In Leviticus 17, as well as in other portions of the Old Testament, there is also an ordinance against eating strangled animals. Acts 15 says that anything strangled should not be eaten. This is also related to the blood. The blood of a strangled animal is not separated from the meat. We do not take other blood because we maintain that there is only one salvation in the universe. This is the reason that God’s children should reject all other blood; they should not eat it at all.
In Leviticus 11 God gave the Israelites a list of clean beasts which they could eat and a list of unclean beasts, such as creeping things, which they could not eat. Some fish in the sea are edible, while others are not. Similarly, some fowls in the air are edible, while others are not. Carnivorous birds are not edible. Fish that have fins and scales are edible, while those that do not have fins and scales are not. Leviticus contains a list of ordinances regarding what is clean and what is unclean, and what can be eaten and what cannot be eaten. This list encompasses fish in the sea, birds in the air, creeping things, and beasts on earth.
Many have pondered on the significance of the regulations in Leviticus 11. Should the New Testament believers keep the same regulations? Let us turn to Acts 10. As Peter was praying on the housetop, a trance came upon him and he saw heaven opened. A certain vessel like a great sheet descended, being let down by four corners onto the earth, in which were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of heaven. These were all forbidden by God in Leviticus 11. God said to Peter, “Rise up, Peter; slay and eat!” (Acts 10:13). Peter was a Jew; he had kept the law. He said to the Lord, “By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common and unclean” (v. 14). Then a voice came to him the second time, saying, “The things that God has cleansed, do not make common” (v. 15). This occurred three times. Afterward, the vessel was immediately taken up into heaven.
We need to realize that the ordinances in Leviticus 11 give us a hint of the teaching in Acts 10. God’s mind is not on what kind of fish one can eat; His mind is not on what kind of animal one can eat. Did God not think of such things when He gave all the living creatures to Noah for food? In Noah’s time there was no distinction between clean and unclean; everything could be eaten. Why then was there a distinction of the clean and unclean in Leviticus 11? During Noah’s time God had not made a choice concerning His own people on earth. By the time of Leviticus, however, God had made a choice—He had chosen Israel. The Israelites came out of Egypt and were chosen to be God’s people. Hence, there was a separation between God’s people and those who were not His people. God did not raise the matter of choice during the time of Noah. The matter of clean and unclean only occurred at the time of the exodus when there was a separation between the Jews and the Gentiles. The question of who were God’s people and who were not became an issue at that time. From that time forward, there was a distinction between clean things which were edible and unclean things which were not edible. One group of people could enter the fellowship, while the other group could not. God was pleased with one group of people but not with the other. Food became a symbol of this distinction. Food is not merely food; it is something that shows a principle. Edible things indicate things that are pleasing to God, while forbidden things indicate things that are not pleasing to God.