Many many times I have pondered and meditated on that famous challenge to Israel and the church from Leviticus…
Lev 11:44 (a) For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy…
In Hebrew the word holy, as used here, means “absolutely sacred”… what a challenge! And for certain its a challenge that we cannot meet on our own. But what I saw in the rest of Chapter 11 put the idea of being “holy” in perspective. And just like He has in every part of the Bible, the Holy Spirit has set before us examples of how we are to stay clean in this world… both in the natural and in the spiritual. Here in Chapter 11 He gives us a great example in dealing with the ceremonial cleanness issues set forth in the Law for Israel.
In reading through this section I was referring to some comments made by John Phillips, and He painted a great picture for us with respect to “clean” and “unclean;” holy and unholy. Let’s just consider 3 examples from this chapter in Leviticus.
Clean and Unclean Animals
Clean animals chewed the cud and parted the hoof (cloven); eg. cows, sheep and goats. While hogs parted the hoof they did not chew the cud and likewise a camel chewed the cud but did not part the hoof; horses did neither. In making the point, Phillips points out that we, too, must have a clean walk as we make our way through this life and we must chew on the Word of God. Clean animals walking through a muddy field left a clean imprint behind them, unlike a camels or horses that pick up mud and leave a trail wherever they go.
For us, for our holiness, we need to be sure that we do not leave any contamination behind us as we journey here on earth. And just as the clean animal chews its food and brings it back up to chew it again and again to get all the nutrients out, so we must continually chew (meditate) on the Word of God. We must turn it over and over if we are get our minds truly renewed. Clean animals remind us that our outward life and our inward life must be pleasing to God. The cloven hoof reminds us of separation from the world; not picking any of the world up as we move through it; being in the world but not of it.
Clean and Unclean Seafood and Birds
Seafood that was considered clean if it had fins and scales. The fins point to a fish’s ability to move “forward” and it’s scales reflect its ability to resist the pressure of the water around it; where it lives. Birds on the other hand (carnivorous or omnivorous) were considered unclean because carnivores feed on flesh and omnivores feed on anything. The point is, they represent the fact that we must constantly guard our thoughts and be discriminating in what we read and watch.
Today those dietary rules have gone by the wayside as has the Law. Remember the vision Peter was given on the roof top when he saw a sheet come down from heaven full of unclean animals and the Lord said…kill and eat (Acts 10:1-48). It was made clear to him three times that what God had cleansed he could no longer call unclean. No longer would there be a wall between the Jews and the Gentiles.
Today we understand that holiness is no longer a matter of ceremonial rituals (cleanness), that all passed away with the passing of the Law. But like in so many instances, the “types” in the Old Testament point directly to the “truth” that is revealed in the New Testament. The point is, ritual correctness is not a substitute for genuine holiness; the holiness that God requires of us. Calvary and Pentecost have changed all of that and the dietary law has become obsolete. For Peter and for us, “be ye holy; for I am holy” means that we are to cultivate a new life, and God has given us His Spirit to make us holy, to reveal His holiness that resides within each and every member of the bride of Christ.
Just like you cannot legislate what we eat, you cannot legislate holiness. It is an individual issue and is one that is solely between God and each of us. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to watch what we feed our spirit, where we walk, the direction we take and how we deal with the pressure of the world around us.
Yes, clean and unclean still has meaning for us today, but the context in the light of the Cross and Pentecost has a whole new meaning.