“Dirty Birds” – FBC Morning Light (2/13/2024)

Well, good Tuesday morning to you. Today in our Bible reading we're in, again, in Leviticus and chapters 11 and 12, and let's be honest, if you read that today, you probably felt like this is a little tedious, because basically chapter 11 is just recounting all of the animals that Israelites were not allowed to eat, those that were clean, those were unclean, and, you know, none of this really seems to have anything to do with us.

Clean and Unclean Animals in Leviticus

I mean, for example, this talks about you can't eat a hare, a rabbit, because it chews the cud but doesn't have cloven hooves, and it is unclean to you. But, you know, rabbit is eaten by believers today.

It's not like we can't eat it. And you can go on down through pork, and so on and so forth. And then there's all these dirty birds. I remember hearing a message a long time ago, many, many years ago, by an evangelist.

This whole message was on dirty birds, and he used this text, and he talked about these dirty birds in chapter 11, verse 13 and following, and he tried to draw analogies between the character of these birds and different kinds of sin that were part of the life.

Well, anyway, so, and then it gets down to chapter 11, verse 24, and talks about what happens if you touch one of these unclean animals, and so on and so forth. And, you know, again, we read that, and it's like, well, you know, this doesn't really have anything to do with us.

The Purpose of Dietary Laws Was Holiness

It does, it doesn't seem to, until you get down to chapter 11, verses 44 and following, and there you discover what the real reason is for all of these dietary restrictions. It would be easy to conclude that, especially when you think about some of those creatures that were unclean, that were forbidden, they couldn't eat, it would be easy to conclude that the primary reason had, for these dietary laws, had to do with health and the physical well-being.

I won't argue that there is none of that in this, I think in some cases it certainly would be true. You got animals and birds and so forth in that list that are scavengers, and just by virtue of their nature, they would be carrying, you know, disease and parasites and so forth, and I understand that.

But that's not the primary reason that God prohibited these things. These animals, many of which were eaten in the cultures around them, and that's why God selected them. What do I mean? Well, in verse 44, the Lord says, well, go back to verse 43, says, you shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps, you shall not make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them, for I am the Lord your God.

You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy, for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth, for I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God.

You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. This is the law of the animals and the birds and every living creature that moves in the waters and every creature that creeps on the earth, to distinguish between the clean and the unclean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.

In other words, the point is that God established these dietary laws and these clean and unclean creatures for the sake of demonstrating holiness unto the Lord. That God's people were to be different and set apart from the surrounding cultures and the behaviors of all the world around them.

And so by not eating these things and by leaving these various animals and creatures alone, they were communicating a distinctiveness among the surrounding cultures. And why? Well, because God wants it to be clear, wants it made clear by his people that we are his people, we are separated unto him.

You shall be holy, he says, for I am holy. Now that's not a concept that's limited to the Old Testament people, Israelites. That is a concept that is repeated in the New Testament. The Apostle Peter tells us that God wants us to be holy as he is holy.

Christians Are Called to Be Holy

So yes, New Testament Christian, maybe you had some pork sausage for breakfast today, that didn't defile you, but God still wants you to be holy. He wants you to be set apart unto him. Why? Because he is holy.

This is the challenge of the day. Let's be holy people unto the Lord. And so our Father and our God, I pray that you would challenge us to be a holy, sanctified, set apart people unto you. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

All right, well listen, have a good Tuesday. May the Lord bless you in it.