Quaker Oats or Quaker Pork?

In Philip Gulley's wonderful book

"Home to Harmony" (the whole series) we have a perfect example of people clip-and-snipping from the Bible to make their point. In this case, a Quaker family is going to have a Thanksgiving meal with their black sheep son who has "converted" to being a "Vegan" (someone who does not eat any animal-based products) because he is enthralled by a ditzy New Age airhead who eats wormy apples and practices yoga (they believe their son has fallen victim to a nefarious cult) to become one with the universe. When the family arrives the poor Vegan girl is so weak from eschewing hamburgers from Burger King her devitamized skin has gone bone white. She is anemic, poor soul, not enough clotted blood in her diet. Mother Harmony, a saint with a deep understanding of Biblical doctrines, whips out a 50-pound Bible and authoritatively reads from Acts 10:9-13:

On the morrow, as they went on their

journey, and drew nigh unto the city,

Peter went up upon the housetop to

pray about the sixth hour: And he

became very hungry, and would have

eaten: but while they made ready, he

fell into a trance, And saw heaven

opened, and a certain vessel descend-

ing unto him, as it had been a great

sheet knit at the four corners, and let

down to the earth: Wherein were all

manner of fourfooted beasts of the

earth, and wild beasts, and creeping

things, and fowls of the air. And there

came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill,

and eat.

At which point Mama Harmony slams the Bible shut with the exclamation: "Nuff said!"

Then the family stuffs itself with meat, including the poor deluded Vegan, who promptly fills out and looks wonderful, and the whole family feels they have brought another lost soul closer to grace! Philip Gulley has a lot to say about grace, in fact in a non-fiction work he attempts to convince us that every single soul on the planet that has ever lived will be saved, that there will not be damnation for anyone or their poor lost brother. But grace for the animals God created? Don't be silly! They were created for our poor hungry tummies!

Of course, Mama Harmony shouldn't have stopped there in her Bible study, in fact the very next sentence would hopefully reveal much to her!

But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have

never eaten any thing that is common

or unclean.

Acts 10:14

Peter, one of the early leaders of the church, many, many years after the crucifixion of Jesus (experts believe anywhere from 5 to up to 30 years later!), still has eaten nothing common or unclean. But this is the way so many people grab and snatch their "doctrines" from the Bible, they read just a clip of a scripture, not in context, and then presume they know what is the meaning. And I've heard many people who should know better employ the same herky-jerky hermeneutics, including Phillip Yancey, Andrew Wommack, and Hank Hanegraaff (and perhaps millions of other sincere Christians who are satisfied with the tradition of men, regardless of what the Bible actually teaches).

But even the most innocent, the most wide-eyed reader or naive student of the Bible can instantly discern that this passage with Peter's vision on the rooftop has absolutely nothing to do with what you should or should not eat. Granted, it shows us, clearly, that Peter did not believe that God's Word had become null and void, that no one had nailed God's realities to the cross -- when God says something is clean, it is clean, and when God says something is unclean, it is unclean. You can't take a vote and change that reality about God, that He does not change, He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

But notice what happens after Peter's denial:

And the voice spake unto him again the

second time, What God hath cleansed,

that call not thou common. This was

done thrice: and the vessel was received

up again into heaven.

Acts 10:15-16

Note these facts: this process happened three times. Each time Peter was told to eat what he understood to be unclean animals. Probably snakes, pigs, rabbits, mice -- all manner of animals that God had previously revealed were not safe or healthy for human consumption. Three times the blanket descends and the voice from heaven says: "Rise Peter, kill, and eat." And THREE times Peter DENIES (Peter seems to have a thing for denying three times, if you remember the night Jesus went to trial, except this time Peter has learned his lesson: stick to what God has revealed as truth). Three times Peter receives the command, and three times he denies. And even after the vision is concluded, Peter is left scratching his head, he has absolutely no idea what the vision meant (and yet "Bible teachers" claim it means you can eat anything you dern well please!).

This is not the only time this has happened. Another prophet of God was told by the Lord to do something that seemed unlawful, ridiculous, sinful, and this prophet said: "NO!" Read this passage carefully:

And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and

thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh

out of man, in their sight. And the LORD

said, Even thus shall the children of Israel

eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles,

whither I will drive them. Then said I, Ah

Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been

polluted: for from my youth up even till

now have I not eaten of that which dieth

of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came

there abominable flesh into my mouth.

Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given

thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou

shalt prepare thy bread therewith.

Ezekiel 4:12-15

Here is Ezekiel, receiving instructions from the Lord, and He is told to prophesy following these dramatic instructions. Within the instructions are some troublesome steps that stop Ezekiel in his steps. Make bread out of beans and lentils, barley and millet, wheat and fitches, and bake it over human excrement. Human excrement? But that's filthy! When Ezekiel objects to cooking over the human excrement, God relents and allows Zeke to bake his bread over cow dung instead. And that doesn't sound too bad to us, does it? Cow dung is pretty much digested grass, and grass hardly digests in the first place.

Did God change His mind? The Bible makes it amply clear that God does not change His mind:

Neither have I gone back from the

commandment of his lips; I have esteemed

the words of his mouth more than my

necessary food. But he is in one mind, and

who can turn him? and what his soul

desireth, even that he doeth. For he

performeth the thing that is appointed for

me: and many such things are with him.

Job 23:12-14

Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every

good gift and every perfect gift is from

above, and cometh down from the Father

of lights, with whom is no variableness,

neither shadow of turning.

James 1:16-17

God is not a man, that he should lie;

neither the son of man, that he should

repent: hath he said, and shall he not do

it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not

make it good?

Numbers 23:19

And also the Strength of Israel will not

lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that

he should repent.

1 Samuel 15:29

Declaring the end from the beginning,

and from ancient times the things that

are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall

stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

Isaiah 46:10

For I am the LORD, I change not;

therefore ye sons of Jacob are not

consumed.

Malachai 3:6

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and

to day, and for ever. Be not carried about

with divers and strange doctrines. For it is

a good thing that the heart be established

with grace; not with meats, which have not

profited them that have been occupied

therein.

Hebrews 13:8-9

Now I realize that despite this overwhelming agreement in scripture, there are many established "Bible teachers" that will do their very best to prove otherwise, that God DOES change His mind, that by praying a lot, or in their way (and especially by sending in lots of money), you can make God do what you want Him to do. That God looks over history and figures out what He did wrong and how He can do it better. That God puts His finger in His mouth and considers, then squints one eye and finally makes a decision, only to change it a few moments later when He has better reconsidered. That God, in short, IS a man, that He DOES change, that He DOES lie.

Regardless of what the Bible says.

The fact is, as Job says, God knows exactly what should be done, so when He tells Ezekiel to do something unlawful, He is counting on Ezekiel to "correct" Him (in other words, to quote the truth, because that's the only way we know we are even talking to God, if He doesn't contradict Himself, if He tells the Truth, if He doesn't change).

So Peter knows what is right and quotes it back to God. The same way that Ezekiel knew what was right and stood up for truth. With Peter, it happens three times, and three times he quotes what is right, and by the end of the vision he is scratching his head as to what the vision could mean, what is the meaning of this odd vision -- what is the correct interpretation. Obviously, he didn't come away with the notion that he must start "pigging out," to borrow a colloquialism. What DID he come away from that vision understanding to be true?

Well, today, we don't have to wonder. Is it correct, as Gulley's fictional Mama Harmony states, that if God says we are to kill and eat something He has already said we should NOT kill and eat, that God is in fact telling Peter to eat bad things, or that God has in fact "cleansed" those things that He previously declared unclean? Is God stating that Jesus died on the cross so that people can eat ham? Pork chops? Shrimp and lobster? Even human excrement if we so choose?

Is this what the Bible means when it talks about freedom in Christ? The freedom to desecrate the Temple of the Holy Spirit?

We don't have to speculate, why? Because Peter has already interpreted this vision for us! Isn't that incredible? Let's read Peter's words and see if they agree with Mama Harmony's discernment:

And he said unto them, Ye know how

that it is an unlawful thing for a man that

is a Jew to keep company, or come unto

one of another nation; but God hath

shewed me that I should not call any

man common or unclean.

Acts 10:28

A symbolic vision that taught men about not judging other men, not a vision about eating at Porky's Grill. That's quite a different interpretation, isn't it? On one side, people want to take this passage and trivialize it to the point that God is talking to Peter about his diet, and how shameful it is that Peter has not begun to chow down on unclean meats. But Peter himself interprets this passage at a much, much deeper level, that God has cleansed mankind, and that there is no longer a differentiation between Jews and non-Jews. That it is now lawful for Peter to embrace every person, regardless of race or country of origin.

Can you see the OBVIOUS Truth?

Read both chapters, it won't take you very long, and allow the Lord to open your eyes -- Acts 10 and 11. You will be surprised that nowhere is diet even mentioned! Peter nowhere gives a different interpretation, and yet both Philip Gulley and Phillip Yancey produce their own interpretations, as well as millions of other "should-know-better" Bible teachers and lecturers and Bible scholars and Bible Answermen. And by going with their man-made interpretations, we can also use the same hermeneutics to cook over human excrement, and even, if we so desire, EAT that human excrement (provided that it is well cooked, of course!). Or when Peter says "no man is common," could we interpret that as meaning that it is perfectly fine to eat any man?

Is Peter promoting cannabilism?

No, God does not change. Yes, meat tastes good, and man lusts for it (could we call it "lusts for the flesh?"), just as those people did that were recently delivered from Egypt -- they were receiving food directly from God in heaven, straight from His plate, and they lusted for flesh (think about it, isn't there a fairly strong verse which suggests the Gospel AIN'T about food, and that's just what people always turn it into?):

And there went forth a wind from the

LORD, and brought quails from the sea,

and let them fall by the camp, as it were a

day's journey on this side, and as it were

a day's journey on the other side, round

about the camp, and as it were two cubits

high upon the face of the earth.

And the people stood up all that day, and

all that night, and all the next day, and they

gathered the quails: he that gathered least

gathered ten homers: and they spread

them all abroad for themselves round

about the camp.

And while the flesh was yet between their

teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the

LORD was kindled against the people, and

the LORD smote the people with a very

great plague.

And he called the name of that place

Kibroth-hatta'avah: because there they

buried the people that lusted.

Numbers 11:31-34

In a final ironic twist to the Gully story, the love-besotted brother has only been "faking" his Veganism to woo the New Age airhead -- the truth is, the reason he looks so hale, hearty, healthy and whole is because he has been sneaking out to Burger King and eating healthy hamburgers! Isn't this amazing! Regardless of the numerous studies that prove otherwise, Philip Gulley recommends fast-food meat for health and well-being! Granted, this is only a comedic story in a fictional work (and it IS hilarious, I guarantee there are parts to cause you to laugh out loud), but still, can you imagine someone suggesting you eat pesticide to be healthy? Oh, yeah, that's right, that's another reason why the Harmony people are so healthy, they eat fruit laced with pesticide. Yum. Gimme gimme sum.

"Home to Harmony" is a wonderful story, and Philip Gulley is a wonderful writer, and probably a wonderful pastor as well, but I wouldn't suggest going to him for advice regarding health. I don't know if Gulley's "healthy diet" reflects that of all Quakers, but I'd suggest sticking with the oatmeal, the kind that you cook for five minutes (and don't add any lustful flesh to it!)!

Fight the Flu (with diet and herbs)

The Beauty of the Gospel Series

The Ten Commandments

The "Laws" of Jesus - the TEN

Laws, Laws, Laws, & Laws

Under the Gentleman's Law?

Deadly Doctrines of Demons

Word-Faith - WARNING

Helping the Deceived

Is Prayer Language Real?

Deceived and Deceiving

The Deceivers & False Prophets

Secret Rapture

Disp(S)ensationalism

Fruits & Gifts of the Holy Spirit

Praying in the Holy Spirit

The Temple of the Holy Spirit

Request Prayer

Pray for Others

Gift via PayPal

Wisdom Quotations

Artistic Quotations

Vegetarian Quotations

The Quotations Dump

Oz Moses: Wee Sprouts

www.DeceivingTheElect.net

THE GOSPEL.

Who is Jesus? Yahshua Moshiach

Adonai Yahweh El Shaddai

Hell and Hellmongers

Dramatic Parables - over 70 FREE dramas!

How to Stage Gospel Drama

Drama Index Page

The Children's Story

Common Sense: Modern Parables

www.TruthSeek.net SiteMap Deceiving the Elect Soldier On

Ways to aid this ministry include praying for this site www.TruthSeek.net, www.DeceivingtheElect.net, and www.DramaticParables.com, donations and provision may be gifted using the TruthSeekGift page (and please only use this if you feel you are inspired by God to do so), and also feel free to use the Prayer Request page to submit prayer requests, and praying for the prayer requests of others, as well as exploring the various advertisements and links on these pages (regrettably, the advertising is necessary to recompense the many costs of keeping a website running, so exploration of the advertisers, which are not connected to any of these studies, is greatly appreciated). Any aid is joyously accepted, even if that means a smile and a well-wish. Thank you so much!

Art et Amour Toujours

Douglas Christian Larsen