|
“And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that shall ye eat” (Deuteronomy 14:6).
Why did the animal in question have to have a divided hoof, as well as having to chew the cud? The main point to be noticed here is that our outward walk (pictured by the cloven hoof) needs to correspond to what we are inwardly (pictured by chewing the cud.) It is no use to read the Word of God and meditate on it, if we do not go ahead and practice it in our walk. We may read and understand the Bible, yet fail to walk in the good of it. Likewise, we may have a good outward walk, but do so only as a matter of duty, without having the Word of God before us. For example, the Pharisees in the New Testament took great pains to have a good outward walk before men, but inwardly their hearts were not right with God. The Lord Jesus had to tell them that they made the outside of the cup and platter very clean, but that inwardly they were full of self-indulgence (Matthew 23:25 JND).
The cloven hoof speaks to us of an adequate testimony before this world, for the number two in the Bible often means this. The number two speaks of an adequate testimony, while the number three often speaks of abundant testimony. So, the cloven hoof pictures to us a walk that is a good testimony before others, but it must always be linked to a good state of soul inwardly.
|
