February 7th | Leviticus 11

       I’ve read the Bible through multiple times but, I’m not going to lie, each time I dread reading the book of Leviticus. But without the book of Leviticus we wouldn’t get the full picture of understanding God’s ideal way in which His people were to live. He breaks it down very specifically the rules and regulations for how God intended His people to live. Since God is now dwelling with His people, the Isrealites must address their sinful ways and must strive for holiness.

       In Leviticus chapter 10 we developed an understanding of the priest's role: 1. Distinguish between what is holy and unholy 2. Separate the clean from the unclean 3. Teach the people the laws of God. Jumping to today’s chapter 11, we find the laws on Clean and Unclean animals and food. I read this and thought to myself, “WHY IN THE WORLD IS THIS INCLUDED?!” And perhaps maybe you felt like me! I bet those Isrealites were thinking, “man, I sure would like to eat some rock badger!” This list of don’t eat ____ because of _____ can leave you scratching your head trying to make sense of it all. Don’t worry, even commentators have struggled to make sense of the rationale of why certain creatures were placed in the eat/don’t eat category. BUT, even if we don’t understand the nitty gritty of the list that God gave the Isrealites, we shouldn’t miss the big picture here. The purpose of the clean/unclean list is what we need to take away: these laws were meant to help Isreal- God’s chosen, holy, people- to help them understand the ritual reminder of their need for being separate from a sin-filled unholy world. They were to live in a way that set them apart from the Gentile world. 

        Chapter 11 verses 44-45 God tells them, “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.” The Isrealites must strive for holiness by keeping these laws and ordinances. Today, we are no longer bound by the law- but we are bound to Christ! Although we don’t have to keep the law- we still must strive for holiness. Our Savior, Jesus, who freed us from our bondage of sin is holy- therefore, we must be holy.