Leviticus 11 Bible Study - Clean & Unclean (Part 1 - Food)

We start a new segment of Leviticus, looking at what is “clean” and “unclean” for the Israelites. We must remember that “unclean” is not necessarily bad, it just means that it is not holy or fit for use in worship of God in the tabernacle. Being “clean” or “unclean” was a designation related to someone’s ability to participate in the worship at the tabernacle. If you were “unclean,” you had to go through the cleansing process to become “clean” in order to enter the tabernacle courtyard. It was all about being set apart and prepared to approach the Lord.

In this Bible study, we look at the first of 5 chapters on cleanliness, looking at what foods are clean and unclean.

Outline:
06:16 - Overview of Leviticus 11-15
Leviticus 11 - food - what is clean and may be eaten, and what is unclean and not to be eaten
Leviticus 12 - cleanliness and purification after childbirth
Leviticus 13 - skin diseases, fungus & molds
Leviticus 14 - cleansing skin diseases, fungus & molds
Leviticus 15 - discharges causing uncleanness

01:17 - Why are these chapters on cleanliness here? Why are they so odd at times? What was their purpose? Why did all this even exist in the first place - IT MAKES NO SENSE. Give me just a few minutes and I will give a quick explanation

The principal duties of the Israelite priesthood
1. Distinguish between the Holy and the common
2. Distinguish between the unclean and the clean
3. Teach the decrees of the Lord
Exo 19.6 God calls Israel to be a Holy nation, a kingdom of priests
Gal 3.23-25, The law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. KJV - Schoolmaster. AMP - tutor and our disciplinarian. RSV - Custodian. TLB - teacher and guide.

Application:
This call to be set apart did not just exist for the Jews in Moses' day. It exists for us today. Jesus, in the opening of the Sermon on the Mount, he said,
Mat 5.14-16 - “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.”

13:44 - Leviticus 11.1-3
What is a divided hoof?
What is chewing the cud

16:09 - Leviticus 11.4-5
Hyrax - A small rabbit-like creature (Coney, rock badger, or a sharphan).
Psa 104.18
Pro 30.26

17:11 - Leviticus 11.6 - Do rabbits chew the cud? (coprophagy)

18:25 - Leviticus - 11.7-8 - pigs are unclean

18:38 - Leviticus 11.9-12 - Fish vs shellfish

20:36 - Leviticus 11.13-19 - Birds

21:39 - Leviticus 11.20-23 - Insects - Locust, Katydid, cricket or grasshopper
Mat 3.4 - John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey

24:59 - Lev 11.24-43 - Carcasses - unclean until evening

29:43 - What is Shechita?

30:29 - did the Jews cause the bubonic plague?

31:52 - Conclusions
Acts 11.4-18 (Acts 10.1 - 11.18)
Mark 7.14-19, “nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them”

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