The Shocking Biblical Truth About Eating Fat

Is fat good or bad for our health? Throughout the century, we have heard differing answers from so-called experts. Some claim that all fats are bad and we should have a low-fat diet to attain optimum health. Others argue that fats are healthy and they are a rich source of energy. In searching for the right answer, who should you listen to? Are we left in just choosing who we should believe and hope for the best?

Thankfully, we can go to the Master Creator who designed our human body. If there’s one Being who can tell us whether fat is good for us or not, it should be the Supreme God of the Universe. We are not left in the dark when it comes to finding the truth about this matter. We can always turn to God’s inspired word and read the Bible to know the answer.

So, what does the Bible say about eating fat? Does God care enough about our health and leaves us a dietary guideline? In this post, let me share with you a quick, comprehensive, and easy-to-understand study of what the Bible teaches about eating fat.

The Shocking Biblical Truth About Eating

Biblical instructions

When asked where in the Bible discusses the topic about eating fat, most people would turn to the following scripture:

  • Leviticus 3:17: “This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must NOT eat any fat or any blood.”
  • Leviticus 7:22-25: The Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites: ‘DO NOT EAT ANY OF THE FAT of cattle, sheep or goats. The fat of an animal found dead or torn by wild animals may be used for any other purpose, but you must not eat it. Anyone who eats the fat of an animal from which a food offering may be presented to the Lord must be cut off from their people.’

From these verses, it is very easy to see that God forbids eating of fat. However, other scriptures seemingly contradict this assumption. Some of these verses include the following:

  • The Shocking Biblical Truth About Eating FatGenesis 45:18: And take your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you will eat the FAT of the land.’
  • Nehemiah 8:10: Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
  • Luke 15:22 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.’

Comparing all these verses, we have a dilemma here. Does God forbid the eating of fat or not? Was God a double-minded God who changes His mind every once in a while? Of course not! So how can we explain these verses and reconcile them to each other?

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A specific kind of fat is forbidden

Now here’s the truth about eating fat according to the Bible: God does NOT forbid eating all types of fat. There is just a specific type of fat He wants us to avoid. We can learn about this fat as we take a deeper look at what the Bible really says about eating fat.

Leviticus 1-7 discusses the different instructions about how to give a sacrifice to God. Leviticus 1:8 tells us:

“And the priests, Aaron’s sons, shall lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar.”

If you look at the Hebrew word translated as fat from this verse, it is “peder.” Strong’s Dictionary defines this as “From an unused root meaning to be greasy; suet: – fat.” The term “peder” was only used thrice in the Old Testament and it was consistently used in relation to the animal sacrifices.

“Peder” is derived from a root word which means “greasy” and it refers to the HARD FAT in the animal, usually located around the kidneys, loins, and liver. This is supported by the scripture as we read the following verses:

  • Leviticus 9:10: But the fat, and the kidneys, and the caul above the liver of the sin offering, he burnt upon the altar; as the LORD commanded Moses.
  • Leviticus 3:4: And the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.

The fat and the kidney can be readily understood. But what is the “caul above the liver?” Unger’s Bible Dictionary defines caulas as the “liver-net, or stomach-net, which commences at the division between the right and left lobes of the liver, and stretches on the one side across the stomach, and on the other to the regions of the kidney.”

Now, why would God command such restriction? All of these fats and tissues are for the purpose of either holding, filtering, and storing waste products and toxins that can be harmful to the body. God knows the purpose of these fats and tissues and therefore, considers them as unfit for human consumption.

So in discussing about fat, God specifically identified the suet or greasy, hard fat of the animal as something dangerous to our health. God wants to make sure that these type of fats are burned during the sacrificial ceremony and therefore not be eaten by His people.

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The relation between fat and milk

Coffee, milk, breakfast, bread, butter

Now, here’s a startling and amazing fact that most people don’t know about fat and milk. They share the same unused Hebrew word that means “to be fat!” As we have discussed earlier, the Hebrew word for fat is “peder,” but there is also another Hebrew word from where the word fat is derived. It is “cheleb.” Milk has almost the same Hebrew word which is “Chalab.” Remember that the original Hebrew text does not contain any vowel. So, whenever we see fat or milk in the Hebrew text, it is equivalent to “chlb” and it is up to the translator whether to translate it to “fat” or “milk” depending on the context.

So, what is the significance in understanding this concept? Milk is considered as fat! In fact, we find MORE THAN 400 different fatty acids in milk and most of them are saturated fat.

Here’s the question now, “If God forbids His people to abstain from fat, then should we stop drinking milk?” The obvious answer is NO! We read:

“And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a LAND FLOWING WITH MILK and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites” (Exodus 3:8).

Time and again, God reiterated that He would bring the Israelites to a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:17; Leviticus 20:24; Numbers 13:27; and Deuteronomy 31:20 just to name a few). So what does this tell us? It teaches us that God does not forbid the eating of all types of fat, but He specifically identified a certain type of fat that we shouldn’t eat.

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A rule of thumb to follow

I want to repeat the instruction of Leviticus 7:23:

“Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.”

We can derive a general principle from this verse. We should not eat any of the visible fat of clean animals.

During the ancient time, God specified the areas of the animal where we can normally find the fat deposit from their bodies. Those farmed animals ate on the pasture where healthy, green grass was present. Moreover, these animals had a daily dose of exercise. Thus, we can be sure the animals during at that time were healthy and provided nutritious meat with minimal harmful fat.

However, during our modern times where commercialism dominates, the main objective is to get your livestock as fat as possible. The fatter the animal, the bigger their price. To this end, farmers feed their cattle with commercialized feeds. Worse, the farmed animals receive little to no exercise as they are kept in cages.

While times may have changed, the motive and intention behind God’s instructions about eating fats remain the same. We should avoid visible fat as much as possible.

Today, we can’t entirely avoid eating fats from farmed animals. There are just some fats that are difficult to see. We don’t see some fats that are mixed with the protein of the meat. Personally, I believe that it is acceptable to eat fats that we don’t see which are also found together with the meat’s protein. I also think that God was referring to the visible fat when He gave the instruction on which type of fat not to eat. Please note that this is my personal view.

Something to consider

When we consider God’s multiple references of giving the Israelites a land flowing with milk and honey, we can see that God does not warn His people about eating too much fat.

Take, for example, the butter. Butter is a concentrated form of milk and fat. When the God who later became Jesus Christ came and visited Abraham together with the two angels, we see that Abraham offered butter to them (Genesis 18:8). Even Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would eat butter (Isaiah 7:15). From this scripture, the Bible endorses the consumption of butter.

Dough, bowl, hand, baking

It is worth noting that the ancients did not consume butter the way we consume butter today. They don’t just use butter as a means of spreading them on a sliced bread or adding butter to their meals. They consumed butter in a larger quantity compared to how much we consume in the modern times. Butter is actually a main part of the Middle Eastern diet and it is freely and generously available.

So, what’s the point in all this? The point is that God does not warn us against eating too much fat. He only instructed us not to eat a certain type of fat and that is the type of fat we were discussing earlier.

Another thing to consider is the olive oil, which also contains fat. In the Biblical times, olive oil was used in baking, frying, and cooking. It is also generously added to soup, salads, and vegetable. With this in mind, we can’t possibly conclude that the Bible encourages a low-fat diet.

The bad and ugly fat

If there’s one type of fat that we all should avoid, it would be the trans fat. While trans fat is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, we can obtain certain principles to why trans fat is bad for our health.

We read in the Bible that butter is good for our health. However, we know that the natural human mind is hostile to God (Romans 8:7). So, man went on to say butter is not good for our health and created his own version of butter and thus, we now have margarine.

There are basically two types of fats: saturated fats and the unsaturated fats. Saturated fats are solid and unsaturated fats are liquid at room temperature. What makes saturated fats “saturated?” They are saturated with hydrogen molecules. On the other hand, unsaturated fats lack hydrogen molecules. Thus, food scientists have an easier way to meddle with unsaturated fats.

When scientists add hydrogen to unsaturated fats, they become hydrogenated fats and thus, we arrive at having the “hydrogenated fats” or better known as the trans fat.

Why do scientists need to “hydrogenate” fats? Well, for one, they want to turn healthy liquid fat into solids and prevent them from becoming rancid. The whole process transforms healthy and beneficial oils into health-wrecking fats. When you look into food labels, you should avoid food with hydrogenated fats, trans fats, or partially hydrogenated oil.

Back in the days when trans fats are making its way to popularity, it was first found in margarines and vegetable shortenings. As people discover more uses of trans fats, it has become commercially available and most processed food contain it such as pastries, cookies, and fast-food French fries (here’s another reason to stop eating French fries)!

Why are trans fat bad for you? Trans fat increases the amount of bad cholesterol in your body and decreases the amount of good cholesterol at the same time. Trans fat is also linked to increased risk of type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.

Final words

God promised the physical nation of Israel to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey. As part of God’s blessings, He gave the fat of the land to be a source of food for His people. The fats found in dairy products, eggs, clean meat, and olive oil are intended for human consumption. However, God was very specific for us not to eat the solid fat of animals.

So does God forbid the eating of fat? We have seen the answer and that answer is depending upon the type of fat we are talking about. So, the next time someone asks you whether you can eat fat or not according to the Bible, you definitely know the answer.


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80 thoughts on “The Shocking Biblical Truth About Eating Fat

  1. Shalom. You might be right that there could be toxins in the fat.
    But basics = Obedience. Thus the fat gets burnt as a “Sweet Savour/ Aroma/ Fragrance”… Thus the fat belongs to the LORD YHWH.

    Leviticus 3:16 And the priest shall burn them upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savour: all the fat is the LORD’S. (King James Version(KJV))

    Leviticus 3:16 ‘And the priest shall burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire for a sweet fragrance. All the fat belongs to יהוה.” (The Scriptures 1998+:(Scriptures) (ISR).

    Yes I enjoyed your view.

      • See fat has to meanings in the Bible Brother; the one in Genisis was speaking of the fullness; abundance of the land; it’s increase; it’s wealth; and they did not eat animal in those days he spoke that so he was not talking about any animal that’s why none was mentioned l; how ever after the flood Noah was giving the same instructions that was giving to Moses and the Israelites; because now after the flood man was going to eat animal so he had to tell us which ones we had to eat and the ones we could not and that all fat from the animal and it’s blood is forbidden

      • Hi Joshua Belle,

        I am more inclined to think that after God drove away Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, they were now allowed to eat meat.

        One reason I could think of is that they were doing animal sacrifice like Abel.

        Moreover, Abel took care of livestock and I could not see other reason but for them to have meat to eat.

        Another reason is that Noah already knew the difference between clean and unclean meat, yelling us that Noah was eating meat even before the flood.

    • God created a piece of meat with both saturated and poly-unsaturated fats in it.

      God said the fat around the kidneys and liver for himself.

      In 1970, the government, being pushed by the food loyalists introduced the Low-fat way of eating. Since then, cancer, heart disease, diabetes Type 2, kidney disease and the euro diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, MS, Parkinson’s etc. has shot through the roof.

      The vegetarian and vegan diets followed with an emphasis on high grain consumption.

      Romans 14:2 (CEV)
      “Some think it is all right to eat anything, while those whose faith is weak will eat only vegetables.” The Scriptures say that this diet is from seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.

      John 10:10 says that the enemy comes to rob, kill and destroy but that God’s intention is that we might liv and liv abundantly. Here is what the Scriptures say:

      I Timothy 4:3
      “Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.”

      1 Timothy 4:1 and verse 3:

      (1) Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

      (3) Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

      Since God specified whic fat that was His, i.e. the fat around the kidneys,and liver etc. and created meat with both saturated fat and poly-unsaturated fat, I suggest we be obedient and eat meat.

      Vegetables do not contain an essential amino acid and neither do they contain essential fatty acids. They are deficient in things like B-12 that is abundant in meat.

      I found the Shocking Biblical Truth on eating fat to be an extremely well written article that good give you peace of mind about eating meat, and the saturated fat and poly-unsaturated fat that it contains.

      When God created us and our food, as scored in Genesis, He said, “It is Good!”.

      My suggestion is to Eat Meat and Live.

  2. God name is Jehovah. Psalms 83:18. Almighty God, Jehovah, is the Father of his son, Jesus Christ. The two are not one. The Trinity doctrine is not in the Bible.

    • Yes, The trinity doctrine isn’t true. But I would have to disagree with you about the name of God. It isn’t Jehovah. It is just a name coined by Peter Galatinus. The closest to His true name is Yahweh.

      • What doesn’t make sense to me is we don’t call Jesus (Yeshua) which is his Hebrew name. So why should we call God by his Hebrew name (Yahweh) instead of The english equivalent. We don’t Know how his name was pronounced in the hebrew, But we know the spelling, which is a whole new issue because the Hebrew language doesn’t have vowels (YHWH) so for that matter YahWeh is the most accepted way to pronounce it but we don’t know exactly how it’s pronounced. So we should stop debating this issue. We call everyone else by their english names. So the only reason why it’s an issue is because Satan wants to stop us from learning about God, that’s why the name was taken out of most bibles and gave all these excuses as to why they took it out. Because the Jews were superstitious and they didn’t want to utter the name because they took literally the scripture, ‘you must not take Jehovah your gods name in vain.’ Or it’s too holy to pronounce, or the translation issues we are currently discussing as an excuse for taking it out of the Bible’s. You can find these excuses in many bible translations. The whole time we are arguing over how to say his name, we could be learning more about him, like the meaning of his name, or learning more about his qualities, or we could be drawing closer to hm. It’s a roadblock only if you let it. May Jehovah (Yahweh) bless you. And thanks for all the comments and research that went into this article and the many different comments.

      • Thanks for your comment, Wayne. I believe the Most High God works with us individually. We have different levels of conversion, knowledge, and wisdom. Ultimately, it is how we apply those learnings that make all the difference.

      • The name isn’t pronounceable as such because it represents a sound rather than a proper name. If it is audibled as it is written then it makes the sound of breath entering and leaving the lungs. For it is the breath of life. So when someone breaths or perishes, that last utterance will be the name of that which made it a “living Soul”

    • There is no J in Hebrew. Never a Jesus or Jehovah.
      We must also consider the purpose of sacrifice then, the changes made after the sacrifice of the Messiah (if you believe in the divinity) and the never mentioning of organs or the connected fat being bad, as mentioned by the article author on this page, but the good stuff offered to Yah as sweet smelling etc.
      Trinity? Well, our creator created matter but is not made of it…but can take on any form. Tricky. Why is there a cry to the father upon crucifixion and other examples written.
      Things to mull over and research.
      Angels can have physical relations with human women made of matter to create nephilim but never seem to cry out to “another part of themselves” somewhere else.
      We know nothing but are taught to seek out the truth. Good start.

  3. Pingback: Becoming Christians’ Top 10 Posts of the Year 2017 | Becoming Christians

  4. Great Biblical references in your article thank you. However I think we would do well to consider the meat from ‘clean’ animals today is far removed from meat of Biblical times. Even modedern scientific research is now pointing out the link between meat consumption & the leading death causing diseases of today. We might do well to return to the original diet of the Bible. The diet for which the body was designed. Genisis 1:29

    • It is possible to buy meat from clean animals today. But it is not produced commercially except by very small farmers. And is typically not found in a grocery store.

      The reasons are that commercial producers of meat inject animals they raise with hormones, antibiotics and vaccinations. They pull them off pasture and fatten them on GMO corn before slaughter. Some animal feeds are laced with antibiotics.

      There are some who never inject hormones. Fewer do not use vaccinations and antibiotics. Look for grass-fed and grass-finished and ask specifically what the animals have been fed and injected with and then you can find clean meat and poultry.

      • True, but these “clean” meats are also very expensive. I think it is sinful to make good food so expensive, and processed foods cheap!! In other countries – like Thailand – it is the opposite.

  5. Thank you for your insights on this often misunderstood topic. I just heard a guest speaker on a reputable Christian television broadcast. The guest was a nutritionist, but some of the statements he made were in error, so I came online to check out his facts. I agree with Claudette that today’s food is not the same as in biblical times. (It’s not even the same as when I was growing up on a farm in Iowa.) We should be encouraging others to eat grass-fed beef and dairy products, local foods, and organic products.

      • That’s where the good news of the coming Kingdom of God comes in. Those who destroyed the earth will be destroyed and those chosen will once again learn how to live according to the Almighty.

    • I agree with you, the real problem is that we cannot tell what’s what because it’s not regulated, and there is no accountability. Local foods oftentimes aren’t really local, You don’t know if it truly grass fed, but say the labeling matches up. What is grass fed by definition. For example free range is just the option to free range, you can have a small area for them to go outside if they choose, but they May never do so. Have you ever heard about Holy Chicken restaurant? If not you should check it out. So is grass fed the same slimy wording? What’s their true grass intake? Or are they fed grass once? And organic and non gmo is not regulated or enforced. People will pay more if they think it’s local, organic, non-gmo, grass fed, free range, & etc. The more I learn the more I understand that what I thought I knew to be true is actually a clever lie. I did the all organic , non gmo When organic not available diet staying away from more fast foods and I felt amazing, but how much of that was really organic or non gmo I’ll never know. My grocery bill for my wife, son, and myself was 1200 a month. Like what was mentioned you almost need to raise or produce yourself to make sure or know someone who you can trust to get what you pay for.

      • I know how difficult it is to eat healthy in our modern time, Wayne. Even my family tries to eat healthy, but it is difficult especially when you live in a city. You really need to grow your own food to be sure. However, that’s an option many of us don’t have.

    • We should encourage it indeed. As Debra above put it “it’s a sin that it’s so expensive. ”
      Is it or just prophecy? A days wages for a loaf of bread, which means meat, pb and j etc. will definitely not be affordable. 😏
      I spent the last 7 years raising animals to eat and drink for free on the land with variety and spring water. Healthiest animals I’ve ever raised or eaten.

  6. Hi
    Thank you for the article, it helped to shed light on this topic as I was reading Leviticus, the context is indeed the peace offering sacrifices, how could we eat the passover lamb without eating it’s fat? it would be very hard, you would have to throw 90% of it to the fire.
    By the way Isaiah 7:5 isn’t talking about messiah eating butter, can you check which verse it is, I am curious.
    Thanks!

      • Of course, Isaiah 7:14 is the beloved verse of our messiah, how wonderful to discover that a verse later it speaks of how good Milk and honey is. there is no doubt that the author refers to curds(milk) and honey as good just as messiah will choose the good and not evil. beautiful verse, thank you.

  7. Good article right up until the end. But I strongly disagree about the negative effects of fat on our health. As a former type 2 diabetic (I prayed about it and changed my diet and was healed). I discovered a lot of misconceptions. 1) Cholesterol does not cause heart attacks. It is used by our bodies to repair our arteries. What causes the heart attacks is when you consume too many sugars or high carbs, this causes an increase in insulin which then causes cholesterol to swell and burst while it repairs our arteries, causing the blockage. 2) fat does not increase the risk of diabetes, in fact, it is better for a diabetic to eat protein from meats, including whatever fat may be inside of it as fat doesn’t cause the body to produce insulin which is what leads to diabetes and weight gain. This is why the Atkin’s diet works so well, you eat more meat, less carbs (also called the LCHF or Low Carb High fat diet). You gain more energy from the fat because your body uses it right away and you don’t produce insulin from it so you do not gain weight and your risk of heart problems actually decreases.

    Basically, we have been lied to for decades about this and documents were discovered which showed that the sugar industry has long understood that sugar, not fat, is the leading cause of heart disease as well as diabetes and weight gain, but they lobbied the government to blame fat, and it worked. People ate less fat (low fat products tend to have more sugar) and as a result, rather than diabetes and weight problems decreasing since the 80s when the push for low fat started, it has gotten worse due to lower fat consumption and higher sugar consumption!

    Now I agree, avoid the visible fat as commanded in God’s word. And avoid the greasy, hart fats you mentioned. So that you can be in obedience with God and do your health a lot more good but DO NOT go low fat for diabetes and heart problems or you may find things get worse for you and not better.

    I know, after prayer and diet adjustments based on this information I almost stumbled upon “by accident” (I personally fell it was God showing me the truth), I went off all of my type 2 diabetes meds and haven’t taken ANY PILLS AT ALL for several years now.

    So, be VERY CAREFUL about using “doctor” advice to God’s people. Much of it is a lie.

    • Hi nitehckr,

      Thanks for your comments. I agree with you that there are a lot of “scientific” and “medical” discoveries out there that are just not true. It is up to us to discover them.

      I remember when my wife was pregnant, she developed GDM or gestational diabetes. The doctor told us to take insulin if we don’t want our baby to suffer. We prayed to God and just surrender everything to Him. We didn’t get the insulin shot but by God’s grace, our baby is well and healthy.

      I pray that you get better and God will heal you completely according to His will. 🙂

      Kind regards,
      Joshua

    • Good day nitehackr,
      I’m impressed from your experience. More than year ago I’ve been diagnosed with high blood sugar, and the doctor even recommended me to start taking Metformin. I refused and I started with some diets and supplements. The healing process is very slow. If I can ask you to email me what and how you have done to heal from diabetes it will be very appreciated. My email nikolovstefan@hotmail.com. Thank you! God Bless you!

      • Sorry I didn’t reply sooner. It’s been four years since I posted this, seven years since I went off all my diabetic meds (I prayed about it and took myself off of them in 2015), adjusted my diet and trusted in God and I am still doing well. I don’t even take an Aspirin for a headache, but instead trust in God. I do like Garlic as it is a natural antibiotic. I feel God has put a lot in our vegetables that can help us naturally and I feel much of the meds we get do more harm than good.

      • Oh, one more thing, I follow God’s word, meaning I do not eat unclean meats either and I haven’t had a flu for 30 years, and only one cold.

    • Hi Chaston,

      People are naturally against the law of God. When you look at the Bible, from the OT to the NT, we could see that God forbids the eating of unclean food and that includes pork.

      The majority isn’t always right, Chaston. It doesn’t mean that if people eat pork, it is now acceptable to God.

      For more details, please read this blog: https://becomingchristians.com/2014/02/27/5-compelling-reasons-you-should-also-observe-gods-food-law/

      • No one has mentioned Acts10:15. What God said to Peter, “What I have made clean do not make unclean”

      • God was speaking here about the Gentiles whom the Jews considered as unclean. God is now making the Gentiles clean through the sacrifice of Christ.

        This point is evident when you read verse 28 of the same chapter:

        28 Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

      • What does it mean do not eat the fat you can see? Is that like fat you can see on a ribeye or like the hard fat of suet found around the kidney? What type of fats would then be okay other than butter and milk fats?

        Also, why is olive oil considered okay? Its mono-unsaturated?

  8. 14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.” [16] [f]

    17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

    20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, 22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.” ( Mark 7 14: 23).

    Can you please give an idea about your article “The Shocking Biblical Truth About Eating Fat” on the context of Jesus Christ’s teaching according to St Mark 7 14:23 ..? Thank you

    • The context of this verse is about food in general. It is not talking about clean and unclean meat. Christ is not saying that we can eat anything we want. After all, it is the thing that goes out of the mouth that is unclean not the things that goes in.

      Christ is talking about the ritual purity and the tradition of the Pharisees. Christ and the Disciples were criticized of not following this tradition.

      Again this is a huge topic. Please read this eye-opening blog: https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/the-surprise-sayings-of-jesus-christ-did-jesus-declare-all-meats-clean

    • Jesus did not declare all foods clean, that is completely out of context, he was talking about the heart, also you must remember that Christ as well as every one listening were all following the Torah, and were aware of clean and unclean foods, there was no debate there about what Jesus was talking about, it was not about food, it was about the purity of the heart, that is the true context, just like Peter’s dream it had nothing to do with food but it was about the gentiles and their acceptance into the kingdom.
      Messiah did not teach anything new, he taught the Torah and told every one to keep it, saying that he declared all foods clean is making messiah contradict himself.
      Jesus had 2 main missions to accomplish, the first and most important was to offer himself as a living sacrifice, the second was to teach how to follow the law of God which the people forgot and strayed away from.

      Jesus came to show the people how to follow the Torah the way God intended, in effect to fulfill it properly, to be an example to others. Matthew 5:17

      Those who follow the Torah will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven… Matthew 5:19

      • The verse where Jesus ‘declared all foods clean’ is not in the original KJV, and in fact it’s not in many modern Bible translations either. It was an addition by the NIV ‘writers’.

  9. I was wondering whether foods like eggs, milks, butters were consumed prior to Noah’s flood even though animal flesh was permitted by God however not till after the flood. I appreciate your opinion and thanks.

    • Hi Michael!

      Thanks for your question. Personally, I believe that before Noah, God have already permitted people to eat animal flesh. Abel was a shepherd and it is most likely that they raise livestock for their consumption. Even Noah knew which animals are considered as clean and unclean before the flood.

      That’s my take, Michael. So, with this in mind, I believe they have eaten eggs, milk, and butter.

      Cheers,
      Joshua

      • Hi, could it be that Noa when exiting the ark simply had no other foods available until he grows that troublesome wine tree. So in this sense God states obvious fact that there are nothing to eat except an animals…

  10. Farmed animals, especially if fed on food other than grass end up with higher percentage of omega-6 than omega-3 in their fat. God would know this would happen and so farmed animals fat should be avoided best as possible in favour of grass-fed and finished. If we have too much omega-6 (and we do because of our modern oils (sunflower etc) make sure of it), then we end up with inflammatory disease which has now replaced infectious disease as the main killer in westernised man.

  11. … “We can derive a general principle from this verse. We should not eat any of the visible fat of clean animals.” …

    That crosses the line from rightly dividing scripture to adding to it. You have done a good job distinguishing between the specific types of animal fat that we are not to eat. We must guard against a Pharisaical approach which then extends that to other animal fat where there is no such command. In fact, muscle fats, when from a healthy, organically raised animal, are very healthful, as a other saturated fats (butter, ghee, coconut oil, cocoa butter, palm oil).

    A little further study reveals the reason why organ fats are prohibited: they have a melting point that is above our body temperature. Therefore they will not remain liquid after consumption and droplets will begin congealing in our organs and vascular system. Obviously this is not healthy and not what our Creator desires for us.

    • Hi Dixon,

      Thanks for your comment. I like your last point. I haven’t thought of that before. Thanks for adding your comment about the melting point.

      Regards,
      Joshua

    • organ fats melting point? not sure that matters does it, once the bile and other enzymes and acid get to work on it…. after all, protein has an even higher melting point, and our bodies break that down….

      the trap here is the belief that the hard fat from animals ends up as the same hard fat in our bodies when in fact fats get broken down into fatty acids then utilised and reassembled if necessary.

  12. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

    3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.

    4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

    5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

    6 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

    7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

    8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

    9 And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?

    If you notice…The Lord’s accepts Abel’s offering firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

    Then he does not accept Cain’s offering: Veggies!

    What do you get from this? I personally know my family has trouble with many different kinds of vegetables and fruits because of the natural food chemicals ( salicylates,amines,glutamates,allergies and intolerances) It can cause aggressive behavior among other troubles. We also have allergies to many fats as well. I just wish the Lord would confirm to me if butter was ok to eat with meat and if the fat from Elk is safe. I would also like to point out High Oleic Sunflower is a very good fat. Not regular sunflower oil. There is high fat content in High Oleic Sunflower seeds.This has been on my heart for awhile. This blog came up and I thought maybe we could all pray for the truth to set us free 🙂

    Blessings,
    Kimberly

    • Hey Kimberly,

      Thank you so much for your comment. I learned something new from it.

      I would say that the primary reason Yahweh didn’t accept Cain’s offering is because of his attitude. In Leviticus, we read that crops and vegetables are acceptable offering. So, I would say, it has to do more about Cain’s character.

  13. I recently read The Fat of the Land by Vilhjalmur Stefansson who argues fat is needed on a all meat diet, due to his time spent with the Inuit, well early in the book, he mentions a bunch of bible passages that led me to this website trying to find out what the bible says about fat, I thought this page was an interesting read, although when I attempt the zero carb diet (all meat diet) in a few months I will be eating lots of visible fat, im going to see if I can get suet (or at least beef trimmings) from the butcher in town, because you need to eat like 70%-80% fat on a zero carb diet to feel good according to Stefansson, when he tried to eat lean only he got really sick in a matter of days

    the natives on the plains of north america made a lot of pemmican from lean bison meat and bison suet, its about 50% lean and 50% fat, and they lived on that for months at a time during food scarcities, and it can last decades if properly stored away from moister

    • Use the fattier cuts of meat, minced beef with 20% fat not 5%, minced lamb tends to be fattier anyway, and use shoulder of lamb, rib beef, breast of lamb – and try eating wild caught salmon and other small oily fish. You can serve salmon with hollandaise (some good stick blender recipes online) or generally fry in butter/ghee or beef dripping (suet)…. deglazing the pan so you get all the fat out.

  14. Was wonderful to find this article! Thank you. Last year when we butchered our beef cow, we were overwhelmed by the amount of fat we collected. We separated the suet/chelev/helev fat surrounding the kindeys from the shuman fat, which is under the skin and attached to the meat. From our understanding of God’s law and the Hebrew meanings of both types of fat, it is only the suet fat that we’re not to eat, and when living a self-sustaining lifestyle this makes sense. It is so important to have fat. This past year were have been so blessed by this understanding, and have been using our rendered grass-fed shuman fat for our many kitchen needs, and we use the chelev fat for our soaps, candles, and skin care products.
    Shalom from Northern Alberta, Canada.

  15. Hi I am new here and am delighted that you teach exactly what Jesus would teach. Thought to add :
    The fat restriction more specifically referred to clean mammals and not fish, as noted, or to birds—whereas the restriction against blood applies to both mammals and birds (see Leviticus 7:22-26). The fat prohibition further concerns the covering fat that can be removed rather than the fat marbled in the meat.

    Isaiah 1:19 : “If you are willing and obedient (to God’s instructions) , you shall eat the good of the land!”
    Its kind of hard to do in America where SAD (Standard American Diet) is so widespread!!

    Greetings from Vacaville, California, USA

  16. If you still think this entire subject is god trying to give health advice there’s no getting through to you.

    2 different seeds in the same row is not god giving farmers almanac advice. It deals with cheating on your wife.

    God giving fashion advice with tassles? Seriously?

    You really think god is giving a new keto diet or a south beach diet plan?

    You really think the sabbath is about a day of the week?

    I can’t even begin to help you if that’s where you mind is at.

    • I think you have the wrong attitude here, respectfully. It’s about obedience. Do you think that God would not speak plainly or provide clarification? Jesus explained his parables when the people didn’t understand. Be weary of your interpretations.

      • Hello Joshua, in your response to your comment I cannot reply to. I was referring to the comment that seemed to be implying that the commands have some allegorical or metaphorical interpretation. Although they may, I was just saying be weary of thinking that something simple like ‘tassels’ always has some other meaning. Maybe I was foolish writing that as I have just read that part of the bible. I just have heard many people attribute some esoteric meanings to things when it could just be as plain as that is what God commanded.

  17. I totally agree that God does not want us to eat the fat of the animal. The melting point of lard and suet is HIGHER than our body temperature of 98.6F, so it will go in our blood streams as a solid and may cause heart attacks eventually. All my life I avoided eating animal fat (I’m in my 60’s), but everyone else in my family ate it. Guess what, they ALL had to have their gall bladders removed, and I am the ONLY one in my whole family with a gall bladder! Thank God!

  18. Have you noticed there is now news of a link between the intake of trans fats and a greater amount of visceral fat in individuals. Visceral fat is the fat around the internal organs. This agrees with your claim that the fat called by the hebrew word, “peder,” which surrounds the internal organs, is the fat to avoid. Now if a lab exam was done on this fat, it would likely turn up a high content of trans fats.

  19. Tzitzit border,is a ribbon of blue, that runs 360 degrees around the edge of a garment. This commandment is after Gods people were redeemed from breaking the commandments. The command was given to wear, so you will remember to keep the commandments.

    Jesus spoke against those who broadened and enlarged the borders of their garments. To be seen by others.
    Matthew 23:5
    “But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,”

  20. It seems clear that Blood, Kidneys, Fat within the rib cage, and Sinew that runs from the hip socket Genesis 32:32 seems everybody has been dancing around the hip sinew in this thread.

  21. Does ground beef and beef hot dogs contain heled fat that was prohibited for jews to eat in Leviticus 7? Or is it a different kind of fat that is used?

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