Feb 18th

Leviticus 1-11; 19

Purity is cleanliness and being without sin while impurity is being unclean and marked by sin. As Mary Douglas puts it in Purity and Danger, “Dirt offends against order. Eliminating it is not a negative movement, but a positive effort to organise the environment”. From the Genesis account, we learned that God commanded human beings to maintain order on Earth. If dirt and uncleanliness is disorder, then humans should avoid uncleanliness. Not to maintain purity is to disobey God’s command and therefore is to sin. In Leviticus, we are given many laws related to purity, and detailed laws about what animals we are and are not permitted to eat. At first glance, some of the rules outlining which animals might seem peculiar. However, there is more logic behind them than it seems. The animals that we are permitted to eat, such as livestock, were blessed by God and deemed slaves of mankind in His covenant. Conversely, other animals that were not protected by covenant with God are considered impure for human consumption. Another thing that God outlaws is, “Do not mate different kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing of two kinds of material.” (Leviticus 19:19). This is consistent with his command to preserve the order of creation. Without rules intended to maintain this order, mankind would descend into chaos. This is why it is necessary to dictate even seemingly irrelevant standards such as what we can / cannot eat.