7. Leviticus 11
Leviticus - Blood and Glory • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Crash diets, counting calories, weigh watchers.
The grapefruit diet, intermittent fasting, Slimming world.
I wonder if you’ve tried these diets…? It’s remarkable today (by the way) that, around the world, on average, obesity is more of a health problem than starvation.
And so many of us are on the diets…. And we TRY to obey the diet regulations…. We want to keep the rules… until the big bar of Dairy Milk appears…
Our resolve is tested, we are tempted, and often we go with our whims and our wants rather than obeying the rules which we know is good for us.
More on that story later…. For now you’ll see today’s passage is on this subject - it’s all about food.
And if the subject of dieting is a relevant one for lots of us…. Many people would (I think) consider the Chater in front of us the most boring and irrelevant section in the Bible.
This passage may even be a bit of a joke to some… with all it’s rules about what may and may not be eaten.
It certainly feels very distant from us… very difficult perhaps to grasp what it has to do with us.
But this chapter is God’s word… it has something deep and rich to say to you about God’s character…. And your character…. And our needs.
Read v1 again…
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The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat:
So there's our food theme…
Four headings will help us get to grips with this, let’s go - no 1…
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1. Clean Cuisine
1. Clean Cuisine
Read on v3 SLIDE
You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.
“ ‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you.
Straight away there’s the concept we need to get to grips with - some things (in this case some foods) are UNCLEAN and some are CLEAN.
Sometimes it would called with IMPURE and PURE.
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For ancient Israel, God gives these categories… he gives them two more as well - and this diagram helps you see how they work. These categories can apply to people or to things… here’s a picture to show how it works.
Things can be impure… they can be purified to become pure… someone (like a Priest - we learned about them last week) could be further CONSECRATED and be made Holy.
However Holy things can also be profaned if they are treated as common…. Likewise Pure things can be defiled and made impure.
It’s important to grasp that pure and impure are NOT exactly the same as being sinful or not sinful… the truth is all people are imperfect (sinful). In fact our default state (as the Bible teaches very clearly) is to be sinful.
But for ancient Israel - this chosen nation… the default state of a person is to be PURE. That DOESN’T mean they are perfect or sinless… but it does mean that they can approach God - through the system of sacrifice and priests… have fellowship with people etc.
One reason for this is simply, I think, to press home to otherness… the purity… the holiness of God. It is NOT (as we have been seeing) it is NOT a light or easy thing for us to draw near to a Holy God).
PAUSE - THEN ON…
One quick way to made yourself ceremonially unclean… was to eat prohibited foods.
First we get talk of land animals… the land animals they can eat are ones which has a divided hoof AND chews the cud (that’s verses 3-8). If it meets neither of those criteria… or only one of those criteria it will not do they must not eat it it is unclean.
From the land we move to the Sea. This is our second group (it’s verses 9-12) The rule here is there in verse 9….
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“ ‘Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams you may eat any that have fins and scales.
In other words, FISH.
SO no shellfish (like lobster), no mollusks (like oysters), no water mammals like whales.
These things are unclean they will makes the Israelites ceremonially impure.
The next group is birds - here we just get a list of the specific species which are unclean - like eagles, or vultures, or ravens and so on (the list is there to be read (verses 13-19)
Next is insects…. V20
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“ ‘All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be regarded as unclean by you. There are, however, some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper.
And you may think… “what is going on here?”
One thing to notice at this stage is the order of the groups os animals… AND the links to Genesis chapter 1 (this will become a running theme).
Any observant Jew who knew his Bible would spot straight away that the animals are group here by KIND - by the environment in which they live (y’know, ‘birds of the air’… ‘fish of the sea’…) and to the Israelites these groups would be familiar, because this is just how they are grouped in Genesis chapter 1… except HERE the animals TYPES come (roughly) in reverse order.
In fact (although we don’t have time for all the detail there are a HUGE number of linguistic connection between this chapter and the creation account in Genesis 1).
Isn’t that interesting - I want you just to notice that for now… there are LINKS to the creation story… this is IN SOME WAYS like a new Garden of Eden… (but in other ways very different, of course).
The big question you’re asking, of course, is WHY?!
Why are som animals clean and others not?
Why are some allowed and others not?
And, I’m sorry to sound like the kind of parent that frustrates his children, but the answer is simply - BECAUSE GOD SAYS SO.
Sometimes people tie themselves in knots trying to suggest different invented reasons… I read one Bible commentator who had counted up at least 14 different theories. To give you one example some people try to say ‘oh well maybe it’s because some animals are more hygienic than others and this is a kind of early form of public health advice’
But that is to read this ancient text through a modern lens… the fact is the text doesn’t say that.
One thing we CAN observe is that Israel are NOT permitted to eat carnivores. Did you noice that? For example the only land animals they can eat are those that chew the cud…
We’re coming on to think about DEATH in just a moment… but for now, I think we can deduce from the text that Israel are to avoid carnivores - animals that kill and eat other animals… because DEATH is always connected to SIN.
It is a continual reminder to them that the wages of sin is death…. That after the fall of mankind into sin DEATH has come into the world… and so the connection between sin and death and death and impurity is very strong here…. All of this serves to reinforce that point
The Israelites must eat clean cuisine (that’s point 1)
Here’s point 2…
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2. Defiling Death
2. Defiling Death
Read on now… because it isn’t just what you EAT that can defile… but also what you touch.
Pick up and read again at v31 now…
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Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening. When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean.
So picture the scene… an unclean animal (let’s say it’s the friendly neighbourhood lizard) dies of old age… and the wee beastie lies dead on a rock. If you touch it you are unclean. Or if the local raven dies… falls off its perch (literally) and onto your cooking spoon… your cooking spoon is now unclean.
You must be purified - and the chapter gives instructions for HOW to purify yourself.
That’s the other big function of this chapter by the way…
It’s part warning (here’s what to avoid so you don’t become unclean).
It’s part public-information broadcast (here’s how long it will last if you DO become unclean)
Part remedial - here’s what to do to purify yourself if you become unclean).
Coming back to the dead animals… here’s the thing it isn’t JUST the bodies of unclean animals which defile you if you touch… even CLEAN animals (like sheep_ - if they die of natural causes will defile you if you touch.
It’s perhaps important to say that, whilst being unclean is serious, it is not terminally serious. The whole point of this chapter is that, in the course of life, people will, inevitably end up in a state of ceremonial uncleaness - it’s just ‘here’s what to do about it when you do’. Imagine a shepherd for example…. Sometimes sheep just die out in the field, and you have little choice but to deal with the body.
By the way (and this is a total aside) but that is one reason why it is so astonishing that, in the Christmas story, the Angels announce the arrival of the Saviour - the incarnate Son of this Holy God…. To Shepherds - people who were kind of looked down upon because they were frequently considered unclean… and their role kept them away from much of the religious, ceremonial life of Israel.
But anyway… back to the point and the passage… listen to how one commentator sums this all up…
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By itself, becoming ritually impure was not a problem. However, ritual impurity was problematic if one came into proximity with the holy. Holiness destroys impurity. That potential becomes a serious threat when a holy God resides within the camp G. GEOFFREY HARPER
Leviticus itself explains the point…
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“ ‘You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean, so they will not die in their uncleanness for defiling my dwelling place, which is among them.’ ”
So it is pressed upon us again and again… God is Holy… this side of Eden…. In a fallen world spoiled by sin and impurity… it is NOT a light thing… NOT an easy thing for sinful people to come before a Holy God… the food laws… and the stuff about death remind us of this… it would have been a DAILY reminder, even down to the meals you ate that God is a Holy God.
PAUSE - BREAK OFF
I left you a while ago with a thought about Genesis 1 - and the links we find… so let’s go back to that thought we parked now - here’s ur third point, the third thing to notice…
This passage is FULL of echoes of Eden.
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3. Echoes of Eden
3. Echoes of Eden
We’ve seen already there are connections here to the Genesis story - the creation account… the animals are listed and grouped just like in Genesis (albeit in reverse order).
But there’s more to see… just read from v41 now…
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“ ‘Every creature that moves along the ground is to be regarded as unclean; it is not to be eaten. You are not to eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is unclean.
And then you get the language repeated AGAIN…
V44 SLIDE
I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground.
The point seems to be quite laboured about those creatures which move along the ground…
What moves along the ground…. On its belly…? Well, of course, a snake does - a serpent does.
And so just step back a moment… what do you have here in Leviticus 11?
You have some foods which the people are commanded they CAN eat.
Some foods which people are commanded NOT to eat.
And an unusual emphasis on a serpents.
You do not need to be an international Bible scholar to make the link…! What do we see in Genesis 1 and 2?
You have some foods which the people are commanded the CAN eat “you may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden…”
You have some foods which the people are commanded NOT to eat… “you must no eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden…’
And an unusual encounter with a serpent (with Satan).
And what happens in Eden? The people are tested…. Will they obey God and walk with him… or go their OWN WAY? And, of course, in Eden the people fail the test.
And so here now in Leviticus do you see what’s being set up?
EVERY DAY - THREE TIMES A DAY (or however often the people eat)… SEVERAL TIMES A DAY, EVERY DAY… the people will be presented with the choice - the ‘garden of Eden-like-choice” - which way are they going to go? Will they recognise the generosity and grace of this God who has come to dwell among them? Will they trust and obey his commands leading to life WITH GOD, IN HIS PRESENCE? Or will they go their own way? Disobey his commands… leading to impurity and separation from God.
Do you see this passage that you thought was a dry list of regulations actually… so cleverly presents the biggest question we all face.
And it also (finally) leads us to Jesus. That’s point 4…
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4. Sent to the Saviour
4. Sent to the Saviour
Perhaps you can see what this passage is doing…. But, of course, you still have many questions…
Probably the biggest of all will be ‘what does it mean for me?’ Y’know, I’ve got a lobster in my freezer…can I eat it?
Well before we get to ourselves… let\s get to Jesus (the Bible is much more about him than about us!)
Like us he faced this great choice… to resist temptation or to give in… he met the serpent - met Satan, not in a luscious comfortable Garden, but in the desert where he went to be tempted.
But where Adam failed… and where Israel failed… and where we have failed…. HE kept God’s WORD.
Adam was led into questioning God’s word “Did God REALLY say you must not eat….” Intoned the serpent.
But Jesus responds to Satan WITH GOD’S Word… remember in the temptation “turn these stones into bread…” Jesus responds with he Word “It is written he said… man shall not live by bread alone”.
Where humanity fails… Jesus wins… and Jesus fulfills these Levitical laws.
You see it was never really (or never ULTIMATELY) about food… the food laws and the purity system was an enormous signpost… to the Holiness of God and the great seriousness of coming before him…
Food laws in Leviticus, as in Eden were an opportunity to express obedience and trust in God…
Obedience which, in the end only Jesus fully displays. These are laws which point to and find their fulfilment in Jesus… And so we shouldn’t be surprised that, when Jesus finds himself caught up by the religious teachers, in a purity controversy… he says this to his disciples….
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“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
So the biggest thing to hear today… the heart of where these food laws are driving - is to JESUS!
We need a saviour who is completely pure… who is perfectly obedient… who trusts his Father… and (ultimately) as we have been seeing week after week fulfils the signs and shadows of the book of Leviticus…
Jesus is the mew and obedient Adam… he’s the new and obedient Israel… he’s the law of God who goes to the cross to take away the sin of the world.
So you are free to chose what to eat… ALTHOUGH… (and we’ll finish with this) don’t think for a moment that the New Testament has nothing to say to us about food!
It’s interesting isn’t it… food plays such a big part in our lives… do you have a THEOLOGY of food?! How can we honour Jesus - our saviour, in the way we eat? Well in quite a lot of ways, it turns out.
I can’t claim any credit for this list - I’ve taken this list from that Bible commentator GEOFFREY HARPER , hat I mentioned earlier.
How can we honour our advisors and live for him with our eating….?
Do not eat to excess. That is a kind of greed that shows we are driven by our stomachs and not by the Lord. The NT has a great deal to say (and nothing good to say) about greed… Col 3.5-6 SLIDE
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
Second, do not eat all the time… It can be good to FAST and to PRAY sometimes. Jesus (in Matthew 6, the sermon on the mount doesn’t say “if you fast…” but… Matt 6:16
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“When you fast…”
Third do not eat anything which will cause a fellow believer to stumble. There’s a detailed passage in Romans - where Paul says that, although all foods are clean, some people, may struggle with that… and in their conscience not feel comfortable eating certain things. You can imagine a Jew for example who comes to faith in Christ feeling deeply uncomfortable eating shellfish, having never touched it all his life. And so when we Jewish friends, who is freshly converted to CHrist comes over… I’m NOT going to defrost and serve those lobsters I have in the fridge… It just isn’t helpful or loving. Paul says it this way - Romans 14:20-21 SLIDE
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall.
Likewise when a recently saved, recovering alcoholic comes for dinner the wine is going away… I\m perfectly content that is ISN’T sinful to drink wine… but, in that context it’s deeply unloving and unhelpful to my new brother in CHrist.
Fourth we should not feast away all the while ignoring those right next to us who have nothing to eat. James 2:15-17 SLIDE
Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
Fifth… we should NOT just eat by ourselves all the time… or ONLY with our own families… we are to be hospitable people 1 Peter 4.9 SLIDE
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
And so on and on…
BREAK OFF TO CLOSE
Crash diets, counting calories, weigh watchers.
The grapefruit diet, intermittent fasting, Slimming world.
I wonder if you’ve tried these diets…? It’s remarkable the focus we have on food.
But today God has used food to direct us to Jesus… the perfectly obedient saviour… the champion we need to pass for our impurities and bring us to God…. AND (as we come to him) we are also changed so that everything we do in life… may now be renewed and re-thought and done to his glory.
SO THAT… to quote the apostle Paul as we close… SLIDE
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Let’s pray
