God's law of clean and unclean meats, listed in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, is for all mankind and remains in force. It predates Sinai: Noah took clean animals into the ark and offered them afterward, so the distinction reaches back before any Jews or Israelites existed. Genesis 9:3 gives no blanket permission to eat everything, since the animals are given "even as the green herbs," and just as God did not give poisonous plants, He did not give harmful meats. Man cannot determine by himself which flesh is fit, so God defined it in His Word. Some unclean animals, such as vultures and pigs, were designed as scavengers. Yet the commandment is chiefly a test of obedience, not merely a health rule. The New Testament passages commonly used against it do not address the subject. Peter's vision in Acts 10 concerned accepting Gentiles, as Peter himself says: "God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean." I Timothy 4:3-5 speaks of foods "sanctified by the word of God and prayer," meaning those God set apart as food in Scripture. Mark 7 concerns unwashed hands and the stomach's purging of waste. Romans 14 concerns vegetarianism and meat defiled by idols, using the Greek koinos (common), not unclean. Because God does not change, the law stands.

The biblical law of clean and unclean meats remains in force for Christians; it was not done away with the Old Covenant. It stands with other laws, such as quarantine and sexual conduct, that guard against physical and spiritual impurity and serve the pursuit of holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. God instituted it to set His people apart from the surrounding nations, and Christians, as the spiritual Israel of God, are called to be holy as He is (I Peter 1:13-16). Paul urges cleansing from defilement of both flesh and spirit (II Corinthians 6:16-7:1). The law predates the Old Covenant, since Noah distinguished clean from unclean animals (Genesis 7:1-3), and what did not originate with the Old Covenant did not die with it. Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 list the animals and give the means of identifying those not listed. Christ did not abolish it: in Mark 7 He addressed the Pharisees' added ritual hand-washing, and verse 19 speaks of the digestive system, not of declaring all foods clean. Peter's vision in Acts 10 taught that no man is to be called common or unclean, as verse 28 states, and the ensuing dispute never mentions food. Paul's discussion in I Corinthians 8 concerns clean meats offered to idols and sensitivity to a brother's conscience. The law continues into God's Kingdom, when the priesthood will teach the difference between clean and unclean (Ezekiel 44:23), and nothing defiling will enter the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:27).

The question of whether all animal flesh is good for food is rooted in the fundamental issue of mankind's estrangement from God due to disbelief and disobedience. God never explains why certain animals are deemed unclean, simply instructing not to eat them, which challenges man's desire for specific reasons before accepting His commands. This issue of clean and unclean animals is not complex but is significant within the broader context of God's unchanging purpose and character. From the beginning, as seen in Genesis, the concept of clean and unclean animals is introduced in a universal, foundational setting applicable to all mankind, long before Israel or the Old Covenant existed. At the time of Noah, mankind already understood which animals were clean and unclean, as God did not need to specify them, indicating this knowledge was pre-existing. In Genesis 9, God's instruction to Noah about food remains consistent with prior teachings, comparing animal flesh to green herbs, where not all are intended for consumption, just as some plants are poisonous. In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, the distinction between clean and unclean animals is clearly established for Israel as part of the Old Covenant, yet these laws are universal in application, existing before and beyond this covenant. Eating unclean animals is considered sin, a falling short of God's ideal, not merely a physical transgression. Sacrifices, as detailed in Leviticus 1 through 7, required clean animals, symbolically representing purity and even God's own standards, as well as foreshadowing Jesus Christ's undefiled life. Throughout biblical history, this principle remains unchanged. In Isaiah 65, written around 750 BC, eating swine's flesh is still detestable to God, equated with idolatry. Even into the Millennium and beyond, as described in Ezekiel 40 through 44, clean remains clean, and unclean remains unclean, with sacrifices continuing to involve only clean animals. God's consistency is affirmed—He changes not. In Mark 7, during Jesus Christ's ministry, a misunderstanding arises regarding food and defilement. The discussion with the Pharisees does not concern unclean meats but rather external dirt on food, specifically bread, which they feared rendered them spiritually unclean. Jesus Christ clarifies that physical dirt does not defile the spiritual heart, as the body can eliminate such impurities. The Greek term used is for general food, not specifically meat, and His teaching does not alter the status of unclean animals. The carnal mind misinterprets this to suggest all flesh is made clean, but the subject remains unrelated to animals created unclean by God. From the beginning to the end, what was clean or unclean remains so, as neither the animals, human bodies, nor God's spiritual principles have changed.

God inspired the scriptures to tell mankind which kinds of animals, fish, and fowl He created to be eaten, and game animals are included among them (Leviticus 11; Deuteronomy 14:3-21). This instruction shows that killing animals for food is not against God's will. If it were wrong to kill any animal whatsoever, God would not have bothered to specify which animals to eat; He would simply have forbidden eating any of them. Instead, He gave mankind permission to kill animals for food (Genesis 9:2-3). Since the dietary laws identify what is fit for the table, the clean animals are those God created for human consumption, and the distinction has a real purpose in His design. This permission does not allow reckless or wasteful killing, such as taking an animal only for its antlers or horns and leaving the carcass to rot.