Message 36
Scripture Reading: Lev. 11:1-24, 26-27, 29-31a, 41-44; Acts 10:9-14, 27-29
The book of Leviticus may be divided into two main sections. The first section, comprising chapters one through ten, covers the offerings and the priesthood. The second section, comprising chapters eleven through twenty-seven, covers the holy living of God’s holy people. After God speaks in the first section concerning the offerings and the priesthood, He speaks in the second section concerning His people in their entirety. The priests are not the only ones who should have a holy life and a holy living. The people of God, among whom the priests serve, should also be holy.
Leviticus is a book of types, a book of typology. In the first seven chapters we have the different kinds of offerings, all of which are types. The priesthood in chapters eight through ten should also be considered a type. Furthermore, all the matters in chapters eleven through twenty-seven concerning the holy living of God’s holy people should also be regarded as types. These chapters cover the living of the Israelites, God’s people in the Old Testament. However, if we have the proper understanding of the types, we shall realize that all the types in these chapters are types of the living of the New Testament believers.
Because Leviticus is a book of types, there is the need for it to be expounded. Without the proper expounding, it is difficult for anyone to know this book. Nevertheless, some have claimed that there is no need for the exposition of the Bible. According to their concept, if we do not understand a certain portion of the Word the first time we read it, we should read it again and again until we do understand it. However, this is not true of a book like Leviticus. I assure you, even if you were to read Leviticus hundreds of times, you would still be unable to understand it. If we are to know this book, it must be opened to us through the proper expounding.
The book of Leviticus has been opened by God’s people collectively. It has been opened by God’s people for God’s people. This opening began with the Apostle Paul, who expounded Leviticus while writing the Epistle to the Hebrews. Peter also received some understanding of Leviticus through the vision given to him in Acts 10. The vision of a “certain vessel like a great sheet” (v. 11) in which were all kinds of animals was a fulfillment of Leviticus 11. Acts 10, therefore, is an exposition of Leviticus 11. From this we see that the expounding of the book of Leviticus began with the apostles.
This expounding has continued throughout the centuries, and now we are standing on the shoulders of the expositors who have preceded us. In particular, we are indebted to the Brethren, who were raised up by the Lord in England a century and a half ago. After I was saved, I was with the Brethren for seven and a half years. During those years, I learned much from them concerning typology and prophecy. The Brethren teachers had a lot to say about the animals in Leviticus 11. Without the help I received from the Brethren, I could not understand what is covered in this chapter. Just as I am standing on the shoulders of the Brethren, you are standing on my shoulders. I hope that in the years to come you who are standing on my shoulders will see more than I have seen.
Since the book of Leviticus is written fully in types, certain points are very difficult to understand. One extremely difficult point is found in 11:3a, which speaks of whatever “divides the hoof and is cloven-footed.” Here we have two matters: dividing the hoof and being cloven-footed. In verse 7 we are told that the pig divides the hoof and is cloven-footed. What is the difference between these two things? I do not know. The Chinese version of the Bible makes dividing the hoof and being cloven-footed into one thing. In other words, the scholars who prepared that translation thought that to divide the hoof was to be cloven-footed. The difference between dividing the hoof and being cloven-footed requires further study.
The title of this message is “Discernment in Diet.” Discernment in diet is a matter of discernment in food-stuffs, of discernment in what we eat. Eating is not a great thing. Why, then, must we take care of our eating if we are to live a holy life? In order to answer this question, we need to remember that Leviticus is a book of types, and in types there are figures which bear a particular significance. The significance is different from the thing itself. This is true of the animals mentioned in Leviticus 11. All these animals bear a great significance, for they typify persons; they are figures that describe different kinds of persons. This is proved by Acts 10:9b-14, 27-29. Peter “beheld heaven opened, and a certain vessel like a great sheet descending, being let down by four corners onto the earth, in which were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of the heaven” (vv. 11-12). At first, Peter did not understand that these animals, reptiles, and birds were figures of people. Eventually he came to understand this, for in the house of Cornelius there were people, not beasts (vv. 27-28).
The first thing we need to consider in relation to discernment in diet is the significance of eating. To know this significance is to know the real meaning of eating in Leviticus 11.
To eat is to contact the things outside of us that could affect us inside. This especially refers to our contacting of people. When we eat we contact something that is outside of us, something that has nothing to do with us. However, if we eat that thing, it can affect us inside. In Leviticus 11 the things we eat signify people, and eating signifies our contacting of people.
To eat is not merely to contact something but also to receive something into us. Once a thing is received into us, that thing can be digested inside to become our constituent, that is, our being, our constitution. We all are a constitution of the food we eat and digest. Eventually, what we digest becomes us; it becomes our very constitution. This indicates that contacting people is an important matter. If we intend to live a holy life as required by the holy God, we need to be careful about our contact with people. Our contact with certain kinds of people can cause us to be reconstituted and thus make us another kind of person. Whatever we contact we will receive, and whatever we receive will reconstitute us, making us a different kind of person from what we are now.
In chapter eleven of Leviticus five categories of animals are covered: first, the beasts, including cattle; second, the aquatic animals, the animals in the water; third, the birds, the animals in the air; fourth, the insects; and finally, the creeping things. All creeping things are unclean, but in the other four categories some animals are clean and others are unclean. Let us now consider the four categories of living creatures that are clean with respect to diet.
Beasts that divide the hoof and chew the cud (vv. 2-3) signify persons who have discernment in their activities and who receive the word of God with much reconsideration. A divided hoof signifies discernment. A horse has whole hooves, not divided hooves. Hence, a horse signifies a person who does not have the power, the strength, to discern things. Such a person cannot discern what things are of God and what things are of Satan, what things are heavenly and what things are earthly, what things are spiritual and what things are fleshly. We need to discern not only what is good and what is bad but also what is of our spirit and what is of our flesh, as well as what things are of the new man and what things are of the old man.
Let us use as an illustration the difference between going to a theater and going to a church meeting. To go to a theater is to do something earthly, but to go to a church meeting is to do something heavenly. However, to a person, even a Christian, who does not have divided hooves there is little difference between going to a theater and going to a church meeting. Such a person lacks discernment in his activities. In his activities he does not have the discerning ability. We should be careful in contacting this kind of person, for contact with him may defile us. We need to have divided hooves, the ability and strength to discern what is of God and what is not of God, what we should do and what we should not do.
Chewing the cud signifies receiving the word of God with much consideration and reconsideration. Just as a cow chews its cud, we should consider and reconsider the word of God. We may do this while we pray-read early in the morning. As we are pray-reading, we may consider and reconsider the word. This is to chew the cud to receive nourishment by reconsidering what we receive from God’s word.
In verses 2 and 3 we see God’s wisdom. The two phrases “divides the hoof” and “chews the cud” are very meaningful. On the one hand, we need to chew the cud, eating the word of God by chewing it again and again. On the other hand, we need to have a walk that is full of discernment. However, many people today do not have divided hooves, and they do not chew the cud. They never even touch the word of God. We should not contact those who do not have divided hooves or chew the cud. We need to avoid such people, lest they affect us and influence us.
Aquatic animals having fins and scales (v. 9) signify persons who can move and act freely in the world and at the same time resist its influence. Fins help fish to move, to act, in water according to their wishes. Because they have fins, fish may even swim against the current.
Scales protect the fish and keep those fish which live in salt water from being salted. Fish may live in salt water for years without being salted because they have scales to keep the salt away. Therefore, fins strengthen the fish to move, and scales protect them from being salted.
In the Bible, the sea signifies the fallen, corrupted world. The whole world today is a vast sea, and many of those living in this sea do not have fins or scales. They cannot move freely in the world and at the same time resist its influence. As believers in Christ, we should have fins and scales and therefore be able to act freely in the sea of the world without being salted by it.
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. Be careful of friends, neighbors, and even relatives who do not have fins and scales. When some hear this, they may say, “What about preaching the gospel to people by visiting them in their homes? Should we knock on the doors of only those who have scales?” I would answer that such door knocking in itself is a big scale that shields us. Nevertheless, even in preaching the gospel we need to be careful in our contact with people. We do not want to be salted with worldly salt.
Birds that have wings for flying and that eat seeds of life as the 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 things of life as their supply of life. Because clean birds have wings for flying, they are able to fly away from and above the world. Also, clean birds eat seeds of life as their food supply. On the contrary, the unclean birds in 11:13-19 do not feed on seeds. Because the seeds of life do not satisfy them, these unclean birds feed on carcasses.
We Christians should be like birds that have wings and that feed on the seeds of life. This means that we should live and move in a life that is away from and above the world and that we should take the things of life as our supply of life. Moreover, when we contact others, even other believers, we need to discern whether they are clean birds, like sparrows, which feed on seeds, or unclean birds, like hawks, which like to live on the things of death. If we have contact with unclean birds, we shall be influenced by their taste and eventually that will turn us into an unclean bird. For this reason, we must be careful in contacting those who feed on the things of death.
Insects having wings and having jointed legs above their feet for leaping on the ground (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. If we are the kind of persons signified by these insects, we shall have wings for flying away from anything worldly, sinful, or fleshly. We shall be able to soar above the world. We also shall have jointed legs with which to jump up from the world. This means that we are able to leave the world at any time, either by flying or by jumping. We Christians are those who can jump and fly. However, those without wings and jointed legs cannot leave the world at all. They can only stand on the earth and remain in the world.
If we are to live a holy life, we need to consider the kind of people we are contacting. Do they have divided hooves, and do they chew the cud? Do they have fins and scales? Do they have wings for flying? Do they feed on the seeds of life and not on the things of death? Do they have wings and jointed legs? How good it is to have contact with such people!
In Leviticus 11 there are five categories of living creatures that are not clean with respect to diet.
Beasts that do not divide the hoof and beasts that go on their paws (vv. 4-8a, 26a, 27a) signify persons who do not have discernment in their activities and persons who walk and move without discernment.
Aquatic animals that do not have fins and scales (vv. 10-12) signify persons who cannot move and act freely in the world and at the same time resist its influence. Such people do not have the strength to resist the influence of the sinful world.
Birds that eat flesh and carcasses as their food supply (vv. 13-19) signify persons who live in contact with death. In their eating they contact death. The more we contact those who, spiritually speaking, are full of death, the more we shall be defiled by death. If we contact such a person, we shall be filled with spiritual death.
Insects that have four feet for creeping about on the earth (vv. 20, 23-24a) signify persons who live on the earth and who are unable to keep themselves from the world. They can only creep about on the earth, for they do not have the ability to fly above the world.
Creatures that creep on the earth or go on their belly or on four feet, or have many feet of all the creeping things that creep on the earth (vv. 29-31a, 41-44) signify Satan with all the evil spirits and demons, persons who are filled with Satan, who contact evil spirits and demons, and persons who live in the world and cleave to the world, being unable to sever themselves from the world. The Bible likens Satan to a serpent (Rev. 12:9). The evil spirits are fallen angels, and the demons are disembodied spirits of creatures from the pre-Adamic age. Many people contact evil spirits and are possessed by demons. Furthermore, many cleave to the world, being unable to sever themselves from the world. We should never contact Satan, the evil spirits, or the demons. Likewise, we should not contact persons possessed by demons or persons who cleave to the world, lest we be brought under their influence.
If we intend to live in a holy way, we need to exercise care concerning our contact with people. Contacting people is a very important matter, especially for us Christians. We should not contact others without caution, and we should not form friendships in a careless way. Careless friendships, the Bible indicates, will corrupt us.
We all must learn to be careful and cautious in contacting people. We need to know the four categories of clean living creatures and the five categories of unclean living creatures. When we are about to have contact with a particular person, we need to consider whether he is clean or unclean. Such a consideration will preserve us and keep us from being defiled or corrupted.
