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Leviticus 11 uses the matter of eating to signify the contacting of people by God’s people, that is, whom they may contact and whom they may not contact (Acts 10:11-16). Those whom they may contact are clean; those whom they may not contact are unclean. If we, as God’s people, intend to live a holy life as required by our holy God, we need to be careful about our contact with people. The animals, both clean and unclean, are divided into five categories: first, beasts, including cattle; second, aquatic animals, animals in the water; third, birds, animals in the air; fourth, insects; and fifth, creeping things. All the creeping things are unclean, but in the other four categories some animals are clean, and others are unclean. Let us consider the four categories of living creatures that are clean with respect to diet, signifying persons whom we may contact.
Beasts that divide the hoof and chew the cud are clean for eating (Lev. 11:2-3). This signifies that we may contact persons who have discernment in their activities and who receive the word of God with much reconsideration. A divided hoof signifies discernment, having the power, the strength, to discern the things that are of God and the things that are of Satan, the things that are heavenly and the things that are earthly, the things that are spiritual and the things that are fleshly. Chewing the cud signifies receiving the word of God with much consideration and reconsideration, like a cow chewing its cud. By reconsidering what we receive from God’s word, we receive nourishment.
We need to have a walk that is full of discernment, and we also need to chew the cud, eating the word of God by chewing it again and again. We should not contact those who do not have divided hooves and do not chew the cud. We need to avoid such people, lest they affect and influence us.
Aquatic animals that have fins and scales (v. 9) signify persons who can move and act freely in the world but resist its influence. Fins help fish move in water according to their wishes. Fish can even swim against the current because they have fins. Scales protect the fish and keep the fish that live in salt water from being salted. Fins strengthen the fish to move, and scales protect them from being salted.
In the Bible the sea signifies the fallen, corrupted world. People who live in the sea of the world should have fins and scales in order to act freely in the world and resist its influence. On the one hand, we should have fins and scales. On the other hand, we should be careful in contacting those who do not have fins and scales so that we will not be influenced by the corrupted world.
Birds that have wings for flying and that eat seeds of life as their food supply (cf. vv. 13-19) signify persons who can live and move in a life that is away from and above the world and who take the things of life as their supply of life. Clean birds have wings for flying, enabling them to fly away from and above the world. Clean birds also eat seeds of life as their food supply. The unclean birds in verses 13 through 19, however, do not feed on seeds but on carcasses.
Christians should be like birds that have wings and that feed on the seeds of life. We should live and move in a life that is away from and above the world, and we should take the things of life as our supply. When we contact others, even other believers, we need to discern whether they are clean birds that feed on seeds or unclean birds that like to live on the things of death. If we have contact with unclean birds, we will be influenced by their taste and become an unclean bird. For this reason, we must be careful in contacting those who feed on the things of death.
Insects that have wings and legs above their feet for leaping on the earth (vv. 21-22) signify persons who can live and move in a life that is above the world and who can keep themselves from the world. Having wings enables us to fly away from anything worldly, sinful, or fleshly and to soar above the world. Having legs above the feet enables us to jump up and leave the world at any time. Believers in the Lord should be those who can jump and fly, unfettered by the world and unentangled by the earth. Only this kind of person should be the object of our contact.
In order to live a holy life, we need to consider the kind of people we contact. Contacting people is like eating. When we eat, we take in something that is outside of us. This can affect us within by being digested to become our constituent, that is, our being, our constitution. Similarly, our contact with certain kinds of people can cause us to be reconstituted and make us a different kind of person. We will receive what we contact, and what we receive will reconstitute us, making us different in constitution with a different expression of life.
Of the various kinds of people signified by the different categories of animals which are clean for eating, only Christ matches these conditions, such as dividing the hoof and chewing the cud, having fins and scales, having wings for flying and eating seeds of life as the food supply, and having wings and legs above the feet for leaping on the earth. Only Christ can match these conditions. Christ is the real cleanness. He is the reality of cleanness.
Only Christ and all that is out of Christ, those who have been transformed by the life of Christ, are clean for our food supply. This is what God’s people should contact. Nothing else should be contacted by us.
Christ divides the hoof and chews the cud (v. 3). When Christ walked on earth, His hooves were fully divided, and He chewed the cud. He was full of discernment, and He received the word of God with much reconsideration.
Christ has fins (v. 9). When He was on earth, He could move freely without being caught by worldly things. Christ also has scales (v. 9); He withstood the influence of the corrupted world.
Christ has legs above the feet and leaps on the earth (v. 21). When He was on earth, He lived and moved in a life that was above the world, and He kept Himself from the world.
Even a chapter such as Leviticus 11 is full of Christ. He is the supply in our daily life in every aspect. As the reality of all the positive things in the universe (Col. 2:17), He is all the clean living creatures. All the clean living creatures that walk on the earth, live in the water, and fly in the air are types of Christ. Christ is the One who can soar in the air and live in salt water. As long as we have Christ, we have the proper thing to contact, to eat, and to digest. In every way, He is our life supply. He is our cleanness.
“I am Jehovah your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy...I am Jehovah, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God; you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44-45). Only Christ is able to keep us holy, as God is holy.
The animals that are clean for eating signify the persons whom God’s people may contact; the animals that are unclean and not for eating signify those whom God’s people should not contact. We may contact those who are clean, and we should not contact those who are unclean. The animals that are good for eating, signifying the persons whom God’s people may contact, are divided into four categories. First, beasts that divide the hoof and chew the cud signify persons who have discernment in their activities and who receive the word of God with much reconsideration. Aquatic animals that have fins and scales signify persons who can move and act freely in the world but resist its influence. Birds that have wings for flying and that eat seeds of life as their food supply signify persons who can live and move in a life that is away from and above the world and who take things of life as their supply of life. Fourth, insects having wings and legs above their feet for leaping on the earth signify persons who can live and move in a life that is above the world and who can keep themselves from the world.
Based on the significance of the different categories of animals that are clean for eating, only Christ matches the conditions. Christ is the real cleanness. He is the reality of cleanness. Therefore, only Christ and all that is out of Christ, all those who have been transformed by the life of Christ, are those whom we may contact. We should receive Christ as the supply in our daily life in every aspect. When we eat Him, He becomes our constitution. Then He is able to keep us holy, as God is holy.
