Messianic Judaism - The Torah and the Testimony Revealed

An introductory view of Health & Holiness (first 45 pages)

On Health and Holiness

Part I
The Scientific Evidence

PIG MEAT,
HOLY, OR UNHOLY?

I CAN EAT ANYTHING?

So you think you can eat everything and still be healthy do you? Of course you don’t, but many religious leaders, contrary to Scriptural and medical evidence, will tell you that you can.

Let’s begin with the commonly known fact that not all meat is healthy for human consumption, and let’s begin with the infamous pig that is so prized among the palates of our society.

Pork is the #1 choice meat dish of all the unclean, unhealthy meats available in our culture for consumption, but what do farmers, scientists and doctors have to say about this long snouted, grunting delight?

It is said that the pigs in Iowa are mainly fed corn, but "will eat anything given to them and if anything on the farm dies it is thrown to the hogs." Did you know that pigs actually chew on the cancer of other pigs, and that these cancer infected pigs are sent to the market for your consuming pleasure?

Our infamous pig is so infectious that oftentimes cattle are infected from incurable diseases of the pig called the "mad itch". It is a disease transmitted by the saliva of the pig left on the corn eventually fed to the cattle.

The itching from the cattle then becomes so intense that they will run from stump to stump to rub their mouths until they rub the skin from their mouths and eventually die.

If saliva from the pig’s mouth can be so poisonous as to drive a cow to its death, then how can this beloved pug nosed creature possibly be healthy for human consumption?

But reality is that pigs were created to be garbage disposals to cleanse the earth of death and spoilage; and so naturally the pig is immune to the poisons it eats, but has nothing in its digestive function that filters those poisons from its flesh to make it safe for human consumption.

Another interesting fact, did you know that in the farmers’ quest to keep feed cost down, that they purchase garbage, such as scrap barrels of rotting meat and vegetation from restaurants, and dead, rotted chicken eggs from hatcheries, to feed their pigs with?

This garbage, likewise, is digested and on the pigs bones within only four hours and ready for consumption by you and your family. Comforting thought, huh?

Did you know that many animals Yahuweh declares to be healthy for consumption take a minimum of 12 hours for the food they eat to be utilized by their systems; and that during this process all the toxins that are poisonous to human consumption are filtered out of their systems within that time? But with the pig, and other unclean animals, a maximum of 4 hours is not uncommon.

Here’s another tidbit for the palate. Did you know that if pigs are in the same feed lot as other animals, such as cows, horses, etc. that the pigs will eat and drink the feces and urine of these animals? This is especially a common occurrence on small farms where the animals are not separated. Pork Chop anyone?

Yes, I must declare that the pig, as beloved as it is, is a foul and unclean animal whose flesh is so toxic with poisons that they have what are called "running sores" under their hooves.

Prove this to yourself. Visit a pig farm (be prepared to face a noxious smell), lift the front hoof of the pig and apply a little pressure to its toes and you will find green colored matter oozing out from between them! This is only one, small outlet, for the various poisons which the pig has taken into its body.

In fact, quite often, this oozing artery will become stopped up, returning the poison back into the pig’s system. When this happens, the pig will have very sore feet to the point it can barely walk. Green colored growths are then formed on various parts of its body.

At this point the poisons become toxic even to the pig and the farmer must send it to the market before it can die on him. This is not an uncommon occurrence.

Another example of pig poisoning is an incident where the Silver Moon Mink Farm of New Holstein, Wisconsin, ordered a supply of beef livers from a meat packing plant for their mink. Unknown to the mink farm owner, the packer shipped them pork livers instead, and all the mink died from eating it.

As a matter of court record, the meat packer paid for many dead mink. So let these mink teach us a valuable lesson -- don’t eat pig meat or pig by products... at all!

The former, and late, Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, stated at the Jubilee Celebration of Israel’s Medical Association that,

“Israel has the lowest death rate in the world"

Diet is the single most significant factor in determining life expectancy. Is it just coincidence that the State of Israel has prohibited the raising, keeping, or slaughtering of pigs for its own citizens?

In fact, Israel allows pigs to be raised only at places which have large Christian populations that demand pig meat as part of their diet.

However, the Torah contained within the Holy Scriptures, forbids the consumption of pork and of any other unclean animal.

Without question, it is because the people of Israel, as a whole, observe the dietary laws given by Yahuweh, which in turn protects them against physical affliction, disease, and premature death.

THE EFFECTS OF PIG MEAT
ON HUMAN HEALTH

Trichinosis, the most common infection in humans from pig meat, is a subtle killer. Trichinosis is the name of the disease that originated with the trichina worm, which is scientifically referred to as the trichinella spiralis.

Trichina is just one of the nineteen worms found in pigs, in addition to lice and several swine diseases such as rickets, thumps, and mange.

The trichina worm is very simply -- deadly; and a thorough cooking of pig meat does not ensure its death.

In the March, 1950, issue of Reader’s Digest, Laird S. Goldsborough writes,

“In the pork which we Americans eat, there too often lurk myriads of baffling and sinister parasites. There are minute spiral worms which scientists call trichinella spiralis."

"...a single serving of infected pork, or even a single mouthful, can kill, cripple or condemn the victim to a lifetime of aches and pains."

For this unique disease of trichinosis, there is no certain cure or drug to stop them... not even today in 1999.

Dr. Goldsborough’s article went on to say,

“In the flesh of a pig, the trichinae are often so minute, and so nearly transparent, that to find them, even with a microscope, is a task for expert scientific inspection.

Remember this, when you see stamped on a pork product the words, "US Government inspected and passed", those words do not mean that any official inspection has been made as to whether this pork is trichinous or not. It only means it has merely passed the routine inspection given meat in general.

Dr. Maurice C. Hall as Chief of the Division of Zoology of the US Public Health Service commented,

“It appears to be a legitimate demand that, when a man exchanges dollars for pork, he should not do it, on the basis that he may be purchasing his death warrant."

Senator Thomas C. Desmond, who served as chairman of the New York Trichinosis Commission stated,

“Physicians have confused trichinosis with some 50 ailments, ranging from Typhoid Fever to Acute Alcoholism."

Continuing, he states, "That pain in your arm or leg may be arthritis or rheumatism, but it may be trichinosis. That pain in your back may mean a gall-bladder involvement, but it may mean trichinosis."

Releases from the Associated Press have shown the dangers of trichinosis from meat cooked in microwave ovens.

The Texas Department of Agriculture said,

“Pork cooked in microwave ovens must be heated thoroughly and uniformly to 170 degrees Fahrenheit to destroy any trichinae, and other harmful micro-organisms that might be present."

In the Daily Column of the Abilene Reporter News, Dr. Lamb states,

“Trichinosis is caused by little worms, and these parasites are in pork. Routine meat inspection doesn’t always tell you that it is infected either. The skin tests that were tried, to detect infected pigs, haven’t really been successful."

“The first stage of the trichinosis involvement is when the male and female worms unite in the intestine. The intestinal phase may cause diarrhea and digestive symptoms.

The second phase is the migration of the larvae into the [blood] circulation and throughout the body, particularly causing little cysts inside the muscles. At this stage, there may be swelling around the eyes, muscle pain and fever."

It has been reported from a lab of one of our northern Universities that trichinae laden pig meat was heated to an unbelievably high temperature and then put under a microscope, to the amazement of the technicians, some worms were still alive and moving about.

The supposition that all of these worms can be killed in cooking is not to be relied upon!

The Barnyard Doctors, Drs. Hess and Clark of Ashland, Ohio, state,

“The trichina worm is not the only parasite on the pig. There is a large round worm, the gullet worm, three kinds of stomach worm, a tiny hair worm, a hookworm, the thorn-headed worm, several species of nodular worms, one species of whip worm in the large intestine, and the kidney worm."

In another scientific laboratory, examinations were made on the joints of arthritic swine. The exact same formation and build-up of arthritic cells were found in the swine as is common in the arthritis of humans. Did the pigs get it from humans, or humans from the pig?

An article by Carlyle C. Douglas in Money’s Worth, 1975,

“Think twice before you eat pork. Pigs kill more Americans every year than traffic accidents, murderers and all other accidents combined. Even wartime enemies have been unable to kill as fast as our own docile, domestic beast. Guns and bombs have proven much less effective than the weapons carried by these hoofed and snouted killers. From farms and feedlots they stalk us, sniping with pork chops, sausages, hamburger (yes, not all of them are 100% beef), hot dogs, liver and bacon. The fatal wounds they inflict include coronary heart disease, arteriosclerosis, and colonic and rectal cancers."

“These are not the unsubstantiated claims of wild-eyed vegetarian fanatics, but the carefully considered conclusions of accredited medical scientists. While few have gone so far as to suggest that every pork roast and ham hock be stamped with the kind of warning that cigarette packages carry, a growing body of experts warn that in consuming more than 200 pounds of pork every year, the average American is eating himself to death."

According to the pure and perfect laws of Yahuweh our Creator, whenever we consume pork, or any unclean thing, we in fact are bringing sickness and death upon ourselves.

The Arizona Republic, 7/27/81, reads,

“300 suffer from food poisoning after dining on baked ham, candied yams and green peas at a Baptist conference banquet..."

In Healthwise, 8/82, Volume 5, it is stated,

“Trichinosis, a parasitic infestation resulting from eating pork, is estimated at 150,000 cases in the U.S.A each year. Many cases are serious. In some cases, trichinae spread throughout the body, even into the brain. When this occurs, victims may experience unusual drowsiness, clouded consciousness, convulsive seizures, weakness, and in some cases, paralysis or coma. Prevention is much surer than a cure. The Journal of the American Association points out that even smoked pork sausage can contain live trichinae cysts."

In the Saturday Evening Post, 7/8-82, in the article, "A Parasite Mystery", was a complete article showing the dangers of pork in human consumption. Here is a small portion of this article as follows:

“Trichinosis is generally believed to be a rarity. This view, though hallucinated, is not altogether without explanation. Outbreaks of trichinosis are seldom widely publicized. They are seldom even recognized. Trichinosis is the chameleon of diseases. Nearly all diseases are anonymous at onset, and many tend to resist identification until their grip is well established; but most can eventually be identified by patient scrutiny."

“Trichinosis is occasionally impervious to bedside detection at any stage. Even blood counts sometimes inexplicably fail to reveal its presence at any stage in its development. As a diagnostic deadfall, it is practically unique."

“The number and variety of ailments with which it is more or less commonly confused approach the encyclopedic. They include arthritis, acute alcoholism, conjunctivitis, food poisoning, lead poisoning, heart disease, laryngitis, mumps, asthma, rheumatism, rheumatic fever, rheumatic myocarditis, gout, tuberculosis, angioneurotic edema, dermatomyositis, frontal sinusitis, influenza, nephritis, peptic ulcer, appendicitis, cholecystitis, malaria, scarlet fever, typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, undulant fever, encephalitis, gastroenteritis, intercoastal neuritis, tetanus, pleurisy, colitis, meningitis, syphilis, typhus and cholera. It has even been mistaken for beriberi."

“With all the rich inducements to error, a sound diagnosis of trichinosis is rarely made, and the diagnostician cannot always take much credit for it."

OTHER
UNCLEAN MEATS

This article focuses mostly on pig meat because it is the most commonly eaten of unclean animals. But this in no way means that there are no types of unclean animals in other species of animals such as sea life, fowl and insects, for Yahuweh created clean and unclean among them as well -- each according to its own purpose and function.

Take the Armadillo for example. In the 12/1/83 issue of the Abilene Reporter News, Dr. John Wolf, Jr., and Dr. Lee R. Lumpkins III, skin specialists on the faculty of Baylor University, said that a study of five leprosy patients suggests strongly that they all contracted leprosy as a result of handling armadillos.

In their paper prepared for publication in the 12/83 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, the physicians said the evidence supporting such a conclusion is quite strong.

The frequency and distribution of leprosy in Texas and Louisiana, coupled with the development of leprosy among armadillo handlers, suggest that armadillos may well serve as a reservoir for the disease.
Four of the leprosy patients spent years catching, cleaning, and eating armadillos, and the fifth patient, a 17 year old, has been chasing and wrestling armadillos as a hobby for several years.

Another article on the dangers of armadillo meat was when a whole family died from eating an armadillo, which in turn, had just eaten a centipede. The whole family died from centipede poisoning.

This is a serious lesson on the unclean. Almost all unclean animals -- among fish, birds and insects alike, are scavengers and predators whose primary function in nature is to clean the garbage off the earth; and the creatures they eat are, likewise, often poisonous or laden with disease.

This being so, it was necessary that Yahuweh create them with an immunity to the poisons they take in through the rotting flesh, refuse and poisonous things they eat.

This poison they eat, in turn, goes straight into their meat, as in the case with the armadillo and the centipede. If you eat this poisoned meat, it will kill you, or seriously injure your health and well being, just as surely as it would have had you eaten the poison directly; for the digestive systems of unclean animals only filter out that which is poisonous to them -- not that which is poisonous to us.

When Yahuweh created the earth and all that is in it, He created them clean and unclean, depending on their purpose and digestive abilities. The clean animals and vegetation He created as food, and as healthy for human consumption, and the unclean He created for other purposes, and therefore, as not fit for human consumption.

B'resheet (Genesis) 7:2 says almost 2,000 years prior to the giving of the ‘Law’ to Moshe (Moses), "Of every clean animal you shall take with you by sevens, the male with his female; and of every unclean animal you shall take with you in two’s, the male with his female."

Why were 7 pairs of clean animals taken onto the ark, but only 2 pair of unclean animals? It is because the clean animals were needed for food and for burnt offerings. If they had used the unclean animals for food, the unclean animals would have very quickly become extinct.

In this Scripture we see, that from the beginning, certain animals were created clean, and others created unclean.

The word "clean" comes from the Hebrew word, "Tahor" (tawhor), meaning "pure" in a physical, chemical, ceremonial or moral sense.

The word "unclean" comes from the Hebrew word "Tame" (tawmay), meaning "contaminated or polluted".

Now we know that even as we desire what is best and healthiest for our children and loved ones, that our heavenly Father even more abundantly desires these things for us.

Likewise, even as we know what is better for our children’s health than our children do, our heavenly Father, likewise, in His infinite and eternal wisdom, also knows what is healthiest for us better than we do.

So our spiritual Father in His infinite love, wisdom and concern for us has revealed His Holy and universal Law of the Spirit to us for our benefit and well being when living in harmony with it.

D'varim (Deuteronomy) 4:40,

4:40 "...therefore obey Yahuweh’s statutes and commandments which I command you this day, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you may prolong your days in the land which Yahuweh your Father is giving to you to forever possess."

III Yahuchanan (III John) 2:2,

2:2 "Beloved, I desire above all things that you may prosper, and be in health, even as your soul prospers."

And, D'varim (Deuteronomy) 7:12-15,

7:12 "Then it shall come to pass that because you listened to these laws, to observe and perform them that Yahuweh your Father will keep with you the covenant of mercy that He swore to your fathers."

7:13 "And He will love you and bless you and multiply you..."

7:14 "You shall be blessed above all people..."

7:15 "And Yahuweh will take away from you all sickness..."

Yes, Yahuweh’s laws are for our well being, and our well being is His desire for us, even as the well being of our children and loved ones is our desire for them.

So in V'yikra, (Leviticus) 11, and D'varim, (Deuteronomy) 14, our Heavenly Father provides us the spiritual code for proper diet by listing for us the animals that are "clean", i.e. physically, chemically, ceremonially, and morally "pure", and therefore, good for food; and that are "unclean", i.e. that are contaminated and polluted, and therefore, not good for food.

In an article published in the "Bulletin of the History of Medicine" published by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1953, a study was made entitled "An Experimental Pharmacological Appreciation of V'yikra (Leviticus) XI and D'varim (Deuteronomy) XIV" by David Macht, M.D.

In the Study Dr. Macht tested extracts of meats of the various "clean" and "unclean" animals and fish according to the Dietary Law, using a standard toxicological test.

The results? Every single animal meat that the Dietary Law said was inedible tested out as toxic in Dr. Macht’s experiments; and every single meat that Yahuweh said was edible tested out as non-toxic.

There was a 100% correlation between the Dietary Law and the scientific study. But Yahuweh taught our people this fact over 5,000 years before "modern" science figured it out.

To teach that pigs are now "clean" (non-toxic) and acceptable as food is to say that vultures, flies, cockroaches, maggots, bats, rats, centipedes, salamanders and dogs, that also have "unclean" (toxic) flesh are now also acceptable for our consumption as well.

But when giving us His commandments He said that He gave them to us for our benefit and for our life; D’varim (Deuteronomy) 30:11-20; Yeshua (Joshua) 1:8, and to declare these creatures to be good for food now is to say that it is now okay to introduce death and toxins into our bodies; for the chemical make-up, structure, and function of these creatures is identical to what they were when the dietary laws were first given.

Nothing has changed concerning their physiological make-up or function.

Yeshua is Holy, and He did not come to sanctify death and disease, but came to save us from the filth of this world, from the deception of our human appetites, and from the deadliness of our sinful nature. All of His commandments are given for our protection.

Likewise, He is Holy (Set-apart), and He calls us to also be Holy (Set-apart), as it is written in II Corinthians 6:17,

6:17 "Touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you."

We are to magnify Him in our lives, in our words, in our actions, and in our diets.

In every aspect of our lives we are to magnify Him and exalt Him in all ways, and to be set apart from the world around us.

The world’s diet is not our diet. The world’s culture is not our culture. Yahuweh loves us, and He gives us these commandments because He loves us, and because He wants what is good for us.

We as stewards of His sacred Word must be careful not to blindly teach that the filth and toxic flesh of pigs, and of other unclean animals, is somehow no longer harmful to us, while teaching in total contrast on the other hand the necessity, or benefits of, proper diet while ignoring the health consequences of our pork and shellfish infested diets.

His Torah gives us life, and sin is the violation of His Torah, which is why we all die.

How many professing believers out there are careful about the amount of fat in their diet? Yet Yahuweh taught our people over 4,000 years ago that we were not to eat the fat or the blood of animals.

As stated above in D'varim (Deuteronomy) 7:12-15, Yahuweh says that if we obey His laws, His instruction contained in Torah, then He will take all sickness from among us.

Which makes it quite evident that, the reason we continue to get sick is because we continue to live in disharmony with the laws of life and health provided by our loving heavenly Father for our well being.

As believers in Mashiach (the Messiah) we are called to be an enlightened, Bible believing people; but often are the very ones who most diligently reject and ignore the truth of Scripture in which we claim to believe.

Many who profess to live holy lives would never consider defiling the temple of their body with something as filthy and deadly as a cigarette, but when we take toxic, disease laden, worm infested pig flesh into our temple; it is just as deadly and defiling to the holiness of the temple of our body as the cigarette.

Consuming the toxic flesh of unclean animals is no way to keep the temple of our bodies pure.

We must understand that all this poison and disease laden garbage and carrion is not purified or made clean just because we prayed over it, or because a pig or other unclean animal has digested it before us.

As believers we need to realize that it is not the Scriptures that we are following when we consume unclean and vile creatures, but are following conditioned appetite molded by commerce and ethnic tradition.

Here are two final examples of the consequences of consuming animals with toxic (unclean) flesh.

In Dell City, Texas, in February, 1983, a national team of plague experts were trapping rodents and talking with residents about a young rancher killed by bubonic plague.

Doctors said the man apparently was bitten by diseased fleas as he skinned an infested fox about a week before he fell ill and died.

In Beaumont, Texas, in June 1983, a 42 year old man contracted cholera.

He apparently came down with the disease after eating improperly cooked seafood which he had caught himself.

The article did not specify which species of seafood, but more than likely it was the scavenger shellfish species which he caught and ate.

And though my main focus here has been on pork, because of its common popularity, I must warn that the consumption of shellfish such as crab, lobster, clam, shrimp and oyster can also lead to deadly health consequences.

These creatures are also part of the "forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil", if you will. And if you really think about it, crabs are nothing but sea spiders, lobsters - nothing but sea scorpions, and oysters, clams and shrimp - nothing but sewage processors.

These creatures are all scavengers of the sea containing extremely simple digestive systems that do not even come close to adequately filtering out the poisons that they consume in the human waste and sea refuse that they most commonly thrive and grow in.

If you indulge in the consumption of these creatures, then you must realize that when you eat these creatures, that you are eating their intestines, complete with all their urine, feces, internal organs and blood supply.

That’s right; these creatures are cooked and served with all their innards. So when you eat them, you are eating everything that is inside of them. So whose dietary law does it make more sense to place our faith into? Into Yahuweh’s, or into mans’?

This is great error to teach or imply that our Creator has now set-apart the toxic (unclean) flesh of these creatures as food.

To believe that through Yeshua’s sacrifice it is now somehow okay to introduce sewage and death into the temple of our bodies if it comes in the form of a crab is great theological error.

When we teach these things, whether intentionally or in ignorance, we bring the curse of pre-mature death and potentially life crippling diseases upon ourselves and others, and cause our flocks to suffer a multitude of preventable health problems.

The Word of Yahuweh is pure from the beginning, and His standards for His people change not, for He changes not; and so we must be careful to not so quickly theologically nail to the cross His righteous commandments; the commandments of which He has provided to us for our benefit, and for our good.

Part II
The Scriptural Evidence

ERRONEOUS DOCTRINES
CONCERNING THE CONSUMPTION OF UNCLEAN ANIMALS

“So the great dragon was cast out,
that serpent of old, called the Devil and the Accuser (haSat-n),
who deceives the whole world..."
Revelations 12:9

Throughout the centuries many of the pure and unadulterated doctrines of the early assembly have become influenced and corrupted by pagan tradition, commerce and human appetite.

One of those corruptions of Scripture is the teaching that all animals are now made clean through Messiah.

However, it is evident that when these people say "all" animals, that they are only referring to animals such as pork and shellfish which our culture has bred into their diet and mentally conditioned them to accept.

These same people often would never consider eating a dog or rat, a bat, vulture, cockroach, centipede, spider or fly - but often are the very same people who worry over having too much salt or sugar in their diet! [Even though the Scriptures state that salt is good! See Luke 14:34; Mark 9:49, 50; V’yikra (Leviticus) 2:13].

The contradiction is evident, for if all things are clean through Messiah - then that means all things, including sugar, salt, fruits, vegetables, vultures, bats and cockroaches alike.

So then, how can one justify the eating of unclean animals through the Scriptures when, Yahuweh, Who changes not, states clearly in His word in V’yikra (Leviticus) 11 and D’varim (Deuteronomy) 14 that certain things are not meant as food or allowed for human consumption?

If I at one point in my life do drugs, then it reflects my standard of acceptance of drugs, and shows me to be one kind of person. But if after ten years, I decide that drugs are not acceptable to do, and then I stop doing drugs, then I make myself into a different person. By changing my standard, I myself become a different person. I change, for my standard reflects ultimately, who, and what I am.

Yahuweh’s standard is a divine blueprint to us of His mind, and He changes not, because His standard changes not.

The problem is that people do not justify the consumption of unclean meats through a thorough understanding or application of Scriptures; but rather, through what they hear taught by others, and/or through the conditioning of their human appetite through the dietary and commercial customs of their culture.

And this development revolves around certain passages in Scripture that have been terribly misunderstood over the centuries and that as a result have caused believers to erroneously adopt this dangerous and unhealthy desire for forbidden things as an integral part of today’s cultural and doctrinal practices; practices and misunderstandings that can be easily remedied by placing these passages back into the context and understanding of 1st century Israel and its original assembly of believers.

KEPHA’S (PETER’S) VISION
(Ma’aseh (Acts) 10:1 thru 11:18)

“Oh, praise Yahuweh all you people of the nations, and applaud him all you peoples;
For His merciful kindness is great toward us, and His Truth endures forever."
Mizmor (Psalm) 117:1, 2

The first is a vision given to Kepha (Peter) in Ma’aseh (Acts), chapters 10 and 11, where the Almighty presented a sheet of unclean animals to Kepha (Peter) and commanded him to rise and eat them, to illustrate to Kepha (Peter) that it was now acceptable to take the gospel to the people of the nations [the uncircumcised] and not to just limit it to the Jews [the circumcised].

Sadly, rather than reaching the above conclusion in these chapters, the eaters of unclean meat maintain that these following chapters in Ma’aseh (Acts) 10 & 11 are about the cleansing and purification of unclean animals, making them suitable for human consumption.

This conclusion is not only an erroneous reading of Scripture, but also a contradiction of their claim that it is in Mattit’yahu (Matthew) 15:1-20 when Yeshua declared all things clean. (See chapter 8 for more on this subject)

We’ll begin with Ma’aseh (Acts) 10:1 as follows,

10:1 There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band;

10:2 A devout man, and one who reverenced Yahuweh with all of his household, and who gave gifts and services of compassion to the poor of the people and prayed to Yahuweh always.

The word "Devout" here comes from the Greek word "Eusebes" and means: highly reverent, pious.

This word "devout", "pious" makes it clear that Cornelius was a highly dedicated religious individual.

The remainder of verse 10:2 makes it clear that the Jewish faith of the time was the religion that his "devoutness" was in regard to, for he "reverenced Yahuweh with all his household" following the teachings of Moshe (Moses) as given in the Torah of the Almighty.

And as the Torah of Yahuweh commanded (the erroneously named "Law of Moses"), he gave gifts and services of compassion to the poor, and prayed to Yahuweh, the God of Israel always.

Now concerning Kepha (Peter), it says in,

10:3 "He saw in a vision, around 3pm, a messenger of Yahuweh coming to him and saying, "Cornelius,"

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