Leviticus 11

What do you like to eat?

We are so used to the freedom that we enjoy in our eating that we may find it hard to imagine what life was like for ancient Israel. There was a long period in God's relationship with His people when many foods were considered unclean. It was one of the tasks of the priests to speak to the people about what was ceremonially acceptable and unacceptable. This was not just about what worshipers could do in the tabernacle. It was about what foods they could enjoy on their tables at home.

It was especially important for the priests to understand what would make them unclean, since their disregard for God's rules in worship might lead to death. The Lord revealed to Moses and Aaron the blessings of creation that the people of Israel could eat. Edible land animals needed to have hooves that were divided completely into two parts, and they needed to chew their food more than once as part of their normal digestive system. Specific animals that had only one of these two qualities or neither of them were unclean, and could not be eaten. Not only could they not be eaten, the people of Israel could not touch their carcasses, or they too would become unclean.

The Lord gave a different criteria for sea creatures. Only those with both fins and scales could be eaten. Those not meeting these qualifications were to be considered “detestable” to the Lord's people. Among the flying creatures, specific ones God's people were not allowed to eat were listed by name. Concerning insects, further principles were given and specific insects that were acceptable were listed by name. The rest were “detestable.”

An association between what was unclean and the issue of death was hard to miss in all these instructions. To touch a dead unclean animal was to have that uncleanness change you for the worse, at least temporarily. To be cleansed from these brushes with death required time and the washing of clothes.

There was also a further note of the spreading power of that which was unclean in these regulations. “Anything on which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is an article of wood or a garment or a skin or a sack, any article that is used for any purpose.” These required washing to return to the status of “clean,” and thereby to be useable again. One of the few exceptions to this plague of the unclean was the case of a source of flowing fresh water. A carcass that fell in a spring would not make the source of the water unclean.

Uncleanness was a disease like Adam's sin upon the earth. God's people needed a new spring of cleansing water from heaven springing up from within them in order to stop the death that sin brought upon them. But where would they find this spring of eternal life?

Death from uncleanness could even come on seeds if they became wet in uncleanness, making them ceremonially rejected. These little gifts of life, once infected, could not be planted or used because of their association with death.

Death was a swarming enemy beyond our ability to conquer. The holiness Israel needed had to come from the source of all that is enduring, the great I-AM. The Lord, the God of Israel, was and is clean forever. He commanded His people to set themselves apart from all that was unholy, preparing themselves for the gift of the One who would solve their sin problem, and who would also declare all foods clean.

True worshipers of God were always called upon to imitate the Lord in His holiness. He said to Israel, “I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.” This was more than a ceremonial requirement. The outward rituals were symbols communicating our great need, and preparing the Lord's people for the coming Messiah, who would cleanse us from our depravity inside and out.

God had brought His people out of the bondage that they had experienced as slaves in Egypt. Yet the problem of uncleanness exposed a deeper slavery. How could we be cleansed from sin and death? How could we escape the corruption and decay spreading across the earth? Where would we ever find the holiness we needed to be holy as the Lord was holy?

The law of clean and unclean touched upon the banquet tables of the Israelites. That law could expose uncleanness, but it could never eliminate the problem of sin and death. Christ came from a world without decay. He took upon Himself the deepest stains of our sins, cleansing us from all unrighteousness. The time of preparation for His coming and the great achievement of His cross is now over. That is why we have been set free from these dietary laws. The earth is the Lord's and all its fullness. If we can receive something with sincere thanksgiving to God, we can eat that gift which He created for our good. The old era of preparation is over. The ascended Christ has sent forth a stream of living water from heaven to dwell within us. We are cleansed by His blood and washed by the Holy Spirit.