Leviticus 11:16
the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,
Sermons
HolinessS.R. Aldridge Leviticus 11:1-47
The Religious Use of NatureR.M. Edgar Leviticus 11:1-47
Answers to Objections Respecting These RegulationsS. H. Kellogg, D. D.Leviticus 11:2-47
Apologetic Value of This LawS. H. Kellogg, D. D.Leviticus 11:2-47
Bodily HolinessS. H. Kellogg, D. D.Leviticus 11:2-47
Clean and Unclean AnimalsS. H. Kellogg, D. D.Leviticus 11:2-47
Clean and Unclean FishA. A. Bonar.Leviticus 11:2-47
Clean and Unclean InsectsA. A. Bonar.Leviticus 11:2-47
Distinguishing the Precious from the VileW. H. Jellie.Leviticus 11:2-47
LessonsA. Willet, D. D.Leviticus 11:2-47
Lessons from the FowlsA. A. Bonar.Leviticus 11:2-47
Minute EnactmentsJ. Cumming, D. D.Leviticus 11:2-47
The Bat as a TypeA. F. Forrest.Leviticus 11:2-47
The Clean and the UncleanSpurgeon, Charles HaddonLeviticus 11:2-47
The Clean and the UncleanC. H. Mackintosh.Leviticus 11:2-47
The Clean and UncleanJ. A. Seiss, D. D.Leviticus 11:2-47
The Coney UncleanSpurgeon, Charles HaddonLeviticus 11:2-47
The Eagle as a TypeA. F. Forrest.Leviticus 11:2-47
The Hare UncleanSpurgeon, Charles HaddonLeviticus 11:2-47
The Kite as a TypeA. F. Forrest.Leviticus 11:2-47
The Osprey as a TypeA. F. Forrest.Leviticus 11:2-47
The Owl as a TypeA. F. Forrest.Leviticus 11:2-47
The Raven as a TypeA. F. Forrest.Leviticus 11:2-47
The Right Use of ThingsJ. Parker, D. D.Leviticus 11:2-47
The Vulture as a TypeA. F. Forrest.Leviticus 11:2-47
Types of ManhoodA. Willet, D. D.Leviticus 11:2-47
Clean and Unclean - a Lesson on SinW. Clarkson Leviticus 11:4-47
Clean and Unclean - Three Side TruthsW. Clarkson Leviticus 11:4-47
Flying CreaturesJ.A. Macdonald Leviticus 11:13-25














So conflicting are the opinions of the learned as to many of the animals indicated in the Hebrew names in the verses before us, that it appears hopeless to expect certainly to identify them. This fact in itself ought to convince the Jew that the Law, in the letter, is abolished; for he cannot tell whether he has not repeatedly eaten abominable things, or that contact with the carcasses of such has not made him unclean. As to the spirit of the Law, there are broad indications of cleanness and uncleanness to which we may profitably attend.

I. THE UNCLEAN ARE IN GENERAL BINDS OF PREY.

1. Conspicuous amongst these are the eagles.

(1) There is little doubt that first name (נשר) is truly rendered "eagle." The term expresses the propensity of that creature for lacerating and tearing in pieces the flesh of its prey.

(2) Its associates in the group (verses 13, 14) are similar in nature. The "ossifrage," or bone-breaker, is probably the sea-eagle, whose habit is to break bones to get at the marrow. The "ospray" has its name in the Hebrew from its strength, and is generally understood to be the black eagle. The "vulture " - if that truly renders the original - is one of the largest and most formidable of the eagle kind. And what is construed the "kite," being in the same group, is probably some other description of eagle.

2. These are emblems of evil spirits.

(1) This, indeed, is true of all unclean birds, in proof of which see Matthew 13:4, compared with 19, and Revelation 18:2. They are so:

(2) From their traversing the air (see Ephesians 2:2). This is eminently the case with eagles, whose flight is towering, and whose nests even are in inaccessible mountain heights.

(3) From the formidableness of their attacks. From dizzy heights they swoop down upon their prey. They are armed with powerful talons, and strong, sharp, hooked beaks fitted to inflict dreadful wounds, tearing as they grip the flesh of their quivering victims (Job 39:30).

3. They also represent wicked men.

(1) Wicked men are the "children of Satan," and naturally exhibit the family likeness. The kings of Babylon and Tyre are compared to the eagle (Ezekiel 17:3, 7). The persecutors of the people of God are likewise so compared (Lamentations 4:19). The Roman armies, whose standards were eagles, are called eagles by our Lord (Matthew 24:28).

(2) The lesson for us is to avoid the disposition of the wicked, and to beware of their relentless voracity and diabolical cruelty. God is stronger than the "powers of the air."

II. SOME UNCLEAN BIRDS ARE PROWLERS OF THE NIGHT.

1. This characterizes the next group (verses 15-19).

(1) The Hebrew name for the "raven" (ערב) is that commonly used for evening. Our name "raven" probably comes from their ravening. The raven Noah sent forth from the ark, which wandered to and fro, and resting upon floating carcasses or what dry thing it could find, was an emblem of an unclean dark spirit, which is cast out from the Church of God, and from the hearts of his people, and wanders among the moral carcasses, the dead in trespasses and sins (comp. Zechariah 13:2; Matthew 12:43).

(2) Keep close to Jesus, lest, departing from him, we may invite this unclean spirit to return with seven others more wicked than himself.

2. With the raven owls are associated (verses 16-19).

(1) These are creatures whose vision will not endure the blaze of day, but who have wonderful sight in the dark. That rendered "hawk" has its name here (דאה) from the swiftness of its flight; but in Daniel 14:13 (ראה) from the sharpness of its sight.

(2) They are distinguished from each other by particular habits. That in our version called the "night hawk" (תחמס) is the screech-owl. Its screams arc violent; and these birds in general make fearful and doleful sounds in the night. This does not argue favourably for the happiness of evil spirits.

(3) Wicked men also, like owls, hate the light. When honest people of the day are sleeping, these prowlers are plotting mischief. Witness the burglaries, the murders, the prostitutions, the debaucheries, practiced by them under the cover of darkness.

III. UNCLEAN BIRDS ARE GROVELLING IN THEIR HABITS.

1. Such are the "fowls that creep going upon all four."

(1) The bat is a creature of this class. It has claws attached to its leathern wings, which serve it instead of feet to crawl by.

(2) This description includes also insects from which exceptions are taken in the verse following.

2. They are types of wicked intelligences.

(1) Some devils have a passion for enshrining themselves in organic bodies. The incarnation of Satan in the serpent was not the last attempt. There were demoniacal possessions in our Lord's day; and when expelled from human beings, they preferred the bodies of swine to having no organic habitation.

(2) Wicked men grovel in the most revolting moral filth.

3. In what contrast to these are the flood!

(1) The dove sent forth by Noah is a figure of the Spirit of God, the gracious Messenger and Dispenser of peace to the Church; but who is often grieved by the impurities of men (Matthew 3:16). The fruit of the Spirit, is peace; and those who exemplify it are called doves (Matthew 10:16).

(2) The lark also is a clean creature, who soars high and sings gloriously in the light of the morning. How angelical! how saintly!

(3) While winged insects that could not leap from the ground were unclean, to show that those men are morally so who are wholly given to the cares of this world; those with benders above their feet, in our version called "legs," those with crouching joints to stoop and spring with, as locusts and grasshoppers, for the opposite reason are clean. The Baptist lived principally upon locusts in the wilderness. - J.A.M.

Do not drink wine.
Combine with this verse Jeremiah 35:6; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:7. Intemperance, one of the giant evils of the land, is self-imposed. This is its saddest feature. All the evils connected with it might be swept away if men so willed.

I. THE NATURAL. Use no intoxicants; and thus never acquire a passion for them.

II. THE MEDICAL. Some treat drunkenness as a disease; and by medicine seek to destroy the appetite for alcohol.

III. THE SANITARY. Asylums for inebriates have been opened, which combine physical and moral means to effect a cure; and with success.

IV. THE LEGAL. Its object is to control or arrest the evil; and by prohibition of its manufacture and sale, to remove it from the land.

V. THE VOLUNTARY. This involves the pledge and membership in societies banded together for mutual help and safety. Earnest work for others is a good preventative, so long as it is actively continued.

VI. THE SPIRITUAL. Grace, wherever received, casts out the demon of drink.

VII. THE PHILANTHROPIC. Here is a reform in which to engage. The beneficent change in public sentiment demands devout thankfulness, and is prophetic of what shall be achieved.

(Lewis O. Thompson.)

It is one of the attractions of a glass of wine to those who like it, that it gives a different colour to everything the drinker looks at, just as soon as it has any effect at all. If there were no effect from wine-drinking, there would be no temptation to drink wine. But so soon as the wine takes hold of the brain, the brain takes hold with a new grip of everything it thinks of. Memory is keener, anticipation is brighter, and the present is a great deal livelier. Everybody in sight or in thought looks brighter, too. This isn't so bad a world as it seemed an hour ago! "When the wine is in, the wit is out." What does a man under the influence of champagne know of sharp distinctions in morals, or in social life, or in logic? The inspired teacher was never more clearly inspired than when that teacher wrote, "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong drink; lest they drink and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted." And it was God Himself who insisted that priests should let wine and strong drink alone, lest they should fail to know the difference between holy and unholy, clean and unclean, and lest they should be unable to teach the truth aright. If you want to know what is right, and to do what is right, and to be able to teach others to know and do right, do you let wine and strong drink alone — before you go to church, and after you come back from church. What is good enough for a king, and safe enough for a priest, can wisely be your choice wherever you are.

(H. C. Trumbull.)

The effect of wine is to excite nature, and all natural excitement hinders that calm, well-balanced condition of soul which is essential to the proper discharge of the priestly office. The things which excite mere nature are manifold indeed — wealth, ambition, politics, the various objects of emulation around us in the world. All these things act, with exciting power, upon nature, and entirely unfit us for every department of priestly service. If the heart be swollen with feelings of pride, covetousness, or emulation, it is utterly impossible that the pure air of the sanctuary can be enjoyed, or the sacred functions of priestly ministry discharged. If we are not keeping our priestly garments unspotted, and if we are not keeping ourselves free from all that would excite nature, we shall, assuredly, break down. The priest must keep his heart with all diligence, else the Levite will fail, and the warrior will be defeated. It is, let me repeat it, the business of each one to be fully aware of what it is that to him proves to be "wine and strong drink" — what it is that produces excitement — that blunts his spiritual perception, or dims his priestly vision. It may be an auction-mart, a cattle-show, a newspaper. It may be the merest trifle. But no matter what it is, if it tends to excite, it will disqualify us for priestly ministry; and if we are disqualified as priests, we are unfit for everything, inasmuch as our success in every department and in every sphere must ever depend upon our cultivating a spirit of worship.

(C. H. Mackintosh.)

The Rev. S. Hooke, vicar of Clopton, Woodbridge, offers the following testimony: — "As there are so many of my clerical brethren who are doubtful if they could carry on their arduous labours if they abstained from alcoholic drinks, I write my experience of the last seven years, during which time I have been an abstainer. I believe I can do treble the amount of work without the use of these drinks than with them. At first I doubted if I could, and it was with trembling hand that I signed the pledge of the C.E.T.S. But I thank God from the depth of my heart that I took that step, for I am certain that I have been able to do more real good by my advocacy of total abstinence than I did before. On looking through my diary of last year I find I have preached a hundred and seventy-five times, given forty-four temperance lectures, ninety-five gospel addresses and cottage lectures, besides travelling nearly four thousand miles. Included in the above are the sermons and addresses I delivered at two Church Missions of ten days each. I am thankful to say I enjoy robust health, which I am confident is the result, in part, at least, of total abstinence. I am sure the happiness and joy of doing good to our fallen brothers and sisters more than compensates for the loss of a trifling gratification."

It was Dr. Hook's boast that for more than thirty years he had "laboured in the manufacturing districts, not for the working classes, but with them, in the measures desired by themselves for the improvement of their class, and having for their object the formation of habits of temperance and prudence; and especially that he had worked with them in the cause of rational recreation and education." It was with a view to aid this wide and general step in the education of the masses that, late in life, he joined the temperance movement, and became a pledged teetotaler. He used to tell the story of his change in this direction in the following way: — "I had in my parish at Leeds a man who earned 18s. a week; out of this he used to give 7s. to his wife, and to spend the rest in drink; but for all that, he was a good sort of man. I went to him and said, ' Now, suppose you abstain altogether for six months.' 'Well, if I do, will you, sir?' was his reply. 'Yes,' I said, 'I will.' 'What,' said he, 'from beer, from spirits, and from wine?' 'Yes. And how shall I know if you keep your promise?' 'Why, sir, you ask my "missus," and I'll ask yourn.' It was agreed between us for six months at first, and afterwards we renewed the promise. He never resumed the bad habit that he had left off; and he is now a prosperous and happy man in business at St. Petersburg, and I am Dean of Chichester."

On almost all boilers connected with engines there can be found a safety-valve. Whenever the boiler gets too full of steam and is in danger of bursting, this little valve opens and lets the steam out. No one has to watch it, for it opens of itself. There was once a man who wanted to travel on a certain steamboat. He went to the boat and examined the machinery, but he found that there was not an efficient safety-valve on the boiler, so he said to the captain, "I won't go on your boat, captain. You haven't a proper safety-valve, and I am afraid the boat may be blown up without it." "Come down with me to the engine-room," said the captain, "and I will show you the best safety-valve in the world." When they reached the engine-room the captain went up to the engineer, and laying his hand on his shoulder, said, "There, sir, is my safety-valve, the best to be found anywhere — a man who never drinks anything but cold water." "You are right, captain; I want no better safety-valve than that. I will go on this boat." He knew that the engineer would always watch the machinery, and if anything went wrong he would know it instantly. Only a sober man ought to be trusted in such a responsible position; and when boats have such engineers they have the best safety-valves in the world.

People
Aaron, Hen, Moses, Shaphan
Places
Egypt, Teman
Topics
Birds, Cuckoo, Cuckow, Female, Gull, Hawk, Horned, Kind, Kinds, Male, Nighthawk, Night-hawk, Ostrich, Owl, Screech, Sea-gull, Sea-hawk, Seamew, Sea-mew, Sort
Outline
1. What animals may be eaten
4. and what may not be eaten
9. What fishes
13. What fowls
29. The creeping things which are unclean

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Leviticus 11:16

     4654   horn

Leviticus 11:1-23

     5378   law, OT
     7424   ritual law
     8269   holiness, separation from worldly

Leviticus 11:1-47

     4438   eating
     5773   abstinence, discipline
     7525   exclusiveness

Leviticus 11:13-19

     4612   birds

Leviticus 11:13-20

     6103   abomination

Leviticus 11:13-25

     4690   wings

Library
Eleventh Day. The Holy one of Israel.
I am the Lord that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. I the Lord which make you holy, am holy.'--Lev. xi. 45, xxi. 8. 'I am the Lord Thy God, the Holy One of Israel, Thy Saviour. Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.'--Isa. xliii. 3, 14, 15. In the book of Exodus we found God making provision for the Holiness of His people. In the holy
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

The Clean and the Unclean
I. It is our firm belief that these distinctions of meats were laid down on purpose TO KEEP THE JEWS AS A DISTINCT PEOPLE, and that herein they might be a type of the people of God, who are also, throughout all ages, to be a distinct and separate people--not of the world, even as Christ was not of the world. You that are conversant with the old Levitical rule, well know that it was quite impossible for the Hebrews to mix with any other nation, without violating the statutes they were commanded to
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 9: 1863

Sanctification is a Mystery.
"Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of. God." --2 Cor. vii. 1. Sanctification belongs to the mysteries of faith; hence it can not be confessed but as a dogma. By this statement we intend to cut off at once every representation which makes "sanctification" to consist of the human effort to make oneself holy or holier. To become more holy is undoubtedly the duty which rests upon every man. God has condemned all unholiness, as an accursed
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Fifth Day. Holiness and Redemption.
Sanctify unto me all the first-born.'--Ex. xiii. 2. 'All the first-born are mine; for on the day I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I sanctified unto me all the first-born in Israel: mine they shall be: I am the Lord.'--Num. iii. 13, viii. 17. 'For I am the Lord your God that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.'--Lev. xi. 45. 'I have redeemed thee; thou art mine.'--Isa. xliii. 1. At Horeb we saw how the
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

A Book for Boys and Girls Or, Temporal Things Spritualized.
by John Bunyan, Licensed and entered according to order. London: Printed for, and sold by, R. Tookey, at his Printing House in St. Christopher's Court, in Threadneedle Street, behind the Royal Exchange, 1701. Advertisement by the Editor. Some degree of mystery hangs over these Divine Emblems for children, and many years' diligent researches have not enabled me completely to solve it. That they were written by Bunyan, there cannot be the slightest doubt. 'Manner and matter, too, are all his own.'[1]
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

List of Abbreviations Used in Reference to Rabbinic Writings Quoted in this Work.
THE Mishnah is always quoted according to Tractate, Chapter (Pereq) and Paragraph (Mishnah), the Chapter being marked in Roman, the paragraph in ordinary Numerals. Thus Ber. ii. 4 means the Mishnic Tractate Berakhoth, second Chapter, fourth Paragraph. The Jerusalem Talmud is distinguished by the abbreviation Jer. before the name of the Tractate. Thus, Jer. Ber. is the Jer. Gemara, or Talmud, of the Tractate Berakhoth. The edition, from which quotations are made, is that commonly used, Krotoschin,
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Thirtieth Lesson. An Holy Priesthood;'
An holy priesthood;' Or, The Ministry of Intercession. An holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.'--I Peter ii. 5. Ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord.'--Isaiah lxi. 6. THE Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: because the Lord hath anointed me.' These are the words of Jesus in Isaiah. As the fruit of His work all redeemed ones are priests, fellow-partakers with Him of His anointing with the Spirit as High Priest. Like the precious ointment upon
Andrew Murray—With Christ in the School of Prayer

The Destruction of Jerusalem
[Illustration: (drop cap G) Ruins of a Synagogue] God had given to His people a Book foretelling the coming of the Christ--or Messiah, as the word is written in Hebrew--so that they might be prepared and ready for His appearance. Yet when He came they did not receive Him. They were looking for an earthly king, and the beautiful words spoken by the ancient prophets had no meaning to them. When Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, the Jews were under the iron rule of the Roman Empire, of which they
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making

Leviticus
The emphasis which modern criticism has very properly laid on the prophetic books and the prophetic element generally in the Old Testament, has had the effect of somewhat diverting popular attention from the priestly contributions to the literature and religion of Israel. From this neglect Leviticus has suffered most. Yet for many reasons it is worthy of close attention; it is the deliberate expression of the priestly mind of Israel at its best, and it thus forms a welcome foil to the unattractive
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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