Reference: Abstinence
Fausets
Enjoined by God, from blood (Ge 9:4); and by the Jerusalem council, from blood and idol meats (Ac 15:29), not to offend Jewish brethren in things indifferent (1Co 9:20-22). The blood was considered as the seat of the life, and as typifying the one Blood that cleanseth from all sin therefore it was treated as a sacred thing. "The children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day, because the angel touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank" (Ge 32:32); modern Jews, therefore, abstain from the whole hind quarter.
The law defined whole classes of animals, by the not eating of which the Israelites were distinguished from other nations (Leviticus 11); to mark the separation of the church from the world. Also certain parts of lawful animals, to teach typically that even in lawful things moderation and self control are needed (1Co 6:12-13; Le 3:9-11). So the priests, from wine, during their ministration (See AARON) (Le 10:1-9); also the Nazarites during their separation (Nu 6:3-4); also the Rechabites, constantly, by voluntary vow (Jeremiah 35). All idol meats were forbidden, namely, such as after the first portion had been consecrated to the idol were then eaten as food among the Gentiles (Ex 34:15; Ps 106:28; 1Co 8:4-10; Ro 14:3).
Paul lays down the principle that Christians should act each according to his conscience in the matter, but not, even in the exercise of Christian liberty, so as to cast a stumbling-block before weaker brethren. This was the principle of the decree, Ac 15:29. In 1Ti 4:3-4, he foretells the rise of Gnostic heretics, the forerunners of the ascetics of the apostate Greek and Latin churches who should forbid marriage, and command to abstain from meats which God created to be received with thanksgiving. Holy Scripture does not enjoin, nor yet forbid, vows of abstinence from intoxicants. The sacrifice of one's lawful right for our neighbor's good accords with the law of love: "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." (Ro 14:21; Jeremiah 35.) (See RECHABITES.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
"Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.
Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.
Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.
otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice,
otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice,
'From the sacrifice of peace offerings he shall bring as an offering by fire to the LORD, its fat, the entire fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails,
'From the sacrifice of peace offerings he shall bring as an offering by fire to the LORD, its fat, the entire fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys.
and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys. 'Then the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire to the LORD.
'Then the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire to the LORD.
Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them.
Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD.
And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said to Aaron, "It is what the LORD spoke, saying, 'By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.'" So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.
Then Moses said to Aaron, "It is what the LORD spoke, saying, 'By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.'" So Aaron, therefore, kept silent. Moses called also to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp."
Moses called also to Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel, and said to them, "Come forward, carry your relatives away from the front of the sanctuary to the outside of the camp." So they came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said.
So they came forward and carried them still in their tunics to the outside of the camp, as Moses had said. Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you will not die and that He will not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the LORD has brought about.
Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, so that you will not die and that He will not become wrathful against all the congregation. But your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, shall bewail the burning which the LORD has brought about. "You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for the LORD'S anointing oil is upon you." So they did according to the word of Moses.
"You shall not even go out from the doorway of the tent of meeting, or you will die; for the LORD'S anointing oil is upon you." So they did according to the word of Moses. The LORD then spoke to Aaron, saying,
The LORD then spoke to Aaron, saying, "Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die--it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations--
"Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die--it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations--
he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes.
he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. 'All the days of his separation he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.
'All the days of his separation he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin.
They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
that 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."
that 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."
that 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."
that 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."
The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.
The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.
It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.
It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother stumbles.
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything.
All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.
Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both of them Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.
To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law;
To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law.
to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.
To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some.
men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.
men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;
Watsons
ABSTINENCE, forbearance of any thing. It is generally used with reference to forbearance from food under a religious motive. The Jewish law ordained that the priests should abstain from the use of wine during the whole time of their being employed in the service of the temple, Le 10:9. The same abstinence was enjoined upon the Nazarites, during the time of their Nazariteship, or separation, Nu 6:3. The Jews were commanded to abstain from several sorts of animals. See ANIMAL.
The fat of all sorts of animals that were sacrificed was forbidden to be eaten, Le 3:17; 7:23; and the blood of every animal, in general, was prohibited under pain of death. Indeed blood was forbidden by the Creator, from the time of the grant of the flesh of beasts to man for food; this prohibition was continued under the Jewish economy, and transmitted to the Christian church by Apostolic authority, Ac 15:28-29. (See Blood.) The Jews also abstained from the sinew which is upon the hollow of the thigh, Ge 32:25; because of the shrinking of the sinew of Jacob's thigh when touched by the angel, as though by that the part had been made sacred.
Among the primitive Christians, some denied themselves the use of such meats as were prohibited by the law; others treated this abstinence with contempt. St. Paul has given his decision on these questions in his epistles, 1Co 8:7-10; Ro 14:1-3. The council of Jerusalem, which was held by the Apostles, enjoined the Christian converts to abstain from meats strangled, from blood, from fornication, and from idolatry, Ac 15:20.
The spiritual monarchy of the western world introduced another sort of abstinence which may be termed ritual, and which consists in abstaining from particular meats at certain times and seasons, the rules of which are called rogations. The ancient Lent was observed only a few days before Easter. In the course of the third century, it extended at Rome to three weeks; and before the middle of the succeeding age, it was prolonged to six weeks, and began to be called quadragesima, or the forty days' fast.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him.
'It is a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings: you shall not eat any fat or any blood.'"
"Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'You shall not eat any fat from an ox, a sheep or a goat.
"Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you will not die--it is a perpetual statute throughout your generations--
he shall abstain from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes.
but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.
"For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: that 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."
Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. read more. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him.
However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. But food will not commend us to God; we are neither the worse if we do not eat, nor the better if we do eat. read more. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols?