Leviticus 11:26 says, The carcases of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean. Moses said that all animals without cloven hooves and that did not chew their cud were to be considered unclean and that anyone who even touched them would be considered unclean. Verse twenty-seven adds, And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even. The people of Israel were to also consider animals that walked on their paws to be unclean, still talking about to eat, and if someone even touched the carcass of such an animal, they were to be considered unclean for the rest of the day. This was a ceremonial uncleanness, since someone would have to touch the dead animals to remove them from the camp if they were found dead there, and therefore only lasted for the day. It was not a sin as such unless it were done simply to defy God's law. Verse twenty-eight continues, And he that beareth the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you. Anyone carrying the carcass was required to wash their clothes and would be considered unclean until the evening. Though there are spiritually no unclean animals today, we must still be careful about what we come into contact with in the world, and we must not allow the things of the world to defile us spiritually. Verse twenty-nine states, These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind, Verse thirty adds, And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole. Many of these things we would not think of eating today, but some we do. Again, we are spiritually free to eat anything that we desire to eat, and anyone who attempts to put restrictions on what we eat based on Biblical grounds has not read the whole Bible. Verse thirty-one continues, These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even. Creatures that crawled were to be considered unclean to touch, much less to eat. Verse thirty-two says, And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed. Anything even accidentally touching one of these animals when it was dead, was to be considered unclean. If a cooking or eating vessel touched the dead animal, it was to be put into water until evening and was to be considered unclean until then. Verse thirty-three adds, And every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it: If the vessel was made of clay it was to be destroyed, possible because such a vessel might not survive a day in the water or because it would be stained by the blood of the animal. For whatever reason, earthen vessels were to be treated differently. Verse thirty-four continues, Of all meat which may be eaten, that on which such water cometh shall be unclean: and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. Coming in contact with the vessels while they were unclean would make even clean foods, those that could be eaten, be unclean. Verse thirty-five states, And every thing whereupon any part of their carcase falleth shall be unclean; whether it be oven, or ranges for pots, they shall be broken down: for they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you. Even the places to cook were to be considered unclean if they came into contact with these unclean animals and were to be broken down. Verse thirty-six adds, Nevertheless a fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean: but that which toucheth their carcase shall be unclean. Fountains or pits were not to be considered unclean if they came into contact with one of these dead animals, except for the area where the carcass had actually touched. Verse thirty-seven continues, And if any part of their carcase fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean. Then verse thirty-eight concludes, But if any water be put upon the seed, and any part of their carcase fall thereon, it shall be unclean unto you. Seeds that hadn't been planted were to be considered clean if they touched an unclean carcass, but those that had water on them, which I believe would mean had been planted, were to be considered unclean. This may have been because the seed that had not been planted would be transformed when it was and grew, whereas those that were already planted had already transformed into the new plant and could not be changed afterward.
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