Leviticus - The Clean & the Unclean

God was very thorough in His instructions to Israel for clean living. Leviticus is that book that alot of people point to and say, "How is it that you follow SOME of the Bible's commands, but you don't follow all of this?"  As it were, these verses are an account of God's plan of living for the Israelites - to have them set apart from the rest of the people. It is not a set of rules for Joe and Sally and Bob and Jenny or you and me in the year 2011. This is not to say that everything God commanded of Israel is a bad idea (do not sleep with your brother or sister), but the final verse of the book sums up the context perfectly: "These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai." If you read Genesis and Exodus first, Leviticus follows a logical progression in the story of Israel's history. God has brought Israel out of Egypt and is bringing them to the promised land. They had been in slavery to Egypt, and so the way of life with which they have been surrounded is the Egyptian way of life. God makes it very clear in Leviticus that He expects a different way of life from Israel, because, as He says, "you are mine."
     Many of the rules involve health, diet and hygiene. This was a time in which there was no antibacterial soap, no Lysol disinfectant spray, no way to refrigerate food, and, unfortunately, very little progress in medicine. Through His laws for them, God teaches Israel how to isolate contagious flesh eating diseases, how to rid their homes of harmful molds & mildews, and which meats are to be avoided.(everyone knows that Jews don't eat pork, but did you know that rabbits were also a forbidden meat?)  He condemns sexual immorality, paying much attention to the matter of incest.
    God gives Moses specific dates for the Jews to observe with feasting, fasting, rest, etc. One which I found most noteworthy was the "year of Jubilee", which comes around once every fifty years. The text appears to say that slaves should be set free and people ought to be able to redeem property which they had sold, but the phrasing confused me a bit, so I need to research it.
    In addition to the "clean" and the "unclean" sections of Leviticus, much of the book relates to sacrifices in the tabernacle. Two of Aaron's sons gave an unauthorized sacrifice, which was a really bad idea - God, in response, struck them both dead. His message was clear concerning the tabernacle - this is not a freestyle event. Lots of very specific rules surround animal sacrifice.

Here is a picture collection of some of the things God forbade Israel to eat....