Leviticus 11

hey hey good morning good morning good morning welcome to coffee and devotions that's where every day you and I we get together we have a little bit of coffee we get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together in this year 2023 Lord willing will make it from Genesis through Leviticus I'm so glad to be with you today when we have some coffee we'll pray and we'll get into God's word let's pray father we thank you so much for this day we thank you for your word and Lord we pray that as we read your word that you would teach us we pray that you would mold us and shape us into the people that you have called us to be we need your spirit now we need your spirit all the time in Jesus's name amen okay we are at uh Leviticus 11 now things change we had been looking at Aaron and his sons and the Consecration and you remember chapter 10 last time God had told Aaron that he wasn't allowed to drink alcohol while on the job he and his sons and one of the reasons why because they had to distinguish between clean and unclean but what was clean what was unclean well that's what we get into today and it's going to carry us on probably for the next uh I think it goes through chapter 18 so we're going to have quite a few chapters here to look through uh but today it's about the animals so distinguishing between clean and unclean animals so here we go uh we're going to break this break this up by the way kind of paragraph by paragraph As It switches different animals and we'll talk about it as we go now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying to them speak to the children of Israel saying these are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth among the animals whatever divides the hoof having clothing hooves and chewing the cud that you may eat nevertheless these you shall not eat among those that chew the cud or those that have clo and Hooves the camel because it chews the cud but does not have a clo clo and Hooves it is unclean to you the rock hrex because it chews the cud but does not have clo and Hooves is unclean to you the hair because it chews the cud but does not have clo and Hooves is unclean to you and the swine though it divides the hoof having cloven Hooves yet does not chew the cud is unclean to you their flesh you shall not eat and their carcasses you shall not touch they are unclean to you right so there's this this kind of twostep factor of how do you decide whether an animal is clean or unclean well look at his foot and does it have kind of a two toes on its on its hoof or whoa that's kind of interesting I haven't seen my computer do that before does it have two two toes or does it have one right is it is it a single hoof or is it a double hoof and then also okay you've looked at the toe now does it have a multiple chamber stomach and is it chewing the cud it has to do both of those to be able to be considered a clean animal but the question that people have asked for a long time is why right why why why is god making these distinctions right is it because of hygiene maybe is it because of you know cultural reasons other cultures who didn't eat different foods possibly there's no real seeming to be reason with we don't know the why behind this I think the most convincing reason why is possibly because I didn't want them to be like the other cultures around them and so there's different cultures around them like the Hittites that would offer pigs to the dead and to the underworld so we know that there were Canaanite cultures around Israel that were doing things with different animals and no matter what as soon as they adopt these dietary laws they're going to be different than everyone else they're around and so as they are different than everyone else around I think this is setting them apart as holy and so I think that's the most convincing reason why and we'll we'll get to that especially at the end of the chapter but right now it's a clo and Hooves and the chewing of the cud what goes on from the land animals from quadrip heads and verse 9 and following has another part about the type of fish these you may eat of all that are in the water whatever in the water has fins and scales whether in the Seas or in the rivers that you may eat but all in the Seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales all that moves in the water or any living thing which is in the water they are an Abomination to you they shall be an Abomination to you you shall not eat their flesh but you shall regard their carcasses as an Abomination whatever in the water does not have fins or scales that should be an Abomination to you right so what zoologists would call true fish has to has fins and scales right so um no shrimp no crab no eel right stuff like that nope and then verse 133 to 19 we're going to talk about birds and these you shall regard as an Abomination among the birds they shall not be eaten they are an Abomination the eagle the vulture the Buzzard the kite and the Falcon after its kind every Raven after its kind the ostrich the short-eared owl the seagull all and the hawk after its kind The Little Owl the Fisher owl the screech owl the white owl the jackdaw and the caran vulture the stor the Heron after its kind the hopy and the bat right mostly carnivorous scavenger type birds and and bats right stuff like that uh but not all and so just these are the ones that aren clean meaning everything else is clean so Sparrow you can eat a dove you can eat right uh okay now verse 20 and following this is about winged insects all flying insects that creep on all fours shall be an Abomination to you yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours those which have joined jointed legs above their feet with which they leap on the earth these you may eat the Locust after its kind the destroying Lucas after its kind the cricket after its kind and the grasshopper after its kind but all other flying insects which have four feet you shall be an Abomination to you right so here there are different types of flying insects they got to have the bent KNE they're able to kind of spring up and we know these like grasshoppers crickets Locus stuff like that okay uh verse 24 through 28 is O sorry pardon me I'm so sorry verse 24- 28 is about what happens if you come in contact with an unclean carcass of an Animal by these you shall become unclean whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening whoever carries part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening the carcass of any animal which divides the foot but is not clo hoofed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you everyone who touches it shall be unclean and whatever goes on its paws along among all kinds of animals that goes on all fours those are unclean to you whoever touches any such carcass shall be unclean until evening whoever carries away any such carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening it is unclean to you right so cats dogs anything with Paws unclean right can't have those around vers 29 and this this one is a little bit more difficult to uh kind of sort through but this largely about like reptiles uh and so uh reptiles and things they come in contact with and things that they die in so this is verses 29 through 38 these also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth the mole The Mouse and the large lizard after its kind the gecko the monitor lizard the sand reptile the sand lizard and the chameleon these are unclean to you among all that creep whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening anything on which any of them Falls when they are dead shall be unclean whether it is any item of wood or clothing or skin or Sack or whatever the item it is in which any work is done it must be put in water and it shall be unclean until evening then it shall be clean any Earth and vessel into which any of them Falls you shall break and whatever is in it shall be unclean in such a vessel any edible food upon which water falls becomes unclean and any drink that may be drunk from it becomes unclean and everything on which a part of such carcass Falls shall be unclean whether it is an oven or cooking stove it shall be unclean for they are unclean and shall be unclean to you right so these reptiles these various reptiles are unclean they need to be unclean to you and if they fall into these different vessels right guessing this is a problem in ancient Israel that lizards and geckos and stuff would be found in the bottom of a pot and oh man you got to go break that pot now and so that's how it's unclean but nevertheless verse 36 a spring or a sistern in which there is plenty of water shall be clean but whatever touches any carcass sh uh becomes unclean and if a part of any such carcass falls on any planting seed which is to be sewn it remains clean but if water is put on the seed and if a part of any such carcass falls on it it becomes unclean to use so if it's a sistern or spring something like that right flowing water it's clean even if you find a carcass and it's fine and if you find a carcass of a reptile and it's on your planting seed well then that's fine but if that if water gets on that dying gecko or dead gecko and it's on the planting seed then you shouldn't use the planting seed so this is what the Lord is doing okay uh so that Parts done we're going to look at verses 39 through 40 what what about um clean animals when they die what what about them if any animal which you may eat who touches its carcass shall be unclean until evening he who eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening he also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening all right so if you've if you have a dead animal and it's a clean animal you become unclean by touching its dead carcass or eating its dead carcass or moving its dead carcass right and so you become unclean that way and then verse 41 and and following is really about um creeping things different insects and such and every creeping thing that creeps on the Earth shall be an Abomination it shall not be eaten whatever crawls on its belly whatever goes on all fours or whatever has many feet among all creeping things that creep on the earth these you shall not eat for they are an Abomination you shall not make for yourself make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them lest you be defiled by them right so these different creeping things are included in here and then this is where I think things get very applicable and clear I can't tell you the the reasons why God is making these choices right it's his Sovereign decree it's his Sovereign choice for his people which animals are clean and unclean but there is a there's a I don't want to say there's an end to it God isn't doing this arbitrarily but he's got a purpose in this and that's verse 44 through 45 why for I am yehovah your God you shall therefore consecrate yourselves and you shall be holy for I am Holy neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on Earth for I am yah way who brings you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God you shall therefore be holy for I am Holy we're going to just go from all this about these different animals dietary restrictions to calling see calling this is also what I have underlined verse 44 and 45 is the best verse to summarize this we are called to be holy as he is Holy the word holy means set apart right God is not like any other he is Holy he is Holy unto himself but we are to be as his chosen elect people not of the world we might be in the world but we cannot be of the world we we're set apart for a holy purpose for his glory to do what he commands and so In this passage which is quoted in First Peter actually people often look at these dietary laws and and you might have been tempted by this oh man these dietary laws why does this matter well first Peter actually quotes Leviticus 11 therefore g g up the loins of your mind be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children not conforming yourselves to the former lust as in your ignorance but as he who has called you his holy so you also be holy in all your conduct because it is written be holy for I am Holy these dietary restrictions were lifted by God himself because they were temporary to set apart Israel as a nation different than all the other nations around them but once that dividing wall was torn down between Jew and Gentile there's no more reason to have the part of the wall that was the separation the dietary loss but now we are separate whether we're Jew or Gentile if we are his people now we're separate by the holy conduct of Our Lives why is it wrong for me to be a glutton because God has declared that it's wrong for me to be a gluton why is it wrong for me to use coarse language anguage because God has declared that that's wrong why is it wrong to go and sleep around with somebody else commit adultery or before you're married to commit fornication to go and sleep with someone you're not married to because the Lord is the one who is Holy and he's the one who set the standard he's the one who said this is what's morally right and if we love him then we look at him we say you're holy and I want to be like you whatever you say that's what I want to be like and so we conform Our Lives to his standard we conform our conduct to his way and this is what we're called to do to live holy lives to have holy Minds set our focus upon him because he is Our Redeemer just as he redeemed them from Israel first Peter's going to go on to say you have been redeemed but not with silver or gold but with the Precious Blood of of Jesus Christ and so do you cling to the blood of Jesus Christ do you know your Redemption and do you strive to be holy as he has already declared you to be let's pray father we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for the Redemption of Jesus Christ we pray Lord that you would let us walk in the Holiness that you have called us to please Lord care for us in jesus' name amen I didn't miss the last two verses I'll let you read that those two summary verses verses 47 and 48 hope that you have a great day and that you rest in Jesus Christ may God's grace wash over your heart and give you peace see you later thanks for listening to this week's message from God's word for you a Ministry of Sharon RP Church in rural Southeast Iowa we pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week if you'd like to get more information about us feel free to go to the website Sharon rc.org we'd love to invite you to worship with us our worship time is 10:00 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue Morning Sun Iowa 52640 may God richly bless you this week [Music]