Today, we will read a review of what Israel was allowed to eat and what was considered unclean. This is an example of Yahweh arbitrarily making rules that do not necessarily have any logic behind them. Yahweh did that multiple times throughout the Bible. History teaches us we need to obey all of God’s commands, even when they seem illogical.
When we stopped reading yesterday, Moses had just instructed the Israelites to completely destroy any of their cities which encouraged people to serve gods other than Yahweh. They were to kill all the inhabitants and burn the city itself and everything in it.
Deut. 13:17 Now nothing from that which is devoted to destruction shall cling to your hand, in order that Yahweh may turn from His burning anger and grant compassion to you and show compassion to you and make you multiply, just as He has sworn to your fathers,
Take note that everyone was prohibited from taking spoil. The text doesn’t say why, other than to imply that taking spoil would prevent Yahweh from turning away His anger. This rule would have protected against overzealousness. In other words, if it was permissible to take spoil, then greedy people would have been tempted to falsely accuse a city of encouraging idolatry, just so they could go in, kill the inhabitants, and take the spoil. Since no one could take spoil, there was no motivation to falsely accuse a city. Again, the Bible doesn’t say that was the reason for the rule, but it could have been a factor.
Deut. 13:18 if you will listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of Yahweh your God.
Notice the word “if”. If Israel obeyed Yahweh, then they would multiply. That promise was given to Israel. It does not apply to modern Christians.
Deut. 14:1 ¶ “You are the sons of Yahweh your God; you shall not gash yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead.
Take note of the words “for the sake of the dead”. I assume gashing and shaving foreheads were grieving practices of surrounding nations. Israel was prohibited from adopting those practices. They had to be different from other people.
Deut. 14:2 For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Look at the word “For”. This verse explains the reason for the command given in verse 1. Israel was Yahweh’s treasured possession; therefore, they were not to gash themselves nor shave their foreheads for the sake of the dead.
Deut. 14:3 ¶ “You shall not eat any abominable thing.
Ponder the word “abominable”. The following verses list the things that were abominable and not to be eaten. The Bible doesn’t say why they were abominable. The only thing we know for sure is that it was abominable in Yahweh’s eyes for Israel to eat them; thus, it was wrong for Israel to eat them.
This is similar to the Garden of Eden. Yahweh told Adam and Eve that they could not eat from the tree in the middle of the garden. There was nothing inherently wrong with the fruit of that tree. In fact, one of the reasons Eve ate the fruit was because she saw that the tree made good fruit (see Genesis 3:6). The only reason it was wrong to eat from that tree was because Yahweh said it was wrong.
The same thing is true regarding what Israel could eat. Some foods were clean while others were unclean. First and foremost, the primary reason the unclean foods were unclean was because Yahweh said they were unclean.
Deut. 14:4 These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,
Deut. 14:5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.
Deut. 14:6 And any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that one you may eat.
Deut. 14:7 Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you.
Deut. 14:8 And the pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses.
I have heard preachers claim that the reason for not eating pigs was because pork is unhealthy. However, the Bible does not say that. Again, the primary reason it was wrong for Israel to eat pigs was because Yahweh said they could not. Yahweh is God. He is the supreme power in the universe. When He gives us a command, we need to obey, period.
Deut. 14:9 ¶ “These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat,
Deut. 14:10 but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
Deut. 14:11 ¶ “You may eat any clean bird.
Deut. 14:12 But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard,
Deut. 14:13 and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds,
Deut. 14:14 and every raven in its kind,
Deut. 14:15 and the ostrich, the owl, the gull, and the hawk in their kinds,
Deut. 14:16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl,
Deut. 14:17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant,
Deut. 14:18 the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat.
Deut. 14:19 And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten.
Deut. 14:20 You may eat any clean bird.
Deut. 14:21 ¶ “You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your gates, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
Look at the last command in this passage: “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” The Bible does not explain why this was a rule. Animals do not have feelings, so it is not like the mother goat would be crushed if her offspring was boiled in her milk. This was wrong simply because Yahweh said it was wrong.
These rules about clean and unclean foods do not apply today. They never did apply to Gentiles. Furthermore, when Jesus was on earth, He declared all foods clean (see Mark 7:19).
Many Christians today tend to ignore any Bible commands which seem random or arbitrary. They often justify disobedience by rationalizing away any command which they deem illogical. That is what Eve did. Yahweh told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden. When Eve saw that the tree produced good food, she ate from it (see Genesis 3:6).
The Israelites were prohibited from eating unclean food. The food was unclean simply because Yahweh said it was unclean, not because there was anything inherently wrong with it. Thus, when Jesus was on earth, He was able to suddenly declare all foods clean.
The Bible has commands against divorce and remarriage, women speaking in church, and same-sex marriage. Many Christians today ignore those prohibitions by saying things like, “Divorced people are lonely. Women have teaching gifts they should be able to use in church. Homosexuals are born that way.” None of that matters. When God says something is wrong, then it is wrong, period.
Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. If you have already joined my email list, thank you and please tell others about Bible Mountain. If you have not joined my email list yet, please do so now. In order to join, go to BibleMountain.com, click on subscribe, and that will take you to a page where you can sign up. Your email address will not be sold or given away. Once again, thanks for visiting Bible Mountain.
“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”