Deuteronomy 14
McGeeCHAPTER 14THEME: Diet for IsraelAlthough Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 12 deal with the diet for God’s people, we have in this chapter regulations that may be a little clearer than those in Leviticus. The reason for this is that the dietary law recorded in Leviticus has now been tested during the wilderness march for forty years.
Deuteronomy 14:1
PAGAN RITES FORBIDDENThese were heathen, pagan practices in that day. We see the carry-over of this among certain tribes on the earth today who still disfigure their faces. It is a part of their worship, a part of their religion. God’s people were never to do anything like that. In my book, Learning Through Leviticus, I have gone into more detail regarding the clean and unclean animals. The diet which God gave to His people was more than just a religious ritual. There was actually a physical benefit from their observation of it. This has been tested down through the centuries. When the plague broke out in Europe years ago, the Jewish population was hardly touched by the plague at all, while a large percentage of the gentile population died. So the people began to blame the Jews for the plague. Of course, they had nothing in the world to do with it, but their dietary habits and living habits had protected them from the plague. We are living in a day of diets of all sorts. Everyone seems to be interested in diet. God has not given specific dietary laws for you and me. It makes no difference whether we eat meat or don’t eat meat as far as our relationship to God is concerned. However if you observe these laws, you may stay in this world a little longer, and if you don’t, it may get you into His presence a little sooner! Now He will make it clear what animals are included and which are excluded:
Deuteronomy 14:3
These were the clean animals which they could eat. There were two marks that identified the clean animals. These marks also teach us spiritual lessons. The hoof of the animal was to be divided or separated. That could symbolize the walk of the believer. The separated hoof speaks of a separated life. Now I know that there is a lot of legalism which is brought into Christian conduct today. There are a great many people who don’t restrict themselves to the Ten Commandments, but they have added about twenty-five others, and they live by them. I do not believe that is what God is indicating by the separated hoof.
The word “cleave” actually has two opposite meanings. Cleaving can mean to break apart or break asunder, or it can mean to be attached to something. This is true also of separation. One can be separated from something or separated unto something. The important thing is not to be separated from certain activities or habits but to be separated unto Christ. When you are separated unto Christ and joined to Him, your “walk” will undergo a radical change. The second mark of the clean animals was the chewing of the cud. The spiritual lesson here is that we should spend time in the Word of God. “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night” (Psa_1:2). The first verse starts out with “Blessed is the man.” The blessed man delights in the Law of the Lord and meditates on it. That word “meditate” has the idea of chewing the cud. It is illustrated by the cow which has a complex stomach. As she grazes on the grass in the morning, it goes into one chamber of her stomach.
In the heat of the day she lies down under a tree or stands in the shade, and chews her cud, which transfers that grass from one chamber to the other. Chewing the cud is rechewing the grass, going over it again. That is what we are to do with the Word of Godwe are to go over and over it, meditating on it. The unclean animals fail to meet these two requirements. Some chew the cud but do not have the divided hoof. The pig has the divided hoof but does not chew the cud. Such animals were designated as unclean and were not to be eaten. Also certain marine life was designated as unclean:
Deuteronomy 14:9
Water creatures must be characterized by two visible marksfins and scalesto be edible. There follows a list of clean and unclean birds. There are a great number of people who try to put themselves back under the Mosaic Law, and they know a great deal about not eating pork. So when one of them begins to chide me about eating pork, I remind them of verse Deu_14:12.
Deuteronomy 14:11
A few years ago I had a doctor friend, who was a legalist, tell me repeatedly that I should not eat pork. One day while we were playing tennis, I asked him, “Did you ever eat an ossifrage or an osprey?” He looked at me with a puzzled expression and said that he didn’t even know what they were. I said, “Well, you sure better find out. I might invite you over someday for dinner and have roast ossifrage. That would be as bad as eating pork!” He said, “I didn’t know that!” So I told him he had better look it up, and I sent him to this verse and to Leviticus 11.
Deuteronomy 14:22
RULES CONCERNING THE TITHEGod had promised to bless his people in a material way if they would serve Him. Out of that blessing, they were to tithe for the Lord from the produce of the land as well as from their flocks. This tithe was to be eaten before the Lord at the place of the sanctuary. This would be a special feasting before the Lord.
Deuteronomy 14:25
If they lived too far from the temple to bring their tithe of produce or livestock, they could turn it into money, then buy their offering to the Lord when they got there.
Deuteronomy 14:28
If you will examine the Law carefully, you will find out they actually paid three tithes. That is, 30% of what they made went to the Lord, not just 10%. It seems that the tenth went to the temple immediately, but also there was this tithe at the end of three years.
Deuteronomy 14:29
God wanted the Levites, who did the spiritual service for the nation, to be cared for. Also note that God had a concern for the poor.