Leviticus 11:47
To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten. To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.
The purpose of the food laws was to draw a clear line between the unclean and the clean, and between the living creature permitted as food and the living creature forbidden as food. That distinction identified which beasts might be eaten and which might not, marking certain meats as unclean and forbidding their use. Israel was thus to recognize clean animals fit for food and unclean animals not to be eaten.
The instruction belonged to the health teaching and sanitary regulation impressed upon the people during strict training in the wilderness before entering Canaan. The forbidden kinds included swine's flesh and certain other animals, together with fat and blood and flesh from animals torn, dead of themselves, or not properly drained of blood. Swine's flesh and other meats of this class were later found among the king's food, so faithfulness to the requirement became a test even at risk of position and life.
The restrictions were wise and just safeguards to preserve life and health by simple, healthful food that keeps the blood pure, and the animals allowed were those least objectionable for food. Meats pronounced unclean do not keep mind and body in the best condition for service but enfeeble brain and muscle, cloud clear intellect, pollute the blood, shorten life, and imperil physical and moral powers. Swine's flesh was especially harmful in the warm climate, where it could produce leprosy, and the other excluded creatures were not the best food, though swine served a useful place as consumers of decaying matter that would otherwise poison the air. Obedience would have spared the people from sickness, but departure from the appointed diet brought loss and kept them from attaining the character and purpose intended for them, and when they refused to submit and lusted for what they desired they were allowed to have it.
The restriction as given was reasonable, yet it was perverted when extended into minute human regulations, such as requiring all water to be strained lest it contain the smallest insect that might be classed with the unclean. That multiplying of exactions made eating and drinking a constant strain, turned the law into trivial demands, and drew attention away from true religion. Such concentration on trivial outward cleanliness while grave sins were tolerated was condemned. Refusing the unclean keeps the mental powers clear and undimmed and physical health sound, in order to honor God, perfect character, and stand as representatives of true religion amid false religions. That course makes the will of God the supreme law of life through temperance in eating and drinking, decided resistance to appetite, and trust in God.