“Do not cook a young kid in its mother’s milk."
Ex. 23:19, Ex. 34:26, Deut. 14:21
What does cooking a kid in its mothers milk have to do with Biblical Feasts?!
It appears 3x in the Bible so it must be important.
The 1st time it appears as part of the instructions for celebrating the Biblical feasts.
The 2nd time it appears, it is part of the 10 commandments. (watch for a future post that addresses this)
The 3rd time it appears, it is part of the dietary laws.
There are some strict Jews that will interpret this to mean: "You can't eat cheeseburgers" (mixing dairy and meat).
Most Christians will just say "We are not under OT law", and simply skim right over it.
But if it's part of the 10 commandments, then shouldn't we try to understand what it means?
So, what does it mean?
It simply means: "Wait until a kid (baby goat / sheep) is weaned before cooking/eating it" or "Don't eat it shortly after it is born".
Now let's dig deeper to really understand it.
Exodus 23:14-19 are instructions for the BIBLICAL FEASTS. We are required to bring our very best to YHWH during these feasts either as sacrifices to the temple (which can't be done right now) or bring our very best as fellowship offerings to be eaten with fellow believers. (All of these instructions are clarified in Leviticus 23). Our "Best" is clarified in other verses as a "lamb a year old without defect". When we personally celebrate the spring feasts, we try our best to get a 1 year old male lamb to grill and share. Everyone is shocked how amazing it tastes. So as normal human nature / logic goes......"if a young 1 year old lamb tastes so good, let's sacrifice or grill up a young lamb that was just born in the spring". YHWH is simply clarifying His command. Most lambs are born in the spring (during spring feasts), He doesn't want a freshly born lamb, He wants one a year old weaned from its mother. I believe this shows Yah's love for His animals and kindness too.
This verse is also part of the 10 COMMANDMENTS ??!!!??
We all know Moses smashed the 1st set of stone commandments right? (Exodus 20). So now carefully read all of Exodus 34. This is where Moses is given the second set of stone tablets. (So if / when the ark of the covenant is found, this will be the stone tablets found inside). The very 1st verse says "Chisel out new stone tablets" and verse 28 says "These are the 10 commandments' '. So everything in between must be the 10 commandments.....right? The Biblical feasts are mentioned as part of the 10 commandments and so are the instructions about not boiling a kid in its mother's milk.
DIETARY INSTRUCTIONS:
The last place this instruction is located is in Deuteronomy 14:21, as part of the Dietary instructions. So this is one more clue, this verse has to do with Biblical Feasts (Leviticus 23), It has to do with the 10 commandments (Exodus 34), so that means it's for all of us, not just the Jews. This verse also has to do with dietary instructions. So after a long list of animals that are edible and not edible, Yah instructs us not to boil a kid in its mother's milk. Simply meaning, wait til it's weaned before we can eat it.
So, does this apply to cows? sheep? I would think so. Does it apply to cheeseburgers? I really can't see how. But back to my example. When we ate fresh 1 year old lamb cooked over fire, it was insanely good. Wow, YHWH's laws are amazing. I want to follow them even better, if a young 1 year old lamb is so good, an even younger one will be better......right? But doesn't something in your gut just tell you eating a new born lamb or newborn any animal sound wrong? Now that this gives us a glimpse of our Heavenly Fathers heart, how do you think He feels about abortion? Killing a human that isn't even weaned from its mother's milk yet.
There is so much more info and proof for this. You can simply Research it, or ask Jesus, for He is your only teacher. Or ask specific questions in the comments, and I can tell you what Jesus has taught me through Yah’s word and through revelation.
Now to introduce a contradiction to my interpretation:
Leviticus 22: 26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “When an ox or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as a food offering to the Lord. 28 But you shall not kill an ox or a sheep and her young in one day.