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COMMANDS ON THE CLEAN MEAT AND THE UNCLEAN
LORD’S DAY, OCTOBER 3
Deuteronomy 14:1-21

1 Corinthians 8:6-13

 

“…for neither, if we eat,
are we the better; neither,

if we eat not, are we the worse.”

 

COMMANDS ON THE CLEAN MEAT AND THE UNCLEAN
 
The Lord was specific in matters of everyday life in Israel. In the text, He told Israel what they were to eat and what to avoid. These instructions were meant to regulate their eating habits and to teach them they were set apart unto the Lord. They were also required to be ceremonially clean. The mention of clean and unclean animals takes us back to the time of Noah when the Lord told him to take seven of the clean animals and two of the unclean. This was long before the time of Moses and Noah knew which ones the Lord was referring to.
 
In the case of Moses, there were spiritual reasons why some animals were forbidden. The clean animals that were to be eaten are listed in verses 4 to 6. The reason for giving a specific list was that the Lord wanted Israel’s complete obedience. This was a lesson of perfection. The list of unclean animals is given in verses 7 to 8. The list for the clean and unclean among the water creatures and birds is also given. This same list is first given in Leviticus 11, and commentators have given the following remark:
 
“… the animal kingdom in many of its forms and creatures bears the image of sin and death, and is constantly reminding man of the evil fruit of his fall from God. It is in this penetration of sin into the material creation that we may find the explanation of the fact, that from the very earliest times men have neither used every kind of herb nor every kind of animal as food; but that, whilst they have, as it were, instinctively avoided certain plants as injurious to health or destructive to life, they have also had a horror naturalis, … and have avoided their flesh as unclean” (Keil and Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament).
 
In the New Testament the church council ruled out the application of this law to the Gentile believers. In Acts 15:20ff, the apostles wrote to show the Gentile believers’ exemption from these laws.
 
THOUGHT: The ceremonial law is abrogated in the new covenant.
PRAYER: Father, may I always discern truth from error.

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