You
shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean: and you shall not make yourselves abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean for you. You shall be holy to me; for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.
Leviticus 20:25-26
Leviticus 20 [22.] “‘You shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my ordinances, and do them; that the land, where I am bringing you to dwell, may not vomit you out. You shall not walk in the customs of the nation, which I am casting out before you: for they did all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. But I have said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am Yahweh your God, who has separated you from the peoples.
Leviticus 20 [25.] “‘You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean: and you shall not make yourselves abominable by animal, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean for you. You shall be holy to me; for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be mine.
Leviticus 20 [27.] “‘A man or a woman that is a medium, or is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’”
Meaning:
Leviticus 20 closes a section of laws about holy living. God has just said, “I am Yahweh your God, who has separated you from the peoples.” These verses tie that separation to something Israel met every day: food.
- “You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean”
The word “therefore” links the food laws to what comes just before. Because God had separated Israel from the peoples, Israel was to separate clean animals from unclean. The detailed lists of animals, birds and creeping things are given in Leviticus 11, which ends with the same call: “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44).
- “Which I have separated from you as unclean for you”
God uses the same idea of separating for both the animals and the people. He separated certain animals as unclean for Israel, and he separated Israel from the other nations. Every meal reminded Israel that it belonged to God.
- “You shall be holy to me; for I, Yahweh, am holy”
Holiness is the heart of the matter. Earlier God had said, “You shall be holy; for I, Yahweh your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). At Sinai he promised that Israel would be “my own possession from among all peoples” and “a holy nation” (Exodus 19:5). God set Israel apart “that you should be mine.”
- The background to Peter’s vision
These verses help explain the vision Peter saw in Joppa, when a sheet full of “all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the sky” came down and a voice said, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat!” (Acts 10:12-13). Peter refused, but the voice said, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean” (Acts 10:15). Because the food laws stood for the separation between Israel and the nations, the vision was about people as well as food. Peter soon said, “God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man unholy or unclean” (Acts 10:28).
Paul describes Christ as the one who “broke down the middle wall of partition,” “having abolished in the flesh the hostility, the law of commandments contained in ordinances” (Ephesians 2:15). Christians differ on how the food laws apply today. Most hold that they are not binding on followers of Jesus, while some Messianic Jewish believers keep them as part of their Jewish calling. All agree that God now gathers people from every nation into one holy people.
The Significance of Leviticus 20:25-26
- Holiness means belonging to God
The call to be holy did not end with the food laws. Peter wrote to believers from many nations, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession” (1 Peter 2:9).
- Holiness of heart
Paul taught that “God’s Kingdom is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). God’s people are set apart by faith and a holy life.
Cross-References:
Leviticus 11:44: “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy.” The food laws and holiness.
Exodus 19:5: “then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine.” God’s treasured people.
1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession.” A holy people from every nation.
Conclusion: God told Israel to distinguish clean from unclean animals because he had set Israel apart from the peoples to be his own. The food laws were a daily sign of that holy belonging. This background explains Peter’s vision in Acts 10, where God showed that people of every nation may now be welcomed into his holy people.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible