Understanding the biblical swine on a personal level.
This biblical creature sure has gotten a bad rap for the last few thousand years, but you wouldn't know it at the breakfast table. There is no shortage of people who say it is illegal for God's people to partake of the creature. Why, because it does not chew the cud. I'll open by saying that not eating pork will not save a person from God's wrath. But understanding the law could make a difference in the way we perceive ourselves. Many christians say they are no longer under the law, and because of this, the law does not apply to them. In order to understand, a person needs to examine his or her own life (personally). Chewing the cud is a legal application concerning the way a person considers the word of God as food for his or her own soul. Chewing the cud is a way to say carefully considering God's word over and over (the cud) again. Greater understanding comes by the nature of a who chews the cud. In the Old Testament, a woman is pictured to reveal the nature of a person who does not carefully consider God's word as food for his or her own soul. The statement reads something like this; "A beautiful woman lacking discernment, is like a gold ring in a swine's snout." This is a pretty stark picture of how beautiful a woman might think of herself, in light of the fact that she does no carefully consider God's word. It is because this statement is do short, and directly to the point, and uses gold as beauty and the nature of swine; that it shouldn't be such a long stretch for anyone to see the meaning of the swine according to law. Except for the statement of Old Testament food law, there are very few examples in the Old Testament. But because of the directness of this example, we are enabled to better interpret the many parables of swine in the New Testament. Jesus doesn't use women to teach it. More often than not, Jesus speaks of the condition of a man. But before I go there; Early in the work of creation, a law was given to have dominion over the birds of the air, creatures that walk on land, and fish of the sea; according to each kind. That law speaks directly of the nature of each creature; according to each kind. In other words, when you and I learn the nature of the creature, we can see it because it is one of countless natures that can be found in each of us. Do not partake of the nature of a creature that does not carefully consider God's word. Jesus because a person has not eaten any pork in all his days, does not mean he kept the law; which is now no longer law to us, but evidence of who we are and why we are that way in God's sight. With what I have shared with you, it becomes evident on a personal level just how much God's wisdom can shape the way we see ourselves in a mirror (internally). I will share one example of the New Testament swine with the law intact. When Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee, as His boat reached shore, a demon possessed man run up to Jesus, fell on his face and worshiped Him. The demons in the man knew Jesus immediately! Jesus cast the demons into a herd of swine (remember the reason for the law) and the swine immediately ran down a steep hill into the sea and died. That parable language speaks of what happens to a person who does not have dominion over a nature that can be found in all men (and women). That person who does not carefully consider God's wisdom does not walk casually towards death. The choice to sin is immediate and that person dies into sin. The remaining New Testament parables concerning swine (including the prodigal son) speaks personally to and about each and every one of us. To point outwardly towards others is to not understand why the law was given. I hope this answers the hearts of those who wondered if they were doing wrong by the law. In this, Jesus has instilled the law within you, so that it is no longer law, but God's wisdom speaking to your heart.