Leviticus 11:1-23 – Being conscious that we are God's

Leviticus 11 deals with clean and unclean food. However, apart from what is described in this chapter, we can find another list in Deuteronomy 14:3-20. Together we will find a more thorough list of clean food which God had stipulated that Israel His people could partake. In them, we also find the unclean food that His people should not eat. More than anything, this list of clean and unclean food was intended to set the people of God from the rest of the people. Their dietary stipulation marked them out as belonging to God. As believers, we must be aware that God has set us apart from the rest of the world. We are not to be conformed to the world by character and behavior. Just as their dietary habits marked the people of Israel out as God’s unique people, we today ought to be marked by our values and our adherence to the principles stipulated in His word.

In the opening verse of this chapter, we find God addressing both Moses and Aaron. God’s intention was clear. Aaron and the priests would be the people who were tasked to distinguish between what’s clean and unclean and to instruct the people of Israel concerning it. Verses 1-8 deal with the land creatures; verses 9-12 set the criteria for the sea creatures that could be eaten and what could not; verses 13-19 stipulate the birds that should not be eaten. Insects that could be not be eaten are stipulated in verses 20-21. Of the insects, verses 22-23 specify that only locusts, cricket, and grasshoppers could be eaten. All others should not be eaten.

Rather than dwelling on the kind of food that the Israelites could eat and what they could not, let us ponder on the principles God intends to communicate through these verses. At the heart of the instructions on the dietary regulation to the Israelites is the call of God to holy living. They are intended to assist God’s people to distinguish the sacred and the secular in their lives. Holiness should be something not just for the spiritual realm, it ought to encompass the physical and other areas of daily living. We learn to live consecrated life unto the Lord. The kind of food that could be eaten and what could not be eaten would remind the people of Israel that they were God’s chosen people. Thus, learning to set their affection on God and not food, we, the New Testament believers, must also set our hearts and affection on things above where Christ is seated. We must seek to be conscious that our citizenship is in heaven. The earthly and worldly values should not distract us from our call to live a consecrated life for God. Be set apart!