We are in chapter eleven of Leviticus with our word for today. אַרְנֶבֶת hare. It is used twice in the Old Testament. Our word is used to describe a swift, timid, long-eared animal larger than a rabbit. Let’s look at both of our uses starting with our chapter since it is also the first time it is used in the Bible. Leviticus 11:1-3, 6 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat … And הָאַרְנֶ֗בֶת the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. Our word is part of the list of unclean animals that God instructed his people at that time not to eat. Our other use is also used in the same context of unclean food. Deuteronomy 14:3, 7 You shall not eat any abomination … Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, הָאַרְנֶ֗בֶתthe hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you. Just like yesterday we see this list also identified as being an abomination to eat. It is important for us to remember that these dietary laws were given by God only to the Jewish nation, obeying them did not guarantee a person’s holy character, and the laws were temporary and ended on the cross. Colossians 2:13-14 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. We don’t know exactly why God restricted his people at that time not to eat these animals but here is what we do know about our relationship with God through Christ. Jesus made it clear to His disciples that all foods were clean. I’ll close with this great teaching from Jesus. Mark 7:1- 8, 14-23 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” … And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
