Foods Permitted and Forbidden

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. That's where every day you and I, we get together. We have a little bit of coffee, we get into God's Word, and we groan our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2023, Lord willing, we'll make it from Genesis through Leviticus. I'm so glad to be with you today. I have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray.
Father, we thank You so much for this day. We thank You for Your Word. And Lord, we pray that as we read Your Word that You would teach us. We pray that You would mold us and shape us into the people that You have called us to be. We need Your Spirit now. We need Your Spirit all the time. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, we are at Leviticus chapter 11, now things change. We had been looking at Aaron and his sons and the consecration.
And you remember chapter 10, last time, God had told Aaron that he wasn't allowed to drink alcohol while on the job, he and his sons. And one of the reasons why, because they had to distinguish between clean and unclean. But what was clean? What was unclean?
Well, that's what we get into today. It's going to carry us on. Probably for the next, I think it goes through chapter 18. So we're going to have quite a few chapters here to look through. But today it's about the animals. So distinguishing between clean and unclean animals. So here we go. We're going to break this up, by the way, kind of paragraph by paragraph as it switches different animals. And we'll talk about it as we go.
Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having clove and hooves, and chewing the cud, that you may eat.
Nevertheless, these you shall not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have clove and hooves. The camel, because it chews the cud but does not have a clove and hooves, it is unclean to you. The rock hyrex, because it chews the cud but does not have clove and hooves, is unclean to you. The hare, because it chews the cud but does not have clove and hooves, is unclean to you. And the swine, though it divides the hoof, having clove and hooves, Yet does not chew the cud is unclean to you Their flesh you shall not eat and their carcasses. You shall not touch they are unclean to you right, so there's this this kind of two-step Factor of how do you decide whether an animal is clean or unclean?
Well, look at his foot and does it have kind of a two toes on its on its hoof or whoa and That's kind of interesting, I haven't seen my computer do that before. Does it have two toes? Or does it have one? Is it a single hoof or is it a double hoof? And then also, okay you've looked at the toe, now does it have a multiple chamber stomach and is it chewing the cud?
It has to do both of those to be able to be considered a clean animal. The question that people have asked for a long time is why? Why is God making these distinctions? Is it because of hygiene? Maybe. Is it because of cultural reasons? Other cultures who didn't eat different foods? Possibly.
There's no real seeming to be reason we don't know the why behind this I think the most Convincing reason why is possibly because I Didn't want them to be like the other cultures around them and so there's different cultures around them like the Hittites that would offer pigs to the dead and to the underworld. So we know that there were Canaanite cultures around Israel that were doing things with different animals and no matter what as soon as they adopt these dietary laws, they're going to be different than everyone else they're around. And so, as they are different than everyone else around, I think this is setting them apart as wholly. And so, I think that's the most convincing reason why. And we'll get to that, especially at the end of the chapter, but right now it's the cloven hooves and the chewing of the cud.
What goes on from the land animals, from quadrupeds, and verse 9 and following has another part about the type of fish. 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.
But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that moves in the water, or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you. They shall be an abomination to you. You shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination. Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales, that should be an abomination to you."
So what zoologists would call true fish has to have fins and scales. So no shrimp, no crab, no eel, stuff like that. Nope. And then verse 13 to 19 we're going to talk about birds. 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, the kite, and the falcon after its kind, every raven after its kind, the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the seagull, and the hawk after its kind. The Little Owl, the Fisher Owl, the Screech Owl, the White Owl, the Jackdaw, and the Carried Vulture, the Stork, the Heron after its kind, the Hopi, and the Bat, right? Mostly carnivorous scavengering type birds and bats, right? Stuff like that. But not all. And so, these are the ones that aren't clean, meaning everything else is clean. So a sparrow, you can eat. A dove, you can eat. Okay, now verse 20 and following this is about winged insects.
All flying insects that creep on all fours shall be an abomination to you. Yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours. Those which have jointed legs above their feet, with which they leap on the earth, 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. But all other flying insects which have four feet shall be an abomination to you."
So here there are different types of flying insects. They've got to have the bent knee. They're able to kind of spring up. We know these are grasshoppers, crickets, locusts, stuff like that. Okay. Verse 24 through 28 is... Oops, sorry. Pardon me, I'm so sorry. Verse 24 through 28 is about what happens if you come in contact with an unclean carcass of an animal.
By these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening. Whoever carries part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. The carcass of any animal which divides the foot but is not cloven-hoofed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you. Everyone who touches it shall be unclean. And whatever goes on its paws, among all kinds of animals that goes on all fours, those are unclean to you. Whoever touches any such carcass shall be unclean until evening. Whoever carries away any such carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. It is unclean to you.
So cats, dogs, anything with paws, I can't have those around. Verses 29, and this one is a little bit more difficult to kind of sort through, but it's largely about like reptiles. And so reptiles and things they come in contact with and things that they die in. So this is verses 29 through 38. These also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth, the mole, the mouse, and the large lizard after its kind, the gecko, the monitor lizard, the sand reptile, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. These are unclean to you among all that creep.
Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening. Anything on which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is any item of wood, or clothing, or skin, or sack, or whatever the item it is in which any work is done.
It must be put in water, and it shall be unclean until evening. Then it shall be clean. Any earthen vessel into which any of them falls ye shall break, and whatever is in it shall be unclean. In such a vessel any edible food upon which water falls becomes unclean, and any drink that may be drunk from it becomes unclean. And everything on which a part of such carcass falls shall be unclean, whether it is an oven or cooking stove, it shall be unclean, for they are unclean and shall be unclean to you."
So these reptiles, these various reptiles are unclean. They need to be unclean to you. And if they fall into these different vessels, I'm guessing this is a problem in ancient Israel. that lizards and geckos and stuff would be found in the bottom of a pot, and you know, man, you gotta go break that pot now. And so that's how it's unclean.
But nevertheless, verse 36, a spring or a cistern in which there is plenty of water shall be clean. But whatever touches any carcass becomes unclean. And if a part of any such carcass falls on any planting seed which is to be sown, it remains clean. But if water is put on the seed and if a part of any such carcass falls on it, it becomes unclean to use. So if it's a cistern or spring, something like that, or flowing water, it's clean. Even if you find a carcass and it's fine. And if you find a carcass of a reptile and it's on your planting seed, well then that's fine.
But if water gets on that dying gecko or dead gecko and it's on the planting seed, then you shouldn't use the planting seed. So this is what the Lord is doing. Okay, so that part's done. We're going to look at verses 39 through 40. What about clean animals when they die? What about them?
If any animal which you may eat who touches its carcass shall be unclean until evening. He who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. He also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. All right, so if you have a dead animal and it's a clean animal, you become unclean by touching its dead carcass or eating its dead carcass or moving its dead carcass, right? And so you become unclean that way.
And then verse 41 and following is really about creeping things, different insects and such. And every creeping thing that creeps on the earth shall be an abomination. It shall not be eaten. Whatever crawls on its belly, whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet among all creeping things that creep on the earth, these you shall not eat, for they are an abomination. You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps, nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them."
So these different creeping things are included in here. And then this is where I think things get very applicable and clear. I can't tell you the reasons why God is making these choices, right? It's His sovereign decree, it's His sovereign choice for His people, which animals are clean and unclean. But there is a... there's a... I don't want to say... there's an end to it. God isn't doing this arbitrarily. But he's got a purpose in this.
And that's verse 44 through 45. Why? For I am Jehovah, your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy, for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on earth, for I am Yahweh who brings you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. We're going to just go from all this about, these different animals, dietary restrictions, to calling. Seek calling. This is also what I have underlined. Verse 44 and 45 is the best verse to summarize this.
We are called to be holy as He is holy. The word holy means set apart. God is not like any other, He is holy, He is holy unto Himself. But we are to be as His chosen elect people, not of the world. We might be in the world, but we cannot be of the world. We're set apart for a holy purpose, for His glory, to do what He commands.
And so in this passage, which is quoted in 1 Peter, actually, people often look at these dietary laws, and you might have been tempted by this, to, oh man, these dietary laws, why does this matter? Well, 1 Peter actually quotes Leviticus chapter 11. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance, but as he who has called you is holy, so you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. These dietary restrictions were lifted by God himself because they were temporary to set apart Israel as a nation different than all the other nations around them.
But once that dividing wall was torn down between Jew and Gentile, there was no more reason to have the part of the wall that was the separation, the dietary laws. But now we are separate, whether we're Jew or Gentile, if we are His people, now we're separate by the holy conduct of our lives.
Why is it wrong for me to be a glutton? Because God has declared that it's wrong for me to be a glutton. Why is it wrong for me to use coarse language? Because God has declared That that's wrong. Why is it wrong to go and sleep around with somebody else, commit adultery, or before you're married to commit fornication to go and sleep with someone you're not married to?
Because the Lord is the one who is holy and He's the one who set the standard. He's the one who said, this is what's morally right. And if we love Him, Then we look at Him and we say, you're holy and I want to be like you. Whatever you say, that's what I want to be like. And so we conform our lives to His standard. We conform our conduct to His way. And this is what? We're called to do, to live holy lives, to have holy minds, to set our focus upon Him because He is our Redeemer.
Just as He redeemed them from Israel, 1 Peter is going to go on to say, you have been redeemed, but not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. So do you cling to the blood of Jesus Christ? Do you know your redemption? and you strive to be holy as He has already declared you to be.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. And we thank you for the redemption of Jesus Christ. We pray, Lord, that you would let us walk in the holiness that you have called us to. Please, Lord, care for us. In Jesus' name, amen. I didn't miss the last two verses. I'll let you read those two summary verses, verses 47 and 48. I hope that you have a great day and that you rest in Jesus Christ. May God's grace wash over your heart and give you peace. See you later.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.