Clean and Unclean Animals

INTRO

In Leviticus 8, Aaron and his sons were ordained and received their calling. In Leviticus 9, their first day on the job, they made the four offerings. Aaron blessed the people, and then both Moses and Aaron stood at the tent of meeting and blessed the people. Everything seemed to be going well, until Leviticus 10, when Nadab and Abihu decided to do something on their own. They brought an unauthorized offering, and the Lord brought fire on them and killed them. Israel mourned the loss of these two priests. Aaron mourned by fasting, but he still had a job to do. Aaron’s role as priest was set apart, as described in Leviticus 10:8-9. The priests could not drink wine or beer when they entered the tent of meeting. They were to distinguish between the holy and the common, the clean and the unclean. They were to teach God’s statutes to the people. In Leviticus 11, God gave dietary statutes to Moses and Aaron to share with the Israelites.

TEACHING

Leviticus 11:1–8: God revealed dietary guidelines for land animals. “Any animal with divided hooves and that chews the cud” could be eaten (v. 3). But among the animals that have divided hooves or chew their cud, they cannot eat the camel, the hyrax, the hare (different from a rabbit), or the pig. Deuteronomy 14:4–5 provided the positive list of animals they could eat: “the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.”

They could not eat the meat or touch the carcass of any unclean animal. Clean meant acceptable to God; unclean meant unacceptable to God. The word “unclean” is mentioned 32 times in Leviticus. The priests were given the task of determining what was clean and unclean, so they had to come to the tent of meeting without drinking. They had to have a clear mind, a clear conscience, and allow the Spirit of God to work.

Why was it even important, what Israel ate? John McArthur said, “Israel was to obey God’s absolute standard, regardless of the reason for it, or the lack of understanding of it.”¹It was not up to them to understand or discern why God told them to eat or not to eat something. Likewise, we are simply just to obey. The beauty of walking by faith is not trying to figure it all out but to be obedient. Israel’s diet was unique, so that Israel would not be compromised by the other nations and how they served their false idols.²Most other religions integrated animals into their religious services. The Lord was setting Israel apart from their old ways. He removed anything that could possibly lead His chosen people astray and toward the false idols of other nations.

Nelson’s commentary explains why Jews and Muslims weren’t allowed to eat pig/pork.³First, pork was often undercooked; inadequately cooked pork could transmit disease to humans. Second, pigs were often sacrificed to other deities or pagan gods. Being tempted was not sin, but Satan would try to deceive the Israelites. Wiersbe said if they were disobedient in partaking of this unclean animal, they might end up partaking in the false idols.⁴Eating a pig could have led to death, and the Lord didn’t want his people anywhere near that. When God said don’t taste it, He was asking them to be faithful in obedience to what He had commanded. God was very clearly trying to make His people separate and distinct.

Leviticus 11:9–12: God next identified the clean and unclean aquatic animals. The Israelites could eat everything in the water that had fins and scales, for those were considered clean. But anything in the seas or streams that did not have fins and scales were considered unclean and could not be eaten (such as clams, oysters, shrimp, lobster, and eel).

Leviticus 11:13–19: God then identified the unclean birds: “You are to detest these birds. They must not be eaten because they are detestable.” Detestable might indicate nauseating or gross, something worse than unclean. The eagle, bearded vulture, black vulture, kite, falcon, raven, ostrich, short-eared owl, gull, hawk, little owl, cormorant, long-eared owl, white owl, desert owl, osprey, stork, heron, hoopoe, and bat were unclean and therefore forbidden.

Leviticus 11:20–23: God also identified the clean and unclean flying insects. Winged insects that walk on all fours were unclean and detestable. However, winged insects with jointed legs above their feet that allowed them to hop on the ground were clean and could be eaten. The Israelites were allowed to eat the locust, katydid, cricket, and grasshopper.

Leviticus 11:24–40: Whoever touched the carcass of a dead animal was unclean until evening and was required to wash his clothes (vv. 24–25). In verse 26, anyone who touched an animal, without a divided hoof and did not chew their cud, was unclean until evening. Samson was an example of this in Scripture. He was a Nazarite, which meant he was set apart for God—he knew these lists. Judges 14:5–9 says Samson killed a lion; nothing wrong at this point. But, after some time, he returned and took some honey from the lion’s carcass. He ate it and gave it to his parents. He knew it was unclean. Could this be what led to his demise?

Animals that swarm on the ground were unclean, so the weasel, mouse, lizard, gecko, skink, and chameleon were unclean and forbidden. God was serious about uncleanliness. They were commanded to break their pots if touched by one of these unclean animals (v. 33). If their carcasses fell on an oven or stove, they were to be smashed (v. 35).

Leviticus 11:41–46: God said the swarming creatures (v. 41) as well as those that moved on their belly or walked on all fours or on many feet (v. 42) were detestable and could not be eaten.

The bottom line for all of these restrictions was that Israel was supposed to be holy and function as a clean nation, not as an unclean nation; they were to function not as a common nation, but as a holy nation. This dietary code was God making the distinction that Israel was a chosen nation. They were to be holy because God is holy. Oftentimes, we come to the Lord saying we want things to look like this, but God says, “No, it’s going to look like this.”

CLOSING

God called the Israelites to be holy, and by following the dietary guidelines listed in Leviticus 11, Israel was set apart. This list shouldn’t have been a burden, it was meant to be a privilege. In 1 Peter 1:13–16, we are called to be holy because God is holy.

For this teaching, it is important to understand the culture in Israel, the Jewish people, and the coming Messiah. Our one word for Leviticus is Atonement, how the blood serves as a substitution for us. Imputation takes the guilt that was supposed to be ours and puts it on someone else. All of this pointed to the Messiah.