The
first 23 verses of Leviticus 11 specified the clean from the unclean. We are
given a list of animals, sea creatures as well as creatures of the air.
The list also stipulates that no insect except the locust, cricket and
grasshoppers could be eaten. In addition to what had already been specified,
verses 30-31 point to another group of creatures, the reptile family that could
make then unclean. They are “the mole and the mouse, and the great lizard
in its kinds, and the gecko, and the crocodile, and the lizard, and
the sand reptile, and the chameleon.”
Apart
from not eating the unclean creatures specified, the Israelites were also told the
other ways they could become contaminated. They could become unclean when they
touched the carcasses of the unclean land animals. Verses 29-38 show that when
they touched the reptiles listed in verses 30-31, they would also become
unclean. Verses 39-40 tell us that even when they contacted carcasses of clean
animals, they would also be rendered unclean. Verses 32-33 indicate that any
utensil and object that had touched those unclean things would become unclean
and had to be dealt with. Articles of wood, cloth, hides or sackcloth must be
washed. Any clay pottery had to be smashed.
The
point of this chapter is: that Israel as God’s chosen people must be
different from all the rest of the people on earth. They must be a holy people
to the Lord. Why? Because God who had chosen them and called them to be His
special people is holy. Their calling to be God’s emissaries in the world
necessitate that they be different from the people of the world. If they were
not, they wouldn’t be able to create the impact they were expected to make.
Bear in mind that for us the call to witness for God by living a God-honouring
and set-apart life still stands today, although the dietary law may seem
relevant only to the Israelites in their context at that time. We too are
called to be holy as He is holy!
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