1 Timothy 4:1 Clarified

Q. What is 1 Tim 4.1 talking about?

A. This is another misunderstood passage, so to fully understand it let’s do verses 1-5. In verse one it says that the Lord has very clearly sated in His Word that in the last days or later days known as the “Acharit Yamin” that some will fall away or depart form the faith. Now, you have to ask yourself “What was the faith?” What was the faith of the believers of the first century? What was Paul’s faith? He says in Acts 25.8 and 28.17 that he was Torah observant. He followed the commandments and the customs that didn’t go against any of them. All the people that wrote the epistles and the gospels kept the commandments. If Yeshua came to do away with them (which he said he didn’t in Matt 5.17) he sure didn’t get his message across to the believers before or after his death. So, the faith was the body of doctrinal truth found in the Scriptures, and that was obeyed and observed.

These believers kept the Sabbath, festivals, ate foods allowed in Lev 11 and Deut. 14 and did not eat those creatures not allowed in those chapters. He goes on to say in verse one that the reason they departed from that was because they were being deceived and paying attention to devilish doctrines. He says in verse 2 that they won’t listen because their hearing of the truth has been cauterized or seared. He then gives some examples in his time like forbidding marriage and abstaining from meat altogether. These items were done by the Gnostics, those involved in Mithraism and the ascetic lifestyle and so on. He said that these things were created by God to be received by those who believe and know the truth according to the Scriptures (Torah). That was the only Scripture they had. Everything created by God was good, but not everything was food. Many teach today that this verse means that one can eat pork. The pig was created by God and is good, but that doesn’t make it food.

Marriage is good, but some say no. Some don’t eat meat at all, and want others to do likewise but God never intended that to be a lifestyle sanctioned by Scripture. There are some who say that man didn’t eat meat before the flood, but it doesn’t say they didn’t either. But regardless of the view you take, you can eat biblically kosher meat today. Meat is to be received with gratitude (v 4) for it (the meat) is set aside, set apart, sanctified by means of the word of God (the Lev. 11 and Deut 14 list is were it was set apart to eat) and prayer (the blessings before and after meals-Deut. 8.10). So, in conclusion Paul is saying that in the last days there will be people deceived by false doctrine that will lead them away from the Torah and it’s instructions concerning marriage, meat and obviously implying other things as well.