11:1-46
We now come to a whole bunch of food laws, and I guess many of us think “what is the point?”. We are correct in this up to a point, for in Mark 7:19 Jesus declared all foods to be clean. However, this is God’s word, so there must be some purpose to it.
The text starts with God declaring “these are the ones you may eat”. So, as in Eden, the starting point is that God has made ample provision for the people. Then God draws a distinction between “clean” and “unclean” creatures, with rules for animals, sea creatures, birds and insects. The translation of names of creatures in the Bible is often subject to significant uncertainty as they didn’t have any textbooks to refer to! While the rules for determining which category a particular creature was in are clear, no explanation of the reason for the distinction is given. Various attempts have been made, based either on health grounds, or on means of locomotion, or some other criteria. None of these attempts are particularly successful. They work in some cases but not in others.
At the end of the chapter (11:44-47) we are told that the purpose is that Israel was to be holy as the Lord is holy. They were to be utterly dedicated to the Lord. In trying to find some rational reason for the distinction between clean and unclean we are trying to take back control, when what the Israeites were to do was to obey the Lord. So maybe what is going on is that God has given them a clear set of rules, and by sticking to these rules the people would demonstrate their commitment to the Lord. This would mark them out from the other nations.
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