Clean and unclean
11
And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them,11:1 In Leviticus chapters 11–15 the key word is “unclean”. It occurs more than 100 times. To understand these chapters we must recognize that Leviticus is a book of symbols. In this book God is teaching spiritual truths by means of pictures. Here that which is called “unclean” is either sinful in itself or is a symbol of something that is defiling in the spiritual realm. For example, in the following verses the touch of an “unclean” animal cannot be sinful itself, but it may be a picture of something that makes the mind and spirit of man unclean.⚜
2 📚“Speak to the children of Israel, saying, These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. 3 📚You may eat whatever has a divided hoof or a cloven hoof and chews the cud among animals.
4 “But you shall not eat of these that chew the cud or of these that have a divided hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud, but does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you; 5 📚and the coney, because it chews the cud, but does not have the divided hoof; it is unclean for you; 6 📚and the rabbit, because it chews the cud, but does not have the divided hoof; it is unclean for you; 7 📚and the pig, though it has the divided hoof, the cloven hoof, yet it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. 8 📚You shall not eat their meat, and shall not touch their carcass. They are unclean for you.
9 📚“Of all that live in the waters you may eat these: You may eat whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers. 10 📚But all that do not have fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, are to be an abomination to you. 11 Yes, they are to be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their meat, and you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination. 12 Whatever has no fins or scales in the waters is to be an abomination to you.
13 📚“And these are the ones among the birds which you shall regard as an abomination; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey, 14 and the vulture, and any kind of kite, 15 📚every kind of raven, 16 📚and the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckoo, and every kind of hawk, 17 and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, 18 and the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, 19 and the stork, every kind of heron, and the lapwing, and the bat.
20 📚“All flying creatures that walk on all fours, shall be an abomination to you. 21 But among all the flying creatures that walk on all fours you may eat those that have legs above their feet with which to leap on the ground. 22 📚These are the ones among them that you may eat: every kind of locust, and every kind of bald locust, and every kind of cricket, and every kind of grasshopper. 23 But all other flying creatures which have four feet shall be an abomination to you.
11:2-23 Deut 14:3-21. It seems there are a number of reasons why God gave this prohibition against eating certain animals. For the most part at least the animals listed as “unclean” would not be as good for food as “clean” animals such as sheep and goats. Also God wanted the Hebrews kept as a distinct people from all other peoples on earth (Ex 19:5-6; Deut 7:6; 14:2). This was because He had chosen this nation as the channel for His revelation and for the Saviour who was to come. One way of keeping His people distinct was by ordering their diet. This was added to the Sabbath, circumcision, festivals and tabernacle worship – all designed to make and keep Israel a distinct people.
Also God was teaching His people by types and pictures to distinguish between right and wrong, good and bad, spiritually healthy and unhealthy. They were to be on the lookout to avoid uncleanness of every kind. Perhaps also, as some scholars have suggested, God was teaching that man’s sins are like unclean creatures, like the crafty and secretive jackal, the filth-loving pig, the stubborn mule, the village dog that eats any unclean thing, the savage tiger and lion, the vulture that feeds on the dead and decaying, the owl which loves darkness, the slimy fish that lives at the bottom of foul streams, the dangerous snake with its venom, the innumerable creeping and crawling things of earth, the worm that lives in dead and rotting things. In this way, perhaps, sin is pictured in all that is disgusting, cruel, harmful, destructive, filthy and detestable. And indeed, sin is like that.
However, since the instructions in this chapter are concerning what God’s people may or may not eat, the primary symbolic meaning seems to be this: For the mental, spiritual food of God’s people there are things that are good and wholesome and other things that are unclean and unhealthy. The food for priests was the offerings of God’s people, all of which signified Christ (Lev 2:3; 6:26; 7:6-10, 13, 14, 31-36). Those same sort of foods were also for God’s people as a whole (Lev 11:3). But there were many animals they must not eat, must not even touch their dead bodies. These signify “foods” for the mind which are unwholesome and unclean.
By food we should understand thoughts, teachings, ideas, and imaginations which we allow into our minds and hearts. The Bible is clear what sort of things these should be. See Ps 1:1-2; 119:11; Matt 16:6, 12; Phil 4:8; Col 2:8; 3:16; Heb 5:11-14; 1 Pet 2:2-3. The world lies in evil and darkness (1 John 5:19). Its ideas, teachings, philosophies, and its own religious doctrines are unholy and destructive. If people do not feed on God’s Word, what they take into their minds and hearts may be as disgusting and ruinous as cockroaches, rats, scorpions, toads, maggots and vipers. For much that we find in the world is just like those things.
In the New Testament the unclean creatures listed in this chapter are no longer regarded as unclean (Acts 10:9-16; 1 Cor 10:25-26; 1 Tim 4:3-5). This means they never were unclean in themselves, but that God was using them as symbols to teach spiritual lessons. Once the lessons intended by the symbols are taught, the laws regarding the symbols can be done away with.⚜
24 📚“And by these you will be made unclean; whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until evening, 25 📚and whoever picks up one of their carcasses shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening.
11:24-25 Washing the clothes was the one way to get rid of this uncleanness. Water is a symbol of the Word of God. The use of the Word of God is God’s way of making and keeping us clean (Ps 119:9; John 15:3; Eph 5:25-27). It is the only remedy for ideas and imaginations which pollute the mind and heart.🪶
26 “The carcass of any animal that has the divided hoof but not completely split hoof, and does not chew the cud, are unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. 27 📚And among all kinds of animals that walk on all fours, whatever walks on its paws are unclean for you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until evening. 28 📚And he who picks up their carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.
29 📚“And among the creeping things that creep on the ground these shall be unclean for you: the weasel, and the mouse, and every kind of the great lizard, 30 and the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole. 31 📚Among all the creeping things these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening. 32 📚And if any of them when they are dead falls on anything, it shall be unclean, whether it is any article of wood or clothing or hide or sack; whatever article it may be with which any work is done, it must be put in water, and it shall be unclean until evening; then it becomes clean. 33 📚And whatever is in any earthenware pot in which any of them falls shall be unclean; and you shall break it. 34 📚Any food which could be eaten on which water comes from such a pot shall be unclean; and any liquid that could be drunk in any such pot shall be unclean. 35 📚And on whatever any part of their carcass falls, that shall be unclean, whether it is an oven or a stove. It shall be smashed, for they are unclean, and shall be unclean for you. 36 📚But a spring or a cistern where water collects shall be clean, though the one who touches their carcass shall be unclean. 37 📚And if any part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing, it shall be clean. 38 But if any water has been put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it shall be unclean for you.
11:26-38 Even the touch of the unclean must be avoided, and if contact is made cleansing is needed. Compare 2 Cor 6:17; 7:1.⚜
39 📚“And if any animal which you may eat dies, he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until evening.
11:39 Even that which is good mental and spiritual food must be fresh and living.🪶
40 📚And he who eats its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening; and he who picks up its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening.
41 📚“And every creeping thing that creeps on the ground is to be an abomination; it shall not be eaten. 42 📚You shall not eat anything that moves on the belly, or anything that walks on all fours, or anything that has many feet among all the creeping things that creep on the ground; for they are an abomination. 43 📚You shall not make yourselves abominable by any creeping thing that creeps, or make yourselves unclean by them so that you become defiled by them. 44 📚For I am the LORD your God. Therefore you shall sanctify yourselves. And you shall be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any kind of creeping thing that creeps on the ground. 45 📚For I am the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. So you shall be holy, for I am holy.
46 📚“This is the law of the animals and the birds and every living creature that moves in the waters and every creature that creeps on the ground. 47 📚It is to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten”.