We as followers of YESHUA have to remember that our ELOHIM of Yisra’el has called us out of the world to be separate and holy to Him. Everything from wearing the tsitsit/fringes, to the dietary laws, to the Sabbath are automatic indicators to the world that you are different, and show that you belong to YAHWEH. Obedience is better than sacrifice; therefore, we must do all we can to obey our Father in the shamayim (heavens).
Leviticus 19:2
“Speak to all the congregation of the children of Yisra’el, and say to them, ‘Be kodesh (holy), for I YAHWEH your ELOHIM am kodesh.”
We will discuss not eating blood, or meat that has been strangled or died within itself, kosher meat, and not eating meat sacrificed to idols.
Consequences of eating blood/strangled meat
Genesis 9:4-5
“But do not eat flesh with its life, its blood.”
Genesis 17:10-14
“And any man of the house of Yisra’el, or of the strangers who sojourn among you, who eats ANY blood, I shall turn My face against that being who eats blood, and shall cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your lives, for it is the blood that makes atonement for the life.’ “Therefore I said to the children of Yisra’el, ‘No being among you eats blood; nor does any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.’ And any man from the children of Yisra’el, or from the strangers who sojourn among you, who hunts and catches any beast or bird, which is eaten, shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust, for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood is for its life. And I said to the children of Yisra’el, ‘Do not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Anyone eating it is cut off.’
Leviticus 19:26
“Do not eat with the blood. Do not practice divination or magic.”
Deuteronomy 12:16
“Only the blood you do not eat, pour it on the earth like water.” Verse 23-25 “Only, be firm not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, do not eat the life with the meat. Do not eat it, you pour it on the earth like water. Do not eat it, that it might be well with you and your children after you, even you do what is right in the eyes of YAHWEH.”
Jubilees 6:7-14
“But flesh, with its life, with the blood, you shall not eat; for the life of all flesh is in the blood, lest your blood of your lives be required. At the hand of every man, at the hand of every beast, I shall require the blood of man. Verse 12 “And this Witness is written concerning you that you should observe it continually so that you should not eat on any day, any blood of beasts or birds or cattle during ALL the days of the earth, and the man who eats the blood of beast or of cattle or of birds during all the days of the earth, he and his seed shall be rooted out of the land. And you shall command the children of Yisra’el to eat NO blood, so that their names and their seed may be before YAHWEH our ELOHIM continually. And for this Law there is NO LIMIT OF DAYS, for it is forever. They shall observe it throughout their generations, so that they may continue atonement on your behalf with blood before the altar...”
Jubilees 7:28-32
“For whoever sheds man’s blood, and whoever eats the blood of any flesh, will be destroyed from the earth. And there shall not be left ANY MAN that eats blood, or that sheds the blood of man on the earth, nor shall there be left to him any seed or descendants living under heaven. For into Sheol they shall go, and into the place of condemnation shall they descend, and into the darkness of the deep shall they all be removed by a violent death.”
1 Samuel 14:32-34
“And the people pounced on the spoil, and took sheep, and cattle, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground. And the people ATE WITH THE BLOOD.” And they told Sha’ul saying, “Look, the people are SINNING against YAHWEH by eating with the blood!” And he said, “You have acted treacherously. Roll a large stone to me today.” And Sha’ul said, “Disperse among the people, and say to them, ‘Each one bring his ox near to me, and each one his sheep, and you shall slaughter them here, and eat. And do not sin against YAHWEH by eating with the blood.” So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night, and slaughtered it there.”
So think about this the next time before you eat any rare or medium-well steaks as it would contain the life blood of the animal. Also, have you noticed at times when you are deep frying chicken that blood will run out of the meat and you continue to let it fry in the grease? This would mean that you are doing nothing more than eating fried blood.
The companies that sell meat say that the red liquid is not blood but rather a liquid called myoglobin. This is how it’s defined: The more myoglobin content meat contains the darker red it will appear in color. Myoglobin content is higher in beef and lower in poultry with lamb and pork having intermediate amounts. The age of an animal will also impact the myoglobin content of the muscles with older animals having more myoglobin and darker meat. Muscles that are used for movement also have more myoglobin content than muscles used for support. Along with water from muscle, myoglobin is what is found in meat packages that leaks out of the muscles during storage and most people think is blood. ALMOST all of blood is removed from muscle at the time of slaughter.
Notice how their process says that ALMOST ALL OF THE BLOOD IS REMOVED FROM THE MUSCLE? Every scripture that was covered above YAHWEH says do not eat ANY blood at all! So “almost” does not meet His standards which means the meat can still contain blood. So what if you are eating myoglobin and a mixture of blood? I cannot speak for anyone else, but to me that is too big of risk to sin before our ELOHIM!
I remember my grandma used to buy meat and then soak it in water and add salt to the water to draw out the blood; however, being that we are not slaughtering our own animals I would try to get it from a kosher place, in case the meat was sacrificed to idols which I will cover later in this article.
For example a kosher place will do the following to ensure that there is no blood in the meat: All kosher meat and poultry must undergo a special process to remove it. The meat or poultry is soaked in clean water for thirty minutes, then removed to drip dry. After a few minutes of dripping, the meat is salted and left to hang for sixty minutes to further draw out any remaining blood. After sixty minutes of salting, the meat is washed three times in cold, clean water to remove any remaining salt. The result: clean, fresh, and kosher meat. After the final washing, the meat is dried, further butchered into retail cuts.
I can guarantee that these mass slaughter houses are not doing this extra step because it is not cost effective or them. All they tell you is that they slaughter the animal with an unknown method and tell you the animal’s diet of grass-fed or grain fed and that is about it. And as you already know the extra steps to ensure the blood is removed increases the cost of kosher meat.
Strangled meat fits into the same category as not eating blood because this means that ALL the blood has NOT been properly drained out of the animal for the reasons I outlined above; therefore, you would indirectly be eating blood even if you didn’t mean to. Strangled meat is meat that is not slaughtered according to how ELOHIM prescribes it which is called “exsanguination” or bleeding out; therefore, there would be no blood left in the muscles of the meat. Which is why all the scriptures listed above say “pour out the blood on the earth like water.”
Acts 15:28
“For it seemed good to the RUACH HA’KODESH, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessities: that you abstain for what is OFFERED TO IDOLS, AND BLOOD, AND WHAT IS STRANGLED, and whoring. If you keep yourselves from these, you shall do well. Be strong!”
What to look for when buying meat?
So if you are going to buy meat try to get it as close to Biblically kosher as you can. I personally abstain from eating meat accept for ONE time out of the year and that is on Passover when we commanded to eat Lamb roasted in fire. I get it from a Kosher place called KOL foods because they are the closest to biblically Kosher that I have seen. I’m not saying they are perfect, but they meet the criteria for the best I can get while be scattered to the four corners. And again, it’s once a year for me, and in no way am I pushing off my diet on anyone, I’m just making it clear how serious I take this.
These questions that you are going to have to ask yourself and the person you are purchasing meat from. As we can see YAHWEH is very serious about the meat that we consume, so this topic of meat is not something to brush off.
Sacrificed to idols
We should NEVER eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols under any circumstances! For example if you see the word “halal” or their logo stamped on the meat that means that they pray and bless that meat in the name of “Allah” and means that meat has been sacrificed/slaughtered to Allah and not YAHWEH!
1 Samuel 9:13
“As you come into the city, you are going to find him (Samuel) before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people DO NOT EAT, until he comes for he BLESSES THE SLAUGHTERING, afterward they who are invited to eat.”
The same way we see the righteous Samuel blessing the slaughtering in the Name of YAHWEH before eating is what the Muslims do when they slaughter their meat which is why Halal is written on the package. Believers in YESHUA should avoid this meat altogether.
Revelation 2:14
“But I hold a little against you, because you have there those who adhere to the teaching of Bil’am, who taught Balak to put a stumbling-block before the children of Yisra’el, to eat OFFERINGS TO IDOLS, AND TO COMMIT WHORING.”
Revelation 2:20
“But I hold against you that you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and lead My servants astray to commit whoring and to eat OFFERINGS TO IDOLS.”
2 Maccabees 6:7 (Parenthesis are mine)
“And every month in the day of the kings birth (Antiochus Epiphanies) they (Jews) were taken under bitter constraint (to force or produce in an unnatural or strained manner) to EAT OF THE OFFERINGS; and when the fast of Dionusos was kept, the Jews were compelled to go in the procession of Dionusos carrying ivy.”
Acts 15:28
“For it seemed good to the RUACH HA’KODESH, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessities: that you abstain for what is OFFERED TO IDOLS, AND BLOOD, AND WHAT IS STRANGLED, and whoring. If you keep yourselves from these, you shall do well. Be strong!”
YESHUA Himself says that it is a sin to eat offerings of idols and the Book of Maccabees shows how some Jews were forced to eat it, which is a great indicator that the Greeks knew it was a sin for the people of YAHWEH to eat this kind of meat. The same way they tried to force the Jews to eat pigs flesh because they knew it was a violation of the Torah.
Another reason why I would not recommend buying random meat from anywhere such as stores like Food Lion, Walmart, or any random market is because most farms are unbelievers and they don’t have the same laws in mind when slaughtering animals.
And eating meat at any restaurant without knowing where it comes from or what deity it may have been sacrificed to is a serious question to consider. An article that should raise some eyebrows is on: mia.zo.nz on their website states on their frequently asked questions “How much New Zealand meat is Halal and why?
Answer: While there are no official statistics on halal production in New Zealand, nearly ALL of New Zealand’s red meat export slaughter premises are certified to undertake slaughter in compliance with HALAL REQUIREMENTS. This gives the New Zealand red meat industry the flexibility to export different cut from a single carcass to the best-returning markets. The industry currently serves some 120 markets worldwide.”
The same website has another frequently asked question Who decides if New Zealand meat is labeled “Halal?”
Answer: In countries where halal certification and labelling is not a compulsory requirement, the decision is often the RETAILERS, as New Zealand meat is often not exported in “retail-ready form. The final packaging is generally done by the RETALIER in the market.”
As we see it is up to the retailer to decide whether they want to label Halal slaughtered meat “Halal” or not. And also nearly all of the meat coming from New Zealand is Halal certified and they serve a large market serving 120 markets around the world, so you can be eating Halal meat without even knowing it. Which is why I highly recommend you be careful what you eat because YESHUA does not approve of this.
Dailymail.co.uk has an article by Sean Poulter for the Daily Mail written in 2010 titled “More than 70% of New Zealand lamb imports to Britain are halal but you wouldn’t know it from the label.”
Poulter writes “All of the slaughter men in these establishments must be Muslim and say a prayer when making the cut across the animal’s throat which kills it. The New Zealand meat industry has taken the step to ensure its lamb can be sold in Muslim markets round the world. It emerged last week that British restaurant chains and venues such as Wembly and Ascot are serving up different types of halal meat WITHOUT TELLING THE CUSTOMERS.”
The Food Inc, documentary says that there are only 3 to 4 top producers of the meat industry that control most of the mass-produced feed-lot meat out there, and we see that New Zealand is shipping to 120 markets, this is alarming.
This is serious my fellow brothers and sisters and we know that Satan is crafty at what he does, so if he can indirectly get you to get meat sacrificed to idols then he will do it. I know many will point to Paul saying if you are unaware of the meat being sacrificed to an idol then consume it because an idol is nothing in this world, and I do agree with Paul when he mentioned not to eat meat sacrificed to an idol. I would say that YESHUA did not add any criteria to His words, He simply said do not eat offerings to idols, so in my opinion this isn’t a topic to take lightly and saying “Well I didn’t know!” And furthermore, Mathew 18:16 says out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established and we have YESHUA, The Holy Spirit, and Apostles speaking against it.
Animal died within itself and torn by wild beasts
If you have ever watched a documentary about how modern day slaughter houses handle their cows and chickens you would be convinced to stop eating that mass produced meat. I want to shed light on some things you may be unfamiliar with and see how serious this topic is.
In an article from freeladythinker.com writes about Nestle, the world’s largest dairy company. “At the farm, COK captured some of the most inhumane treatment they say they have ever witnessed, including gruesome violence against mother cows and their calves. The video revealed “downed cows” – cows who cannot walk or stand on their own-hoised up by their hips using metal clamps and dragged by tractors. In one instance, a manager shot a “downed” cow in the head, and she suffered in agony for almost a minute before she was shot again and died. The MEAT from the “downed” cows like here was usually doled out to the employees in garbage bags.” “In another shocking incident, a manager stabbed a cow with no anesthesia in a misguided attempt to treat a stomach malady. Workers kicked, stomped on and hit cows, or sprayed them in the face with scalding water just to make them move faster.”
Also the Food Inc documentary will show you how chickens are raised in chicken houses, stacked up on top of each other, feces everywhere, and they rarely see daylight. I point this out to ask, do you think YAHWEH wants His children to eat meat that has been produced this way? Is this meat sitting on the store shelves you purchase from? We see that meat from the cow that suffered was eaten according to the article.
YAHWEH also says do not eat meat of an animal that died within itself such as natural causes, sickness, a disease or died of old age etc. We are also commanded to not eat anything that has been torn by beasts such as the animal being attacked or torn to pieces by a wolf or lion for example. The Hebrew word Te-re-pah Strong’s #2966 means prey, flocks devoured by animals. So let’s go over some scriptures concerning all of these issues:
Ezekiel 4:14
“Then I said, “Ah, Adonai YAHWEH! See, I have never defiled myself from my youth till now. I have never eaten what DIED of itself OR was torn by beasts, nor has unclean meat ever come into my mouth.”
Genesis 31:39
“That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you, I myself bore the loss of it. You required it from my hand, whether stolen by day or stolen by night.”
Exodus 22:31
“And you are holy men to Me, and you do not eat any meat which is torn to pieces in the field, you throw it to the dogs.”
Leviticus 7:24
“And the fat of a dead body, and the fat of what is torn, is used for any purpose, but you do not eat it at all.”
Leviticus 17:15
“And any being who eats a carcass or what was torn by a beast, be he a native or stranger, he shall wash his garments and bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening. Then he shall be clean. And if he does not wash or bathe his body, then he shall bear his wickedness.”
Leviticus 22:8
“He does not eat that which dies OR is torn by beasts, becoming unclean by it. I am YAHWEH.”
Deuteronomy 14:21
“Do not eat whatever DIES of itself. Give it to the stranger who is within your gates, to eat it, or sell it to a foreigner. For you are holy people to YAHWEH your ELOHIM…”
There are two types of strangers/foreigners in scripture, there is the Ger which is the righteous gentile proselyte/convert who is grafted into the Nation of Yisra’el and keeps the commandments as the native-born and there is the Nekar the stranger who is just passing through and has not joined himself with Yisra’el, so the Nekar is the one who can this meat. Not the gentile who is walking with YAHWEH and His Son YESHUA because they are just like the native-born.
What else to look for?
Also a good kosher place will feed the animals grass and will be grass finished. This means that the cow or lamb ate 100% grass or hay throughout its entire life. Many companies today will feed their cows 70% grass and about 30% grain which throws off the omega 3 to omega 6 ratio, CLA, and other healthy fats, which in turn changes the health benefits of meat.
Leviticus 11:3
“Whatever has a split hoof completely divided, chewing the cud, among the beasts, that you do eat.”
Cud defined by blurtit.com says:
Cud is a portion of food that returns from an animal’s stomach to the mouth to be chewed for the second time. Cud is produced during a digestive process called rumination. Cattle, deer, sheep, goats and antelope are some examples of animals that chew their cud. When cud-chewing animals eat their food, some of the food is stored in a special pouch within its stomach. It later regurgitates this stored food, or cud, and begins to chew it again.
So chewing cud is grass/hay which is the natural process of a cow that YAHWEH has given them for a reason. This special process of chewing the cud aka grass or hay makes for healthier, natural meat the way ELOHIM intended. The Food Inc documentary admits twice that cows were made to eat grass and when the cows are fed a grain diet it produces E-coli in their first stomach of the cow.
Also, good kosher meat will have no hormones or antibiotics which none of us should be eating anyway because it is not natural. The hormones and antibiotics go into your bloodstream and can interfere with your endocrine system.
I pray this was helpful and helped shed some light on this topic about meat and blood. We have to remember that YAHWEH wants us to live, eat, and dress a certain way to be holy unto Him. This message isn’t to judge anyone but to clarify what the scriptures say and wants going on with the meat industry. As always to take everything to our Father YAHWEH and His Son YESHUA in prayer.
May our Father YAHWEH bless you in YESHUA’s Name!