We’re now in the thick of discussing forbidden unions or mixtures or what is called in Hebrew KILAYIM.
The first thing I want to point out is that from a purely practical and logical perspective, these mixtures actually do NOT cause any harm.
Quite the contrary, from an earthly perspective, they can actually be quite beneficial.
Here’s a list of the practical benefits that can result from these forbidden unions.
THE BENEFITS OF PLANTING TWO DIFFERENT KINDS OF SEEDS
-Also known as “inter-cropping”, this practice can be advantageous, especially in undeveloped parts of the world, because one type of plant will attract a type of insect that will be beneficial to both types of plants resulting in a healthy form of cross-pollination.
-Another benefit is that one type of plant will produce a necessary nutrient that the other plant will be able to absorb from the soil. This process will also slow down the depletion of the soil.
-Inter-cropping also allows a farmer to make maximum use of his land by planting two different kinds of crops in the same area. This is a perfect example of maximum production from minimum resources. When one reads Deuteronomy 22:9 which forbids planting a crop of a different kind among the vineyards, one must wonder, what good purpose can possibly be served by allowing such a huge amount of ground between those vineyard rows to go to waste? I mean if the precious water used to water the vines can also be used to water the seeds that are growing on the ground beneath those vines, what in the world is wrong with that?
-Inter-cropping can also serve as a safeguard against crop failure because if one kind of plant dies out due to a certain agricultural threat, the other plant might not be affected.
THE BENEFITS OF WEAVING LINEN & WOOL TOGETHER
-The truth is that weaving fine linen and wool together results in a cloth of very high quality, strength and beauty. What in the heck is wrong with that?! This has baffled the Hebrew sages to no end as they struggled in vain to find any earthly fault or inherent evil in wearing material made out of mixed threads. Yet they could not deny this command from God as it is so explicit and straightforward. There is absolutely no wiggle room for misunderstanding or misinterpretation. As a result, the most religious Hebrews observe this command to this very day.
THE BENEFITS OF YOKING AN OX AND A DONKEY TO THE SAME PLOW
-In the ancient world, if a farmer owned BOTH an ox and a donkey, he was considered quite well off. An ox was a superior animal in terms of being able to PULL heavy loads as opposed to carrying them…AND…a donkey was a superior animal in terms of being able to CARRY heavy loads as opposed to pulling them. Yet, in spite of this, an ox and a donkey were still capable of doing BOTH (pulling and carrying) even though each animal was better at one compared to the other. Hence, when a plow required a degree of horsepower that required the strength of two animals, the ancients saw nothing wrong with allowing a donkey and an ox to work together in such a situation. In fact, having two different animals team up to pull a plow or wagon was quite common in the Biblical era.
Now, for purposes of our discussion, let’s take a look at the third example of an ox and a donkey working together to pull a heavy load.
Honestly, can you see any harm whatsoever in yoking these two animals to the same plow?
Just because a donkey is better at carrying stuff as opposed to pulling it ain’t no reason to deny its ability to pull stuff now, is there?!
Well, the reality is…
…there is no earthly harm!!!
Yet gentile teachers and preachers with their inflexible and Greek black-and-white ways of thinking have had a field day attempting to show that because of the difference in strengths between the two different animals, the plow would somehow always turn to the direction of the weaker animal.
They argue this is similar to a situation of someone doing an extremely imbalanced bench press where the righthand side is loaded down with 150 pounds of weight while the lefthand side is only loaded down with 50 pounds of weight.
Or they’ll argue that the stronger animal may turn against the weaker animal and harm it.
However, the truth is there is no danger at all and this has already been proven by the historical record which shows that yoking an ox and a donkey to a plow was already a common practice.
Having said all that, I do have to tip my head in great respect to the ancient Jewish sages however.
Why?
Because they have been very humble and forthcoming in admitting they have no idea why God handed down these particular laws in the first place.
This is much better than what the Christians have done with their wacky allegorical explanations that have accomplished nothing but lead us down a bunch of confusing-as-all-hell rabbit holes.
Now I want you to recognize something.
Did you notice I’ve been emphasizing that these commands make no sense whatsoever when they are viewed from an “earthly” or “physical” perspective?
That’s right.
What I’ve kind of been implying all along is that…
…we need to view these instructions about forbidden unions from a heavenly or spiritual perspective.
So for starters, today let me tell you this much.
The four Torah laws on forbidden mixtures or unions are actually connected to the 7th Commandment which says “Thou shall not commit adultery”.
“What?!?!?!”…
…you say?
That’s right.
And let me say it again for darn good measure.
God’s laws concerning unauthorized mixtures or unions actually represent several different aspects of adultery.
“How so?”…you ask?
Well, that’s what we’ll start getting into the next time we meet…
…and when we do start getting into it, I think you’ll come around to seeing that I’m right, as strange as it may seem at the moment.
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