What!… No Lobster?!?… by Cindy Erickson

Today’s Passage –Leviticus 11 – 12 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – John 5 – 6; Proverbs 6; Psalms 31 – 35)

Read previous posts from this passage – “Creeping Things,” and “Provision for the Poor.”

Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Psalm 18:3 & 46

Read the “0206 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. … For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Leviticus 11:1-2, 44)

Did you ever wonder why God gave the Nation of Israel all of these rules regarding what they could and could not eat? I am in complete agreement with God regarding most of the selections that He took off the menu in the Old Testament. For instance, I have no desire to eat a camel, or eat fried eagle. However, some of the items on the “unclean list,” are some of my favorite meals; lobster and shrimp come to mind. But what was the reasoning behind God’s list of what was OK and what was not. It could be that He knew that these animals would not be good for their health. Or it may just be that the eating of these animals would in some way take away from His glory. It may have been to keep Israel separated from the heathen nations. We really do not know the exact reason(s), and it really doesn’t matter. God said, “No,” and that settles it.

What we do know is that there is now no spiritual prohibition against eating any of these things. In the New Testament, Peter got rebuked for calling these “fourfooted beasts,” etc. unclean.

” On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.” (Acts 10:9-15)

Whew! Lobster is back on the menu. I bet my husband wishes it wasn’t. He is not a big fan of any kind of seafood.

Jesus said it was not what goes into us that defiles us, but rather what comes out of us (Matthew 15:11). The point is, while we should be somewhat concerned about our health and what we put into our bodies because it is God’s temple (1 Corinthians 6:19), we should be far more concerned about the things that go into and proceed from our hearts. Too many of us are feeding on things (not food) that are not spiritually healthy for our hearts, and as a result, it shows up in what comes out of our lives.