No Hyrax

July 15, 2020

You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. However, of those that chew the cud or that have a divided hoof you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the hyrax. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. Deuteronomy 14:6-7

What made an animal unclean, that they should not eat it? I have not eaten camel and don’t even know what a hyrax is, but I have eaten rabbit. So what is the deal? To be honest, I don’t know. There is something about normal for animals that God used to define what you eat and don’t eat (chewing cud and split hooves or fish with scales). Some like to say God used this to keep them from eating things that weren’t healthy—but I don’t see that to be true. I think it was a way for God to help them learn they needed to listen to whatever he said—even if they did not understand. I know we still need to follow that approach to life. Trust Him! (And relax—the new Testament took away the eating restrictions—eat some camel!