Leviticus 11 God’s Divine Menu

 

Intro: Chapter 11 marks a TURNING point in this Book

A)The FIRST 10 chapters deal primarily in the WORSHIP of God

    They deal with offeringS presented TO God

               Expressions of affection to god

               eXpressions of sacrifice for god

 

b)most of all illustrations of the one who gave himself for us

 

C)The remaining chapt’s 11-27 deal with INSTRUCTION FROM GOD

    1) In Part One we find the way TO God / WORSHIP of God

           In Part Two we find out about the walk WITH  God

 

D) The two go together – you see it Doesn’t matter how high you JUMP  but what matters is how straight you walk when you come down –

1)   love to see people  go forward at crusades meetings/ Camps, Conferences  last week / or Church services

 

E) But where the rubber meets the road is what happens later –

     how straight you walk / As you have received … walk in Him

 

Ch.11 – deals w/ Dietary issues –stopped at Carl's Jr. didn’t get my usual - #5 Barbecue – New Spicy Chicken-Chicken is ok

A)But This chapter seems so unusual because God gives a diet, a menu, for the children of Israel to follow.

 

B)They are to eat certain things and they are not to eat the things which God keeps off the menu. So here is the important question:

1)   Could the God of this vast universe be interested in what His creatures have for dinner?

2)   Could the One who orders all of creation prepare a menu for man?

 

C) This chapter gives the answer: God was & is interested in the details of the lives of His people. No detail is too minute to escape His interest or concern

Listen God is interested in EVERY detail of your life- There is NOTHING that is insignificant to Him when it concerns YOU

A lady asked G. Campbell Morgan whether he thought we ought to pray to God about the little things in our lives. His answer was, "Madam, can you think of  anything in your life that is big to God?"

 

A)You see, we tend to divide things in our lives as big problems and little problems. They are not divided that way before God.

 

B)Nothing is Big Problem – Not Sweating over your situation tonight – not special meeting because of your marriage / finances / sickness

   1) Yet nothing is too small for His attention and care. 

 

C) When you think about that it puts things in proper perspective

      1) WHAT in my Life  is BIG to God?

 

D) Our father is HUGE - Our Milky Way Galaxy = 100 million light years long... 10 million light years wide

  1) Isa. 40:12    measures the heavens with the span

 

E) So There is NOTHING big to God when we think of how big He is

      Nothing small &  Everything is of equal importance to God

 

 

So the detail that God gives concerning diet is really an illustration of his love & concern for man – in every aspect of his life

A)3 FOLD APPLICATION -    1st – Practical Instruction for Protection for the Israelites

 

B) Dietary regulations put in place by the Lord to provide protection from certain diseases

 

C) 2nd Provide distinction or Separation from the rest of the World

1)   These dietary issues would not only provide protection but would separate them from the World

D) Different People – different in the way they eat – Dan & Boys

1)   Coming from a different place & going to a different destination –

 

E) Ok to be Different – Not Halloween / Dress like Britney

 

So first Practical instruction for Protection / 2nd Provide distinction or separation from the World

 

3rd – Illustration to us Christians

A)Practical illustrations for us as believers

 

B) See the N.T. – makes it clear that these restrictions concerning diet & festivals doesn’t apply to us as believers in Jesus Christ

 

C) Requirements of the law- were nailed to the cross w/ Christ –

1)   Now all things are lawful –

 

Col 2: 16So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

 

So those are the 3 applications – now if you want to better understand this first issue – How these were Protection for Israel

A)Book –by Dr. S.I. McMillen – None of these Diseases  For after God finished giving  them, the law, He gave to them a conditional promise.

 

“If you will keep my law, and my statutes, then none of these diseases that I brought upon the Egyptians, will come upon you.”

 

B) A book that gets into how science has confirmed the Wisdom of these regulations that God imposed on his people

1)   Also outlines how – other cultures during this time when these restrictions were given had all these crazy Medicinal Cures

 

C) Here is one he mentions – from the Famous Ebers Papyrus a medical book from  1500 B.C. – Cure for Pink Eye

1)   To cure pinkeye –apply the urine of a faithful wife.   No Joke !!!

 

D) McMillen writes the treatment was useless & dangerous & if when the pinkeye wasn’t cured the wife – had some explaining to do !!!

 

So when other cultures were coming up w/ these crazy & Bazaar cures God gave his people – some instructions that scientist today – Validate

 

Listen to the statement of Dr. Noel de Mussy, presented to the Paris Academy of Medicine in 1885:

"The idea of parasitic and infectious diseases  which has conquered so great a position in modern pathology, appears to have greatly occupied the mind of Moses and to have dominated all his hygienic rules. He excluded from the Hebrew diet, animals particularly liable to parasites; and as it is in the blood that the germs and spores of infectious disease circulate, he orders that they must be drained of their blood before serving for food."

 

How did Moses know that? Well, Moses wouldn't have known it, but God told him.

A)In the Middle Ages when plagues were sweeping through Europe & millions were dying

 

B) there was ONE race of people that was virtually unaffected- the Jews

    At that time the Jews kept to these dietary laws with great strictness

1)   As a result they seemed to be immune from the diseases that were    plaguing everyone else

 

C) The gentiles in Europe thought that the Jews were the ones bringing these diseases upon them

1)   They began to persecute them and poison their water and burn                  them at the stake

 

D) So there are some good – books / scientific research validates God’s instruction to Israel-  tonight – focus – 3rd  aspect – Practical. App Read v. 1-8

Notice 1st The animals that were approved by God for eating were determined on the basis of how the animal ate and how they walked

A)IF they chew the cud & divided the hoof, then they were okayed by God

     

B) IF they did NOT chew the cud or part the hoof they were NOT okay by  

      God -  They were called UNCLEAN

 

C)This is INTERESTING as it applies to us

   1) Cleanliness is determined on how a person walks and how a person eats

 

D)HOW you walk in this life and what you chew on in life will determine           whether or not you are clean or unclean

  1) HOW do you WALK?

 

ILLUSTRATION: A young man was on a street corner passing out Bible tracts.... witnessing and sharing the Gospel

 

An old man came up to him and said: "Young man, I'm not interested in TRACTS... I'm interested in YOUR  TRACKS   I'm going to watch your TRACKS.... see how you walk....if I like what I see   then I'll be interested in your TRACTS

 

Those animals who had a separated Hoof – were considered clean – A)Application to us – Separated lives – not like the world

 

B) How walk & what you eat -

1)   The idea of chewing the cud is very graphic in it's application to our feeding upon the Word of God

 

C) Word Chew – also translated Meditate - Ever watched a Cow eat – very slow & methodical - 

  1) The cow has 3 stomachs and the grass it eats goes back through these stomachs over and over again.... EXTRACTRING every ounce of   nutrient

 

When you take the Word of God and MEDITATE on the Word it is like CHEWING the Word of God over and over again

A)Ps. 1:2 Describes the HAPPY MAN / his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law  he meditate day and night.

 

B) WHAT are YOU chewing on?

    1)Some people chew on the husks that the world offers – E.T. – T.V. ball

         games /  Blue glowing light / People / Cosmo /

 

C) Some people chew on sour grapes – Bitterness / Anger /

 

Phil. 4:8   Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

 

Here is what we need to understand - That which you are CHEWING on has a direct effect upon your walk

 

Josh. 1:8   This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

                  

V.3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water,

That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.

 

So Cleanliness determined by how you walk and what you chew on

 

After determining what kind of MEATS could be eaten, God moves onto FISH      VERSES 9-12

 

 

         

Fish was and IS a significant part of Jewish diet

A)If you go to Israel with us next year you will eat LOTS of it

 

B)Only fish with SCALES and FINS could be eaten

1)   Means Shell fish was eliminated- Crab / Lobster / Shrimp

 

C) Why – Scientist have found that – during certain months – Clams & shell fish excrete a deadly poisonous substance – You can die

1)   So Fishing for them is seasonal –

 

D) God prohibits all of them – no confusion

 

CHECK THIS OUT APP FOR US -  Again, cleanliness is determined upon method of movement through water

A)Water is symbolic of the Word

 

B) Speaks of one – moving in being washed by the water of the word

 

C) Seeking to justify sin / carnality/ make word fit my lifestyle – ignoring scripture /  pick & Choose

 

VERSES 13-19 move onto FOWL.... The list of DIRTY BIRDS

 

C)On the birds there are no visible markers like there are on the fish and the animals. But they seem to have in common that they are all unclean feeders.   

1)   For the most part, they feed on dead carcasses of animals, fish, and other

     fowl.

 

 

VERSES 21-23 – Insects

A)If you were into locusts then you were stoked

     We know of one guy in the New Testament who dug them

 

B) Can't you just see him with one hanging out of his mouth?

     Yet - These were approved by the Lord  -  PROTEIN

 

VERSES 24-28-  Not just eating but touching

 

Here is the point for us in these verses

A)When it comes to unclean animals you can be contaminated by contact

      You might not actually be eating of that thing...

 

B) BUT - If you are hanging around it... playing with it.... rubbing shoulders             with it or carrying it around...

1)   Then you are UNCLEAN by virtue of the fact that you have had

     CONTACT with an unclean carcass

 

 

C) There are those who say: "I'm really not PARTAKING of anything that

      the Lord disapproves of"

1)   BUT - Are you hanging around it?- Are you seeing how close you can

     get without actually consuming it?

 

D)SPIRITUAL contamination comes through contact- 

 

NOTE: Hag. 2:11-14 thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Now, ask the priests concerning the law, saying, 12“If one carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and with the edge he touches bread or stew, wine or oil, or any food, will it become holy?”’”    Then the priests answered and said, “No.”

13And Haggai said, “If one who is unclean because of a dead body touches any of these, will it be unclean?”

So the priests answered and said, “It shall be unclean.”

14Then Haggai answered and said, “‘So is this people, and so is this nation before Me,’ says the LORD, ‘and so is every work of their hands; and what they offer there is unclean.

 

APPLICATION: IF you have a piece of HOLY meat in your pocket and you touch           something with that HOLY meat, is that HOLINESS transferred to that object that you have touched

 

NO - Holiness can NOT be transferred

BUT - IF something that is UNCLEAN touches that HOLY meat, THEN that HOLY meat becomes UNCLEAN

A)Water & Mud – Water make the mud clean ? No / Mud make the water dirty ? Yes

 

B) Lots of things – we think – have no affect – but they have a way of dirtying our minds

         

C) Unequally Yoked – Come out from among them ……..

1)   How Share ? Neutral Ground -   

 

D) You can’t make a dirty thing clean but a dirty thing can make you unclean

 

VERSES 29-31

A)Don't even TOUCH a dead snail

 

Scientist note of the fact that they carried PARASITES that got into the intestines

 

B) NOTE: These are LITTLE things - Snails.... MOUSE -

    BUT - These LITTLE things could be deadly

 

 

 

C)The carcass of a mouse can be JUST as contaminating as the carcass                 of an elephant/   It makes NO difference which you touch

 

D) APP /  It brings an end to the idea of BIG sin and LITTLE sin

    1) We all tend to look at our own sin as if it were a MOUSE

 

E) It's the other guy who's touching the elephant Sin is sin

 

VERSE 32

A)IF one of these things touched a vessel... that vessel became USELESS until it was purified

 

B) It had to be cleansed in water -  soaked in water / accident soak your head

 

VERSE 33

 

Check this out- 2Cor. 4:7   But we have this treasure in earthen vessels

A)When THESE earthen vessels come into contact with UNCLEANESS the way   of God is to BREAK that vessel

 

B)He has to take us through times of BREAKING/ NOT because He is punishing us

  1) BUT - Because He is PURIFYING us

 

C) NOTE: We will NEVER be PUNISHED for sin

    1) Jesus SUFFERED ONCE and for ALL

 

D) BUT - God is interested in PURIFYING you and PREPARING you for    

     His use

   1) How many of you have experienced that BREAKING process?

 

Hebr. 12:11 (NIV)   No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for             those who have been trained by it.

 

                  

VERSES 34-36 Continues but gives an exception

A)VERSE 36 points out an EXCEPTION

 

B)IF one of these animals fall into a fountain of running water = LIVING           WATER.... it does NOT pollute that fountain

1)  What a neat picture

 

 

C) WHO is that fountain?- JESUS

    1) He is NOT POLLUTED or defiled by His contact with us

 

Hebr. 2:11   For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

 

He can handle us when we feel like a Rat

 

In JOHN 13, Jesus got on His knees and washed the feet of the disciples

One of them was Judas Iscariot

A)He GENUINELY loved Judas.. As much as any of the others

 

B) Matt. 26:49 – Betrayal – Friend                                    

     1) He did NOT call him CREEP or JERK or TRAITOR

           He called him FRIEND and MEANT it

 

C)He looked at the one who was in the ACT of betraying him

      He looked at the one who had done the worst thing in history

        1) And He called Him friend

 

APPLICATION: If the Lord can wash the feet of Judas and call him friend, then He can handle ME.... YOU

A)If He can embrace Judas at the point of betrayal... He can embrace ME

 

B)The Lord... The FOUNTAIN of Living Waters an EMBRACE YOU and                        not be polluted

 

C) He is NOT ashamed to call us brethren / come for cleansing

VERSES 37-47

 

 VERSE 45 - you shall  be holy, for I am holy.

A) Exhortation & a Promise

Exhort – Be Holy – Pursue Holiness / not happiness

 

C)This is a PROMISE-   You are GOING to be holy for I am Holy