In the Law of Moses we are told which animals we may let us be fed upon and which we may not (Leviticus 11). By being fed upon an animal we will justify that animal by what it is. And by being fed upon an animal we will be uphold, will be bred, on what that animal stands for. Therefore we shall not be fed upon any animal. We shall be holy unto The Lord, says The Lord, because The Lord is holy.
In the story of the creation we learn that the creatures of the earth signify what man is: Man is created to be like the earth. So the fishes living in the water, in the motivation (in love) to the earth are what needs are to man. And the birds, stretching for the light, stretching for the heaven(s), to the earth are what wants are to man. And lastly the animals on the ground; the creeps, the cattle, and the beasts, to the earth are what reasonable motifs are to man. By the animals on the ground the earth acts rationally, so to speak, dependent upon its understanding. So the commandments telling us what creatures we may eat also tell us which needs, which wants, and which motifs The Lord let us justify.
There are two criteria to animals on the ground – to understandings. The Law states that the animal must chew the cud. And the animal must be clovenfooted – the hoof of the animal must be divided all the way up. By chewing the cud the animal signifies the kind of thinking that always reflects upon what it is given to rely upon. By chewing the cud the animal ponders on what is keeping it. And it signifies fair judgement, not letting the first taste of things be decisive to it. By being clovenfooted, on the other hand, the animal signifies understanding always divided. By letting the ground bear it the animal justifies and values the ground: The ground becomes something in the instance the animal grasps it. By walking the ground the animal makes the ground real. When divided the verdict pictured by the animals hoof might be seen as an either-or with respect to allowance. The words of Christ was: “But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” (Matthew 5:37) In this way one will not let this or the one understood depend upon oneself. Or else the understanding by its verdict shall make a divergence between earth and heaven, between the sword and the spear, between the silver tested in the crucible and the gold tested in the furnace, between woman and man, between right by marriage and right by birth, between the lamp and the light. In this way the understanding will be divided the same way as the commandment regarding what animals are allowed to eat is itself divided – between the directive on how to be fed and the directive on how to understand, between the directive on how to let be damned and the directive on how to capture something or someone.
Only the thinking which chews the cud and is clovenfooted is to justify and to let provide for us as we let the thinking do when we let us be fed upon the thinking. Both criteria must be met by the same animal. We will not be ignorant and we will not be stupid, and ignorance and stupidity is unfortunately what we develop when letting us be fed upon animals making us just that. The pig, for example, is not to justify since the pig does not chew the cud - even if the pig divides the hoof. And the hare is not to be fed upon even if it chews the cud since the hare is not clovenfooted.
With respect to the creatures in the water, being our needs, The Lord says they are not to be fed upon, not to justify, unless they have fins and scales. Fins symbolize steering. And scales symbolize value: By the scales the fish is measured.
Moses did not state any specific criterion to birds, being our wants. But he did point out several birds not allowed to eat. What these birds have in common, I believe, is being indifferent to what matters – to flesh. They are insensitive to the spirit of the damned. Such birds are for example vultures, all kinds of ravens, and owls.
Moses also stated what kind of flying creeping thing we can eat. Every creature that flies and goes upon four legs shall be an abomination to us unless it has jointed legs for hopping on the ground (which the grasshopper has). Such a creature signifies the earlier mentioned distinction called for when it divides between the power of the hips and the power of the knees when it estimates and walkes the ground. Such a creature is to be fed upon as it, by our justification of it, let us be human in relation to The Lord. The flying creeping things signify wishes.
Living by the Law of Moses we will develop deeds and qualities dependent upon what we justify. The word of The Lord is: “Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 18:5)
We know Jesus said: “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” (Matthew 15:11). And Christ also said: “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Matthew 12:34) So eating the right things does not make man ‘clean’: The evil man cannot be ‘clean’ whatever he digests.
ReplyDeleteBut man counts if he will be by The Lord – if he will be holy unto The Lord. By him will be justified whatever is. And so he will be righteous in the Biblical sense. Samson struck down a thousand men with a fresh jawbone of a donkey. He was special being a Nazarite unto God from the womb. But he was holy unto The Lord because he lived by the Law. The jawbone of the donkey really meant something in the hands of Samson.
About being fed upon understanding – about meat from animals – Paul wrote: “Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. But if any man love God, the same is known of him. As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled. But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.” (1 Corinthians 8)
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