Leviticus 11:32-40
In the verses that follow the Israelite was instructed as to another class of pollution, through the touch of these creatures when dead. This must have caused the yoke of the law to press heavily on their neck; for they were not moral delinquencies, but ceremonial only, and at the same time of inevitable and most frequent occurrence. It was the law of Jehovah, under which they lived, and which claimed their implicit obedience. Nothing could righteously deliver from it, save His death Who honored it to the uttermost. For He not only died for us when we were mere and lost sinners, but we died with Him, and thereby, had we been Hebrews of Hebrews, we were made dead to the law by the body of the Christ. Henceforward we belong to Him in another condition, even to Him Who was raised up from out of dead persons, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
“And on whatever any of them when they are dead falleth, it shall be unclean; all vessels of wood, or garment, or skin, or sack, every vessel wherewith work is done, it shall be put into water, and be unclean until the even; then shall it be clean. And every earthen vessel, whereunto [any] of them falleth, whatever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it. All food that is eaten on which [such] water hath come shall be unclean, and all drink that is drunk shall be unclean in every [such] vessel. And everything whereon [aught] of their carcass falleth shall be unclean; oven or range shall be broken down: they are unclean and shall be unclean to you. Nevertheless a spring or a well, a collection of water, shall be clean. But he that toucheth their carcass shall be unclean. And if [aught] of their carcass fall on any sowing-seed that is to be sown, it is clean; but if water be put on the seed, and [aught] of their carcass fall thereon, it is unclean to you. And if any beast die that is to you for food, he that toucheth the carcass thereof shall be unclean until the even; and he that eateth of its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even; he also that carrieth its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even” (vers. 32-40).
Here we read the application of all three rules, Handle not, nor taste, nor touch. Indeed the first of these prohibitions goes yet farther, for if any of them when dead were to fall on another thing, it became unclean: vessels of wood, raiment, or sack, every vessel for work had to be put into water, and be unclean till evening. Even involuntary contact with these dead things defiled; so that the vessels described in ver. 32 must be put in water for cleansing, and those in ver. 33 must be quite broken. Not Rabbis, but the apostle Peter tells us the truth. It was a yoke which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear. Every form of service, and the means of living, contract pollution in a scene where death reigns.
Two exceptions are specified in vers. 36, 37. First, a fountain or well, a quantity of water resisted pollution from this source; but that which touched the carcass was unclean. Next, seed for sowing was not thereby defiled, if aught dead fell on it. The cleansing by the word, and the life that quickens, were superior to death, the figure of what is special to Christ. But if the seed were for other use, it was rendered unclean.
Further, not merely the forbidden creatures, minute as many are, but even such as might be eaten were defiling if they “died.” This appears, not if killed duly, but dying: he that touched its carcass, he that eat of it, and he that bore it off, were severally unclean till even (vers. 39, 40).
Our purity has its source in Christ, Who is not only life to us by faith, but washes us by the word, and purifies us by the hope of His coming. And the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ by showing us Him and His things to preserve us from evil and promote our growth till we shall be like Him when He is manifested. Only then shall we be conformed to His image, however we abiding in Him ought now to walk as He walked. His commandments are not grievous. We live of His life, and would walk in dependence, obedience, and confidence of His love. Yet how peremptorily the Spirit warns against participation in lawlessness, in fellowship with darkness, in concord with Belial, in sharing with an unbeliever. Babylon is the caricature of the bride, the Lamb's wife, and is the great center and seat of corruption, mingling things holy and profane. The bride is espoused to one man, in faith, love, and heavenly separateness, longing to be presented a chaste virgin to Christ.