Leviticus 11:20 - Meaning and Application

Here is the law about unclean creatures. Flying insects, such as flies, wasps, and bees, were not to be eaten (Leviticus 11:20). In fact, they were not fit for food. Yet there were several kinds of locusts that were good food in those countries and were commonly used. John the Baptist lived on them in the wilderness, and they were allowed here (Leviticus 11:21-22).

The law also spoke about creeping things on the ground. These were all forbidden (Leviticus 11:29-30; Leviticus 11:41-42). This matched the curse on the serpent, where he was told to go on his belly, and enmity was placed between him and man (Genesis 3:15). This law kept that separation in mind. Since dust is the food of creeping things, they were not fit to be human food.

The law also covered the dead bodies of these unclean animals. Anyone who touched them was unclean until evening (Leviticus 11:24-28). This rule is repeated often to teach them a strong fear of what God forbade, even when no other reason was given except the will of the Lawgiver. This did not mean the animals made a person morally guilty simply by touch, unless the person treated the law with contempt. In many cases, someone had to touch them to remove them. Still, it was a ceremonial uncleanness, which for a time kept a person from the tabernacle, from holy food, and even from close fellowship with neighbors.

That uncleanness lasted only until evening. This pointed ahead to the end of all ceremonial defilement through Christ's death in the evening of the world. It also teaches us to renew our repentance each night for the sins of the day, so we do not lie down in uncleanness. They could touch these animals while alive without becoming ceremonially unclean, as with horses and dogs, because they were allowed for service. But they could not touch them when dead, because they were not allowed to eat their flesh. What must not be eaten must not be touched (Genesis 3:3).

Even the vessels or other things they fell on became unclean until evening (Leviticus 11:32). If they were earthen vessels, they had to be broken (Leviticus 11:33). This taught the people to avoid anything polluting, even in ordinary life. Not only the vessels of the sanctuary, but every pot in Jerusalem and Judah, was to be holy to the Lord (Zechariah 14:20-21). These laws were very exact, and their careful observance would have felt difficult, especially if something as small as a dead mouse or rat made a thing unclean. If it was an oven or a stove, they had to be broken down (Leviticus 11:35). Even the exceptions were very precise (Leviticus 11:36, and following). All of this trained the people to constant care and careful obedience. And now that Christ has freed us from these heavy rules, we should still be no less careful in the more important matters of God’s law. We ought to guard our souls from the pollution of sin just as carefully, and clean them just as quickly when we fall into it, as they were to guard and cleanse their bodies and household things from ceremonial uncleanness.