Leviticus 11:1-23
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth: 3 Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud—that you may eat. 4 Nevertheless these you shall not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have cloven hooves: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; 5 the rock hyrax, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; 6 the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you; 7 and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8 Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. They are unclean to you. 9 “These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers—that you may eat. 10 But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you. 11 They shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination. 12 Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales—that shall be an abomination to you.
13 “And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, 14 the kite, and the falcon after its kind; 15 every raven after its kind, 16 the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind; 17 the little owl, the fisher owl, and the screech owl; 18 the white owl, the jackdaw, and the carrion vulture; 19 the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
20 “All flying insects that creep on all fours shall be an abomination to you. 21 Yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth. 22 These you may eat: the locust after its kind, the destroying locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind. 23 But all other flying insects which have four feet shall be an abomination to you.
13 “And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, 14 the kite, and the falcon after its kind; 15 every raven after its kind, 16 the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind; 17 the little owl, the fisher owl, and the screech owl; 18 the white owl, the jackdaw, and the carrion vulture; 19 the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
20 “All flying insects that creep on all fours shall be an abomination to you. 21 Yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth. 22 These you may eat: the locust after its kind, the destroying locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind. 23 But all other flying insects which have four feet shall be an abomination to you.
God originally gave all animals to eat after the flood (Genesis 9:3-4), but now He teaches them obedience by being selective of which ones they should and must not eat. These animals are described in great detail so that there would be no ambiguity in God’s prescription of acceptable and unacceptable. In fact, some are so prohibited that He says eating them should be abominable to even consider it. He was teaching them to hate sin and love obedience, for what God prescribes is always for our good (such as health concerns concerning pork), while what He prohibits is for our protection as well as to teach obedience out of love of His commands (Psalm 119:47-48, 159). In the New Covenant, we are no longer under such prohibitions (except for things strangled or with blood as we see in places such as Acts 15:29 and 1 Timothy 4:3). We now are taught by God in us to discern right and wrong by His word and Spirit’s instruction and conviction, and need no longer to fall under the severity of the Law when grace abounds in Christ. God still hates sin, but under the covenant of grace we learn loving obedience from our forgiveness and reconciliation in Christ, and learn to desire to please our Lord out of a changed heart and not under compulsion with the lingering threat of death and damnation. Selection of foods was a way to teach by laws no longer needed (with the noted exceptions in Acts which are specific to idolatry and blood which carries life). We can learn from these things how to follow Christ with a good conscience (1 Timothy 1:5, 2 Timothy 2:22, 1 Corinthians 10:25-29) out of loving and willing obedience as the blind man whom Jesus healed and came back to thank Him. Our souls have been healed from sin (Isaiah 53:5-6, 11) and our response is no longer required to be mandated by laws of what we can or cannot eat; He gives us in Christ all things richly to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17).
No comments:
Post a Comment