17 which reads, “An everlasting law throughout your generations in all your
dwellings: you do not eat fat or any blood.” Clearer than this we will find
nowhere else in Scripture. But why is it forbidden to eat blood? Once again
the answer comes very clearly from the Torah. “For the life of the flesh is
in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for
your lives (beings), for it is the blood that makes atonement for the life.”
Lev. 17:11 We may reason now that this is no longer so after Yahushua died
for us. No, the Word that went out of the mouth of the Almighty is not
reversible. If He commands, as in verse 12, “No being among you eats the blood, nor does any stranger who sojourns among
you eat blood.”, then we obey - even today. strangled animals for food? The
third part of the decree in Acts 15:29 is to abstain
from what is strangled. This could mean one of two things, or both. That
which is strangled by a human being, or which is strangled by an animal. An
animal strangled is nothing different from an animal which is slaughtered in
an unkosher manner, meaning that its blood does not
drained properly. If I wish to learn more about fishing, I either read a book
on the topic, or go to an experienced fisherman to teach me how to fish.
Similarly, we can learn from the experts how to slaughter an animal so that
its blood drains effectively. Jewish sh’chitah
(slaughtering) requires that an animal be killed with a very, very sharp
knife, with a single stroke across the neck. This is also the most humane way
of killing an animal, because it dies instantly, and the blood drains
quickly, pumped out by the heart that still beats for a few seconds after the
brain already died. I cannot think of a more inhumane way of killing an
animal than to strangle it. This is brutal and nothing different from murder. whoring Whoring,
for very obvious reasons cannot be allowed among believers. Besides the
obvious, YHWH forbid whoring since creation. The details to prevent whoring
are dealt with in Lev. 18. The ten commands, in the 7th and 10th commands
very clearly deals with this matter. In the
preceding verses, it becomes very clear why the apostles only decreed the
newcomer gentile believers to abstain from these four sins. Verse 21, after
they made the decision about these four items, Kepha
continues, saying, “For from ancient generations Mosheh
(Torah) has, in every city, those proclaiming him - being read in the
congregations every Sabbath.” The issue was primarily, at first, which
commands the newcomer believers should adhere to. At that time, the Messianic
believers, Jew and non-Jew, assembled in the same congregations, and the
gentiles joined in with the “customs” and teaching of the Jewish believers.
It was therefore obvious that Kepha meant with
these words, that they (the gentile believers) will in time hear “Mosheh” - the Torah, and then start to observe the Torah. |