Leviticus 11

v1-8: The freedom “given to the sons of Noah is here limited for the sons of Israel. They might eat flesh, but not all kinds of flesh. They must consider some as unclean and forbidden to them,” while “others as clean and allowed to them.” Why did God give this law? “It is reason enough that God wants it to be so.” It could be that through it God was restraining them “from eating what… will make them ill.” Or it might be that they are animals linked in some way to the curses of Genesis 3, that is, they are too closely associated with death, that cross boundaries, or are too close to the cursed ground or dust.

v9-19: We can learn from the birds, that the Israelites were forbidden to eat, about what kinds of people God wants us to be. From the birds of prey that “God wants his people to detest everything that is cruel.” From the solitary birds that God’s people “should not… be constantly alone.” From the birds that “feed on what is impure,” that we “must not only keep away from all impurity ourselves but also from fellowship with those who continue in it.”

v20-43: “We ought to be as conscientious in keeping our precious souls from the defilement of sin, and as quick to cleanse them when they are defiled,” by confessing them to God and asking for forgiveness, “as the Israelites were to keep and cleanse their bodies and household goods from ceremonial uncleanness.”

v44-47: “By having a diet that was special to themselves,” God’s people were set apart from the nations. They were to keep this law because the LORD who gave this command is their God, because He rescued them from slavery in Egypt, and because He is holy. Christians no longer are set apart by what types of food they eat, as all food has been made clean by Jesus. We are set apart by avoiding behaviour that causes us to sin and disobey God and by putting on the character of Christ.

Leviticus 12

v1-5: Losing blood is associated with losing life, and this association with death “pronounces women in childbirth as ceremonially unclean” and prevented them from worshipping God at the Tent of Meeting. Through this law the people of Israel were taught that they couldn’t help but be unclean because they live in a world under the curse of sin (that even the most natural of things is tainted by it), and if they were to approach a Holy God they needed to be made clean.

v6-8: God provided a way to purify His people. God’s people today have been made clean once and for all by Jesus, “the great sin offering”, so that giving birth today will not make a woman unclean. In fact, it is now a way by which they can show that Jesus has made them clean as they teach their children to trust in Him and obey His Word.