Leviticus 11 "Lessons in Purity: Clean and Unclean Animals"
In Leviticus 10:10 the priests were told to distinguish between the holy and the profane,
the unclean and the clean.
What is the relationship between the holy and the clean?
Consider the things that are called "holy" in Leviticus:
the sanctuary (Lev. 6:16)
the priests (
the crown of the high priest (Lev. 8:9), and the rest of the "holy garments" (Lev 16:4)
the priest's portions from
the grain offering (Lev. 2:3)
the sin offering (Lev. 6:25-30)
the guilt offering (Lev. 7:1-6)
Later we will hear of the fruit of a fruit tree being holy in the fourth year,
and therefore not to be eaten by Israel. (Lev. 19:24),
Also Leviticus 27 speaks of how vows can render a person, or an animal, or even a house,
holy to the Lord.
A thing is holy when it is set apart for the Lord's use.
Indeed, God repeatedly tells Israel, "Be holy, for I am holy."
The whole community is holy because it belonged to the Lord.
So holiness, in Leviticus, is not particularly an ethical concept,
rather it has to do with an objective relationship that a person or a thing has to God.
The concept of "clean" has a different, but related, meaning.
Cleanness has to do with a ceremonial or ritual purity
required in order to come in contact with the holy.
Cleanness is a prerequisite for holiness.
Cleanness and uncleanness were not mutually exclusive,
and uncleanness was not inherently sinful.
For instance, look at Numbers 19:2-10.
The red heifer used in preparing the water of purification
rendered the priest who offered it unclean.
The carcass of the red heifer made the priest unclean,
and the ashes of the heifer made the priest's helper unclean,
but the ashes of the heifer was used in the water of purification,
that made people clean.
As Numbers 19:9 points out, "it is a sin offering."
The priest and his assistant took the uncleanness upon themselves,
so that the sacrifice could render others clean.
A person could become unclean by doing anything that rendered them unfit to worship God.
Uncleanness was not merely a spiritual condition,
it was also physical.
Therefore a person who was unclean had to change their clothes and wash himself.
As we go through this section of Leviticus we will see several different ways
that Israelites could become unclean.
But anyone who was unclean could not participate in the sacrifices of Israel,
or the worship of God.
Some may think that this sort of ritual understanding of cleanliness would have contributed
to a purely external religion.
That was not God's intent
-and the Psalms demonstrate that many Israelites understood the point.
David asks, who may dwell on God's holy hill? (Psalm 15)
"He who walks blamelessly and does what is right."
Likewise, he asks, "who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?" (Psalm 24)
He answers: "He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully."
The proper Old Testament understanding of the purity laws recognized
that they pointed to the purity of heart that God called his people to.
As God had said through Moses, "Be holy, for I am holy."
Chapter 11 focuses on animals.
Deuteronomy 14 also speaks of clean and unclean animals.
Leviticus 11 provides the basic principles, which Deuteronomy expands on.
What is the reason for these prohibitions?
The rabbis argued that it was especially for reasons of health;
but if that is the case, then God was most cruel to the NT church,
because he has abrogated this law most explicitly, as we will see later.
There are other reasons that are more compelling.
1) some of these animals were used in pagan religion.
The pig, for instance, was a sacrificial animal
for the Babylonians and ancient Canaanites.
In Egypt and Iran many believed the dog to be sacred,
while field mice were offered as sacrifices in Haran.
The use of a rabbit's foot as a charm is an ancient Arabian practice,
while the owl was revered as a reincarnation of the dead.
Snakes were closely related to the demonic,
and many reptiles had close associations with pagan gods.
But this is not an adequate explanation.
Virtually every animal had some use in pagan religions.
The cow, the sheep and the goat were commonly used in Ancient Near Eastern rites.
So we need to find a better explanation.
2) We come closer to an explanation when we consider the relationship
between "clean" and "holy"
A person had to be "clean" in order to be "holy."
In order to be set apart for the Lord's worship and service,
in order to participate in the covenant blessings,
a person had to be clean.
Your proper function as a member of the covenant community
was to serve the living God.
"Clean" animals were those that fulfilled their proper function.
Leviticus 11 sets forth the "proper function" of the various sorts of animals.
First, Moses speaks of land animals (1-8).
Israel could eat "any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud."
It is worth pointing out that neither the hare nor the rabbit actually chews the cud,
but they both make the same sorts of motions with their mouth.
Moses is not giving a scientific description, but one based on popular observation.
So the ox, the sheep, and the goat, along with various wild animals, such as deer, were clean.
Second, Moses speaks of sea creatures (9-12).
The definition of a clean sea creature was that it have fins and scales.
Fish are supposed to have fins and scales.
Israel is being taught to distinguish between clean and unclean,
between the holy and the unholy.
They must be different from the nations around them.
And while some of these distinctions may seem a bit arbitrary,
God is doing this for a purpose.
Shellfish and other sea creatures that lacked either fins or scales,
are declared "detestable."
"Detestable" normally refers to something associated with idolatry.
Israel could not worship the Lord and eat shellfish.
To eat lobster was an act of apostasy.
Third, Moses speaks of birds (13-19).
Many of the birds in the list cannot be clearly identified.
The Hebrew names are simply unknown to us.
But the ones that we do know are all birds of prey,
or carrion birds-scavengers that feed upon flesh.
Israel may not eat of any flesh-eating bird.
Fourth, Moses speaks of insects (20-23).
All insects are detestable-except winged insects that walk on all fours,
which have jointed legs-like the locust, cricket or grasshopper.
Again, this should not be taken as a scientific explanation,
because, as you know, there are no flying insects with four legs.
Insects have six legs.
Verses 24-40 form an interlude.
Verse 41 will pick back up again with swarming creatures (reptiles, etc.).
But these verses explain what to do about the uncleanness
that comes from contact with unclean animals.
To touch an unclean animal, or its carcass, renders you unclean.
It is not a sin to be unclean.
Rather, it means that you are not fit to enter the worship of God.
You did not sin by touching the unclean animal,
but the contaminating contact with that which is not right,
requires purification.
And whoever touches such an unclean animal must wash his clothes,
and remain unclean until evening.
And if a dead unclean animal touches anything, it too becomes unclean until evening,
and it too must be "put into water."
The earthenware vessel that touches something unclean must be broken,
since you can't wash the stain out of it.
Verses 36-38 are particularly interesting.
A spring or a cistern remains clean-
in spite of the contamination of the carcass of the unclean animal.
If God were simply concerned for Israel's health,
then something should have been said about water
that had been contaminated by any dead animal!
But the water remains clean.
Likewise, seed grain remains clean through its contact with the carcass,
unless it had water on it.
Now that's weird!
Water is so clean that the carcass of an unclean dead animal cannot contaminate it.
Seed grain is so clean that the carcass of an unclean dead animal cannot contaminate it.
But, if you combine water and seed grain, then it can be contaminated?
Why?
Remember that water is used for cleansing the unclean.
So it makes sense that water cannot be ritually contaminated.
If water got contaminated, how would clean it?
As for the seed grain,
remember Jesus' comment about the seed grain.
Unless the seed dies, it cannot bring new life.
The seed is dead.
You cannot contaminate something that is dead.
But, when the dead seed comes in contact with water,
new life begins to sprout and grow.
So wet grain can be contaminated.
Then in verses 41-43, Moses returns to the description of unclean animals.
ALL swarming things are detestable.
Every reptile, everything that goes on its belly is detestable, and should not be eaten.
To eat such a creature would be to defile yourself.
This takes us back to the serpent in the Garden of Eden.
Serpents and other swarming creatures are unclean because they defile you.
Why did Moses put this after the section on purification?
Because he wanted to put the swarming animals in contrast to the holiness of God.
He concludes with 44-45,
which gives the rationale for this laws:
"For I am the Lord your God.
Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.
You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground.
For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God.
You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy."
In contrast to the serpent in the garden,
Israel is to be holy.
Eve listened to the serpent.
You are to have nothing to do with serpents.
Read verses 46-47.
It is not entirely adequate to label these laws "ceremonial,"
and then dismiss them as irrelevant.
These food laws have to do with the holiness of Israel.
Those who worship God must be clean.
The New Testament does some interesting things with the food laws.
Look at Mark 7:14-19
Mark makes it easy for you.
He states simply that by saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.
But in the very act of setting aside the letter of the Mosaic regulation,
Jesus brings the equity of that law to bear on the believer.
The point of these laws was to teach Israel about holiness,
about being separate from the Gentiles.
And it is no accident that this teaching is followed by the healing of a Gentile woman's daughter.
(Verses 24-30)
Mark highlights the connection between these two events.
Jesus did not openly repudiate the food laws,
but he showed that holiness could no longer be defined in Jew/Gentile terms.
In Acts 10:9-15, Jesus comes to Peter and makes this explicit.
Read.
So Peter went to the house of Cornelius, an uncircumcised Gentile,
and the Holy Spirit was given to the uncircumcised.
When the church in Jerusalem hears about this, they are ready to condemn Peter.
So Peter explains in Acts 11 what had happened.
(Verses 17-18)
You have been included in Christ because he has broken down the barrier between Jew and Gentile.
The point of Israel's distinctiveness was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
He was the holy one.
He was set apart for the service of God.
Because Jesus raised clean hands before the Father,
his sacrifice was accepted.
He was the most holy offering to the Lord,
and because God has vindicated Jesus,
and seated him at his right hand,
the OT food laws have become obsolete.
That doesn't mean, however, that they are irrelevant.
Paul applies the food laws to the situation of the Christian in Romans 14:14 and 1 Cor 8:8.
Many Jewish Christians still had tender consciences with respect to unclean foods,
and Paul says that it is true that all foods are clean,
but Christians should respect each other's consciences in this matter.
Modern folk might say, "But Jesus said that all foods are clean!
How dare someone reject the plain word of God!"
But Paul doesn't take that attitude.
If some Jewish Christian thinks of certain foods as unclean, don't make a stink about it.
"For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love.
By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died."
Now, Paul insists that the "weaker" brother may not speak against the stronger either!
The implication is this:
Don't eat pork around them.
You can eat pork at home, but don't bring it to the church potluck!
And if he condemns you for eating pork, then he is wrong,
but if you eat pork in front of him, then you are wrong.
This has nothing to do with personal preference.
This has to do with matters of conscience.
But what is all this about?
What is the point of these food laws.
Hebrews 9:10 says that these laws were given until the time of reformation.
Colossians 2:16-23 is more explicit.
Colossians 2:16-17 says,
"Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink,
or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.
These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ."
The food laws were about Christ.
Israel had to learn to distinguish between the clean and the unclean, the holy and the unholy.
They had to understand the contaminating power of the flesh.
God wanted them to see that only the pure in heart could approach him in worship.
Every time an Israelite became unclean,
he was reminded that he needed cleansing.
As he washed his clothes, he would see a picture of washing that he himself needed.
As he distinguished between clean and unclean,
he would remember that he needed to be different from the nations;
he needed to be holy, for God is holy.
But the shadow has passed.
The light of the glory of Christ has now dawned.
We don't live in the shadows anymore.
For us, all foods are clean.
But let us not forget the point:
"But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
since it is written, 'you shall be holy, for I am holy.'" (1 Peter 1:15-16)
It is not what goes into your mouth that defiles you,
but what comes out!