Distinguish Between the Clean and the Unclean

There is a refrain throughout the books of the Law and the Prophets that I have been pondering:

Leviticus 10:10
distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean

In a recent Spiritual Snack (Be Holy, for I am Holy), I pointed out several of the scriptures in the Old Testament in which God commanded the Israelites to "be holy," along with an analysis of the New Testament appearances of the command to "be holy." This refrain in Lev. 10:10 about discerning holiness and cleanliness comes up quite a bit in the context of the scriptures that I referenced in that article. If God wants us to "be holy," we obviously must understand what holiness is first! The point of that article is that the answer is found in God's law. God's Law gives qualifications for holiness - if you do not follow the law, then you become unholy. An important distinction to make is that keeping the law does not make you Holy - God makes you holy out of His grace and mercy because of the fact that you demonstrate faith by attempting to do His will by keeping His law. 



The relationship between holiness and cleanliness, as outlined in the law, is this: only that which is clean can become holy. On the other hand, just because something is clean does not mean it is holy. In order for something to become holy, it must first be clean, and then it must go through some sanctifying and/or purifying process in order to become holy. For example, the meat of a clean animal becomes holy when it is sacrificed. Likewise, the grain offering of fine flour became holy after it was mixed with oil, frankincense, and salt and had a memorial portion offered to God on the altar.

In view of this relationship, it becomes clear that we must first be "clean" if we want to fulfill God's commandment to "be holy." It is interesting to find that some things are considered unclean of themselves, meaning that they are inherently unclean. Among the cleanliness laws of the Old Covenant are laws about pregnancy, mildew, leprosy and other skin disorders, and certain animals. Contact with any of these things could render a person "unclean," meaning that they would be unfit to come near the tabernacle and participate in certain ceremonies. An unclean person could not touch anyone, lest they also become unclean.

Somewhere along the line, the Israelites (namely the Jews, who were the only Israelites who returned to the land of Israel after captivity) mistakenly got the idea that they, as a nation, were inherently clean but that the Gentiles were inherently unclean. The culture that had developed by the time of Christ was exclusive of Gentiles to the point of cruelty. Gentiles who wanted to worship God could not come beyond a certain point in the Temple. Jews would never eat a meal with a Gentile - in fact, they would wash their hands before eating just in case they had touched something that a Gentile had touched. In some instances, they wouldn't even offer help to a Gentile who was in need for fear that they might become unclean because of it.

As mentioned before, many types of uncleanness come from various bodily processes or disorders, such as pregnancy, bodily emissions, or leprosy. In these cases, people became unclean by contact with something that was already unclean. The natural question then becomes: "where does uncleanness come from, and what things are inherently unclean?"

In Leviticus 11, God made a distinction between what animals may be eaten and what animals may not be eaten - the laws of "clean and unclean meats." God identified certain animals as being inherently unclean. In particular, these animals are born unclean and cannot be made clean by any kind of ritual or process. The requirements for land animals to be clean is that they (1) have a split hoof and (2) chew the cud. Pigs are the most commonly eaten unclean animals today: they have a split hoof, but they do not chew the cud (for a discussion of why Christians should not eat these animals, see What Does the Bible Teach About Clean and Unclean Meats?).

Notice that man, if considered as a land animal, is unclean, but that God makes no mention of any kind of ritual to remove our inherent physical uncleanness. As I pointed out in a recent Spiritual Snack (If You Will Not Redeem Him), humans are born unclean because of sin. We are born to this world as sinners, and we are unclean as long as we abide in sin. Every process in the law concerning humans becoming clean concerns a restoration to cleanliness - but how do we get clean to begin with?

Peter's dream in the book of Acts is the primary New Testament reference concerning clean and unclean laws. While most Christians say that this dream is about God showing Peter that Christians are now allowed to eat unclean animals, this is simply not the case: Peter himself explains that it was about God offering salvation to the Gentiles.

God was revealing the symbolism of clean and unclean meats, which is this: that it is God who decides what is clean and unclean, not man, and that it is God who made the clean animals clean to begin with. Therefore, God has the power to make human beings clean. The Jews thought that they were clean because they were born Jewish, just as clean animals are clean because they are born clean, and they thought that Gentiles were unclean because of their inferior birth. But God says to Peter, "what I have made clean, do not call unclean." The Jews were not clean because of how they were born - on the contrary, they were unclean because of sin! Every man becomes clean in the same way: by the grace of God. This is a deadly mistake on the part of the Jews that became one of the focal points of the New Testament discussion. They believed that they were able to make themselves clean.  They were clean because God cleansed them through the sacrifice of Christ! All men are born unclean, both by the definitions of clean and unclean meats in Leviticus 11 as well as by the fact that all men have sinned by virtue of being a descendent of Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22); therefore, all men must be made clean to approach God! Furthermore, when God makes a man clean, we must not regard him as unclean, as the Jews were doing.

Next time, I want to delve into the concept of "clean and unclean" in greater detail. In particular, I'll seek to answer a complex question: How concerned do New Covenant Christians need to be with distinguishing between clean and unclean things today? Will this change in God's Kingdom?