Bereans Corner
Bereans Corner
Thru the Bible - #165-Deuteronomy 14 - Clean and Unclean Animals
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Welcome And Setup For Deuteronomy 14
SPEAKER_01Welcome to Barine's Corner, the podcast where we go through books of the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse. Wherever you are in the world, thank you for joining. Grab a glass of water, a cup of coffee, a tea, and let's get into today's lesson. Welcome back and thank you to today's lesson. Appreciate you for being here.
Reading The Law On Clean Foods
SPEAKER_01Open your Bible to Deuteronomy chapter 14. The title of today's lesson is Clean and Unclean Animals. As we continue through this retelling of the law by Moses, Deuteronomy 14, and let's read.
SPEAKER_00Deuteronomy 14. You are the children of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession. Do not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals you may eat the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two, and that chews the cud. However, of those that chew the cud or that have a split hoof completely divided, you may not eat the camel, the rabbit, or the cone. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a split hoof. They are ceremonially unclean for you. The pig is also unclean. Although it has a split hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses. Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. But anything that does not have fins and scales, you may not eat. For you it is unclean. You may eat any clean bird, but these you may not eat. The eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, the black kite, any kind of falcon, any kind of raven, the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant, the stork, any kind of haron, the hoofy, and the bat. All flying insects that swarm are unclean to you. Do not eat them. But any winged creature that is clean, you may eat. Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns, and he may eat it. Or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are a people holy to the Lord your God. Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk. Be sure to set aside a tenth of all your fields' produce each year. Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always. But if that place is too distant, and you have been blessed by the Lord your God and cannot carry your tithe, because the place where the Lord will choose to put his name is so far away, then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you, and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. Use the silver to buy whatever you like, cattle, sheep, wine, or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice. And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own. At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites who have no allotment or inheritance of their own, and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
SPEAKER_01Clean
Living Different Because We Belong
SPEAKER_01and unclean animals. Now, we're talking about living differently because we belong to God. One of the realities of being a child of God is that God never intended his people to blend in with the world around them. God loves his people exactly as they are when he saves them, but he loves them too much to leave them that way. Now, a relationship with God is supposed to affect every area of life. That is exactly what Moses is teaching in this chapter. And there is a central truth in this. God's people are to live their lives in a distinct way that is different from the heathen world. And we all know that to be true. Verse 2 makes it clear that God wanted Israel to remember who they were. In verse 2, it says, let's start at verse 1, you are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead, for you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. They were God's children, they were God's chosen people, they were God's treasured possession, they were God's holy nation. God wanted Israel to live in a way that reflected that reality. The same principle applies to us today. God's people should live differently because we belong to Him. This is why we uh do the best we can, but we ask the Lord to guide us through to separate ourselves. See, I was always told that you're not gonna be perfect as a believer of Christ. You are uh you're not gonna live a life where you never mess up as a Christian, but there is supposed to be something about you that stands apart. There's supposed to be something about you, and I'm talking about myself, you know, uh that stands apart that when people see you, they say, you know, it's something, it's something different about him. You know, he's not perfect, uh, he's he's not mistakeless, but there's there's something that stands out, and that's the truth for you and I. As believers, we are supposed to stand out from others, not be uh, you know, quote unquote better than others, like we're bigger and better than others, but there's supposed to be something that stands out, and that's what the Lord wanted for Israel. And there were some uh godly differences uh that we want to look at. Godly difference number one is God's people were to demonstrate they belong to God in the way they mourned.
Godly Mourning With Faith
SPEAKER_01Verse one, uh excuse me, verse one says, You are the sons of the Lord your God, you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. The pagan nations had strange and extreme mourning practices. When someone died, they would often cut themselves, shave portions of their head, perform bizarre, uh, these bizarre religious rituals. But God said, My people are not to mourn that way. Now, God was not forbidding sorrow. That's not what he was doing. Losing a loved one hurts. It doesn't matter the age, it doesn't matter uh the circumstance, losing a loved one hurts. There's nothing wrong with grieving, but God did not want his people responding to death the way unbelievers did. Uh their mourning was to uh was to reflect faith in God. Even in moments of loss, God's people were to demonstrate trust in him. Their claim, their steadfast faith would testify that they belong to God, which brings us to the second difference.
Dietary Distinctions And Separation
SPEAKER_01God's people were to demonstrate they belong to God in what they ate. And we see this in verses three through 21. So, sorry, lost my spot. Moses now turns to the dietary laws. Verse 3 begins by saying God's people were not to eat things that were detestable. Uh now these restrictions were part of Israel's covenant relationship with God and served as a visible reminder that they were distinct from the pagan nations around them. Now, many of the animals prohibited from or associated with pagan uh worship practices, God wanted Israel to remain separate from those influences. It is important to understand that you know these dietary restrictions are not binding on believers today because God later removed those restrictions and passages such as Mark 7, Acts chapter 10, Romans 14, and 1 Timothy chapter 4. But for Israel at this point in history, these distinctions matter. And let's look at some different uh dietary laws that the Lord gave Israel. Dietary mandate number one, animals God's people could eat. Notice verses four through six. These you are actually go back to verse three. You should not eat any uh detestable thing. These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the robuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep, and any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split into and choose the cud among the animals that you may eat. God gave Israel plenty of options. They could eat oxen, they could eat sheep, they could eat goats, they could eat deer, gazelles, they could eat antelope, they can eat mountain sheep. The general rule was that the animal had to divide the hoof and chew the cud. God was not depriving his people, he was giving them clear boundaries. The second mandate was God's people could, uh, excuse me, the animals that God's people could not eat. Verses seven and eight tell us, nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud uh cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two, the camel and the rabbit, and the rock badger, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof, they are unclean for you. And the pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, nor touch their carcasses. Israel was forbidden from eating camel, rabbits, badgers, and pig. Some of these animals meet one requirement, but not the other. See, remember what the requirements were, people. God's people were to obey his distinctions. Remember, if it split, if it split the hoof and chewed the could, they could eat it. But these animals we just named, it was be they did split the hoof, but they didn't chew the could. And that was the distinction. So I want to say something about the pig. A lot of people are very, very big on the pig, not to eat pig, not to eat the swine, the pork, whatever you may want to call it. The thing is, this is that the pig did meet half of the requirements for Israel. The pig did have was split at the hoof, but it didn't chew the could. And the Lord said that they had to do both, which brings us to the third mandate. Aquatic life God's people could eat. Verse 9 tells us, these you may eat of all that you are that, excuse me, these you may eat of all that are in water. Anything that has fins and scales, you may eat. Fish had to possess fins and scales, both were required. That's what they could eat. Which brings us to dietary mandate number four aquatic life, God's people could not eat. Verse 10 says, But anything that does not have fins and scales, you should not eat it, you shall not eat it. It is unclean for you. Fish without fins and scales were prohibited. This included creatures such as shellfish, eels, crabs, lobster, shrimp, octopus. Again, that point was the distinction, and it and it was something that God wanted to obey. He wanted the obedience in us. He wanted Israel to obey these things. Which brings us to the fifth mandate. Birds God's people could eat. Notice verse 11. You may eat any clean bird. Drop down to verse 20. You may eat any clean bird. God permitted clean birds to be eaten. Eaten. Which brings us to the number six mandate. God's uh, the birds that God's people could not eat. We notice in this in verses 12 through 19. But these are the ones which you shall not eat. The eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kind, and every raven in its kind, and the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, and the hawk in their kinds, the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, the pelican, the curion vulture, the cormorant, the stork and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopa in and the and the bat, and all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you. They shall not be eaten. Many prohibited birds were scavengers or predators. God specifically listed numerous birds that Israel was not to eat. This distinction further separated Israel from surrounding pagan practices. Which brings us to the seventh dietary mandate. Dead animals were not to be eaten. Verse 21 says, You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. If any animal was found already dead, Israel was not to eat it. Now that seems a little bit like common knowledge, but you know, this was a stiff-necked people, so the Lord had to make it straight, which brings us to the eighth dietary mandate. Do not boil a young goat in his mother's milk. Verse 21 says, You may give it, excuse me, you may give it to the alien that is talking about the um the bird they found dead who is in your town, so he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to the Lord your God. You shall not boil a kid in his mother's milk. Now, this command was connected to pagan uh fertility rituals practiced by the Canaanites. God did not want his people participating or intimidating or imitating, I should say, those practices. God's people remain valuable today, and that principle remains valuable today. God's people should not participate in religious practices that dishonor him, even when they are culturally acceptable. The Canaanites were doing this. Remember what I said earlier. The Lord wanted to separate this people unto himself and separate themselves from other people. Which brings us to the third godly difference. God's people were to demonstrate they belong to God in what they gave and what in what they gave and where they gave. We notice in the is we notice this in verses 22 to 29. You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. And you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God at the place where he chooses to establish his name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, in order that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. And if the distance is too great for you that you are not able to bring the tide, since the place where the Lord your God chooses to set his name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you, then you shall exchange it for money and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires, and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you. At the end of every third year, you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan, and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do. Now, Moses now shifts to money. Giving was not merely about
Tithing As Worship And Trust
SPEAKER_01money. Given revered whether God's people truly feared him and trusted him. Notice at the end of verse 23 that given was connected to learning to fear the Lord continually. Look back at verse 23. It says, in order that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. God then gives six guidelines. Guideline number one, God's people were to give a yearly tithe of their produce. Verse 22, you shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. Israel was commanded to give a tenth of their yearly harvest. This was not optional. This was part of the covenant responsibility before God. The tithe supported the Levites and the work God had established. That's why it was important for them to give. The second guideline is God's people were to bring their tithe to God's place of worship. Notice verse 23, and you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God at the place where he chooses to establish his name. The people were to bring grain, wine, oil, firstborn animals to the place that God designated. This demonstrated gratitude and reverence towards God. It wasn't just any and everywhere, it was where God wanted it to be, is where God designated it to be, and that's where they had to do it, which brings us to the third guideline. Those living far away could convert their tide into money. Oh, I thought there was no money back in those days. How many, if all if any of you who have been going through these lessons, this through the Bible uh uh podcast from Genesis all the way to today, what have I talked about a lot? That money existed in those days. Don't let people swindle you and tell you that there was no money back in those days. God had God told his people they convert their tide into money if the place was too far. Notice verses 24 and 25. If the distance is so great for you that you are unable to bring the tide, since the place where the Lord your God chooses to set his name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you, then you shall exchange it for money and bind the money in your hand and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses. God made provision for people who live too far away to transport all their goods. They could convert their offering into money and bring the money to the place of worship. This shows that God expected obedience regardless of logistical challenges. In other words, the Lord said, I understand that you don't have a means to bring all of these things. Maybe you don't have a trailer or you don't have a donkey that can pull these things or another animal or mule or something that can get it there. That's okay. What you will do is you will take those things that you were gonna bring, you will sell them in a land you are in, you will take that money, put that money in a bag, and bring it to the place where I have chosen to set my name. Which brings us to the fourth guideline. God's people could enjoy festival worship and celebration before the Lord. Verse 26 says, You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires, and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. During Israel's annual festivals, families could enjoy God's blessings together. They could purchase food and drink for celebration and fellowship before the Lord. This passage demonstrates that God intended worship to include joy, gratitude, and celebration. At the same time, Scripture consistently condemns drunkenness. The issue is not the existence of wine or strong drink, the issue is the abuse and drunkenness. God blesses joyful worship, but he condemns, he can, he definitely condemns sinful access. And we need to remember that to this day that the Lord our God gave us these things. He oh he was okay with these things, but he was not okay with overindulgence, he was not okay with drunkenness, and he was not okay with sinful conduct. And I and for those who are who get stuck on things like this, let's read it again. What do we believe here? We believe that every word that comes out of the word of God is true, we believe that it is faithful, and we believe that is that it is so and just. Verse 23 says, You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen, that's food, or sheep, that's there, that's a different type of food, or wine, or wine. It doesn't say grape juice. And when you look up this word in the Hebrew, that that word is wine. That fermentation that caused grape juice did not exist back in these days, and you have all heard me say that before. Look at what it says next, or strong drink. Get mad if you want, but the Lord says that strong drink, and that Hebrew word is the word for alcohol, was okay to have. The key was that it was supposed to be done in uh limited amounts, it was supposed to be done in uh in limited access, not over access, where you are drunk and you are sinful. I just like to remind people of that. This is in the word of God, this is not something that some man made up, this is not something that some denomination made up, this is in the word of God. We're gonna move on to guideline number five. God's people must not neglect God's ministers. Verse 27 says, Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you. The Levites had no tribal inheritance or land. Let us remember that. Therefore, God's people were responsible to support them. This principle carries into the New Testament as well. Those who faithfully labor in preaching and teaching are worthy of support. God expects his people to care for those who minister his word. Now, this doesn't mean that ministers didn't have jobs or things they can do because remember in Acts, Paul points out when he hooked up with Priscilla and Aquila that they were tent makers just as he was, and he talks about how they labored together to make money. But the Lord is saying that it is nothing wrong with supporting the man who is delivering the Lord's word and doing his work when he needs that support. There are some ministers today, and I respect these ministers greatly, who actually work and they are ministers. There are some ministers today who are supported, and I am in full agreement on the ministers who actually crawl through the scriptures. I'm not talking about topical preaching, I'm talking about ministers who actually do the hard work, who go through the scriptures verse by verse, who give you all of the word of God. I am in favor of those ministers being supported. And that's what's happening with the Levites. Remember, the Levites had no portion or no inheritance in the land. So God did expect the rest of the people to take care of the Levites, which brings us to guideline number six. God's people were to give an additional three-year tithe for local needs. Verses 28 and 29. At the end of every third year, you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year and shall deposit it in your town. And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien or the orphan and the widow who are in your town shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do. Every third year a special offering was gathered locally. They did this every third year. This offering helped the Levite, which we already talked about. He had no portion in the land. He helped widows. These were women who had a husband who they depended on for support, but he but he's gone and she no longer has that support. God's people were to support them. Orphans. Kids who had no home. You know, you're not supposed to let the kids go hungry and shelterless. They were to be taken care of. And the foreigners. This is for the people who came into a town legally, by the way. They came into a town legally, not people who snuck into the town. These people came into the town legally through the front door. This is why you will learn that the Lord had the Israelites build walls around their city. So anyone who comes in, you knew who they were, and they came in through the front gate, but they were to be taken care of. Because guess what? If I went to a town that I'm not familiar with, people need to eat food and drink water every day. But I don't have those things because I just got here. Nobody knows me. Maybe no one has hired me yet. The Lord says, give that man something to eat and take care of him. It demonstrated practical compassion and care within the community. God promised blessing upon those who obeyed him in those areas, excuse me.
Conclusion And Practical Encouragement
SPEAKER_01I want to come to my conclusion of this chapter. Moses wanted Israel to understand something very important. Being God's people should be visible, which something that I mentioned earlier. Their lives should demonstrate that they belong to Him. Him being God. That difference was seen in how they mourned and how they lived. It was seen in what they participated in. It was seen in how they worshiped and how they gave. God wanted his people live in a way that clearly communicated we belong to God. That was the whole thing. What did I say earlier? There is something about you that is supposed to stand out that says it's something different about that man or that woman or that child. They belong to God. Holiness is not merely avoiding sin. That's not all it is. Holiness is living in a way that pleases God and reflects his word. No matter what the world chooses to do, God's people are called to live differently. Why? Because we belong to him. And that brings us to the end of Deuteronomy chapter 14. Now, back in Leviticus 11, we have gone over these dietary laws before, you and I. And Moses is given the same law, but he's giving it from a different perspective. But I got a lot out of this as I was going through this chapter and breaking it down and getting my notes together. You know, it reminded me to make sure that I'm doing those things in the Lord, to make sure that I am showing myself uh uh visible to people out there in the Lord, to make sure that I am loving people and showing the glory of God because the glory of God is reflected in how you and I act, it's reflecting how you and I behave. So we need to be on our P's and Q's every single day and remember that. Okay. If as always, as I ask, I ask you to pray for me, to pray that I stay steadfast in the scriptures, to pray that I keep a clear mind, to pray that even with all the things happening in our personal life, in my own personal life, because we all have things in our personal life, that the Lord keeps me focused on his word, that he is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. You pray that for me. I appreciate that a great deal. And I am praying for you, as always. It pleases me more than you will ever know that you take time out of your morning, afternoon, or evening to listen to uh someone like me go through the word of God to bring this word of God to you. I believe that there is a famine in the land. I believe there is a famine, not a food, but it's a famine of the word of God being spread. And that is what I believe the Lord has called me to do. This is why I do this because we need to do something about this family, we need to feed the people of God. And I appreciate you very much. I thank you for taking the scriptures so serious as you do to go through the scriptures chapter by chapter and verse by verse. And as always, I am praying for you wherever you are. I'm praying that you are doing well. I pray that you are in good health, good spirits, and good mind. Well, that brings us to the end of Deuteronomy chapter 14. That is all for now. God bless. Thank you for listening to Berean's Corner. We appreciate you joining us as we dive into God's word and seek biblical truth together.
Prayer Request And Farewell
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