Distinguish between clean and unclean
<p>Lev 11-15 contains commands/laws about conditions/situations which would render a person "ceremonially unclean"; that is, the person in this condition would not be allowed at the Tabernacle. Most of these conditions are not morally wrong or sinful, yet they create a temporary separation between the unclean person and God, as represented by the Tabernacle where He dwelt with Israel. Furthermore, some differences in the law, such as the fact that the birth mother is ceremonially unclean twice as long after the birth of a daughter (80 days) as the birth of a son (40 days) seem arbitrary, not connected in any way to our historical/cultural knowledge of those Israelites nor our scientific knowledge of the body -- and are not explained in Scripture (Lev 12). What do these things mean to us? How are we to understand and interpret them? One of the best answers I have found is the following excerpt from the Teacher's Commentary on Lev 21-22:</p>
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Priests and people in Israel were to make distinctions between clean and unclean in Israel (cf. <a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Lev+11%3A47">Leviticus 11:47</a>). The regulations that covered diet and certain ritual requirements are discussed in this context.
Some have gone to great lengths to invent "logical" reasons for some of the commands that God gave here. Even today, the proscription against pork has led to the imaginative notion that pork is "bad" meat. I recently talked with a person who argued that a pig's digestive system is incomplete, and that consequently waste materials are stored in the body rather than eliminated as by other animals. Thus pork is supposed to be intrinsically dirty—and thus God is justified in telling the Jews not to eat pork.
It's a little more difficult to find similar explanations for other dietary laws, such as, "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk."
In fact, such explanations miss the point. To teach Peter that the Old Testament economy was passing and that Jew and Gentile were no longer to be viewed as distinct, different races, God caused a great sheet to be lowered from heaven full of "unclean" animals. And Peter was commanded to kill and eat! Peter, a pious Jew, objected. But then the word of God came: "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean" (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Ac+10%3A9-15">Acts 10:9-15</a>).
Later Paul wrote in Romans, "I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean" (<a href="http://www.crossbooks.com/verse.asp?ref=Ro+14%3A14-15">Romans 14:14-15</a>).
The point is simply this. Some things are immoral and unclean in themselves for all persons at all times. Adultery, for instance, is never right. Such things are rooted in the very nature of man as God has created him, and reflect something of God's own moral character and His righteousness. But many things that we read of here in Leviticus have no intrinsic rightness or wrongness. These things were "unclean" simply because God said they were to be so regarded by Israel.
Why did God create this whole set of unclean things? In answering, we do not need to give a logical excuse for each item, as some attempt with the dietary laws. Instead, we need to realize that God was acting to train and to discipline His people. He was working with them, to give them a sense of their own unique identity as His people: to help them realize constantly the privilege—and responsibility—of fellowship with Him.
There was a tremendous danger that this people would forget their God. Sinai demonstrated how quickly and easily they forgot! Now, however, the very pattern of daily life in Israel was so structured that it was almost impossible to forget God. Each meal served was a reminder. The specialness of the offerings served as a reminder. The presence of the priests, scattered throughout the other tribes in their cities and supported by yearly tithes, were reminders. The Sabbath was a weekly reminder and, as we will see in the next unit, a system of annual festivals also helped to keep God in focus.
Everything in the customs God gave to Israel was designed to constantly remind the people that they had a special relationship with God, and were called to walk in fellowship with Him.
Many of these customs in Israel are irrelevant to us today. Others have some deep typical significance, and speak of Christ. Still others reflect God's own character and are rooted in righteousness. But all of them serve as unique reminders of how special it is to live in fellowship with God."</p>