Leviticus 11

We begin here in chapter 11 a new phase in the book of Leviticus. Moving on from the sacrifices, we are going to enter into a section that describes in detail how the Jews were to avoid “uncleanness”, or as we might say, DEFILEMENT. Today’s chapter deals very specifically with what to eat and what not to eat. Some of the things in the list are things you would never think of eating, some may be things you eat on a weekly basis…

Some of the questions that naturally come up are these: Why are some things unclean and others clean? Why didn’t God just let them eat whatever they wanted? Why did it even matter?

I am going to offer a few answers to these questions:

1. God said they were unclean because they WERE unclean. Sometimes I think that we get this backwards in our minds. We think something is bad only because God said it is bad… we start to feel like God is trying to make our lives miserable and keep us from enjoying life. In reality God is doing just the opposite. He is protecting us, and trying to help us enjoy life to its fullest. Like a mom who won’t let her kid play in the street, the laws of God exist for our protection. These animals weren’t good eating! Take PIGS for example: Pork is something that many of us eat regularly, but if it isn’t prepared right, it could make you really sick. There are LOADS of parasites that live in pigs, really gross ones that I won’t talk about here. I’ll only say this much, if you knew what they were and what they could do, you might pass on the bacon tomorrow at breakfast. When pork is cooked to a proper temperature, the parasites die, but they had no way of knowing how hot to cook things back then. God was protecting his people.

2. God wanted his people to be HOLY. This means he wanted them to be separated from the world around them, to be different. These ceremonial laws would separate them in an obvious way, because these were meats that were regularly eaten by the pagan cultures surrounding them.

3. A further reason, and possibly the greatest reason of all is this: Many of the animals named in these chapters are known to have been used in sacrifices to pagan God’s. The Lord wanted His worship to be totally separate from Pagan practice. Therefore, he didn’t even want His people eating these animals! Here are some examples of the way the were used in Pagan sacrifice:

The Pig – sacrificed to VENUS
The Eagle – sacrificed to JUPITER
The Owl – sacrificed to MINERVA
The Dog – sacrificed to HECATE

The question now is this: as people who no longer live under the law, what does this mean for us? Well, we know this much… the New Testament tells us in several places that all of these things in the Old Testament (especially the law) were SHADOWS of things to come (the New Covenant in Christ). That tells me that we can learn valuable lessons from the law about our relationship with God. The lesson I want us to see today is this: All of God’s commandments exist for a reason! Whether we can see it or not, God has a reason for doing what He does and Saying what He says. These laws show us that! So, if you are struggling with something God has told you to do or not do… or even something your parents have told you to do or not do, TRUST THE LORD! He knows, and He wants what is best for you! What He desires are holy people He can work through. Allow Him to make you Holy, set apart for Him, and take His commands serious! Dare to be different than the world around you, don’t be afraid to stand up for Jesus!