May the mumbling commence!
God’s people are held to a higher standard. We know that when Jesus pronounced all animals clean many of the regulations concerning clean and unclean animals in Leviticus chapter 11 were rescinded. At least, they were rescinded at the surface. When we look a little closer, we will see that the Spirit of the Law is kept. The bottom line, the Spirit of the Law is contained in Leviticus 11:44-5:
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 about on 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.
The bottom line is to be holy as the Great I Am is holy. Holy means set apart from the world. It means living by a higher standard. Living holy means remembering the salvation the Great I Am has created for us. It means drawing others to the light of truth that the Great I Am provides. Long before Jesus’ day, these laws were distorted to create barriers for others to become acceptable to even have fellowship with God’s people.
Yes, Israel was called by the Great I Am to bless all peoples and nations. God calls His church to do the same. In order to bless, there must be relationship. Yes, we must go outside the confines of our meeting houses and Christian encampments to develop relationships with people who don’t look like, think like, talk like, or act like we do.
That’s the reason it’s so important that we remember the salvation of the Great I Am and continually seek to make ourselves holy. Change is a two-way street, so we must be clear that we are not to change in the essentials, the Spirit, of God’s law. Most Christian arguments occur over what is the dividing line between the surface laws and the Spirit that is driving them. I believe that Jesus was clear about the most important law. We are to love God with all our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves. All the other commandments, laws, and precepts of the Lord are built upon this foundation. This Spirit of love cannot be contaminated.
For Israel, Aaron and his descendants were to help teach all people the difference between holy and common and the difference between clean and unclean (Lev 10:10-1). Take one unclean animal for instance – the pig. Looking back from today’s perspective, we may think that the law protected Israel from the harmful effects to the body from eating pork. Today, we know that eating pork in excess is detrimental to our heart health. But the same could be said for the cow, and Israel was not forbidden beef. Some scholars believe the prohibition on the pig had much to do with the cult that Israel had contact with. That particular cult revered the pig. So the love of God would be contaminated by the love for pigs. That is why the pig is unclean.
Does this mean that Christians in India should not eat cow, for they are sacred to many of the Hindu faith? I don’t know about this, but I think we should bring it closer to home. There are many idols in the USA. For instance, ask yourself this question: How much time do I spend watching TV, watching movies, surfing the Internet, etc. in comparison to how much time I spend in the Word of God. Yes, fame is one of our many idols – think about the show “American Idol”. It idolizes fame. It also idolizes youth. (Note that the age cut off for participants is below 30.) The chase to be perceived as young and famous – to be important – will contaminate us from our love for God and people. And the chase for self worth is unnecessary, for each of us already has the love of our Great Creator. Beyond that, what else matters? Perspective, perspective, perspective – that’s what is important!
Before I close, I would like to briefly point out a couple of things from Leviticus 12 and from the beginning of 13. In chapter 12, we see the law of purification for women after childbirth. I referenced it a couple of days ago in reference to Jesus’ earthly parents. (Though I must admit I am puzzled as to why purification took twice as long for daughters than it did for sons.) At the beginning of chapter 13, priests are to quarantine those with possible infectious skin diseases. After the quarantine, only the priest risks contamination. And the risk is taken in hopes that exclusion can be avoided and relationship maintained – for those declared unclean must live alone (13:45-6).
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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