What can we possibly learn from all these Old Testament laws about clean and unclean animals?  After all, Jesus Himself declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19).  So, why would God make His Old Testament people go through all this trouble if it wasn’t necessary?

Remember, all the ceremonial laws in the Old Testament point, in one way or another to Jesus, and to the work He did on the cross.  So, what could these object lessons about food teach us about Jesus?

We can’t be exactly sure, but it seems like most of the unclean animals in one way or another were associated with or came into contact with death.  The people were forbidden to eat animals that ate dead things – instead, they were only to eat animals that themselves ate only clean things.

So, what does this have to do with Jesus?  Well, what else did Jesus say when He declared all foods to be clean?  He said, “There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him” (Mark. 7:15).  And He went on to explain the sorts of things that really make someone unclean:  “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person” (Mark. 7:21-23).

So here’s the bottom line for us.  If God’s Old Testament people were acting out what it meant to stay as far away as they could from death, we are to live out what it means to stay as far as we can away from sin, which leads to death.  We must not take anything into ourselves that might lead us into sin and death. 

But more importantly, we must place our trust completely in Christ, the only One Who can wash us clean from the inside out, the only One Who can free us from the power of all the evil that lies within our hearts.  Let us come to Jesus for His cleansing power and be washed in the blood of the Lamb today.

Leviticus 11:1-8 (ESV)

And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, ² “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. ³ Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. ⁴ Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. ⁵ And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. ⁶ And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. ⁷ And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. ⁸ You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.