But these are they of which ye shall not eat the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle,
Deuteronomy 14:12 opens the list of birds Israel was forbidden to eat, naming three large birds of prey at the head of it. Why would God control what His people ate? What were these birds meant to teach?
The chapter opens by reminding Israel whose children they are. The eating rules flow from that identity.
Chapter 14 forbids the people, as children of the living God, to copy the unholy customs that showed how devoted idolaters were to the impure beings they worshipped. God had chosen Israel for Himself. They were also not to defile themselves by eating disgusting things. They were a holy people.
The separation was never a claim that Israel was superior. Another writer names the real ground of it:
The great fact of Israel's relationship to Jehovah set them apart from all the nations under the sun. It was not that they were, in themselves, any better or holier than others. But Jehovah was holy, and they were His people.
Older translations call the second bird the "ossifrage." Its Hebrew name describes what it does:
The Hebrew is peres, which means 'breaking,' and ossifrage means 'bone breaker.' This has led people to identify the bird with the one now known as the Lammergeier. It is a species of vulture, though it looks like an eagle, since feathers cover its neck. It attacks a carcass when the vultures have finished: it picks the bones, and then breaks them to feed on the marrow. It does this by carrying them up to a height and letting them fall on a stone or rock until they break.
What marks these birds is not only that they kill. It is what they are willing to swallow:
These feed not only on death like the carnivores, but on corruption. This is the nature that finds delight in looking at and taking in what is not only dead but foul and rotten. But is there any such nature? Sadly we know too well that there is... All of this kind are unclean, whether they are marked by power and dignity like the eagle, cruelty like the hawk, shamelessness like the cuckoo, or the heavy, shallow seriousness and foolish wisdom of the owl.
Two appetites are on display in these birds, and both are foreign to God:
What can be more opposed to His character than fierce violence toward the living, and endless greed toward the dead? If the Israelite could not eat such birds, the Christian is to have no fellowship with ways that are morally like them. He is to avoid them and reprove them... All symbolise traits with which we should have no fellowship. Christ is to be our food.
A bird of prey stays alive because something else dies. That habit has a human counterpart.
They stay alive by making victims of others. Man's motto is, "Mind yourself." His selfishness is the display of the uncleanness of his nature. Jesus was not like this; for "He pleased not Himself." He went about doing good... Such creatures live on the helplessness and downfall of the weak. And how many a man makes a pedestal for himself by the ruin of others!
One writer turns the food rule into a rule for the mind:
We may usefully apply the thought to what we may mentally read and inwardly digest. Let us take care that we do not feed mentally on what is impure.
This appetite often shows itself as an eye trained to spot faults:
It loves to pick up scraps of evil from all sides. While it shakes its head over them and seems to condemn them, it quietly puts them in the mouth, chews and ruminates on them... The elements of all these evil tendencies are of course in each of us. But if we have also been given new natures, we have the power to "reckon dead" and "make no provision for the flesh."
- Belonging — The food rules flow from relationship. God had chosen Israel for Himself, so their table had to match His holiness, not their merit.
- Bone-breaker — The names point to habits. Peres means "breaking": a bird that picks bones and shatters them for the marrow.
- Corruption — These birds are unclean because their appetite goes past death to rot. Writers warn that the same nature is in us.
- Cruelty — Violence toward the living and endless greed toward the dead are both opposite to God. Christ, who pleased not Himself, is the contrast.
- Diet — The lasting lesson is what you feed your mind. Refuse impure and fault-finding scraps, and make Christ your food.
and the falcon, and the kite, and the black kite after its kind;
This verse names the kite and the falcon in a short list of birds Israel must never eat. Why would God rule on a nation's diet bird by bird, and what does a list like this say to a reader today?
The food laws in this chapter are not isolated rules. They come after God calls Israel His children. They sit beside a ban on copying the customs of idol-worshippers.
Chapter 14 forbids the people, as children of the living God, to copy the unholy customs that showed how devoted idol-worshippers were to the impure beings they worshipped. God had chosen Israel for Himself. They were also not to defile themselves by eating detestable things. They were a holy people.
Compare translations and you find different birds named here. Commentators admit the difficulty, and it does not damage the point of the passage.
Of course the translation in many cases is only approximate, since some of the names occur nowhere else. There is no attempt at scientific terms here. This is practical direction for the Lord's people, with a moral application now for faith.
So what is the kite? Scripture records little: what it eats, and how well it sees.
There are several species of kite, and they feed on small birds, mice, reptiles, and fish. The Israelites were forbidden to eat it (Lev. 11:14; Deut. 14:13). The same Hebrew word is translated 'vulture' in Job 28:7, and 'falcon' in the Revised Version. Scripture notes it for one thing only, its sharp eyesight, but that feature would fit many different birds.
The listed birds share a way of living. The ban covers the falcon "of any kind" — a whole family of birds, not one. They kill, or they feed on what is already dead. That is what makes them unfit for a people close to God.
Many birds of the sky have qualities that God hates in those He takes into relationship with Himself. Others are not fit to be food for people. What could be more opposed to His character than fierce violence toward the living and endless greed toward the dead? … The Israelite was forbidden to eat such birds. In the same way the Christian is to have no fellowship with ways that match them morally, but is to avoid them and rebuke them. … All of them picture traits we should have nothing to do with. Christ is to be our food.
Another writer sorts the same list into classes and draws one rule from them:
Birds that fed on flesh, birds that would swallow anything at all, and all birds that grovel on the ground were unclean for the Israel of God, because the God of Israel had said so… The Christian is called to refuse everything of a fleshly nature. He also cannot feed on anything and everything that comes in front of him. He must "test the things that differ." He must "pay attention to what he hears."
A predator lives at another creature's expense. One writer holds that instinct up as a mirror, then sets it beside a very different life.
Many of these birds are birds of prey, and they remind us of the selfishness of man in the flesh. They stay alive by making victims of others. Man's motto is, "Mind yourself." His selfishness is the sign of how unclean his nature is. Jesus was not like this, for "He did not please Himself." He went about doing good. His heart was set on blessing others. … These birds of prey are truly selfish. The hawk and birds like it pounce on small, defenceless creatures only to help themselves. … And how many people build a pedestal for themselves out of the ruin of others!
Later, arguments about food broke out among Christians. The answer given there points to another appetite altogether.
Many centuries later, believers from other nations soon outnumbered believers from the Jews in Christian circles. These food rules then led to the arguments over doubtful things that Romans 14 speaks of. In that chapter the Spirit of God does not lay down a law. He leaves each person to be convinced in his own mind about what he should do. We can usefully apply the same thought to what we read and take into our minds. Let us take care not to feed our minds on what is impure.
- Belonging first. The bird list follows from Israel being God's own children and a holy people, not from health advice alone.
- Diet as character. Scripture notes the kite for its sharp eye. Yet it is barred along with birds that live by violence toward the living and greed toward the dead.
- Not science. Several of these names appear nowhere else, so the translations are only approximate. The aim is practical direction with a moral lesson for faith.
- Self exposed. A predator survives by another creature's loss. That mirrors man's selfishness. Jesus was the opposite: He did not please Himself.
- Appetite now. The Christian is not bound by the menu but by the principle: refuse what is fleshly, test what differs, take care what you hear, and do not feed your mind on what is impure.
and every raven after its kind;
Deuteronomy 14 lists the birds Israel was never to eat, and this line covers a whole family at once: every kind of raven, not one species. So why would God tie His people's holiness to what landed on their plate?
The word behind "raven" here covers more than the single bird we picture.
The word oreb comes from a root meaning "to be black." It seems to cover not only the common raven, but birds of the same family (corvus) — the crow, the rook, and so on. Scripture names the whole class as unclean.
One writer marks the difference between animals that kill for food and birds that feed on rot.
These feed not only on death like the meat-eating animals, but on corruption. This is the nature that finds delight in looking at and taking in what is not only dead but foul and putrid. But is there any such nature? Unfortunately we know too well that there is.
Another writer holds these appetites up against God's own character, and ends by naming the Christian's true food.
What can be more opposed to His character than fierce, greedy violence toward the living, and endless greed toward the dead? … If the Israelite was forbidden to make such birds his food, the Christian is to have no fellowship with ways that are morally like them. He is to avoid them and speak against them. … Christ is to be our food.
One writer explains what clean and unclean feeding stands for, and why it matters that birds live in the air.
The distinction between unclean and clean has many sides to its meaning. The broad general feature is this: the unclean feeds on dead flesh. The clean does not touch it. It eats plants or grain — what has been dead but is now alive in resurrection. Birds live in the air, the heavenly places. They are symbols of spiritual natures, either good or bad, clean or unclean.
One writer turns the two birds into a daily rule for the believer.
Let us remember also that fallen human nature feeds on what is unclean, as the raven does. Only what is born of the Spirit is spirit, and so, like the dove, feeds on what is clean. If we recognise this we shall be very careful about what we feed our minds on. It has been well said that for spiritual growth we must "starve the raven and feed the dove."
The food list does not stand alone. It sits inside a chapter about who Israel belonged to.
Chapter 14 forbids the people to copy the profane customs of idolaters, for they are the children of the living God. Those customs showed how devoted idolaters were to the impure beings they worshipped. God had chosen Israel for Himself. Nor were they to defile themselves by eating detestable things. They were a holy people.
The food rules belonged to Israel. One writer traces how the principle reaches the Christian.
The first 21 verses of Deuteronomy 14 stress that Israel as a nation were a people specially set apart to God. … Avoiding the forbidden things would no doubt be good for their bodies, and would help to mark them off from other peoples. Many centuries later, Gentile believers came to outnumber Jewish believers in Christian circles. These restrictions then gave rise to the disputes over "doubtful" matters that Romans 14 speaks of. In that chapter the Spirit of God does not lay down law. He leaves every man to be persuaded in his own mind what he should do. We can usefully apply the same thought to what we read and take into our minds. Let us take care that we do not feed our minds on what is impure.
The ban never put the raven outside God's care. It found its own food when Noah sent it from the ark, and later carried food to the prophet Elijah.
When Noah sent the raven out from the ark, it could still find food, though the dove could not, because it can feed on dead flesh. The meat-eating ravens brought Elijah flesh as well as bread. This shows God's miraculous power; He caused them to feed His servant. They are greedy eaters, and have no storehouse or barn, yet God feeds them, and He will surely feed those who trust in Him.
- Named — Oreb means "black." It covers the crow family, so the ban falls on the whole class, not on one bird.
- Fed — What makes the raven unclean is its diet: it lives on death and on corruption.
- Pictured — Birds in the air stand for spiritual natures. Clean ones feed on what has died and now lives again.
- Applied — Israel watched the plate; the Christian watches the mind. Starve the raven, feed the dove, and take Christ as your food.
- Kept — The unclean raven still eats from God's hand, and He who feeds it will certainly feed those who trust Him.
and the female ostrich, and the male ostrich, and the sea-gull, and the hawk after its kind;
Deuteronomy 14 gathers a list of birds that Israel was never to put on the table, and this verse names four of them. Why would God call some of the creatures He made an abomination to eat?
Much of this chapter repeats Leviticus 11. One commentator points to a difference: the audience has changed.
From verse 3 to 20, we have the law as to clean and unclean beasts, fishes and fowls… But there is a very important difference between the two books. Leviticus gives its instructions primarily to Moses and Aaron. Deuteronomy gives them directly to the people. Leviticus may be specially called the priest's guide book. In Deuteronomy the priests are almost entirely in the background, and the people are prominent.
Several Hebrew words in this list appear almost nowhere else. Translators have never fully agreed on them. One writer explains why that does not weaken the lesson.
Of course the rendering in many cases is only approximate, some of the names occurring nowhere else. Nor is there any aim at scientific terminology, but a practical direction for Jehovah's people, with a moral application now for faith.
The last bird named, "the hawk of any kind," covers a whole family at once.
The Hebrew word is nets. It is taken to cover the different species of hawk, and there are several of them, as the words "the hawk of any kind" imply. They were birds of prey, and were pronounced unclean.
One writer asks what it is in these birds that stands against God's own character.
Many birds of the heaven show qualities that God hates in those He takes into relationship with Himself. Others are simply unfit for people to eat. What can be more opposed to His character than fierce, grasping violence toward the living, and greed toward the dead that is never satisfied?… The Israelite was forbidden to eat such birds. In the same way, the Christian is to have no fellowship with ways morally like them, but is to avoid them and reprove them. Some of these birds hunt in the open daylight; others do what suits them in the dark of night… But all of them picture traits we should have nothing to do with. Christ is to be our food.
Another writer reads these birds as portraits of human character. The owl gets the longest treatment.
All the birds of this kind are unclean. It makes no difference whether a bird is marked by power and dignity like the eagle, cruelty like the hawk, impudence like the cuckoo, or the heavy, shallow gravity — the stupid wisdom — of the owl… None of them looks as impressive as the owl. But his all-knowing air only reaches as far as his own patch. His look of grave, impartial rebuke is only the fear of committing himself. He prefers the twilight not because he loves meditation, nor out of any unusual devoutness, but simply because daylight always confuses him.
Against those natures the same writer sets the dove.
But oh, for the wings of the dove, "covered with silver, its pinions with shimmering gold!"… "Not as a raven but a dove The Holy Spirit came from above" — that wisdom from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. It is innocent about evil, wise about what is good. Unlike the carrion-feeding natures, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
The list names only the banned birds. Another writer sets out what marks a clean one.
The first point to notice in clean birds is their power of rising above the earth… Second, clean birds are harmless, and separate from what is unclean… Third, what can be more dependent on God? They have neither storehouse nor barn. The unclean birds may turn again and again to a dead body as their store of food. The clean ones do not… Fourth, many clean birds are joyful; they sing and make melody.
One writer traces what changed for Christians, and what still carries over.
Avoiding the forbidden things would no doubt be good for their bodies, and would help to mark them off from other peoples. Many centuries later… these restrictions gave rise to the quarrels "over opinions" that Romans 14 speaks of. In that chapter the Spirit of God does not legislate. He leaves every man to be persuaded in his own mind what he should do. We may profitably transfer the thought to what we may mentally read and inwardly digest. Let us take care that we do not feed mentally on what is impure.
- Table. God gave these food rules to the whole people, not just the priests, to mark Israel off from other nations.
- Names. Several Hebrew words here occur nowhere else, so the renderings are only approximate. The lesson never depended on naming the species.
- Appetite. What disqualified these birds was how they fed: seizing the living, gorging on the dead, hunting in the dark.
- Portrait. Read as characters, they picture pride, cruelty, impudence and the solemn fault-finder who mistakes his own confusion for wisdom.
- Dove. The clean bird rises above the earth, harms nothing, and depends on God. Feed on Christ, and not on what is impure.
the owl, and the ibis and the swan,
This verse sits inside a list of birds Israel must never eat, most of them night hunters whose names we can no longer pin down. So the real question is why God gave the list at all, and what His people were meant to learn from it.
The same food laws appear in Leviticus 11. But one writer notes a change in who is being spoken to.
The law about clean and unclean animals, fish and birds runs from verse 3 to verse 20. We have already seen the main principles in Leviticus 11. But there is a very important difference between the two passages. Leviticus gives its instructions first to Moses and Aaron; Deuteronomy gives them straight to the people. This fits each book exactly. Leviticus can be called the priest's guide book. In Deuteronomy the priests stay almost entirely in the background, and the people come to the front.
Three Hebrew words stand behind the owls of this list and the one just before it. Older Bibles render them "the owl, the little owl and the great owl."
The Hebrew for the first is bath yaanah. The second is kos: it appears in those two passages and in Psalm 102:6, and no doubt means the owl. The third is yanshuph, which also appears in Isaiah 34:11. The Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate make this one the "ibis," and some have taken it to be the Ibis religiosa, a sacred bird of Egypt… Several species of owl are well known, but no one can say for certain which of them these words mean.
Translators have read the third bird of the verse in very different ways.
The Hebrew word is tanshemeth, and it stands among the unclean birds. People have seen swans in Palestine, but they are rare, and swans feed on plants, so the word probably means some other bird. The old Greek and Latin versions have the purple waterhen and the ibis, and the Revised Version has "horned owl." It is likely some water bird, and the purple waterhen… would have to count as unclean, because it feeds on reptiles as well as birds.
One commentator says plainly what the list was for.
Many of these names are only roughly translated, and some of them appear nowhere else. There is no attempt at scientific terms here. This is practical direction for Jehovah's people, with a moral lesson now for faith.
One writer weighs these hunting birds against God's own character.
Many birds of the sky are marked by qualities God hates in those He takes into relationship with Himself. What could be more opposed to His character than fierce violence toward the living, and endless greed toward the dead?… The Israelite was forbidden to eat such birds. In the same way the Christian is to have no fellowship with ways that match them morally, but to avoid them and speak against them. Some of these birds hunt their prey openly by day; others do their work in the dark of night… But all of them stand for traits we should have nothing to do with. Christ is to be our food.
One writer looks at how the night birds hunt.
The night birds show us the ungodliness and deceit of the flesh most clearly. Eager to devour others, they quietly take what their greedy appetite wants in the stillness of the night, when no one suspects them. The owls and other birds hide through the day. Then, with remarkable night sight, they seize their victims suddenly and almost without a sound, while the victims have no idea of the danger. What a striking picture of practical ungodliness and deceit!
The reason behind the whole diet lies in who Israel belonged to.
The great fact of Israel's relationship to Jehovah marked them off from every nation under the sun. It was not that they were, in themselves, the least bit better or holier than others. But Jehovah was holy, and they were His people. "Be holy, for I am holy."
One writer follows these rules forward into the questions they later raised for Christians.
Avoiding the forbidden things would no doubt be good for their bodies, and would help to mark them off from other peoples… Later these restrictions gave rise to the arguments over disputed matters that Romans 14 deals with. In that chapter the Spirit of God does not lay down law. He leaves each person to be convinced in his own mind about what he should do. We can usefully carry the thought over to what we read and take into our minds. Let us take care that we do not feed our minds on what is impure.
- Diet — the verse sits in a list of forbidden birds. Leviticus 11 gave the same rules to the priests; here God speaks straight to the people.
- Doubt — the Hebrew names are uncertain. No one can say which owls are meant, and the third bird has been read as a swan, a horned owl, or a water bird.
- Design — the list is not science. It gives practical direction, with a moral lesson for faith.
- Darkness — these birds live by seizing others. Some hunt in the open by day, some in silence by night, picturing greed and deceit.
- Difference — the whole diet marked Israel out as the people of a holy God. The lasting lesson is care over what we take in.
and the pelican, and the carrion vulture, and the gannet,
This verse adds three more birds to a long list of birds Israel was forbidden to eat. The same list appears in Leviticus 11. Why would God control a nation's diet down to the species of bird? And what should a reader today do with a rule that no longer binds?
Translations differ over these names. Some read pelican and gannet where the ESV reads tawny owl and cormorant. A Bible dictionary sorts out the Hebrew:
In Isaiah 34:11 and Zephaniah 2:14 the Hebrew is qaath, and means pelican. In Leviticus 11:17 and Deuteronomy 14:17 the Hebrew word is shalak. The right translation there is cormorant, a large bird that lives on fish. It dashes down on its prey, and can follow it in the water or dive after it if it descends. Scripture mentions it only as an unclean bird.
William Kelly warns against reading the list as a piece of zoology:
In many cases the translation of these names is only approximate. Some of them appear nowhere else. The list does not aim at scientific terms. It gives practical direction for Jehovah's people, with a moral lesson now for faith.
One writer looks at what the listed birds have in common, and finds a warning that reaches past diet:
Now the passage turns to birds. It names only certain birds as forbidden, and gives no rule for telling clean from unclean. Yet all of them are clearly birds that feed on flesh or on other living creatures. These unclean birds of the air picture what is satanic (Matthew 13:4 and 19). Satan himself is "the prince of the power of the air." How many people everywhere follow Satan's example, consuming others instead of being a blessing to them.
One bird in this verse hunts the living; another feeds on the dead. Kelly sees in both a trait God hates:
Many birds of the air show qualities that God hates in those He takes into relationship with Himself. Others are not fit to be food for people. What could be more opposed to His character than violent greed toward the living, and endless greed toward the dead? ... The Israelite was forbidden to make such birds his food. In the same way, the Christian is to have no fellowship with ways that are morally like them, but to avoid them and speak against them. ... Christ is to be our food.
Carrion-eaters picture something specific about human nature:
Some of these birds feed on carrion and other unclean things. They are a striking picture of the filthiness of the flesh — the nature that finds its pleasure in what is vile and corrupt. So, as Christians, we must "cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God." ... The eagle, the vulture, and birds like them belong to this class.
The chapter's opening ties the food rules to who Israel was:
The first 21 verses of Deuteronomy 14 stress one thing. Israel as a nation was a people set apart for God. So they were to avoid certain common practices, and to be very careful about what they ate. Avoiding the forbidden things would surely be good for their health, and help to mark them off from other peoples. ... We can apply the same thought to what we read and take into our minds. Let us take care that we do not feed our minds on what is impure.
No Christian is bound by this verse. Grant explains who the rules were laid on, and why they no longer stand:
Under law, and under law only, God put strict limits on what animals, birds or water creatures Israel could eat. God never placed these laws on Gentiles, but only on Israel. Some were forbidden because of a spiritual meaning, not because there was any evil in the creature itself. This is clearly seen in Acts 10:9-15. In a vision the Lord told Peter to eat all kinds of animals. Peter objected, but the Lord insisted. Then Peter realised that the unclean animals stood for people — for Gentiles. God had shown him, he says in Acts 10:28, that he should not call any man unclean. Before the cross, Israel stayed strictly separate from Gentiles, because Gentiles counted as unclean to them. But the sacrifice of Christ cleanses all who trust Him as Saviour, whether Jews or Gentiles. So God has removed the barrier between clean and unclean animals. Now "everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving" (1 Timothy 4:4).
- Named — shalak, the word used here, means cormorant — a fish-hunting diver that Scripture names only as unclean. Other names on the list are rough translations at best.
- Diet — God gave no test for birds, only names. What they share is a diet of flesh — the living or the dead.
- Picture — that appetite pictures the flesh, at home in what is corrupt — and people who consume others instead of blessing them.
- Purpose — Israel was a people set apart, and the food law marked them off. The lesson that carries over is care over what we feed our minds.
- Freedom — the barrier fell when Christ's sacrifice cleansed Jew and Gentile alike. Now everything created by God is good when received with thanksgiving — yet Christ is still to be our food.
and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
Deuteronomy 14 closes its list of forbidden birds with four creatures Israel could not eat. Why these four? And why repeat the list, when Leviticus 11 had already given it?
These rules sit inside a chapter about who Israel is. God calls them His children, and the food laws grow out of that.
Chapter 14 forbids the people, as children of the living God, to copy the profane customs of idolaters. Those customs showed how devoted idolaters were to the impure beings they worshipped. God had chosen Israel for Himself. They were not to defile themselves by eating abominable things either. They were a holy people.
Deuteronomy is not just copying Leviticus. The audience has changed, and that change is the point.
The leading principles about all these have already come before us in Leviticus 11. But there is a very important difference between the two passages. Leviticus gives its instructions first of all to Moses and Aaron. Deuteronomy gives them directly to the people. This is exactly what you would expect from the two books. Leviticus may be called the priest's guide book. In Deuteronomy the priests are almost entirely in the background, and the people are prominent.
Several of these names are hard to translate. One writer admits it, and points to what the list was really for.
Of course the rendering in many cases is only approximate, since some of the names occur nowhere else. Nor is there any aim at scientific terminology. This is a practical direction for the Lord's people, with a moral application now for faith.
The stork has a kind reputation and a diet that pulls the other way.
The word chasidah is related to the word translated 'merciful.' The bird is remarkable for its tender care, not only of its young, but of the aged. In the Levitical list it is classed among the unclean birds. Lev. 11:19; Deut. 14:18. We might expect this, since it feeds upon mice, snakes, and other reptiles.
The verse ends with the bat. It brings the habits of night into the list — hiding by day, feeding unseen.
The ungodliness and deceitfulness of the flesh come out especially in the night birds. They are eager to devour others. In the stillness of the night, when they are least suspected, they get what their greedy appetites want... Look also at the bat. It dreads the light. Large numbers of them are found in caves and dark corners in Palestine. It hides by day in filthy and deserted places. In the half-light of morning and evening, soft wings let it fly without a sound, and it quickly devours the many insects in its way with its sharp teeth.
These food rules no longer bind the believer. One writer reads them as a picture of what we feed on now.
In all of these things there is vital spiritual significance. Under grace there is no longer any restriction about eating these creatures (1 Tim. 4:4-5). Yet if we feed on what is spiritually unclean, we shall be badly affected by it. The believer has so much excellent spiritual food that he should fully avoid what is harmful.
The rule went further than diet. It covered touching too.
We are not only not to eat; we are not even to touch their dead bodies... The unnoticed and silent activity of the flesh is to be hated as much as what is openly filthy and corrupt. The secret and polished ways of selfishness are to be treated as an abomination as much as those that are open and shameless.
- Belonging first. God had chosen Israel for Himself. The food rules grow out of that.
- Spoken to everyone. Leviticus gave these words to Moses and Aaron. Deuteronomy gives them straight to the people.
- Diet, not looks. The stork's name is linked to the word for merciful, and it cares tenderly for its young. What it feeds on still rules it out.
- The bat's lesson. The bat dreads the light and feeds unseen. Hidden appetites are to be hated as much as open ones.
- What you take in. No food is banned now. But feed on what is spiritually unclean, and it will harm you.