SUNDRY LAWS OF PURIFICATION, DCLM ADULTS STS
MEMORY VERSE: “For I am the LORD that bringeth you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall be holy, for I am Holy” (Leviticus 11:45)
TEXT: Leviticus 11:1-47; 12:1-8
After the institution of the priesthood, the consecration of Aaron and his sons, and the tragic death of Nahab and Abihu, God instructed Moses to give the law of clean and unclean animals and purification rites for the unclean to the children of Israel. God’s purpose of dietary prohibitions and demand for external cleansing of Israel were both sanitary as well as spiritual. Besides, having redeemed them out of bondage in Egypt, He intended to school them in the elementary art of differentiating clean from the unclean and to impress upon them that they could live by no other law than His. They were to be peculiar people whose lives, relationship and worship were regulated by His laws. It is only as they live by His laws that they can be holy as He is. Note that studies in the Levitical system of priesthood, sacrifices and cleansing can be fully appreciated by keeping in mind their typical and spiritual reference to our Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for us. It is clear from the foregoing that God’s laws are borne out of His holy thoughts, reveal His holy nature and to accomplish His holy purpose of transforming and preserving His people.
1. CLASSIFICATIONOF CLEAN AND UNCLEAN ANIMALS
Leviticus 11:1-43; Genesis 7:2; 8:20; Deuteronomy 14:2-21; Isaiah 34:11; 3 John 2; Numbers 23:9
The distinction of animals into clean and unclean was by God even before the flood (Genesis 7:2). By reintroducing it at the time of the law, He must have deemed it fit to maintain that distinction among His people, which the loss of the knowledge of the true God erased from the heathen nations. Three broad categories of animals were listed for the purpose of determining the clean and the unclean animals.
First were the land animals. These included the four-footed beasts as well as crawling animals such as snakes, lizards, snails and moles (Leviticus 11:2,29,30).
Second were the aquatic or water creatures such as fish (Leviticus 11:9).
Third were the flying animals such as birds and insects (Leviticus 11:13,23). For a four-footed land animal to be regarded as clean, it must both chew the cud and part the hoof. This means that it must be a ruminant animal and have its hoof divided. An animal in this group would be regarded as unclean if it has either of these two features without the other, or if it has neither of them. The aquatic creatures must have both fins and scales to be considered clean. In the case of the flying creatures, God mentioned specific members that must not be eaten. These are mostly scavengers that feed on dead animals or carnivorous blood eating birds. Predators such as the eagle, the hawk and the kite are classified in this category as unclean. Other unclean birds include the owl, pelican, raven and cormorant, all of which are solitary creatures that inhabit dark places (Psalm 102:6; Isaiah 34:11). A closer look at the animals in their two broad classifications as clean and unclean reveals the concern of God not only for the earthly comfort and health of His people, but also for their spiritual security and eternal well-being. “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth (3 John 2). According to God’s commandment, “Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat“(Leviticus 11:3). The Lord did not forbid certain foods, as men are apt to think, just because He is sovereign, but because perfect knowledge as God and Creator, He knew that the consumption of some animals as foods would be injurious to the health and morals of His people. Animals considered clean among the four-footed beasts must both chew their cud and divide the hoof. Chewing the cud refers to the inbred habit of some animals (also called ruminants) of bringing back into the mouth, food that had been previously swallowed, to be chewed more thoroughly the second time. Animals which chew the cud naturally deal with their diets more thoroughly than those that swallow their food with little or no mastication.
Therefore, their flesh are better nourished and more likely to afford better nourishment and less harmful substances to man. Their flesh will be easier to digest and better assimilated by the human digestive system. Other animals which do not chew their cud but divide the hoof such as pigs are known to wallow in the mire and often serve as intermediate hosts to parasitic organisms which infest man if the flesh is not thoroughly cooked before eating. Others in this class are blood-eating predators, feeding on the flesh and blood of their preys. Generally, the flesh of such beasts could easily harbor harmful substances or diseases for man if he feeds on them. For the aquatic creatures, only those that have both fins and scales on their bodies are clean. Most creeping animals such as serpents, lizards, moles and snails were not to be eaten, while among the insects, only locust, grasshopper, bald locust and beetle are edible. Apart from reasons of good health, there is a spiritual angle to the law of clean and unclean animals. First, God saw it as expedient that His people should constantly exercise their obedience to Him, not only in their temple worship but also in their daily practices even at home. Second, God aimed at separating His people as far as possible from idolatry and all forms of false worship practiced among the heathens. By exposing the uncleanness of those animals and birds such as the eagle, the serpent or the owl, which were held in reverence or used in divination or sacrifices to idols, Israel would be protected from learning the ways heathen (Jeremiah 10:12) and be preserved as a holy people unto God. “For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall ‘be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.“(Leviticus 11:44). Because God’s people should “dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations,” the law of dietary distinction teaches us how the Israel of God ought, in every area of their lives, to be guided by non-conformity with this present evil world (Romans 12:1,2;Galatians 1:4).
2. PURIFICATION RITES AND CLEANSING AFTER CHILDBIRTH
Leviticus 12:1-8; Psalm 51:5; Luke 2:22-24
“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, if a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean” (Leviticus 12:2). According to the law of purification after childbirth, a woman, having given birth to a baby boy was unclean seven days and thereafter remained at home for additional thirty-three days. In the case of a baby girl, the mother was unclean for fourteen days, and then remained home for additional sixty-six days. During the thirty-three or sixty-six day period of her purification, the new mother was not allowed into the sanctuary and she was not to participate in the Passover or peace offering. If she was the wife of the priest, she would not, as she would in the past, eat anything that was holy unto the Lord. The ceremonial uncleanness which the law placed on women after delivery, as with the law of clean and unclean animals, has both physical and spiritual dimension. On the physical consideration, it spoke of God’s tender care in protecting the new mother from the hazards posed by visitors at a time when her bodily weakness and vulnerability to infection were greatest. On the spiritual plane, the uncleanness was reflective of man’s natural sinfulness and the defilement into which all Men are born. As the Psalmist: puts it, “Behold, I was sharpen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). The nature of every person born into the world became sinful from birth as a result of the disobedience of our first parents-Adam and Eve.
Every child born thereafter became an addition to the pool of corruption and sin represented by our common humanity. The period of the new mothers’ exclusion from participation in holy things is symbolic of the exclusion from God’s presence and favor which would have been the lot of all men had God not provided for our purification and salvation through the blood of the sacrificial, Lamb of God-our Lord Jesus Christ. “And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest”(Leviticus 12:6). At the end of her purifying period, before she could return to the sanctuary or participate in holy things, the woman must make her offerings.
First, she must offer for a sin offering, a turtledove or a young pigeon. The sin offering was the same, irrespective of the economic status of the woman. It was to complete her purification from her, ceremonial uncleanness.
Second, she must bring a burnt offering of a lamb, to appreciate God’s mercy in seeing her through the dangers and difficulties of childbirth. If she could not afford a lamb, she was allowed to bring a turtledove or a young pigeon instead. It is noteworthy that in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ, Mary, His mother was unable to offer a lamb; therefore, she offered a turtledove instead (Luke 2:22-24), an indication of the poverty into which Christ was born. Indeed, “…though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor that ye though his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). In burnt offering, she at once expresses her gratitude and implies a commitment to raise a godly seed. She anticipates that the blood of the atoning sin offering, which cleanses her from her uncleanness also cleanses the front of her womb.
3. CEREMONIAL UNCLEANNESS AND PURIFICATION UNDER THE GOSPEL DISPENSATION
Leviticus 11:45;Ephesians 2:13-16;Colossians 2:20-23;Romans 14:17;1’Corinthians 10:31
“For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for l am holy” (Leviticus 11:45). As noted earlier, one of the major purposes of the law of clean and unclean animals was to separate the Jews from the Gentiles, to avoid the pollutions of idolatry among God’s people. Also, in the ceremonial purification after childbirth, we saw a harbinger of the cleansing, of “everyone that cometh into the world” by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Inasmuch as Christ has come and “hath made both (the Jew and the Gentiles] one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in [ceremonial] ordinances; for to make in himself of twain [Jew and Gentile] one new man, so making peace”, the need for separation on the basis of ceremonial cleanness and purification ceased to exist. The New Testament believer is therefore, freed from the burdens of ceremonial laws so he can focus on the more important matters of repentance, faith in Christ and its concomitant holiness of life from a sanctified heart. A New Testament believer cannot subject himself to the ceremonial ordinances of the law as if salvation comes from their observance. However, in taking our liberties in Christ, we must also be careful not to endanger our health for the pleasure of our appetites. “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost” (Romans 14:17).
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
- What can a believer learn from the laws of clean and unclean animals and the purification rites?
- What health and hygiene reasons can be advanced in support of the prohibition of most unclean animals as unsafe for human consumption?
- What lesson(s) on holiness and separation from the world does the law of clean and unclean animals teach us?
- Based on the law of purifying for mothers, explain how a baby born into the world with a sinful nature can attain justification and righteousness before God.
- In what way can a Christian mother appreciate the atonement in the blood of Christ; both for herself and her baby?
- What should be the believer’s attitude to the eating of “clean and unclean” animals?
- Explain how the believer is free from the burden of ceremonial laws.