Leviticus 11-15

4 June, 2019


Opening Remarks

At this point, a reader of the Old Testament, may start wondering - "wow so many dos and don'ts! I feel sorry for these people at that time ... ". Well, Deuteronomy 4:6 says on great thing, about God's laws & commandments:- “Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”


Potential Discussion Questions:-

  • What made some animals / birds / insects unclean? How can they become clean again?

Remember in the beginning, every entity God made was good:- "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. " (Genesis 1:31). I "believe" that this implies every entity God made in the beginning was "clean" as well. I also believe that the creation account in Genesis 1 implies that all entities made by God were initially clean, in the beginning, before sin started to happen.

So, then what happened? I believe, the cumulative effect of sin, which has been rampart in the nature since, the days of the Fall (Genesis 3), took some entities created by God so "far away" that they had to be classified as "unclean".

So, as usual, sin is the root cause of problems here?!

Then, how can they be made clean again? Is it possible? Well, the GOOD NEWS is - YES it is possible! - Because of what Jesus did on the cross. By His death at the cross, the process of restoration & redemption has been kicked off. This is what Isaiah prophesied about the future time, when restoration would be completed (& unclean animals / birds / insects would be restored to fully good / clean), after Jesus returns:- Isaiah 11:6-9 “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain"


Now, let's get into some interesting details, as to in what manners some animals / birds / insects were "unclean". Some exclusions seem related to substantial health / hygiene risks. Such as scavengers (i.e., animals that feed on carrion, dead plant material, or refuse - vultures, eagles, pigs, lobsters, etc). Nutritionist David Meinz makes a very interesting comment: “Could it be that God, in His wisdom, created certain creatures whose sole purpose is to clean up after the others? Their entire ‘calling’ may be to act exclusively as the sanitation workers of our ecology. God may simply be telling us that it’s better for us believers not to consume the meat of these trash collectors”.

Predatory land animals (such as, lions, leopards, cheetahs, wolves, lobsters, etc) were forbidden / unclean, as well.


  • Did Jesus contradict the Leviticus laws on "clean / unclean", say in Mark 7:14-19

Mark 7:14-23 :- “And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Well, Jesus came to kick off the redemption / restoration process through His death at the cross. When restoration is complete, we will see Isaiah 11:6-9 fulfilled and animals / birds / insects restored and made fully good and clean (some creatures may become eternally extinct as well). Now Jesus has all authority (Matthew 28:18). Using His authority He declares all food "clean" here (Mark 7:9). As mentioned earlier, some food may have been declared unclean, when the laws of Leviticus were given out, because of health risks. People should have been better equipped to deal with health risks by Jesus's time on earth. This fact may have contributed to Jesus declaring all food "clean". And, again, this was just the beginning - the beginning of restoration and redemption process, which will conclude with creation of new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21, 22) and fulfillment of prophesies such as Isaiah 11:6-9.


  • In TODAY’s time, what is "unclean"? And, how does "unclean" become "clean"?

Earlier, we concluded that sin was the root cause of an entity becoming "unclean".

Jesus said Mark 7:20-23 :- "“What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” ".

So, sin defiles a person!! So sin was always the root cause of defilement!

When one commits a sin (and is hence defiled), one is called to confess, repent, and seek forgiveness (/ cleansing from defilement). I.e., 1 John 1:19 (“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”). The forgiveness (/ cleansing from defilement) is available because Jesus took the punishments for sins, onto himself, on the behalf of those sinners who receive His forgiveness (/ cleansing from defilement).

Entities which cause / tempt people to sin can also be considered unclean. Such as pornographic materials.


Closing Remarks

  • Sin was always the root cause of defilement!
  • Acceptance ...