Deuteronomy 14:2

Improper Mourning

1 “You are ^athe children of the Lord your God; ^byou shall not cut yourselves nor¹ shave the front of your head for the dead.

2 ^aFor you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

Clean and Unclean Meat

3 ^a“You shall not eat any¹ detestable thing.

4 ^aThese are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,

5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the¹ mountain goat, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.

6 And you may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and that chews the cud, among the animals.

7 Nevertheless, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall not eat, such as these: the camel, the hare, and the rock hyrax; for they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you.

8 Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh ^aor touch their dead carcasses.

9 ^a“These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and scales.

10 And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

11 “All clean birds you may eat.

12 ^aBut these you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard,

13 the red kite, the falcon, and the kite after their kinds;

14 every raven after its kind;

15 the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after their kinds;

16 the little owl, the screech owl, the white owl,

17 the jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the fisher owl,

18 the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat.

19 “Also ^aevery creeping thing that flies is unclean for you; ^bthey shall not be eaten.

20 “You may eat all clean birds.

21 ^a“You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; ^bfor you are a holy people to the Lord your God. “^cYou shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Tithing Principles

22 ^a“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year.

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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What Does Deuteronomy 14:2 Mean?

Deuteronomy 14:2-3

Both sanctification and holiness imply being "different" or "set apart" for a special purpose. God instituted His law of clean and unclean to show the difference between His people and the nations around them. Paul calls the church "the Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16). I Peter 1:13-16 shows very clearly that Christians, spiritual Israelites, now have a responsibility to be holy as God is.

Staff
Clean and Unclean Meats

Deuteronomy 14:2

Verse 2, though similar to verse 1, goes in a slightly different direction, revealing Israel's status with God. He called them a special people, set apart as God's chosen. In similar fashion, God regards His people today, the church, as His own special people (I Peter 2:9). These two verses show that God had a special purpose for Israel, one of being an example to all the peoples around them, and thus their appearance and behavior were important. In modern terms, God does not want His people to follow worldly practices such as radical hairdos, cult fashions (Goth, grunge, gang-banger styles, etc.), tattoos, body piercing, and the like. God wants His chosen people, set apart for a special purpose, to know who they are and that what they do to the outside of their bodies is important to God.

Staff
Whatever Your Heart Desires

Related Topics: Sanctification | Separation from the World | Set Apart | Special People | Special Treasure

**Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Deuteronomy 14:2:**

Exodus 31:13
Exodus 31:17
Deuteronomy 22:11
Ezra 10:10-11
Daniel 12:7

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