The Clean and the Unclean

Devotions for Growing Christians

The Clean and the Unclean

Leviticus 11:45-47 - "For I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; thus you shall be holy for I am holy. 46This is the law regarding the animal, and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters, and everything that swarms on the earth, 47to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.

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Many growing Christians modify their good intentions to read through the Bible in a year when they come to the Book of Leviticus.  All those unusual laws and regulations don’t make for exciting reading after the dramatic stories of Genesis and Exodus!  All the ancient legal minutia about "Levites & priests, offerings & feasts" don’t seem to have any relevance for Christian life today. It’s discouraging. But rather than quitting, many Bible readers decide to scan or skim through Leviticus and then move on to "more meaningful" parts of Scripture. Why not move to the interesting events in the Book of Numbers?

We must admit that reading Leviticus is tedious, but God didn’t include the details of Leviticus in the Bible as "page-filler" - or as a challenge to see if we would persevere in our Bible reading programs! All the details of Leviticus are important, and as part of the Holy Scripture they have something to say to us today. (See 2 Timothy 3:16-17.)

Getting the big picture

A helpful concept for understanding Leviticus is: "Go for the big picture." Think of all the minute details Leviticus as tiny marks in an etching. When you focus on each mark of an etching by itself, it’s difficult to see any "meaning" to it. But when you see the entire etching, each little imprint fits, and adds to the "big picture."

The big picture - or the overall design - of Leviticus could be entitled: "God's Holy Character and Call." Each detail of the book in some way enhances that overall subject. All the various sacrifices emphasize over and over again that God is infinitely holy, and that something must be done about sin. Although God is gracious and forgiving, a holy God can’t just sweep sin under the rug and pretend it never happened.

Furthermore, the details of the sacrifices prophetically point up the many aspects of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Through His great sacrifice, God has provided a way for sinful man to respond to God's call to holiness. Seeing the details of Leviticus from the perspective of this overall theme gives us a greater appreciation of the holiness of God.

But what about the details in Leviticus 11? What possible benefit or blessing can we gain by studying the Levitical dietary laws, and the distinction between clean and unclean creatures? How can this Scripture be meaningful to us today? We'll have to wait until Heaven to see all the reasons and meanings behind the details in this chapter. But it doesn't take an exhaustive study of Leviticus 11 to begin to see details about the “clean and unclean” that add to the overall theme of God's holy character and His call to holiness.

Let's imagine ourselves as the people of Israel, listening to Moses and Aaron as they gave these laws.

Symbolically portraying God’s holiness

If we were the people of Israel we’d know that we didn’t make up these laws. No way! The laws came straight from the mouth of the Lord (vs1-2). The terms "clean” and “unclean" are used 36 times in this chapter alone, and about 200 times in Leviticus! The fact that God repeatedly used these terms certainly emphasizes His holiness. Although we might not understand why certain animals, birds, fish, and even insects were declared clean or unclean, we’d know that in some way the distinctions symbolically portrayed God's absolute holiness and purity. We’d recognize that our God did not leave the answers to questions up to our own imagination - or our intuition - or our human expediency. God was concerned with purity - even to the point of what His people touched!

Demonstrating God’s holiness to unbelievers

We would further realize that practicing these clean/unclean laws (along with all the other laws of Leviticus that governed lifestyle) would definitely reflect God's holy character to the surrounding pagan nations. In fact, we’d understand that this was one very good reason for the distinction between clean and unclean creatures (see 20:24-26), and why certain other practices were unacceptable to our God. We’d know that in many cases it was not a matter of intrinsic evil involved in the custom, but rather a matter of drawing a definite distinction between our lifestyle and heathen practices - most of which were associated in some way with the pagan religions. (See, for example, laws about unacceptable clothing in 19:19 and unacceptable beards in 19:27.)

With all their various immoral and amoral practices, the pagans would be forced to admit that our God is unique. He’s not like the pagan gods. With His great emphasis on clean and unclean creatures and practices, our God was emphasizing His supremacy and holiness over all of life­­ - including the creatures that pervaded religious art and practice of the heathen nations around us. Obeying these laws that came directly from God through Moses means we’re responding to God's call to mirror His holiness in our lives.

Reflecting God’s holiness in our actions and attitudes

As we read these laws of the clean and the unclean today, God's demand for holiness in the details of our lives should be indelibly stamped on our minds and hearts. While the actual practice of these ceremonial laws has ceased with the coming of Christ (see Romans 10:4 and Colossians 2:16-17), the spiritual truth of all the Levitical laws remains. As God's people today, we are still responsible to reproduce His holiness in our actions and attitudes.

Consider sex, for example. Our practice, our talk, and our thoughts in this area should be stamped with God's standards of holiness.  According to holy Scripture, sexual activity between one husband and one wife is "clean,” but sex outside marriage and homosexual practice is "unclean." That’s true, regardless of our feelings, or our opinions, or whether or not we understand God’s law. Just as Israel didn’t always understand why certain things were clean or unclean, so we may not fully understand why God has imposed certain limits for us as to what is "clean and unclean" - but He has! Do you reflect God's holiness in every area of your sex life?

Trusting God’s wisdom

Another reason for the clean and unclean laws was physical hygiene and sanitation. Without refrigeration, the ancient Hebrew people would have needed many of these dietary laws just to stay healthy. In the hot climate of that part of the world, meat would decay rapidly. We can see this even today if we pass an open-air meat market in the Middle East! Without strict controls, disease and outbreaks of plague would have been common throughout Israel.

The ancient Israelites didn’t have our knowledge of bacteria. What is automatic to us, like washing our hands, might not have been automatic for them! Washing ourselves and our clothes if we handle a dead animal (vs24-25), would not be so automatic if we didn't know how disease is spread. If we found a dead mouse in our kitchen cabinet or in our food supplies (vs32-34) we wouldn’t even question throwing out contaminated food items and disinfecting the shelves! But can you imagine how nit­picking some of these laws would seem to us if we were ignorant of harmful microorganisms?

There’s a lesson here in what it means to trust and obey. God graciously incorporated sanitation measures into the Levitical laws, and He expected His people to obey, without explanation! And future medical research may throw even more light on the reasons for God's clean and unclean regulations.

These laws prove that God cares for His people! He didn’t dictate these laws to Israel to hassle them or frustrate them. He gave them to His people for their own good. In the same way, following God's standards of holiness is good for us today. God is not out to hassle His children. Our heavenly Father loves us and wants the best for us. We may not have full insight into all the details of God's code of holiness, but we can be sure His commands are for our good in some way. We may not understand why God gave distinct roles for men and women in the family and in the Church. His commands were given for the best function in the home and in the church. Unfortunately, the biblical roles of men and women have often been misused, but sinful misuse of God’s laws doesn’t alter the fact that it is God who prescribed them!

Applications for today

Spiritualized applications are a further way to appreciate the clean and unclean labels of Leviticus 11. Why did God choose to distinguish clean from unclean animals by their eating habits, and by their feet (v 3)? We are what we eat! If our diet consists of internet trash, we’ll be "unclean." And our spiritual feet are important. As Christians, we must choose to go to “clean” places.

Unclean creatures were not to be eaten, and were not even to be touched! Those who touched the unclean became unclean, and specific steps had to be taken for a person to become ceremonially clean again. As God's people, we need to be extremely careful of what we "touch." 2 Corinthians 6:17 commands us not to "touch the unclean." The principle of separation from what is unclean is absolutely vital for a holy life.

In fact, the word "holy" means "separated for God's use." This doesn’t mean we have to become hermits or avoid all contact with the non­Christian world, but it does mean that we must be extremely careful not to be contaminated by the evil that surrounds us on every side. Don't go to places where you will be pressured to conform to the "unclean"! Don't put yourself in "unclean" situations that are filled with temptation! Don't become close friends with people whose "diet" and "walk" are “unclean”!

Cleansed by the Word

What were the Israelites to do if they became ceremonially unclean by contact with unclean things? Throughout Leviticus we see that washing was very much a part of the cleansing ritual. Surely this is a spiritual picture of the continual cleansing that God can bring to our lives through His Word. We are continuously sanctified (made holy) and cleansed "by the washing of water with the word" (Ephesians 5:26). In this unholy world, it’s easy to be defiled by our contact with what its “unclean.” So we need to come often to be cleansed with the water of the Word of God!

Many other spiritualized applications may be seen in the details of Leviticus 11, but we must be careful when we draw spiritual principles out of biblical passages. We must avoid becoming too fanciful and far­-fetched in our spiritualization.  Our applications must be supported by the rest of Scripture. We must be careful not to read spiritual lessons into the text that are not there! On the other hand, we don’t want to miss the "hidden nuggets" that are there!

As we read and carefully interpret God’s Word, lessons from the book of Leviticus will give us a greater appreciation of God’s holiness, and motivate us to more holy and mature Christian living.

- Dave Reid