Leviticus 11 Devotional

Holiness at Every Meal

“For I am the LORD, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt so that I would be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.”Leviticus 11:45 (BSB)

A long list fills this chapter: land animals that chew the cud and have split hooves, water creatures with fins and scales, birds to avoid, insects that may be eaten (11:3, 9, 13, 21-22). Touching certain carcasses makes a person unclean until evening (11:24). The chapter does not explain each case, and there is no need to invent reasons. It gives its own reason at the end.

God is the LORD who brought Israel up out of Egypt to be their God, and so they are to be holy, since he himself is holy (11:44-45). Belonging to him reached all the way to the cooking pot, and every meal was a reminder of whose they were. Mark notes that Jesus' teaching made all foods clean (Mark 7:19), so these laws no longer mark out God's people. But Peter carries the call forward, urging believers to be holy in everything because the one who called them is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16). The God who saved you cares about the ordinary parts of your day too.

To think about: Which ordinary part of your day have you treated as outside God's interest, and how could it reflect that you belong to him?