11:1. “And the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying
unto them,”
11:2. “Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are
the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.”
Since Israel’s literal
food is symbolic of what we take into our minds, the instructions given them
relative to what they ate, apply to what we read and listen to; and since
God distinguished between what animals they could and could not eat, the
lesson is that He differentiates between what He permits or forbids us to
read and hear.
11:3. “Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted,
and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.”
The cleft hoof or foot
speaks symbolically of a separated walk, and tells us that we are to live
separated lives, not for outward show, as did the Pharisees, but for God’s
glory, and as a testimony to the truth that we now travel on the narrow way
to heaven, and not as formerly, on the broad road that leads to eternal
destruction.
While the cloven hoof is
related to our outward manner of living as seen by men, the chewing of the
cud is related to the state of our lives in the sight of God. It has to do
with our minds and hearts: our thoughts and emotions, God’s command being,
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself
of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in
the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Philippians 2:5-8.
11:4. “Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that
chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he
cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.”
The camel, chewing the
cud, represents the man who studies God’s Word; but the undivided hoof
declares symbolically that that study has no effect on his life: he
continues to walk in disobedience, his sin being compounded by his
deliberate refusal to obey what he reads.
11:5. “And the coney (rock-rabbit), because he cheweth the
cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.”
11:6. “And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but
divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.”
Since the camel is large,
and the rabbit and hare are small, their being prohibited as Israel’s food
may be to teach the lesson that there is need to guard against the tendency
to regard some sins as little, and others as heinous. All sin is dreadful
in God’s sight, and should be also in ours. Eve’s eating the forbidden
fruit was just as deadly as was Cain’s murder of Abel. The one, just as
much as the other, carried with it the sentence of death. Eve’s sin, no less
than Abel’s, could be expiated only by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
11:7. “And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be
clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.”
The swine here represents
those who mistake moral reformation for the new birth, their belief being
that their so-called good works will take them to heaven, in spite of God’s
warning, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast,”
Ephesians 2:8-9.
The countless multitudes
of professing Christians who are depending on their good works to take them
to heaven, will have a terrible awakening on that day when they learn, too
late, that faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, is the only way
to be saved from hell, and fitted for heaven. They would be highly
indignant to be told that God likens them here to swine!
11:8. “Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase
shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.”
As noted already, the term
carcase relates to the flesh and all its evil activity.
The proscription relative
to eating swine’s flesh extended even to touching the carcase of a pig, the
lesson here being that there is to be no dallying with sin in any shape or
form, as it is written in Proverbs 24:9, even “The thought of foolishness
(silliness) is sin,” silliness being synonymous with senselessness and
stupidity. It is madness to toy with sin, for it brings death.
11:9. “These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters:
whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the
rivers, them shall ye eat.”
I believe that there is a
deeper spiritual significance to this verse, other than that given in the
popular commentaries, but I regret being unable to see it, so I would
welcome any light readers may be able to shed on it.
11:10. “And all that have not fins and scales in the seas,
and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing
which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you.”
“... abomination” means
detestable.
11:11. “They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall
not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination.”
The Israelites were
neither to eat nor even touch these proscribed creatures.
11:12. “Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters,
that shall be an abomination unto you.”
The repeated warnings
relative to eating or even touching any of these unclean water creatures
emphasizes the enormity in God’s sight of any violation of His prohibition
11:13. “And these are they which ye shall have in
abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an
abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,”
11:14. “And the vulture, and the kite after his kind;”
11:15. “Every raven after his kind;”
11:16. “And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and
the hawk after his kind,”
11:17. “And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great
owl,”
11:18. “And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle,”
11:19. “And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the
lapwing, and the bat.”
11:20. “All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be
an abomination unto you.”
Here in verse 20 the word
fowls includes insects which fly and creep.
11:21. “Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing
that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal
upon the earth;”
11:22. “Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his
kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and
the grasshopper after his kind.”
“... goeth upon all four”
is simply another way of saying that they walked, regardless of the number
of legs.
There is no readily
apparent reason why it should have been permissible to eat these creatures.
11:23. “But all other flying creeping things, which have
four feet, shall be an abomination unto you.”
11:24. “And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever
toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even.”
11:25. “And whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them
shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.”
It is to be noted that
here the command relates to “the carcase of them.” i.e., the dead body; and
as discussed already, the term carcase relates to all that is of the flesh.
The washing of the clothes
speaks of confession of the sin to God,
of genuine repentance, and
a forsaking of the sin; but his remaining unclean “until the even,” i.e.,
metaphorically until the end of his natural life, man is exposed to the
contaminating influence of sin.
11:26. “The carcases of every beast which divideth the hoof,
and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you: every
one that toucheth them shall be unclean.”
11:27. “And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner
of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth
their carcase shall be unclean until the even.”
11:28. “And he that beareth the carcase of them shall wash
his clothes, and be unclean until the even” they are unclean unto you.”
The
only reason for the repetition here of instructions already given, appears
to be to emphasize their importance.
11:29. “These also shall be unclean unto you among the
creeping things that creep upon the earth; The weasel, and the mouse, and
the tortoise after his kind,”
11:30. “And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard,
and the snail, and the mole.”
11:31. “These are unclean unto you among all that creep:
whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the
even.”
Again, no reason is given
for the proscription relative to these particular creatures, nor for
incurred defilement lasting until the end of the day.
“... when they be dead”
may be the typological reminder that man also, in his natural state, is
spiritually dead “in trespasses and sins,” Ephesians 2:1, and is therefore
unclean.
11:32. “And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead,
doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or
raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is
done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so
it shall be cleansed.”
“... when they are dead,
doth fall” implies lack of volition on the part of the creature itself, and
continues to emphasize that man is spiritually dead and unclean, not as the
result of anything he does, but because of what he is by natural birth,
hence the need of his being born again spiritually. We don’t become sinners
by committing sins: we sin because we are born as sinners who have inherited
Adam’s fallen sinful nature.
“... wherein any work is
done” declares that man, by reason of his sinful state, defiles everything
he touches, as it is written, “... the whole creation groaneth and
travaileth in pain together until now,” Romans 8:22, as a result of Adam’s
sin.
The need of its being put
into water in order to be cleansed, points symbolically to the fact that we
are sanctified and cleansed “with the washing of water by the word,”
Ephesians 5:26; but its remaining unclean until the evening, in spite of the
washing, reminds us that even in our converted state we still sin because of
the old evil nature within us dwelling there side by side with the new
nature, and we will not be freed from that state until the decease of our
natural bodies.
11:33. “And every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them
falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it.”
This continues to point to
the fact that even as believers we are defiled by every activity of the
flesh, for the new nature dwells within these sinful natural bodies, as it
is written, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels,” 2 Corinthians 4:7,
the treasure being our new spiritual life; and the earthen vessels, our
natural bodies. It is because of this that we are commanded, “Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth,” Colossians 3:5. We are to
make good in practice what is true of us by God’s imputation: we have a new
nature, hence the need to put to death the old nature, i.e., refuse to
permit it to have any control of our lives, which are now to be under the
dominion of our new nature. This is what is portrayed symbolically in the
breaking of the unclean earthen vessel.
11:34. “Of all meat which may be eaten, that on which such
water cometh shall be unclean: and all drink that may be drunk in every such
vessel shall be unclean.”
Any meat touched by the
water used to cleanse the defiled vessel, and any liquid that had been
stored in that same vessel, were both defiled, and were not to be eaten or
drunk. Sin defiles everything it touches.
11:35. “And every thing whereupon any part of their carcase
falleth shall be unclean; whether it be oven, or ranges for pots, they shall
be broken down: for they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you.”
The ranges were two
parallel stones across which the cooking utensil was placed above the fire.
It might have been concluded that the fire would have purified all the
articles listed here, but the lethal nature of sin is revealed in that even
fire couldn’t cleanse the defilement; the deadly character of sin being
revealed in that all of the defiled things had to be destroyed. The man who
dies without having had his sin cleansed through faith in Christ as his
Savior, will suffer eternal destruction, but not annihilation, in the
tormenting flames of the lake of fire.
11:36. “Nevertheless a fountain (spring well) or pit
(cistern, reservoir), wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean: but
that which toucheth their carcase shall be unclean.”
The springing well and
large cistern both represent the Scriptures, the springing well portraying
them as that which has been emitted by the Holy Spirit; and the pit or
cistern representing the Bible, the written Word. That pure, living Word is
impervious to contamination.
The carcase in such a well
or cistern represents anything which man, deliberately or accidently, might
do in interpreting Scripture wrongly. The touching of a carcase in
a well or cistern, is the symbolic equivalent of one’s being guilty of
believing or practicing the error.
11:37. “And if any part of their carcase fall upon any
sowing seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean.”
“... sowing seed,” i.e.,
seed reserved for sowing, has within it the germ of life: it represents
believers, for they too have within them the embryo of eternal life. The
fact that such seed couldn’t be defiled by the touch of a dead body declares
symbolically that the flesh has no power to rob believers of the spiritual
life within them, all their sins - past, present, and future - having been
atoned for by Christ’s death.
11:38. “But if any water be put upon the seed, and any part
of their carcase fall thereon, it shall be unclean unto you.”
It seems that the
reference here is to grain that had been placed in water in preparation for
cooking. The carcase of an unclean creature touching such grain defiled it,
thus rendering it unfit for eating. Since grain is a type of the written
Word to feed us; and water, a type of the Word to cleanse and refresh us;
and the unclean carcase represents what is of the flesh, the lesson is that
to attempt to understand the written Word, apart from the enlightenment of
the Holy Spirit, is futile. The attempted exegesis of Scripture, by
unspiritual men, attests the validity of the injunction, and the folly of
all such work.
11:39. “And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that
toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even.”
The reference here is to
death by natural causes, not by the God-appointed method of slaughter and
bleeding. Even though the animal might have been of the clean class, and
thus ordinarily permitted as food, it was not to be eaten, and for a very
good reason. Every clean animal is a type of Christ, and to be man’s food,
that which sustains his life, it must be slaughtered, its death being a type
of His. To eat of that which had died of natural causes would have spoiled
the type, for it would have implied symbolically that the Lord could have
died of natural causes: a thing impossible, for death had no claim on the
sinless Lord of life.
The limitation of the
defilement only “until the even” is the assurance that it is only here
during our brief day on earth that believers can contract defilement. There
will be perfect holiness in heaven.
11:40. “And he that eateth of the carcase of it shall wash
his clothes, and be unclean until the even: he also that beareth the carcase
of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.”
As discussed already, to
eat of an unclean carcase was the typological equivalent of believing wrong
doctrine; and since clothing is the symbolic equivalent of the life as lived
under the scrutiny of men, the truth being declared here is that the
practice of what is doctrinally wrong is as odious as filthy clothing.
11:41. “And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten.”
11:42. “Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever
goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things,
that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an
abomination.”
11:43. “Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any
creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with
them, that ye should be defiled thereby.”
The creeping creatures
were those that crawled, or that had many short legs so that their
locomotion was the equivalent of crawling. They represent occupation with
those earthly things which are of a dubious or evil nature, for example,
questionable literature, sensual music, immoral thoughts, etc., that we
might occupy ourselves with secretly. The spiritual lesson is of the need
to avoid all unnecessary involvement with such things, for such occupation
is inimical to spiritual growth.
11:44. “For I am the Lord your God: ye shall therefore
sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye
defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth.”
To sanctify is to set
apart for a holy purpose, the need of such sanctification being that we are
members of the body of Christ, see Romans 6:12-13, “Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:
but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and
your members as instruments of righteusness unto God,” and 1 Corinthians
6:15, “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?...” and
12:27, “Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”
11:45. “For I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the
land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
The present tense
“bringeth” is instructive here, for it speaks of an ongoing activity. God
had not only brought Israel out of Egypt, but He had continued His care by
bringing them through the wilderness, and into the land of Canaan, that
deliverance and care being symbolic of what He has done and is doing for
us. Egypt is a type of the world of business and pleasure, living in
defiant independence of God, and it is from such a world that He has also
delivered us, our present state being typified by delivered Israel’s years
in the desert under His protection and provision; and as they eventually
exchanged the desert for Canaan, so will we also exchange our pilgrimage
through the desert of this world, for permanent residence in heaven with
Christ.
It is because we are now
possessed of Christ’s life and nature that we are to demonstrate the reality
of that truth in our daily lives. Men, through our thoughts, words, and
deeds, should see Christ living His life in us.
11:46. “This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and
of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature
that creepeth upon the earth:”
11:47. “To make a difference between the unclean and the
clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be
eaten.”
These two verses are the
summation of God’s instructions concerning what Israel might and might not
eat literally; and as noted already, they translate into teaching that is
applicable to the lives of believers today, relative to the things with
which we allow our minds to be occupied.