Celebrating the Law? by Lalleman Hetty;

Author:Lalleman, Hetty;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Authentic Media
Published: 2016-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Wholeness

The wider context of Leviticus 11 teaches us something more about the idea of being ‘holy’ which was emphasized in Leviticus 11:44,45 where we read:

I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy . . . I am the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.

We have touched on the issue of ‘wholeness’ in Leviticus 11, which is an important theme in other parts of Leviticus as well. Things that were not ‘whole’, in the sense that they were not ‘one whole thing’ (either of one and the same kind or without fault or disease) were forbidden. Thus we read in Leviticus 19:19: ‘Do not mate different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.’

Wholeness and integrity are very important issues. If someone’s skin was infected by a disease, that person was not ‘whole’ and they were considered ‘unclean’ (Lev. 13). Clothing and houses could also become ‘unclean’ by being ‘contaminated with mildew’ (Lev. 13:47–59; 14:33–57). The regulations in Leviticus 15 about losing semen and about menstruation also have to do with ‘wholeness’: losing semen or blood symbolizes losing ‘life’, which is the opposite of the ‘whole life’ which belongs to God and his realm. All of these regulations serve as daily reminders of God’s holiness, wholeness, integrity, and of the quality of a ‘full’ life which belongs to God and his people: ‘. . . be holy, because I am holy.’ (Lev. 11:44)35

In their daily life and in their sacrifices, in ‘cultic’ and ‘moral’ behaviour, the people of God should reflect his holiness. As Wenham argues, ‘God is the source of life and so holiness virtually equates to the life-­giving power of God.’36 ‘But divine holiness does not merely demand total religious and moral commitment, it means life. God himself is full and perfect life, so that death is the very antithesis of holiness.’37

It is clear that we need to consider the context of the whole of Leviticus in order to gain a better understanding of the food laws in Leviticus 11. The specific regulations on clean and unclean animals reflect the principles behind all of the regulations about cleanness and uncleanness.

We conclude that the food laws illustrated and brought home to the people of Israel that they were ‘different’. They were a people set apart by the Holy One in order to serve him with their whole lives. They were to reflect that separateness in every aspect of their daily lives – in their food and clothing and in their conduct. They had to reflect the wholeness, the completeness, the integrity, holiness and life of God – because God called them to be like himself. God is the source of life, which is opposite to death. Wholeness is opposite to being ‘mixed’ in your commitment to him – completeness and integrity are opposed to chaos and disintegration.

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