Leviticus

Leviticus 11: Clean and unclean animals

Begin in prayer

Before you read Leviticus 11, where God teaches Israel which creatures are clean or unclean and calls His people to be holy, bow your heads together. Ask the Lord to give us clean hearts through faith in Jesus.

All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but Yahweh weighs the motives.

Proverbs 16:2

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that You are holy and that outward food rules could only picture the clean heart Jesus gives. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

In Leviticus 11 the LORD speaks to Moses and Aaron to tell Israel which creatures they may eat and which are unclean. Land animals may be eaten only if they both part the hoof and chew the cud, so the camel, cony, hare and pig are unclean. Water creatures must have both fins and scales, while twenty birds and most winged insects are forbidden, except locusts, katydids, crickets and grasshoppers. Whoever touches or carries the carcass of an unclean creature, or of a clean animal that dies on its own, is unclean until evening. Dead creeping things also defile vessels, ovens, food and wet seed, while a clay pot must be broken. Finally, the LORD who brought Israel out of Egypt commands them to be holy, because He is holy.

As you read Leviticus 11, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God set Israel apart by food laws to teach His holiness, and Christ cleanses the heart.

Why did the LORD fill a whole chapter with rules about camels, pigs, fish, owls, locusts and lizards? Verse 45 gives God's reason, “For I am Yahweh who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God.” And therefore God says, “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (verse 45). God rescued Israel out of Egypt first, and then called His redeemed people to live set apart for Him. At every meal Israel had “to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean” (verse 47). Land animals needed both a split hoof and chewing the cud, and fish needed both fins and scales (verses 3 and 9). Touching a dead carcass made a person unclean until evening (verses 24 and 31). These laws were shadows until Christ declared all foods clean and showed that sin comes from the heart (Mark 7 verses 19 to 21).

How does Leviticus 11 show us that God set Israel apart by food laws to teach His holiness, and that Christ cleanses the heart?

Land and water creatures must have both marks God appointed to be eaten.

Among land animals, Israel could eat only what “parts the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and chews the cud” (verse 3). The camel, cony and hare chewed the cud without a split hoof, and the pig lacked the cud (verses 4 to 7). In the waters, only creatures with both fins and scales could be eaten (verse 9). Having only half of what God required was not enough.

Touching a dead carcass spreads uncleanness to people, clothes and clay pots.

Touching an unclean carcass made someone “unclean until the evening,” and carrying it required washing clothes (verses 24 and 25). If a dead creeping thing fell into a clay pot, all inside was unclean and the pot was broken (verse 33). Yet a spring or cistern of water remained clean (verse 36). Every day in the camp, death reminded Israel of defilement.

The LORD who brought Israel out of Egypt calls His people to be holy.

God brought Israel out of Egypt to be their God, saying, “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (verse 45). In Mark 7 verses 18 to 23 and Acts 10 verse 15, the Lord showed that food cannot defile the heart. God cleanses hearts by faith and calls believers to be holy in all conduct (1 Peter 1 verses 15 and 16).

Memorise

For I am Yahweh who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

Leviticus 11:45

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, am I trusting outward rules, or asking Jesus to make my heart clean?

In Leviticus 11, every meal reminded Israel that the LORD their God is holy. They had “to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean,” and anyone who touched a dead carcass was “unclean until the evening.” And the LORD gave this reason in verse 45, “You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

Those food laws were temporary shadows, and no menu or washing with water could ever cleanse a sinner's heart. As Jesus taught, food does not defile us, because evil thoughts, pride, lies and greed come out of our own sinful hearts. Left to ourselves, we are unclean before a holy God. That is why Jesus, the holy and undefiled Son of God, went to the cross to bear His people's sins and died in their place. On the third day He rose again, and He cleanses the heart once for all.

Skipping certain foods or looking respectable on the outside cannot save you. Come to Jesus today. Turn from the sin in your heart and put your trust in Him. Everyone who trusts Christ is forgiven, washed clean within, and made holy to belong to God.

Parent's note

Tell your children that eating right or looking good outside cannot clean a sinful heart, and only Jesus washes us clean. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God for giving us daily food and for cleansing sinners' hearts through the blood of Jesus, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

A voice came to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean.”

Acts 10:15

Father in heaven, You are holy, and You know every thought and motive in our hearts. Thank You for every good gift on our table, and thank You that Jesus died and rose to cleanse our hearts by faith. Please forgive our inward sins, wash us clean in Jesus' blood, and make us holy in all we do this week. Amen.