The Grammar of Holiness Text: Leviticus 11:41-45
Introduction: God in the Details
We live in an age that despises distinctions. Our culture is laboring with all its might to blur every line, erase every boundary, and flatten every hierarchy that God established in creation. The world wants a gray God, a gray morality, and a gray humanity. But the God of Scripture is a God of glorious, sharp, and life-giving distinctions. He is the one who separated the light from the darkness, the waters from the waters, and the land from the sea. And here, in the heart of Leviticus, He teaches His people that this principle of separation, of distinction, is central to their lives. It is the very grammar of holiness.
Many modern Christians, when they come to a passage like this one about swarming things and creatures that go on their bellies, are tempted to quietly close their Bibles and move on to the more "spiritual" parts in the New Testament. It seems strange to us. It seems arbitrary. Why would the God of the universe care about whether or not the Israelites ate lizards or centipedes? Is this just about hygiene? Is it some primitive taboo? Not at all. To think that way is to miss the point entirely. These laws are not primarily about germs; they are about God. They are a massive, acted-out object lesson designed to tattoo a fundamental reality onto the hearts and minds and stomachs of the people of Israel. That reality is this: God is holy, and because He is holy, His people must be holy. And holiness means being set apart, distinct, consecrated to Him in every area of life.
The dietary laws in Leviticus 11 are part of what is often called the Holiness Code. They were a schoolmaster, a tutor, to teach Israel the basic lesson that God cares about details. He cares about the difference between this and that, between clean and unclean, between the holy and the common. These laws were a daily, tangible reminder that they were a peculiar people, a people who did not live like the surrounding nations because they served a God who was not like the surrounding idols. Every meal was a theology lesson. Every choice about what to eat was an act of covenant faithfulness. It was a way of saying, "We belong to Yahweh."
Now, we know that in the New Covenant, Jesus has declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19). The ceremonial aspect of these laws, which distinguished Jew from Gentile, has been fulfilled and set aside in Christ. But the principle they teach, the moral foundation upon which they were built, remains absolutely central. The lesson they were teaching is eternal. The audio-visual aid has been removed, but the truth it illustrated is written on our hearts by the Spirit. That truth is the call to be a holy people, distinct from the world, because the God who redeemed us is holy.
The Text
‘Now every swarming thing that swarms on the earth is detestable; it shall not be eaten. Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, whatever has many feet, in respect to every swarming thing that swarms on the earth, you shall not eat them, for they are detestable. Do not render yourselves detestable through any of the swarming things that swarm; and you shall not make yourselves unclean with them so that you become unclean. For I am Yahweh your God. Therefore, set yourselves apart as holy and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that move on the earth. For I am Yahweh who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’
(Leviticus 11:41-45 LSB)
Detestable Creepers (v. 41-43)
We begin with the prohibition itself, which is stated with a stark and potent clarity.
"‘Now every swarming thing that swarms on the earth is detestable; it shall not be eaten. Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, whatever has many feet, in respect to every swarming thing that swarms on the earth, you shall not eat them, for they are detestable. Do not render yourselves detestable through any of the swarming things that swarm; and you shall not make yourselves unclean with them so that you become unclean." (Leviticus 11:41-43)
The word translated "detestable" or "abomination" is a strong one. It signifies something that is ritually and morally repugnant to God. This isn't just a matter of taste. This is a matter of divine revulsion. But why? Why are these "swarming things" singled out? The categories given are things that go "on the belly," like snakes or worms; things that go "on all fours," but not in the manner of proper land animals, likely referring to creatures like lizards or mice; and things with "many feet," like insects and centipedes.
The key to understanding this is to see it in the context of the created order established in Genesis 1. God created three distinct realms: the heavens, the seas, and the land. He then created creatures appropriate to each realm. Birds are for the heavens, fish for the sea, and livestock and beasts for the land. The clean animals are those that conform perfectly to the ideal of their created sphere. For example, a proper fish has fins and scales. A proper land animal has a cloven hoof and chews the cud. A proper bird flies and doesn't walk on all fours like an insect.
The unclean animals, and particularly these "swarming things," are creatures that blur the lines. They are ambiguous. A snake goes on its belly, a mode of locomotion that is associated with the curse in Genesis 3. Creatures that swarm and creep are low to the ground, associated with the dust. They don't fit neatly into the categories of God's ordered creation. They are boundary-crossers, creatures of the margins. By prohibiting their consumption, God was teaching Israel to value clarity, order, and distinction. He was teaching them to hate confusion and mixture in every part of their lives. This was a physical lesson with a profound spiritual application. Just as they were not to ingest creatures that blurred the lines of creation, so they were not to adopt the practices of the pagans, which blurred the line between Creator and creature, between righteousness and sin.
Notice the direct link: "Do not render yourselves detestable... do not make yourselves unclean." The state of the animal is transferred to the person who eats it. This is a powerful illustration of the principle that we become what we worship, and we become what we consume. If you fill your life with things that are ambiguous, disordered, and contrary to God's created intent, you yourself become disordered and unclean. You cannot consume the world's detestable things, whether that is its food, its entertainment, or its philosophies, and expect to remain clean before a holy God.
The Theological Foundation (v. 44)
Verse 44 provides the ultimate reason for all these regulations. It is not about health, and it is not about arbitrary power. It is about the very character of God.
"For I am Yahweh your God. Therefore, set yourselves apart as holy and be holy, for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that move on the earth." (Leviticus 11:44)
This is the bedrock. The imperative to be holy is grounded in the indicative of who God is. "I am Yahweh your God." This is covenant language. I am the God who has chosen you, who has bound Himself to you. And my nature is the standard for your nature. "Be holy, for I am holy." This is one of the most foundational statements in all of Scripture, quoted by the apostle Peter and applied directly to the New Covenant church (1 Peter 1:16).
Holiness, at its root, means "to be set apart" or "to be distinct." God's holiness is, first and foremost, His absolute transcendence, His "otherness." He is utterly distinct from His creation. He is not part of the system. He is not a bigger, better version of us. He is in a category all by Himself. And because He is set apart, His people must be set apart. Our holiness is a derived holiness. We are to be a living reflection of His character in the world.
So, the command to avoid swarming things is not the goal in itself. It is a means to an end. It is a practical, daily exercise in being set apart. When an Israelite looked at a lizard and said, "I cannot eat that," he was reminding himself, "I cannot live like an Egyptian. I cannot worship like a Canaanite. I cannot think like a Babylonian. I belong to Yahweh, the Holy One." The refusal to eat a detestable creature was a small act of war against the pagan worldview, a declaration of allegiance to the God who makes distinctions.
This is why the modern church is so weak and compromised. We have lost our appetite for distinction. We want to be relevant, to be accepted, to blur the edges between the church and the world. We have convinced ourselves that holiness is something internal and private, with no bearing on our external choices about what we consume, what we watch, how we speak, or how we conduct our business. But Leviticus teaches us that holiness is comprehensive. It touches everything, right down to the creepy-crawlies on the ground. God is not just the God of your prayer closet; He is the God of your kitchen table.
The Redemptive Context (v. 45)
Finally, God grounds this command not only in His nature, but in His redemptive action. This is not the command of a distant, abstract deity, but of a personal, saving God.
"For I am Yahweh who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; thus you shall be holy, for I am holy.’" (Leviticus 11:45)
The call to holiness is always rooted in the reality of redemption. God does not say, "Be holy so that I will rescue you." He says, "I have rescued you, therefore be holy." Grace always precedes the demand. The indicative of salvation is the foundation for the imperative of sanctification. He brought them out of Egypt, the land of slavery, the land of pagan gods who were represented by swarming things, frogs, and unclean animals. He delivered them from that defilement in order to make them His own special people.
Their obedience to the dietary laws was therefore a form of remembrance. It was a constant re-enactment of the Exodus. To reject the unclean was to reject Egypt. To embrace the clean was to embrace the covenant with Yahweh. This is profoundly important for us. Our call to holiness is not a grim duty we perform to earn God's favor. It is a joyful response to the salvation we have already received in Jesus Christ. God has brought us out of the Egypt of our sin, out of the kingdom of darkness. He has rescued us from slavery to our lusts and the world's detestable ways. Therefore, we are to live as a free and holy people. Our sanctification is the logical and necessary consequence of our justification.
The structure is critical: "I brought you up... to be your God; thus you shall be holy." God's saving action creates the relationship ("to be your God"), and that relationship demands a certain kind of life ("thus you shall be holy"). You cannot claim to be in a covenant relationship with the holy God of the Exodus and then live like you are still making bricks in Egypt. You cannot claim to be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and then go on consuming the detestable things of the world from which you were saved.
The Gospel of the Creeping Things
So how do we, as New Covenant believers, apply this? Do we start checking our pantries for unclean animals? No, the curtain in the temple was torn in two, and the wall of separation between Jew and Gentile, which these ceremonial laws helped to maintain, has been demolished by Christ (Ephesians 2:14). Jesus, in His own person, is the ultimate fulfillment of this principle. In the Old Covenant, uncleanness was contagious. If you touched a leper, you became unclean. But when Jesus came, holiness became contagious. He touched the leper and made him clean. He touched the dead and made them alive. He is the Holy One of God who enters into our defiled world, into our unclean lives, not to be contaminated by us, but to cleanse us.
But the underlying principle remains. We have been redeemed from the Egypt of sin. We have been set apart by a holy God. Therefore, we must be holy. While we are no longer required to distinguish between clean and unclean animals, we are absolutely required to distinguish between clean and unclean thoughts, between clean and unclean words, between clean and unclean entertainment, and between clean and unclean business practices.
The world is constantly trying to feed us a diet of swarming things. It serves up ideologies that blur the distinction between man and woman. It offers entertainment that crawls on its belly in the dust of lust and violence. It promotes philosophies that have too many feet, scurrying in every direction but toward God. And the church is called to say, "That is detestable. We will not eat it. We will not consume it. We will not make ourselves unclean with it."
We are what we eat. If you feast your mind and heart on the detestable things of this world, you will become detestable. But if you feast on Christ, who is the bread of life, if you feast on the pure milk of the Word, you will be transformed into His likeness. The call of Leviticus is the call of the gospel. God has brought you out of Egypt. He has made you His own. Therefore, be holy, for He is holy.