And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them,
The Lord speaking to Moses and to Aaron here begins His instructions about food, drawing the line between clean meats that might be eaten and unclean animals unfit for food. Those instructions belonged to the strict training given in the wilderness before entering Canaan, laying down principles for preserving health and laws concerning clean and unclean things. After settlement in Canaan this same passage regulated the use of animal food, permitting only specified clean animals and forbidding swine and other creatures declared unclean.
The law expressly forbade the Hebrews to eat swine's flesh and certain other animals, naming the animals least objectionable for food because the others were not the best articles of food. Swine were never designed to be eaten under any circumstances, but were useful as scavengers permitted to run free to devour decaying substances that would otherwise poison the atmosphere and so preserve health. The restrictions also included rules about blood, fat, and the condition of animals, which together limited the harms of a flesh diet.
The prohibitions were given for health to preserve life and health, keeping the blood pure and the mental and physical faculties sound, and guarding against impurities that fill the system with humors and shorten life. Swine's flesh was especially hurtful in that warm climate, where it often produced leprosy, with far more injurious influence there than in a colder climate. If Israel had submitted to these wise prohibitions, everything injurious to health would have been removed and no sickness suffered to be among them, but departure from the appointed diet brought loss and kept them from reaching His purpose for them. When appetite is left to control reason, sacred things are not discerned but are placed on a level with common things.
Daniel and his companions refused the king's food in obedience to this command because some meats were unclean under that law, seeking to preserve health and clear minds for God's service. Religious leaders and Pharisees distorted and extended the requirements through traditions and minute rules, making eating and drinking a burdensome exercise in distinguishing clean from unclean. They required water to be strained to remove even the smallest insect, and Jesus exposed this as a trivial concern about outward cleanliness compared with their serious sins.
The Lord speaking to Moses and to Aaron here begins His instructions about food, drawing the line between clean meats that might be eaten and unclean animals unfit for food. Those instructions belonged to the strict training given in the wilderness before entering Canaan, laying down principles for preserving health and laws concerning clean and unclean things. After settlement in Canaan this same passage regulated the use of animal food, permitting only specified clean animals and forbidding swine and other creatures declared unclean.
The law expressly forbade the Hebrews to eat swine's flesh and certain other animals, naming the animals least objectionable for food because the others were not the best articles of food. Swine were never designed to be eaten under any circumstances, but were useful as scavengers permitted to run free to devour decaying substances that would otherwise poison the atmosphere and so preserve health. The restrictions also included rules about blood, fat, and the condition of animals, which together limited the harms of a flesh diet.
The prohibitions were given for health to preserve life and health, keeping the blood pure and the mental and physical faculties sound, and guarding against impurities that fill the system with humors and shorten life. Swine's flesh was especially hurtful in that warm climate, where it often produced leprosy, with far more injurious influence there than in a colder climate. If Israel had submitted to these wise prohibitions, everything injurious to health would have been removed and no sickness suffered to be among them, but departure from the appointed diet brought loss and kept them from reaching His purpose for them. When appetite is left to control reason, sacred things are not discerned but are placed on a level with common things.
Daniel and his companions refused the king's food in obedience to this command because some meats were unclean under that law, seeking to preserve health and clear minds for God's service. Religious leaders and Pharisees distorted and extended the requirements through traditions and minute rules, making eating and drinking a burdensome exercise in distinguishing clean from unclean. They required water to be strained to remove even the smallest insect, and Jesus exposed this as a trivial concern about outward cleanliness compared with their serious sins.