by J. Riddle (Cheshunt)
Read Chapter 14.1-5
Deut.14 commences with the words: “Ye are the children of the Lord your God.” (‘Ye are the sons of Jehovah your God.’ JND). The chapter could therefore be entitled, ‘The conduct of God's children.’ Their conduct was to be governed by the fact that they were “an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people (‘a people of possession,’ JND) unto Himself above all the nations that are upon the earth,” v2,21. See also 7.16. Compare Ps.135.4. As a holy people they were to be distinct in four ways:
(1) In their denial of idolatrous practices, v1-2;
(2) In their dietary regulations, v3-21;
(3) In their devotion to God, v22-27;
(4) In their distribution to the needy, v28-29.
This chapter is largely about ‘eating’. God's people were to be careful what they ate, v3-21, careful where they ate, v22-27, and careful in enabling others to eat, v28-29.
“Ye are the children of the Lord your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.” This reminds us that whilst we sorrow, we “sorrow not, even as others that have no hope,” 1Thess.4.13. This is true in every sense. In the world, sorrow often becomes the occasion of intemperate behaviour. Other passages also deal with disfiguration for the dead. See, for example, Lev.9.27-28: “Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. Ye shall not make cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord,” Lev.21.1-6 and Jer.16.6-7 also deal with the subject. God's people were not to be like the idolatrous world, and ape its customs and practices. Unsaved men and women disfigure themselves in other ways, including tattooing and ‘body-piercing’ in various forms. They damage their bodies by smoking and drinking. These are practices which should “not be once named among you, as becometh saints,” Eph.5.3.
“Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.” The subject is addressed also in Lev.11. “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,” v44. The chapter is summed up in v46-47: “This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth: to make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.” The entire chapter will repay careful reading and thought. (C. H. Mackintosh is recommended reading here).
The lesson is clear: holy people in those days had to be careful what they ate, and holy people today must be equally careful. We must ensure that we feed our minds with wholesome literature, and avoid reading — or listening — or watching — anything that will defile us in any way. The Lord Jesus said, “Take heed what ye hear,” Mk.4.24. As C. A. Coates observes ‘the creatures that may be eaten represent the influences which we allow to come into our lives and to form us morally,” (An Outline of Deuteronomy).
“Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing,” v3. This covers (A) animals, v4-8; (B) aquatic creatures, v9-10; (C) birds and other creatures, v11-20. God's people were to avoid defiling influences in every sphere of life.
This section lists animals that could be eaten, “these are the beasts which ye shall eat,” v4-6, and animals that were prohibited: “these ye shall not eat,” v7-8.
i) Animals that could be eaten, v4-6
The clean beasts are not listed in Lev.11, but they are named here: “the ox, the sheep, and the goat, the hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.” These were animals that divided the hoof and chewed the cud, and these characteristics are most significant. The divided hoof suggests separation, and to chew the cud suggests rumination. The first is outward: the second is inward.
This reminds us that holy people walk rightly, and think rightly. See Josh.1.8: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate (“cheweth the cud”) therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do (“parteth the hoof) according to all that is written therein.” In New Testament language, ‘clean food’ is called “sound doctrine,” see 1Tim.1.10; 2Tim.4.3; Tit.1.9, 2.1. The word “sound” (hugiaino, whence our English word hygiene) means healthy or health-giving. “Sound doctrine” bears the character of Christ Himself. Teaching that is “after Christ,” Col.2.8 is suitable for God's people. This is now illustrated by the various animals listed.
a) “The ox.” The ox depicts the Lord Jesus as the perfect Servant. The ox was the serving animal. See Ps.144.14, “That our oxen may be strong to labour;” Prov.14.4, “Much increase is by the strength of the ox.” The Lord Jesus said, “I must work the works of Him that sent Me while it is day. The night cometh when no man can work,” Jn.9.4. See Heb.10.5-7. The perfect service of the Lord Jesus is emphasised in Mark's Gospel.
Here is food for our souls! When we feed on Christ by reading about Him and meditating on Him, we become like Him. His Servant character is reproduced in us. We will be “steadfast unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord,” 1Cor.15.58. We will not complain like Ephraim, “I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke,” Jer.31.18. The Lord's “yoke is easy,” and His burden is light,” Matt.11.30.
b) “The sheep.” The sheep is not marked by strength and labour, but by uncomplaining submission. The Lord Jesus “was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth,” Is.53.7. (Note the reversal of “lamb” and “sheep” in Acts 8.32. This emphasises the barbarity with which the Lord Jesus was treated. It would be an act of utmost cruelty to shear a lamb).
Here is more food for our souls! Once again, feeding on Him will enable us to become like Him. In fact, His uncomplaining submission is an example that we are to follow. See 1Pet.2.21-23: “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, who when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not.”
c) “The goat.” The goat is one of three animals that “go well” (‘have a stately step,’ JND: ‘stately in their march,’ RV), Prov.30.29-31. This reminds us that the Lord Jesus was marked by calm and dignity. He never hesitated. He was never perturbed, and never uncertain about the next step! He was always marked by a ‘stately step,’ even in suffering: “And He bearing His cross went forth,” Jn.19.17.
Still more food for our souls! It is by feeding on Him, and abiding in Him, that we shall be able “so to walk even as He walked,” 1Jn.2.6. The assembly should be a place where believers display a ‘stately step.’ The man must display, by his conduct as well as by his uncovered head, that “he is the image and glory of God,” and the woman must display by her conduct as well as by her covered head, that she is “the glory of the man,” 1Cor.11.7. The local assembly should be a place of spiritual dignity, as well as a place of deep devotion to the Lord Jesus.
d) “The hart.” The hart is a picture of ‘inward and ardent desires after God,’ C. A. Coates. See Ps.42.1: “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.” The Lord Jesus was marked by such inward desires. See Ps.40.7, “I delight to do Thy will, O my God: yea, Thy law is within My heart.” Notice Jn.2.17, where His disciples “remembered that it was written, the zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up.” Our own devotion to God will be strengthened and enriched as we ponder the perfect devotion of the Lord Jesus, enabling us to say, with inward conviction. “Wherefore we labour (‘make it our aim,’ or ‘are ambitious’) that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted (‘well-pleasing’) of Him,” 2Cor.5.9.
e) “The roebuck.” The roebuck (‘gazelle’, JND) is a beautiful animal. The same word (tsebi) is translated “beautiful” in Is.4.2; “pleasant” in Dan.8.9; “glorious” in Dan.11.16,41,45. we can sing:
What grace, O Lord, and beauty shone
Around Thy steps below!
What patient love was seen in all
Thy life and death of woe!
As we enjoy the Lord Jesus as the “roebuck”, His beauty will be seen in us. We should cry with ‘Moses the man of God,’ “Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,” Ps.90.17.
Other animals are also mentioned: “the fallow deer (stag), and the wild goat, and the pygarg (dishon: a type of antelope: some say the bison), and the wild ox (pryx), and the chamois (wild sheep).” The absence of further details in the Bible about these animals precludes comment, but one thing is abundantly clear: there was no lack of variety for the Israelite, and there is infinite provision in the Saviour!
Jesus! My Shepherd, Saviour, Friend;
My Prophet, Priest, and King;
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End;
Accept the praise I bring.
—to be continued (D.V.)