Holy and Different (Leviticus 11) 11 th October 2015 1 It would be good to have your Bibles open at Leviticus Chapter 11 And if you want to take down some notes there s an outline in the bulletin But first let me pray for God s help and guidance as we look at this passage together Intro/Context I ve always been a pretty fussy eater When I met Heather, the only vegetables I would eat were peas and carrots And the carrots had to be in carrot cake! And the only fish I would eat was fish fingers! Very adventurous Hey? The thought of eating things like oysters, prawns and mussels would make my stomach turn and still does So having looked at Leviticus chapter 11 in some detail this week I m feeling quite virtuous It seems like I was on the right track just eating fish fingers Last week, we left the priests of Israel in a spot of bother with 2 of them zapped by fire for not following God s explicit instructions And we also discovered that the priests had to be level headed - and not drink alcohol - because they had an important job to do in chapter 10 verse 10: [Powerpoint 1 Job] Page 1 of 12
2 They had to distinguish between holy and common and between the unclean and the clean If they re going to distinguish between holy and common and between unclean and clean they need to know what they re looking for So in chapter 11 God gives clear instructions on what types of animals are clean and unclean and what animals the Israelites can eat and what they should do with dead animals What Animals are Clean/Unclean for the Israelites? So what animals are clean or unclean for the Israelites? The first category of animals are those that live on the land (v2) And the only land animals that are clean to eat are those that have a divided hoof and chew the cud (v3) A divided or cloven hoof is one where the animals hoof is split into two toes. And chewing the cud is where a portion of the animals food returns from the animal s stomach to be chewed a second time So animals that are okay to eat are animals like - cattle and sheep Animals that are not okay to eat are - camels, rock badgers, rabbits and pigs (vv 4-7) [Powerpoint 2 Categories] The next category of animals are those creatures living in water (v9) And the only water creatures that are clean to eat are those with fins and scales. Page 2 of 12
So fish fingers are okay to eat 3 But oysters, prawns, mussels are out The next category of animals are birds (v13) And birds of prey like eagles, vultures, hawks and owls are all out But birds like chooks are in So far I m liking this! Next category of animals are flying insects And the only ones that are okay to eat are locusts, katydids (green leaf bug), crickets and grasshoppers (vv21-22) and that s because they have jointed legs for hopping (v21) I m kinda glad about that too who wants to eat insects anyway? The next category of animals are from verses 29 to 30 that s animals that move along the ground like weasels, rats, lizards, geckos, skinks and chameleons The Israelites can t eat any of them And the final category of animals are in verses 41 to 43 and the Israelites can t eat any animals that move along the ground either on their belly, or on all fours or on many legs So - thankfully snakes are out too! Page 3 of 12
Then there s rules about what to do when the animals are dead 4 The Israelites can t touch any of the carcasses (dead bodies) of any of the unclean animals otherwise they are unclean until evening (v27) and if they pick these carcasses up - they have to wash their clothes (v28) If one of the unclean animals dies and falls on to any object then the object it falls on is unclean until evening So if a dead rat falls in the saucepan or pot the Israelites have been cooking in then the pot is unclean and must be broken (vv33) Who would want to touch dead animals anyway [Story of my cat] Reasons for Animal Distinctions Now - there s some good reasons for these animal distinctions: [Powerpoint 3 Distinctions] Firstly, the unclean animals seem to fall into a category of being predators (eating flesh and blood) or scavengers (that might carry disease if they come into contact with dead bodies) and those animals which are potentially poisonous or dangerous to eat (like shellfish) Then, secondly, these distinctions - suggest health and hygiene considerations too [Illustration Doc Martin and badgers] Thirdly, the animals that are seen to be clean are ones that conform to a certain type Land animals that chew the cud and have split hoofs Page 4 of 12
Sea creatures with fins and scales 5 Birds that are not birds of prey Insects with jointed legs that hop So anything that doesn t conform to these certain types is seen as unclean Fourthly, some animals have a more useful purpose than just being eaten for example camels, horses and donkeys make better transport than they do food Fifthly, animals that are okay to eat and mostly those that the Israelites use for holy sacrifices to God Sixthly, a lot of the animals that are unclean to eat are either worshipped or used for sacrifices in the nations that surround Israel Lastly, we know from creation (Gen 1:31) that God saw all of His creation including animals as being good so it s by His grace that he allowed the Israelites to eat some of these animals in the first place but not all of them the rest are protected from being eaten so the fact that some animals are considered unclean to eat is not necessarily a negative thing - as it preserves some animals for other uses and for humans to enjoy As valid as all these reasons are for the animal distinctions in this chapter We re still left with the question: Why did God give the Israelites these Clean/Unclean rules about animals? Why did God give the Israelites Clean/Unclean rules? Page 5 of 12
6 Well - have a look at Leviticus 11 verses 44 and 45 and we find the reason why God gave these clean/unclean rules: It says: [Powerpoint 4 Be holy!] 44 I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. 45 I am the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. So the reason is: God is a Holy God who created everything - and who is involved in ALL aspects of the Israelites lives even what they do with animals And God wants the Israelites to be holy literally set apart and different to the surrounding nations The surrounding nations eat stuff the Israelites are not allowed to eat The surrounding nations sacrifice and worship some of the animals that the Israelites and not allowed to eat But God wants the Israelites to stand out - and be different - and be holy and obedient to Him the One True God And God wants the Israelites to be clean not just physically clean by not eating certain animals and by not touching dead animals but ceremonially clean spiritually clean by obeying God s rules One final reason why God gave these clean/unclean rules is there in verse 45 and that s because God is the Lord God who brought the Israelites out of slavery in Page 6 of 12
7 Egypt So He is a saving and redeeming God so God wants the Israelites to obey his clean/unclean rules out of respect and thanksgiving - for saving them So basically it s a matter of obeying God s rules because He said so! [Illustration: as parents we give rules and kids may ask why we say because I said so] [Example: Adam and Eve should have obeyed without questioning] [Example: Abraham how did he obey?] [Example: Daniel how did he obey?] Which seems fair enough to me The Israelites are to be seen as holy and different to all the nations around so they are a light to these other nations (Isa 42:6) and the other nations can say wow look at the Israelites they re different because they obey their holy God And I believe it s fair to say to some degree the people of Israel have achieved this since most people know that Jews even today don t eat pork and have kosher food (suitable and pure) rules. [Kosher meat and dairy separate (Ex23:19)] How do we become Holy and Different today? But perhaps there s more to all this than just rules about food How do we become holy and different today like the ancient Israelites did back then? Is it by what we eat? Well - Let s see what Jesus has to say about this, Page 7 of 12
Turn with me to Mark chapter 7, from verse 14 to 19: 8 [Powerpoint 5 Mark 7 passage] 14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them. [16] 17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 Are you so dull? he asked. Don t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body. (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.) So Jesus is saying we don t become clean or unclean or holy or unholy - by the food we eat We become clean or unclean by what comes out of our hearts And whether our hearts are full of love - or full of wickedness So like the priests we need to know what we re looking for and what makes us unclean and [Powerpoint 6 Mark 7 contd] Jesus tells us in v20-23 the things that make us unclean Are our evil thoughts and actions things like Sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness (vulgarity), slander, arrogance and folly Have you had a heart check-up lately? Is your heart producing any of these whether in thoughts, words or actions? Page 8 of 12
If so then you are unclean! 9 If so it s time to get the napisan out and clean up your act? And once you ve identified that you need to clean up your act How are you going to become holy and different? Well the apostle Peter has the answer for us, so turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 1 from verse 13 [Powerpoint 7 1 Peter 1 ] And Peter says we become holy and different By putting our minds in gear that s what being alert and sober means in v13 being level headed like the priests of Israel were told to be It means waking up to the fact that we are only washed clean by Jesus dying on the cross for our sins to be forgiven It means waking up to the fact that what we are thinking and saying and doing that doesn t agree with what God would want us to think or say or do is unclean By realizing we are part of God s family because of Jesus so we need to be like obedient children in v14 And not slip back into our old ways - just doing whatever we feel like We might have lived like that before we knew about Jesus and before we knew about God s rules but we should know better than that now that s what Peter says in v14 So God wants us to be holy like him (v15-16) Page 9 of 12
10 And he s going to be watching us that s what v17 means when it says we have a Father (God) judging what we do without favouritism - he s a good Father that way. But don t forget, he s also a responsible Father, and He won t let you get by with sloppy living And remember paraphrasing v18 to 21 [Powerpoint 8 1 Peter 1:18-21] Our life is a journey we must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get us out of that dead-end, empty-headed life we grew up in. He paid with Jesus sacred blood, you know. Jesus died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this wasn t just an afterthought. Even though it has only become public knowledge in the last 2000 years - God always knew he was going to do this for us. It s only because of the sacrifice of Jesus, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that we can trust God, and that we know we have a future in God. So it s through Jesus that we are cleaned up and become holy Which then means our response is for us to be different And Peter says that looks like verses 22 to 25 [Powerpoint 9 1 Peter 1:22-25] It means following the truth the only source of truth which is God s word and not buying the truth from anywhere else unless it agrees with God s Word So are you checking the truth that the world tells you in the newspaper, TV or social media are you checking it agrees with God s Word? Page 10 of 12
And if it doesn t agree with God s Word are you rejecting it or buying it! 11 Being different also means loving one another as if our lives depended on it In other words loving sacrificially putting yourself last and others first Are you consciously thinking what people need? Are you consciously thinking that there are people in our community who need to hear the truth about Jesus that believing in Him - is the only way to Heaven People in our community aren t going to hear that truth from everyone only from people like us who are holy and different Being different means loving people in a different way deeply and from the heart see v22 there s that word heart again we have to have a heart for people sincerely caring for them so they too can feel part of God s family How do we do this? Well verses 24 and 25 say it s by God s Word that endures or lasts forever People live and die like grass and flowers that eventually wither but God s Word keeps going and going and it changes people s lives over and over again It s God s Word that needs to get out to our community and change hearts We can t change ISIS or terrorists hearts but God s Word can Page 11 of 12
And God wants us to bring that Word to others 12 Why does God want us to be Holy and Different? But why does God want us to be holy and different [Powerpoint 10 - Why] Well because He is holy he wants us to be holy In other words simply because He said so But also - God wants us to be holy out of respect and thanksgiving for saving us from slavery (like the ancient Israelites). Our slavery was not in Egypt our slavery was slavery to sin which we struggle with and can t stop doing but Jesus has fixed all that And now that Jesus has fixed us God wants us to shine the love of Jesus onto others and tell them This is how Jesus changed my life and He can do the same for you too Our holy and different life will be obvious to others and make a deep impression on them and will be irresistible to others Friends, I encourage you - from today onwards - to be holy and different Let s pray Page 12 of 12