I recently did a “Hot Topic” night at Faith Church that was called “Defending Leviticus: Making Sense of the Old Testament Laws.” It was fun to think about this section of Scripture that Christians often do not know what to do with and pastors rarely preach. I couldn’t dig into any and every law and passage, but I thought it would be good to analyze the food laws of Leviticus 11. Why these laws? Maybe because I like food, or because of the memory I have of reading the Bible as a middle schooler and finding these food laws that talked about what animals not to eat, causing me to stop eating sausage or pepperoni pizza for a time (I had to settle for cheese pizza!). I didn’t know what to do with the laws; they are God’s Word written for our good, but yet Christians don’t seem to follow them. Why not? Should we? If not, then what was the purpose of them and why are they in the Bible? How are we to make sense of these laws in a way that we learn something about God and ourselves? Here are a few thoughts on the topic that emerged as I did some studying and thinking.
- Every Group of People Has Something of “Food Laws”
Cultures around the world eat different things; there are certain animals that Americans tend to eat (cows, pigs, etc.) and others that we don’t (dogs, cats, etc.). This list will vary from culture to culture. I bring this up to help us remember that when the people of Israel were coming out of Egypt to go into the land of Canaan (what is known as the Exodus), they were coming to a new land and had to determine what they would and would not eat. Would they just follow the same diet as the Egyptians or would there be something special and different? When God gave them these food laws, He was showing that their practices should come from Him and not just the cultures around them. He was also showing them that all areas of life are under His rule, and that as the Israelites go into the Promised Land, it was God’s land: while they are “under His roof,” they need to follow His rules.
- These Laws Were For a People and a Time
In reading these food laws, should Christians keep them? When you look at the whole of Scripture, no. First of all, we don’t see people obeying these laws before the people of Israel left Egypt; it does not seem that Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob followed these laws, as they had not yet been given. Moreover, Jesus points to these laws being abolished with his words in Mark 7:19, and this is confirmed in the early church in Acts 15 when the apostles and elders tell the Gentiles that they don’t need to adopt these food laws. Therefore, these are not commands for the people of God in all times and places; we are not picking and choosing what to obey because we like bacon, though, as it is the Bible itself that shows this to us.
- These Food Laws Were Meant to Make the People Different From Other Nations
If these laws were temporary and for a people in a particular point in time, what was the purpose of them? Many theories have been thrown out. Some think that the reason these animals were forbidden was for health issues, as not cooking some of the meat the right way could lead to illness. That does not explain, however, why they were temporary and why it is now acceptable. In addition, this seems to be a bit overstated in terms of the danger some of the meats would pose. Others have argued that these animals were forbidden because they might have been connected to pagan religions, but this doesn’t seem to solve the problem, as there were animals that were connected to idolatry that were not on the list (such as the bull). I think a better view is that God was trying to teach the people a lesson about the fact that we live in a fallen world but should seek to be complete and holy in it. When you look at the animals forbidden to be eaten or touched if they are dead (the prohibitions are only if they are dead, not if they are alive; see Leviticus 11:8), it is because something does not match in them. Land animals that have split hooves and chew the cud are okay, but ones that either have split hooves but do not chew the cud (pigs) or chew the cud but do not have split hooves (camel, rock badger, hare) are not okay. Among sea animals, those that do not have fins or scales are forbidden. Among the birds, you find predatory animals like vultures and ravens on the unclean list. Among the insects, those that have wings but walk (as if you have wings, you should fly!), unless they have jointed feet to jump (which means that they were designed to jump). These animals show some sort of incongruence between their design and their activity, with the predatory animals also a reminded that this world is not like the Garden of Eden, as animals are “at war” with each other. Just as people could be clean or unclean, so animals were clean and unclean; being unclean as a person did not mean that they were sinful (and these animals were not viewed as evil, just unclean), as natural things in life would lead to being unclean. The purity laws taught the people of Israel that there were distinctions in this world and distinguished them from other nations (from the Gentiles). The food laws had this same function, helping to create the distinction of Jew and Gentile and teaching the Israelites about the need to be different.
- The Food Laws Parallel God’s Work of Redemption in this World
The Bible has a storyline of God saving a particular people (the Jews) and then through them saving people from all nations of the world. The food laws have a function in that, as the food laws are part of what makes this distinctive people and a nation. But this was just a step in the process of salvation; as Peter’s vision from and interaction with the Gentile Cornelius in Acts 10 and 11 shows, God has made all people clean. Now God is at work in saving all the nations, so His followers from other cultures don’t need to keep these laws. But by having them for the time, the people of God learned about the holiness and distinction of God and also move from being a single nation to being people of all nations.
In conclusion, Christians do not need to keep these food laws but through them they can learn about God’s character in this world and the unfolding plan of redemption.
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