“You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the LORD your God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
This section of Deuteronomy mirrors the instructions given in Leviticus 11:1-23. Remember, Deuteronomy means second law. Moses is reminding the new generation about the first giving of the Law. In this section we have the law of the things the nation could eat. We should be careful when reading all the dietary laws of Israel and attempting them to apply them to our eating habits today. There were important theological, sociological and practical laws that applied to Israel, but no longer apply to us. Remember, they had no way to keep food clean for multiple days as we do today. There were serious food dangers that could plague the entire nation then because they had no refrigeration to handle spoiling foods, especially meats. They were also to understand that just has God choose them from among the nation, God was giving them an example to keep, as He chose certain food for them. There was a social aspect in that they were to be different from the world around them. The above passage talks about this aspect. An animal that dies of natural causes (assuming it was not diseased) was okay to eat. But not for them. God’s reasoning for this instruction was a theological one: Be holy. That means to be separate. That means to live for God in heart and mind first and foremost. The animal foods listed in chapter 14 are not bad foods. But for some reason God wanted to show this nation differently before the world. When we move to the New Testament we have plenty of passages that show that God was moving believers in the church age to a different standard of food selection. Mark 7:14-23 talks about Jesus teaching us that what defiles a person is not the food they put in their mouth but the attitude that flows from the heart. God instructed Peter in Acts 10 to no longer worry about food selection but rather who he could mingle with. They application there was that now God was turning to the Gentile race and Peter could share with them the Gospel message. But the similarity between the OT and the NT was this call to holiness. We are still called to be careful what we eat as to be an example of love and holiness. There is plenty of instruction in the NT as to not just what to eat, but who to eat with and how to practice holiness and love in that eating. God is still calling us to holiness. God is still calling us to love our neighbor and be examples to our neighbors and brothers and sisters in Christ. What we can eat now is different than the OT applications. But the main reasons are the same. We are to be holy and loving in our food selection and to be different from the world. For further study read these passages:
- Galatians 3:26-29
- Ephesians 2:11-22
- Galatians 2:11-13
- Romans 13:8-10; 14
- 1 Corinthians 8; 10:14-11:1
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