DBG - February 6 - Leviticus 11-12

In this chapter we see the dietary restrictions God placed on the Jews.  F.B. Meyer writes about these: 

“There were good and sufficient reasons for excluding certain animals from Israel’s dietary. Devout medical men insist that this is the finest sanitary code in existence, and that many of the diseases of modern life would disappear if it were universally adopted. God made these distinctions matters of religion, that the well-being of His people might be doubly assured. These restrictions were also imposed to erect strong barriers between the chosen people and the heathen. So long as they obeyed, it was clearly impossible to participate in the heathen festivals, where many of these animals were partaken of.

“We are not now bound by these enactments. Our Lord made all meats clean... Peter was bidden to kill and eat all manner of creeping things, and his protest was overborne by the assurance that God had cleansed all. See Acts 10:11-16. Religion consists not in outward rites, but in the inward temper. See Hebrews 9:10. Note that touching was forbidden, because the least contact with evil hurts the soul.”

I also want to note that there is some debate as to the particular species mentioned.  We are for more scientific in our classifications that the Ancient Jews were, so sometimes it is difficult to determine exactly the animal referred to because of shifts in language over the centuries.

vs. 1-8 – Animals that both chew cud (ruminates) and have cloven hooves (ungulates) are pronounced clean.

vs. 9-12 – Fish that have both scales and fins are pronounced clean.

vs. 13-20 – Various birds are pronounced as unclean.  The common characteristic is that they eat other animals.  vs. 20 is often said to refer to insects but really it is speaking of flying animals such as bats that have claws on their wings and can maneuver with them like legs.

vs. 21-23 – An exception in the rule against animals that fly and go on four legs is given for leaping insects like the locust.

vs. 24-28 – Contacting the carcass of on an unclean animal renders a person unclean.

vs. 29-30 – Various rodents and reptiles are pronounced unclean.

vs. 31-40 – Various regulations regarding contact with unclean animals.  These are practical and make sense when you consider the nasty bacteria and viruses such animals carry.

vs. 41-43 – Various snakes, amphibians, reptiles, and insects are pronounced unclean.

vs. 44-47 – While we may focus with our modern minds on the health implications of these regulations, God has a deeper purpose in them.  They are object lessons.  He wants His people to reflect His holiness.  This means separation from things evil or dirty.  This applies in the physical world as it does in the moral or spiritual.

In this chapter we have the purification rituals following childbirth.

vs. 1-4 – A mother that gives birth to a son is considered unclean for 7 days.  The son is then circumcised on the eighth day, which she is able to witness.  She is then considered ceremonially unclean for worship purposes only for another 33 days, making a total of 40 days.  This allows her body to heal.

vs. 5 – In the case of a daughter, the mother is considered unclean for 14 days, then ceremonially unclean for worship purposes only for another 66 days, making 80 days total.  Various explanations are offered for why this is double that of a son.  Some link it to Eden and the Curse.  Others say that the boy’s circumcision perhaps makes up for the extra time.  I am unaware of any medical reason this would be necessary.

vs. 6-8 – After the prescribed time of uncleanness and impurity, the mother is to make an offering.  It is to be a lamb and a turtle dove of pigeon if these can be afforded, but in cases of poverty two turtle doves or pigeons are acceptable.  We note this is the case of Mary and Joseph in Luke 2:24. 

When we hit chapters such as these today, we often want to ask, “What in the world does this mean for me?!?”  It is a good question.  Practically speaking, they mean very little to us because we are not bound to follow them as the Ancient Jews were.  I would add there is much wisdom behind them and God set them for good reasons.  So, for instance, I think the healthiest diet we could follow is what is spelled out here.

If there is anything to be gleaned from these for us, it should be through the lens of the final verses of chapter 11.  The regulations are reflections of God’s holiness.  Reverence for God’s holiness in Bible times extended into what we might consider secular areas that have no bearing on the spiritual.  But the Bible makes all things spiritual.  We would do well to return to this mindset.  We do not need legalism, but we do need a return to personal holiness.

Our hymn today, “Take My Life And Let It Be”, written by Frances Havergal in 1874, takes up the call to serve a holy God in holiness.  It is a prayer of surrender that our all may be wholly God’s.

Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee;
Take my voice and let me sing,
Always, only for my King.

Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee;
Take my silver and my gold,
Not a mite would I withhold.

Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise;
Take my intellect and use
Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will and make it Thine,
It shall be no longer mine;
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.