And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten.
Leviticus 11 belongs to the dietary and health and sanitary requirements given through Moses, which pronounce certain meats unclean and forbidden. It declares that every creeping thing that creeps or moves upon the earth is an abomination and unclean and shall not be eaten. The same chapter also pronounces unclean and forbids swine and certain other animals, along with unclean birds and fish. God forbade such food not as an arbitrary restriction but because it is unfit, not the best food, and hurtful to health, filling and polluting the blood with impurities and shortening life. His purpose was to protect life and health, to keep the system free from disease, and to preserve mental and physical faculties through simple, healthful food that keeps the blood pure.
Swine were never to be eaten under any circumstances, though they are useful as scavengers to devour decaying matter and preserve health. The prohibition was wise and loving to remove sickness from Israel; if Israel had submitted to it God would have removed everything injurious to health and suffered no sickness among them, but because they would not submit He gave them what they lusted for. Such forbidden meats were included in the food appointed at the Babylonian king's table, and Daniel and his three companions refused the king's meats and wines in obedience and refusal to defile themselves, because that class of food would not keep mind and body in the very best health for God's service. Keeping that law practices temperance in eating and drinking so brain and muscle are not enfeebled, mental powers stay clear and undimmed, and physical and moral powers are not imperiled for indulgence of appetite. Intemperance in eating and drinking and indulgence of appetite benumbs the fine sensibilities so sacred things are placed on a level with common things and are not discerned.
Making God's will the supreme law of life honors and glorifies God, perfects Christian character with clear intellect, and fits His people to stand as representatives of true religion amid false religions where perils are on every side. The prohibition did not justify extending the rules beyond what God required; the Pharisees perverted and distorted them into unwarranted extremes and burdensome traditions and minute regulations. They even demanded that all drinking water be strained lest the smallest insect be swallowed and classed with unclean animals. That trivial exaction was contrasted with the magnitude of actual sin, and it kept people preoccupied with distinguishing clean from unclean.
Leviticus 11 belongs to the dietary and health and sanitary requirements given through Moses, which pronounce certain meats unclean and forbidden. It declares that every creeping thing that creeps or moves upon the earth is an abomination and unclean and shall not be eaten. The same chapter also pronounces unclean and forbids swine and certain other animals, along with unclean birds and fish. God forbade such food not as an arbitrary restriction but because it is unfit, not the best food, and hurtful to health, filling and polluting the blood with impurities and shortening life. His purpose was to protect life and health, to keep the system free from disease, and to preserve mental and physical faculties through simple, healthful food that keeps the blood pure.
Swine were never to be eaten under any circumstances, though they are useful as scavengers to devour decaying matter and preserve health. The prohibition was wise and loving to remove sickness from Israel; if Israel had submitted to it God would have removed everything injurious to health and suffered no sickness among them, but because they would not submit He gave them what they lusted for. Such forbidden meats were included in the food appointed at the Babylonian king's table, and Daniel and his three companions refused the king's meats and wines in obedience and refusal to defile themselves, because that class of food would not keep mind and body in the very best health for God's service. Keeping that law practices temperance in eating and drinking so brain and muscle are not enfeebled, mental powers stay clear and undimmed, and physical and moral powers are not imperiled for indulgence of appetite. Intemperance in eating and drinking and indulgence of appetite benumbs the fine sensibilities so sacred things are placed on a level with common things and are not discerned.
Making God's will the supreme law of life honors and glorifies God, perfects Christian character with clear intellect, and fits His people to stand as representatives of true religion amid false religions where perils are on every side. The prohibition did not justify extending the rules beyond what God required; the Pharisees perverted and distorted them into unwarranted extremes and burdensome traditions and minute regulations. They even demanded that all drinking water be strained lest the smallest insect be swallowed and classed with unclean animals. That trivial exaction was contrasted with the magnitude of actual sin, and it kept people preoccupied with distinguishing clean from unclean.