Tanilba Bay Baptist Church
Worship Service

      • Leviticus 11:1–26ANGLNIV2011

      • Leviticus 11:41–47NKJV

  • A Good Diet

    What’s the best diet to try?
    Throughout my lifetime, I’ve seen quite a number of different diets come and go, almost like trends that some people love to take hold of.
    The Atkins diet allowed high protien and fat intake, but cut out the carbs. There was also the Keto diet which as far as I can tell, had a similar kind of idea.
    I also remember people getting excited by the 5:2 diet which was part of a wider intermittent fasting regime. As I understand it, you fast for relatively short period of time on a regular basis.
    Or there was the Paleo diet. In this one, you’re meant to figure out what our human ancestors from the Paleolithic community ate. That era, by the way, was the period that started 10,000 odd years ago.
    I also remember of course, the Daniel diet. This was particularly popular about 20 years ago, especially among Christians. Basically, for a few weeks, you would eat just bread and vegetables, much like Daniel in the Bible did when he was first taken by the Kings attendent for his preparation.
    There was probably a whole bunch more, but I don’t really remember because, well… I never really cared much for these diets.
    I loved food too much to stop eating.
    But some people will swear by their diet of choice.
    Now, it’s easy, particularly for someone like me, to just dismiss all diets. Possibly, maybe even probably there are certain diets out there worth your while - but what about theologically. From a theological standpoint, are there some dietary considerations we should be making?

    Kosher diet??

    It becomes an interesting question when we come to Leviticus 11.
    Leviticus 11 gives us a whole bunch of rules around what can and can’t be eaten… but are they relevant for us today?
    If you’re Jewish, then this chapter forms the essential basis for their Kosher diet - so yes, Leviticus 11 is very relevant for a Jewish person.
    But, those of you who know your New Testament, you might be able to point to me something like Acts 10 where all food was declared clean. If you’re unfamiliar with the passage, essentially Peter has this vision of a sheet being lowered from heaven with all sorts of unclean animals with God telling him to eat. Peter protests because he says he’s never eaten anything unclean. But God declares them all clean.
    With this in mind, we might conclude that actually, Leviticus 11 has no real value for us other than as a bit of an historical artefact.
    So what do we do with something like this chapter?
    Well, I’m going to suggest that it is more than just an historical artifact, but like the majority of Leviticus, we’re not going to apply it in a direct way. We’re going to have to see what’s being said first.
    In fact, what I’d suggest when coming to a book like this, is rather than being quick to apply it to today, allow the book to be a means in which we can inhabit this ancient world. A time when things were different.
    A time when the full revelation of God has not yet been given.
    As we do this, we get a picture of what it’s like to have God drawing people to him, and we get this picture unencumbered by a modern world.
    So I will come back to explore what it means to us, but for a moment, let’s enter a time machine and wind time back about 3,500 years.

    In the wilderness

    Imagine you’re one of the wandering Israelites who has somewhat recently come out of the captivity in Egypt.
    You’ve been moving around a lot… packing up camp and moving to the next spot.
    As you move around, you tell stories. Stories that your parents and grandparents had told you… even your uncles and aunties as well.
    The story of you leaving Egypt would be on hot repeat, but also the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
    They would have even told the story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. The story where Adam and Eve were told they could eat from any tree in that garden, just not one particular tree.
    But a snake came, convinced them that they should eat from the forbidden tree, only for them to be cast out of the garden and the snake condemned to crawl on its belly.
    So you’re part of this very large camp of people hearing these stories.
    Your knowledge of God is of a powerful God. One where people do not just approach God. Part of the reason the stories of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are so special is because communicating with God in such a way was so unusual.
    You don’t just approach God.
    In fact, it is well known, you see God, you die!
    But this is why in recent times your mind has started to spin as an invitation is being made that you are being invited to approach the Lord.
    The Priests are in place, and the appropriate means for giving offerings has been described.
    There’s now a new sense of pride in being part of this community.
    Adam and Eve had been kicked out. Now the reversal has started. They can come back in. Maybe not the garden - but into the presence of God.
    But here’s an interesting thought… being in the garden, there was a dietary requirement. As they come back into the presence of God, another dietary requirement is going to be placed on them.
    It’s going to be quite a different dietary requirement, but yet obedience is going to be required.
    Obedience to these dietary requirements are going to be required to be in the presence of God.

    The new diet

    Well, let’s have a look at the new dietary requirement for those who want to be in the presence of God.
    The first 23 verses are going to tell us what this community can and can’t eat and it’s going to break it up into four different categories, which we’ll briefly go through one by one.

    Land animals

    First up, are the land animals.
    With this one, we get a simple rule - well, kind of simple.
    The rule is, the animals you eat must both chew the cud and have a divided hoof.
    So cows, goats and sheep are ok.
    But not the camel, rabbit or pig, they’re all out.
    And also the hyrax - and in case you’re wondering what a hyrax is, here’s some images I found on the internet, because, well… I didn’t know what one was either.

    Sea creatures

    Next up, we have the sea creatures.
    This time the rules a bit simpler.
    They’ve just got to have fins and scales.
    Most fish are in. But mussells and oysters don’t have fins an scales, so I guess they’re out.

    Birds

    Next up, are the birds.
    Unfortunately, we don’t get a rule this time, rather we get a list of birds that you can’t eat.
    Actually, it gets even more confusing when you realise that many of the birds listed in the original Hebrew are so obscure, that our modern translations have kind of had to have a bit of a guess as to which bird was meant.
    But that being said, we’ve still got a list even if there is some confusion, so if you want to eat a bird, you better check this list first.

    Flying insects

    The fourth and final category in our eating rules go to the flying insects.
    This time, the rule is, if it walks on all fours, then it’s unclean. But we are given an exception. If the legs are jointed for hopping on the ground, then that’s ok, so you can eat the locust, cricket, cicada or grasshopper.

    Why these rules?

    Before we move on to the rest of the chapter, it’s worth asking what the basis behind these rules are?
    Well, there’s no shortage on suggestions that people have made. One scholar who has done a bigger review of the literature then I have done has found at least 14 different proposals made for why these rules were given.
    Some suggest that it’s for health reasons. Could it be to set them apart from nations around them?
    Actually, every proposal you make doesn’t completely make sense of what is written, and at the end of the day, the text itself doesn’t explain the rationale behind the rules. And so, this is more about obedience, rather than knowing why.
    Perhaps there are some health reasons why this diet is good, but I think it is more than health - God is inviting his people near him, are they able to obey this time and stay in his presence?

    Keeping Clean

    Well, from verse 24 of Leviticus 11 and onwards, the rules move beyond what you can and can’t eat, to now describing what can make you unclean through touch.
    You see, when it comes to the unclean animals, it’s not just about eating them… if you even touch a dead animal that is unclean will themselves be made unclean.

    What does it mean to be unclean

    But first, we need to understand what we mean by this idea of being clean or unclean.
    Well first up, these are not hygiene categories. It is not about whether you’ve washed yourself or not.
    But it’s also not moral categories. Being clean or not clean is not about whether you are sinful or not.
    We’ll see in the chapters to come, that there are natural parts of life that will make you unclean, such as giving birth, and certainly, giving birth does not make you a sinful person.
    So if it’s not to do with hygiene or morality, what is this category about?
    It’s actually got to do with being in a state where it’s appropriate to make offerings to God.
    When you’re unclean there’s a process than to be made clean again, and that is usually spelt out depending on what made you unclean. Sometimes, the unclean period only lasts to the end of the day… at other times it can last much longer.

    Animals on their belly

    Now, I’m not going to go through in details about all the ins and outs of what makes someone unclean - you can read it for yourself if you want.
    But it is interesting to note the surprisingly significant portion devoted to animals that crawl on the ground and how they not only make the person unclean, but seemingly have a significant impact on clothing, cooking utensils, food and drink.
    Why are this crawling creatures given such a large amount of space?
    Perhaps a clue comes when in verse 42 it makes a mention of moving on its belly.
    What is interesting is that the phrase used to describe moving on its belly it used in only one other place in the Bible, and that is Genesis 3 when the snake is condemned after enticing Adam and Eve to sin.
    I’ve already hinted at the fact that this passage is making allusions back to Genesis 3. Genesis 3 they’re kicked out. Leviticus invites them back in. Are they going to follow the new dietary requirement? Or are they going to let the belly crawling creature drive them away again?

    Becoming Holy

    All of this is leading up to verse 44.
    Here we read: “I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy”
    We actually read this quote back in our 1 Peter series as well, because Peter quotes this in the first chapter of his letter: “be holy, because I am holy”.
    The food requirements don’t make you holy in and of themselves, but they do keep someone in the place in which they can be consecrated to become holy.
    Coming into the presence of God is the most amazing privilege. You don’t get there because you deserve it. You get there because God allows it. But while it’s a gift from God, there is a process for us to follow as well.

    What do we do?

    But this brings me back to the question I asked at the start, what does all of this mean for us today?
    The process for us is going to look very different than the specifics of what we read in Leviticus 11.
    I’ve already mentioned that in the New Testament all animals are made clean.
    If you had bacon and eggs for breakfast, you have not made yourself unclean, so your still ok.

    Obedience

    In part, we get back to one of the same ideas I said last week - we need obedience.
    What God is after is people who are going to follow what he says.
    That’s all well and good, except we need to ask, what is God asking us to do?
    You can only be obedient if you know what is being asked of you.
    Well, figuring out what God is asking us to do is actually a huge topic, but as our passage today focusses on food, I want to give some consideration as to what God may be saying about what and how we eat.

    Hospitality

    The New Testament might not have the same kind of food laws restricting what you can and can’t eat, but it does have a lot to say about food.
    For starters, food is one way in which we can show love to others.
    We call it hospitality.
    One of the best ways to show hospitality to someone is to share a meal with them. Something very special happens when you eat a meal with someone. Barriers are torn down. Bonds are formed. Love happens.
    When was the last time you invited someone over for a meal?

    Fasting

    But while sharing food may be a way to be obedient to God, sometimes we may be called to do the opposite.
    Sometimes, it is appropriate to fast. To go without food for a period of time.
    Fasting is a means by which we can draw closer to God. It might not be a command that you have to do, but yet the absence of food can sometimes have a stiking effect on us. It reminds us of our dependence on God. It draws us into prayer and reflection.
    There’s a lot more that could be said about fasting, but is this something you are being called to do?

    Communion

    So sharing hospitality and fasting are two ways we can honour God with food.
    Let me share just one more suggestion in our obedience to God with regards to food.
    It’s taking part in communion.
    In this church, once a month we have the bread and cup as symbols of the body and blood of Jesus.
    As we eat the bread and drink cup we are joining with Jesus is what he is doing.
    You might not have to take part in this to be saved, but yet there is something very special when we do.
    In one regard, it might just be a tiny bit of bread that we’re eating, and a tiny portion of grape juice that we drink, but yet it is so much more. We’re joining with Christian from around the world, and from very different church traditions, reminding ourselves that we are one in Christ.

    Conclusion

    Look, in one regard, while Leviticus 11 might seem like a really foreign passage to us today, one that has very little relevance to us… but yet, it does show us that food is important to God.
    What we eat and how we eat matters to God.
    The rules may be different, but yet we can still honour God with how we eat.
    In this way, while the specifics of Leviticus 11 might not apply, we can learn a lot from it.
    Making ourselves ready to be in the presence of God is important and it requires obedience.
    It is like we are re-entering the Garden of Eden, but we need to recognise, this is not our garden, this is God’s, and if we want to be there, we need to do things his way.
    It might be in showing hospitality, or fasting, or taking part in communion. Food can be a way that we can honour God.
    Let me pray...
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