God's Dietary Law and Vaccines

 

 God gave a dietary law for mankind to adhere to.  God created all of the animals and knows what purpose each of them serves.  Some were created for us to eat, some were not.  As Bible Christians, we observe these laws and therefore cannot partake in the consumption of any unclean animals.  Today, this affects us from meats to candies, packaged food products we buy from the store, toothpaste and even participation in vaccines.  We will look specifically at vaccines to show that there are ingredients in these vaccines that would compromise our faith and obedience to God and his word.

First, lets take a look at God’s word and what He expects of us:

(Ecclesiastes 12:13 KJV)

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:Fear God, and keep his commandments:for this is the whole duty of man

So according to the scriptures, our whole duty as men is to fear God and keep HIS commandments.

Now lets look at some of God’s commandments:

(Deuteronomy 14:3-21 KJV)
3 Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. 4 These are the beasts which ye shall eat:the ox, the sheep, and the goat, 5 The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois. 6 And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat. 7 Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney:for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you. 8 And the swine , because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you:ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.
9 These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters:all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:10 And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.
11 Of all clean birds ye shall eat. 12 But these are they of which ye shall not eat:the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, 13 And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, 14 And every raven after his kind, 15 And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, 16 The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan, 17 And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant, 18 And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. 19 And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you:they shall not be eaten. 20 But of all clean fowls ye may eat.
21 Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself:thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien:for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk

 

Notice in this passage He starts by saying that we are not to eat any abominable thing.  Let’s get a definition of what abominable means:

Abominable: 1: Worthy of causing disgust or hatred.  Detestable (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abominable)

Also notice at verse 8 He includes the “Swine”, saying it is unclean to us.  A swine is a Pig.  So pork, bacon or any pork products are unclean to us and may not be consumed or enter our bodies.

 

The Lord is very clear about His commandments.  So much so that he repeats them multiple times in the Bible to make sure we have them.  Lets look at another book to see if anything is different:

(Leviticus 11:1 KJV)
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them

Notice who is speaking.  These commandments are coming straight from the mouth of The Lord himself…

(Leviticus 11:2-8 KJV)
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. 3 Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat. 4 Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof:as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. 5 And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. 6 And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. 7 And the swine , though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. 8 Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you
(Leviticus 11:2-8 KJV)

Again at verse 7, The Lord states that the “Swine” or the pig is unclean to us.

Now let’s take a look at the new testament to see if Christ’s followers stopped observing these ordinances.

In Acts, we see Peter, a disciple who walked with Christ, is having a vision about unclean animals.  This occurrence is after Jesus has died and resurrected:

(Acts 10:9-13 KJV)
9 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:10 And he became very hungry, and would have eaten:but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, 11 And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat

So the vision was of all manor of beast and Peter hears a voice that instructs him to kill them and eat them.  What is his response?

(Acts 10:14 KJV)
14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean 

So Peter, in the new testament, is making the clear statement that he is still observing God’s laws of which animals to eat and which to stay away from consuming.  As we read further into the passage, we see that this vision was a parable showing him not to look at any nationality of men as unclean.  This was the official welcoming of the gentiles into the church.

So, we have proven that God (according to the words that came forth from his own mouth) does not want us to consume any unclean animals, one of which is the “Swine” or pig.  This affects our daily lives in many ways.  We do not eat pork, or bacon, pepperoni, sausage etc.  Also, any products that are made with pork, such as gum, tooth paste, chips, candies or any other foods we will not consume.  We even contact major food manufacturers to enquire whether or not their products contain pork.

One of the main ingredients that lets us know there may be pork in the products is Gelatin.  

With regards to vaccines, many of them have ingredients that are unclean according to the Bible.  We will look specifically at one of them which is Gelatin.

Here is an ingredient list from the CDC website for the vaccines in the US.  For the sake of space, we will only site a few from this list (The full list can be found here http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/pinkbook/downloads/appendices/B/excipient-table-2.pdf):

 

Notice that these vaccines, along with many others contain gelatin.  Gelatin is a pork-based product, therefore unclean according to God’s word.

Here is a quote form the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia regarding Gelatin and the ingredients in vaccines:

“Gelatin is contained in some vaccines to protect vaccine viruses from adverse conditions such as freeze-drying or heat (see table below). Gelatin is a protein formed by boiling skin or connective tissue. Gelatin is used to stabilize vaccines so that they remain effective after manufacture. All gelatin contained in vaccines is porcine in origin .”

Here is another quote from Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics regarding the ingredients of vaccines:

“Although the incidence of anaphylaxis to gelatin is currently very low (approximately 1 case per 2 million doses), gelatin is the most common identifiable cause of immediate-type hypersensitivity reactions to gelatin-containing vaccines.51,52 A list of vaccines
that contain gelatin is provided in Table 4 (all gelatin is of porcine origin) .”

This means that all gelatin contained in vaccines originated from pig.

With all the evidence set before us, it is clear that we cannot partake in any vaccinations that contain unclean ingredients.

I pray that you received some understanding in the name of Jesus.

Sources:

The center for disease control and prevention website: “Ingredients of Vaccines Fact Sheet”
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/additives.htm

The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia “Vaccine Ingredients - Gelatin
http://www.chop.edu/centers-programs/vaccine-education-center/vaccine-ingredients/gelatin#.VceiZBNVhBd

“Addressing Parents’ Concerns: Do Vaccines Contain Harmful Preservatives, Adjuvants, Additives, or Residuals?” By Paul A. Offit, MD*, Rita K. Jew, PharmD‡
From “Pediatrics” The Official Journal for The American Academy Of Pediatrics
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/112/6/1394.short