The Watchtower teaches you that you are not to accept blood transfusions. Leviticus 3:17 in the NWT reads: "You must not eat any fat or any blood at all." So am I correct in assuming that you are prohibited from eating fat too? To be consistent, if one is condemned, then shouldn't the other be condemned? Thanks everybody for your informative answers. Th Old Testament provides several laws against the oral consumption of blood, for example in Leviticus 17. When a witness cites any precept of the Mosaic Law it should be noted that Christians are no longer bound by it. If Christians were, they would have to obey the entire chapter of Leviticus 17, which commands the sacrifice of ox, sheep, and goats and the burning of their fat before the Lord. If one eats an animal that was found dead or was killed by other animals, the Christian would have to bathe in water and be ritually unclean until evening. Sandwiched between these Mosaic precepts is the rule that Israelites are not to partake of blood.
For this reason today Orhodox Jews eat only Kosher foods. These Jews are strict followers of the Mosaic Law, yet they allow blood transfusions. The Old Testament based arguements for a prohibition of blood transfusion are simple to address, but one must also explain the words of James at the Council of Jerusalem in Acs 15:20 which the Watchtower uses to support its teaching on blood. After Peter addresses the doctrinal matter of salvation of Gentiles and Jews, James responds by adding pastoral suggestions that the Gentiles should be told to "abstain from things polluted by idols, and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood". These were disciplinary measures that James proposed to avoid causing scandal to Jewish converts to Christianity. As Paul says, "I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is defiled in itself; only where a man considers something to be defiled, to him it is defiled... True, all things are clean... It is not well to eat flesh or to drink wine or do anything over which your brother stumbles" (Rom. 14:14, 20, 21). If it were intrinscially immoral for a person to consume blood, Jesus would not have told his followers to drink his blood (Matt. 26:27-28, Mark 14:23-24, Luke 22:20, John 6:54-55). Even if his words were merely symbolic, which they weren't, his holiness would prevent him from telling the faithful to recall his act of redemption by symbollically performing an inherently sinful act. To do so would be absurd as commanding the desciples to perform a ritual symbolizing adultery to remember the fidelity of God. In addition to these considerations, the Watchtower itself has not been consistent throughout its history regarding blood. For example, it used to condemn vaccinations, the use of blood fractions, and organ transplants. Now these practices are often allowed, and no one can be certain how many lives have been needlesly lost as a result of the Watchtower's false teachings prohibiting them. If one cannot trust the organization with one's temperal life, how much less with one's eternal life! The verse you quote is from the Mosaic Law It was something the Israelites were commanded to observe, not Christians.
The prohibition on blood precedes the Mosaic Law Covenant as Noah was given the command not to eat blood.
Also after Jesus' death fulfilled the Law Covenant, the prohibition on blood was restated in Acts.
Genesis 9:3,4
"3聽Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for YOU. As in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to YOU. 4聽Only flesh with its soul鈥攊ts blood鈥擸OU must not eat."
Acts 15:19-21, "19聽Hence my decision is not to trouble those from the nations who are turning to God, 20聽but to write them to abstain from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood. 21聽For from ancient times Moses has had in city after city those who preach him, because he is read aloud in the synagogues on every sabbath.鈥?" The NT is for Christians. The NT decision by the first century governing body in Acts chapter 15 did not continue the fat response...Acts 15:28, 29, 20, 21....only blood, fornication and things strangled (being animals not bled when killed).
Acts 15 NIV
15The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
16" 'After this I will return
and rebuild David's fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17that the remnant of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things'[b]
18that have been known for ages.[c]
19"It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.
28It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
It is from those verses we find abstaining from blood a command for Christians. It also says Gentiles (non JWs) would be called by God's name and use it as well.
Debbie What I make of God *IAm* to give that kind laws is because He see what the pagans do and is disgusted by their practices. God wanted to keep the Israelites clean and healthy because He had plans for His Spirit (Holy) to dwell in them in the future (New Testament age). Because the *body* is to be His Temple and not a building made of bricks and mud. The bottom line is whatever you eat, so is your body to become. Either healthy, or unhealthy. Wow, what would they think of us today and the food we eat. What would Jesus say about McDonald's and Twinkies! Good to cleanse your body every 6 months with herbs. Key word to be healthy "moderation". Hey, even if you are still young; you gotta cleanse too. Nehemiah 8:10
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto him for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye grieved; for the joy of Jehovah is your strength. I'm a former JW. JWs interpret the word "eat" in Leviticus as "take" or "take internally". Using this odd reasoning, JWs are permitted to eat meat (which naturally comes with fat). See Acts 15:29that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell."
If your doctor told you to abstained from alcohol, would you reason that it is okay to take it by IV?
As to erasing our 'seal' from God, please read
Rev 3:5'He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
When Jesus says 'I will not erase', it also means that 'he can and will erase'.
vs 3-4 show that repentance must be continueous, and not a one time event in one's life. One must keep there ropes white, by continueing to repent, and not to practice sinning after coming to know Jesus.
(Heb 10:26For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,)
vs 5 says "He who overcomes" this is the same thought as when Jesus says "13"But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. (Matt 24)
Endurance and overcoming means that we can not "shrink back"
Heb 10:39But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
Salvation is based on 'faith (believing), obedience, and endurance'
John 3:16"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
36"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
. No, Jehovah's Witnesses recognize that as Christians they need not adhere to the Jewish Mosaic Law. Of course, the Mosaic Law's prohibitions regarding blood were merely one indication of how Jehovah felt about blood.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the scriptures demonstrate a clear pattern indicating the sacredness with which Jehovah God (and thus god-fearing humankind) views all creature blood.
Predates Mosaic Law.
For example, over a thousand years before the birth of Moses, the pre-Israel, pre-Jewish, pre-Hebrew man Noah received what the scriptures record as only the second restrictive command on humans (after Garden of Eden's tree):
"Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. For your lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning; of every beast I will require it [that is, lifeblood] and of man" (Genesis 9:3-5)
Jewish Law.
Later, God's feeling regarding blood was codified into the Mosaic Law. This part of the Law dealing with blood was unique in that it applied, not just to Israel, but also to non-Jewish foreigners among them. It's also interesting that besides forbidding the consumption of blood, the Law also mandated that it be 'poured out on the ground', not used for any purpose.
"No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. Any man also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust." (Lev 17:12,13)
By comparison, it's significant that the Law also forbid the consumption of ceremonial animal fat, but that didn't apply to non-Jewish foreigners and it DID allow the fat to be used for other purposes.
"The LORD said to Moses, "Say to the people of Israel, You shall eat no fat, of ox, or sheep, or goat. The fat of an animal that dies of itself, and the fat of one that is torn by beasts, may be put to any other use" (Lev 7:22-24)
Early Christian era.
The Christian era ended the validity of the Mosaic Law, but remember that the restriction on eating blood preceded the Mosaic Law by over a thousand years. Still, does the New Testament indicate that Jehovah God changed his view of blood's sacredness?
"[God] freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses" (Eph 1:6,7)
"[God's] beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins... and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood" (Colossians 1:13-20)
"we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from unchastity and from what is strangled and from blood." (Acts 15:19,20)
"For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from unchastity." Acts 15:28,29
Modern times
Some will claim that the bible's command to "abstain" from blood only applies to eating it, and does not apply to the use of blood for other purpose. If that form of respect for blood were common among Christendom, one might wonder then why so many (who ostensibly follow the book of Acts) so happily eat their blood sausage and blood pudding if they truly respect blood according to some limited understanding of Acts 15:20,29. In fact, respect for blood and for Acts and for the Scriptures themselves is too rare among even supposedly god-fearing persons.
An honest review of the Scriptural pattern over the millenia from Noah to the Apostle Paul teaches humans that blood is to be used for a single purpose: acknowledging the Almighty. Otherwise, for centuries the instruction was to simply dispose of it; 'poor it upon the ground'. When Jehovah's Witnesses pursue non-blood medical management, they are working to honor and obey their Creator.. .. Good question.
That would be fine if that were the scripture that JW's relied upon in their refusing blood transfusions. Of course, that prohibition required common sense. Even trimming the fat off and draining the blood, a little of both would remain, and there could be no objection to that.
But the biblical prohibition against eating blood predates the Mosaic Law, including Leviticus, and goes back to the ancestors of Jews and Gentiles alike, to Noah and his family. At Genesis 9:3,4: God told our ancestor:
"3 Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for YOU. As in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to YOU. 4 Only flesh with its soul鈥攊ts blood鈥擸OU must not eat."
And the apostles and older men of the early Christian congregation showed that that prohibition remained in effect for Christians:
22 Then the apostles and the older men together with the whole congregation favored sending chosen men from among them to Antioch along with Paul and Bar麓na路bas, namely, Judas who was called Bar麓sab路bas and Silas, leading men among the brothers; 23 and by their hand they wrote:
28 ...For the holy spirit and we ourselves have favored adding no further burden to YOU, except these necessary things, 29 to keep abstaining from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication. If YOU carefully keep yourselves from these things, YOU will prosper. Good health to YOU!鈥?" (Acts 15:22,28,29)
So the passing of the Mosaic Law, including Leviticus (Jeremiah 31:31-34) had no effect on the Biblical prohibition on taking in blood for God's servants. And this has served as a protection to them. During the last half of the twentieth century, 10,000 US citizens EACH YEAR died just from the three main complications of blood transfusions--hemolytic reactions, hepatitus B and mistakes in cross-matching, according to the American Medical Association. And don't forget that AIDS is blood-transmitted, and may not be caught in testing in its earliest stages.
There are many effective and safer substitutes for blood in almost all situations. The US Navy discovered or popularized the use of saline solutions because there simply wasn't enough blood during WW II, and it is very effective. Haemaccel, dextran, Ringer's lactate, fluosol, etc. have been used with great success even in hemipelvectomies and major heart surgery. The cauterizing electronic scalpel, laser surgery, and more thorough clamping of bleeding vessels have permitted heart surgery even on infants with the loss of less than a teaspoonful of blood. All this has resulted in faster recovery times, reduced recurrence of cancer after cancer surgery, and the elimination of the risks of blood transfusions. All thanks to God's prohibition of blood and many tolerant, courageous and ingenious medical people.
Best regards,
Mike Many commentators have sought to limit the prohibition of Leviticus 3:17 only to the fat of those kinds of animals that were acceptable for offering in sacrifice, such as bulls, sheep, and goats. Rabbinic Jewish teaching is divided on this subject. However, the injunction on fat at Leviticus 3:17 is linked with the one regarding the eating of blood, a law that clearly included the blood of all animals. (Compare Le 17:13; De 12:15,聽16.) It seems more consistent, therefore, that the law on fat should also have embraced the fat of all animals, including those killed for the Israelites鈥?common use.
The view that the prohibition applied to all fat is not controverted by the text at Deuteronomy 32:14, which speaks of Jehovah as giving Israel 鈥渇at of rams鈥?to eat. This is a figurative expression referring to the best of the flock, or as The Jerusalem Bible renders the phrase, 鈥渞ich food of the pastures.鈥?This poetic sense is indicated by later portions of the same verse referring to 鈥渢he kidney fat of wheat鈥?and 鈥渢he blood of the grape.鈥?So, too, with Nehemiah 8:10, where the people are commanded, 鈥淕o, eat the fatty things,鈥?we are not to conclude that they literally consumed whole fat. 鈥淔atty things鈥?refers to rich portions, things not skinny or dry, but luscious, including tasty items prepared with vegetable oils. Thus, Knox鈥?translation here reads 鈥渞egale yourselves with rich meat,鈥?while Moffatt鈥檚 translation says 鈥渆at the dainty pieces.鈥?br>
The Mosaic Law restriction did not prevent the feeding or fattening of sheep or cattle for the table. We read of the 鈥渇attened young bull鈥?slaughtered for the prodigal son. (Lu 15:23) Solomon鈥檚 food included 鈥渇attened cuckoos鈥?and cattle. (1Ki 4:23) The Hebrew 鈥沞鈥hel-mar鈥eq鈥? translated 鈥渇attened calf,鈥?occurs at 1聽Samuel 28:24; me鈥瞐ch and meri鈥欌€?refer to a 鈥榳ell-fed animal鈥?or a 鈥榝atling.鈥?(Isa 5:17; Eze 39:18) However, this does not mean that this 鈥榝attening鈥?was for the purpose of producing suet or layers of fat; rather, the sense again is that the animals became full-fleshed (鈥渂eefy鈥?, not skinny.鈥擟ompare Ge 41:18,聽19.
Since the fat was regarded as the best or the richest part, the prohibition against eating it evidently impressed upon the Israelites that the best part belonged to Jehovah. (Genesis 45:18) This reminds us that we should give our very best to Jehovah.鈥擯roverbs 3:9,聽10; Colossians 3:23,聽24. |
