What does "unclean" mean in Leviticus 11?

Q. What does "unclean" mean in Leviticus 11?


A. The concept of clean and unclean is a subject that is misunderstood at best by most believers. I am not going to go into massive detail here but I will give some basic definitions and instruction that should answer your question and give you enough information so that you can do your own study on the subject. The term clean and unclean relate to ritual purity and ritual purity applies to whether or not you can enter the Sanctuary and touch Holy things. Basically, if you were unclean you could not enter the Temple or touch anything that was in the Temple. So, in Leviticus 11 God tells us what creatures are acceptable and ritually pure and what aren't. All of that pertains to whether or not you can enter the Temple. Now, there are several concepts to discuss. These creatures in Lev 11 can be divided into three categories and how they affect a person who wants to go to the Tabernacle/Temple. There are creatures that are acceptable for sacrifice, like the bull, goat, sheep and certain birds. These can be offered to God and eating them is ritually acceptable (clean). There is another category of creatures that cannot be offered as a sacrifice, like deer, elk and certain birds but they are acceptable to eat and will not make someone ritually impure so they can enter the Tabernacle/Temple. The third category is made up of creatures that are not only unacceptable for sacrifice but eating them will make the worshiper ritually unclean and ineligible to enter the Tabernacle/Temple. That is why the term clean and unclean are used in this chapter. It tells you what is ritually acceptable or not when wanting to enter the Tabernacle/Temple. Now, the term unclean is not equated with sin. Nowhere in Lev 11 does it say it was sin to be unclean in regards to these creatures. Did Yeshua ever sin? No, but he was unclean on several occasions and could not enter the Temple. He touched the dead, the highest form of uncleanliness. He touched lepers and a woman with a blood issue. To enter the Temple again, he would have had to go through the purification process required for whatever impurity it was, from being sprinkled with the ashes of the Red Heifer, to a simple immersion and remaining unclean till sundown.  So, unclean should not be equated with sin but should be understood in the context of ritual purity and the ability to enter the Tabernacle/Temple. There is no Temple today so the laws pertaining to clean and unclean are not applicable today. Everybody, even Orthodox Jews, are unclean today and would not be able to enter the Temple if it stood today unless they went through a purification process. There are people who think they eat kosher but they don't. All meat from restaurants and grocery stores are unclean. Canned foods and other items are unclean ritually. There is not one person who doesn't eat unclean food. But, that doesn't matter because there is no Temple and so it does not apply. People will say "I don't eat pork because it is unclean" but they will eat steak and chicken that is also unclean because it has been in contact with pork. No butcher shop in grocery stores is ritually pure and when you go out to eat, the meat there is unclean, no matter what you eat. We are also unclean many other ways, too. Ever touched the dead or been to a cemetery? Ever touch a woman who was menstrual or a dead insect? Ever touched the carcass of a dead animal that was unclean? Have you ever touched a woman who ever had a baby? All these things make one ritually impure and ineligible to enter the Temple. Now, there are certain health benefits to eating clean animals today but that wasn't the reason the Lord gave these laws. We must not look down on people when they eat unclean food because everyone does. Just because you don't eat pork doesn't mean you don't eat unclean meat, because you do. But, do a study on what clean and unclean mean and how that relates to entering the Temple and you will have a better understanding of these concepts and hopefully it will set you free on some inaccurate concepts you may be holding on to.