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“In the latter times some shall depart from the faith…commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth” (1 Timothy 4:1, 3).
Here we find another scripture related to food. The expression “the latter times” refers to the time after the apostles had gone to be with the Lord, when Satan started to introduce error into the church. One of these errors was to insist that people should not eat certain foods, or should not eat them on certain days. Over the centuries many professing Christian groups have tried to make rules about food, telling people not to eat certain things. One large group used to say that no one should eat meat on Fridays, while another group says that Christians should not eat pork. Other rules were that people had to fast (stop eating) on certain days, and those who disobeyed were sometimes killed.
In our verse, the Apostle points out that all this is a “doctrine of devils” (demons), for God has given us food, and intends us to enjoy it. We do not need to be ashamed of enjoying good food, for it is a gift from God. But we should not be addicted to it, or be continually thinking about it. It is meant to nourish our bodies so that we can use them for the Lord.
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