UNROLL
At dawn a single Nubian ibex with great curved, ridged horns stands still on a high cliff ledge above the pale Dead Sea, the mountains of Moab dim beyond.

The Book of

Deuteronomy 14

Even dinner said who they were: a people chosen to be God’s treasured possession.

29 verses≈ 5 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

Tap any post to go deeper

Where we are

  1. 1–4Remember the wayFrom Horeb to Moab
  2. 5–11Love the LORDThe heart of the covenant
  3. 12–26Laws for the landWorship, justice, neighborChapter 14
  4. 27–30Blessing and curseChoose life
  5. 31–34Moses' farewellA song, a blessing, a death

Clean and Unclean Animals

You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead, for you are a people holy to the LORD your God.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 14:2

Moses
Two rock hyraxes, small brown furry animals, sun themselves on a warm granite boulder in a desert wadi.

The law

Not for your table

  1. Land

    Camel, rabbit and rock badger

    But of those that chew the cud or have a completely divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: the camel, the rabbit, or the rock badger.

  2. They chew the cud, hoof undivided

    Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof. They are unclean for you,

  3. The pig: divided hoof, no cud

    as well as the pig; though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. It is unclean for you. You must not eat its meat or touch its carcass.

Looking down into a clear, shallow stream running over pale stones, where a few fish with fins and bright scales hold steady against the current in the sunlight.

Of all the creatures that live in the water, you may eat anything with fins and scales, but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales; it is unclean for you.

0:11

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Reflect

Holy at the table

Before Moses gave Israel a single rule about food, he told them who they were: “You are sons of the LORD your God.” The rules came after the name. Every meal reminded them that they belonged to Him. What reminds you, in the ordinary hours of your day, that you belong to God? Write down one everyday moment this week, a meal, a drive, a chore, and how you could stop there to remember whose you are.

A bearded vulture perches on a high cliff ledge above a deep desert gorge, wings half open, in clear morning light.

The law

Birds and insects

  1. Birds

    Any clean bird may be eaten

    You may eat any clean bird,

  2. Not the eagle or the vultures

    but these you may not eat:

    the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,

  3. Not kites or falcons

    the red kite, the falcon, any kind of kite,

  4. No kind of raven

    any kind of raven,

  5. Not ostrich, owl, gull or hawk

    the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,

  6. Not the owls

    the little owl, the great owl, the white owl,

  7. Not desert owl, osprey, cormorant

    the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant,

  8. Not stork, heron, hoopoe or bat

    the stork, any kind of heron,

    the hoopoe, or the bat.

  9. Insects

    No flying insects

    All flying insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten.

  10. Birds

    Clean birds you may eat

    But you may eat any clean bird.

You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God.

You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Clean and unclean

On landsplit hoof andcud · 4–8In thewaterfins and scales ·9–10In the airno birds of prey· 11–20A holy peopleset apart at everymeal · 2, 21All foods cleanMark 7:19 · Acts 10

Whiteboard

Three simple tests, on land, in the water and in the air, kept Israel’s table different from the nations’ around them. Every meal said, “you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God.” In Christ the dividing line between clean and unclean food is gone, and the gospel goes to every nation, but the call to be holy stays.

Question

Quick question

Moses gave Israel one simple test for the animals of the land.

Which land animals could Israel eat?

Giving Tithes

You must be sure to set aside a tenth of all the produce brought forth each year from your fields. And you are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the LORD your God at the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

Night at a pilgrims’ camp: families sit on mats around a low fire sharing bread, roasted grain and cups of wine, an old man laughing, children asleep against their mothers, tents and small fires stretching away behind.

But if the distance is too great for you to carry that with which the LORD your God has blessed you, because the place where the LORD your God will choose to put His Name is too far away, then exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. Then you may spend the money on anything you desire: cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink, or anything you wish. You are to feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with your household.

0:27

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

At a farmyard gate at dawn, a farmer ties a few rough pieces of cut silver into a small cloth pouch at his belt, his laden donkey and his wife waiting on the road behind.

And do not neglect the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.

At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and lay it up within your gates. Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.

Pray

A table for the needy

Every third year Israel’s tithe stayed in town, so that the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow “may come and eat and be satisfied.” God wrote the hungry into His people’s harvest. Thank Him today for what He has put in your hands. Then ask Him to show you who is missing from your table, and how you might share with someone who has no portion of their own this week.

You’ve experienced

Deuteronomy 14

0 of 34 chapters read

A verse to carry with you

The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 14:2

or swipe left