“The firstborn of your sons you are to give to me. You are to do the same with your oxen and your sheep — it is to stay with its mother seven days, and on the eighth day you are to give it to me. You are to be my specially separated people. Therefore you are not to eat any flesh torn by wild animals in the countryside; rather, throw it out for the dogs.”-Exodus 22:29-31
Today, let’s finish up chapter 22 of Exodus.
First, concerning the verse “the firstborn of your sons you are to give to me”.
This is NOT a command to perform child sacrifice.
During the archaic period of Hebrew culture, the firstborn officiated as priests.
A position that in short time would be replaced by God’s ordained priesthood from the sons of Levi.
The standard practice at the time became to “redeem” the firstborn by paying a fixed amount to the priests.
Contrast this with Exodus 13:15.
“When Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go,
the Lord killed the firstborn
of both people and animals in Egypt.
This is why I sacrifice to the Lord
the first male offspring of every womb
and redeem each of my firstborn sons.“
Next, we are told NOT to eat any flesh torn by wild animals out in the fields.
And the reason given is because the Israelites are to be God’s “specially separated people”.
“Specially separated people” is a rendering from the Complete Jewish Bible.
However, in this case, I feel like the King James version better captures the true essence of the original Hebrew.
“And ye shall be holy men unto me”
Or Robert Alter’s Torah translation is even better.
“And consecrated men you shall be to Me”
The root Hebrew word here is KODESH and is the exact same word used for the act of CONSECRATION that occurred before the Israelites were given the Law at Sinai.
So literally speaking, this phrase would mean “men of holiness”.
The strong implication here is that to eat carrion would be an act of self-defilement.
But why?
The Scriptural pattern being brought forth is that God is higher than man and man is higher than the animals.
Hence, while God does NOT partake of what man partakes, man is not to partake of what animals partake.
Another point to keep in mind is that the heathen had no qualms about partaking of flesh killed by wild animals.
But God’s people were to be SEPARATED from the entire rest of the world, and thus were not to eat as the heathen do.
The spiritual takeaway here is obvious.
We are not to eat like the heathen do.
We are not to work like they do.
We are not to rest like they do.
We are not to copulate like they do.
We are not to raise our children like they do.
We are not to think as they do.
We are not to live as they do, period.
We are to be SEPARATE.
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN EXODUS CHAPTER 23
I’m not Jewish by seed but by Spirit of G-D in Yeshua’s name. I have enjoyed reading the above teaching and it gives so much understanding. I love G-D and my life is his. Thank you.
Your faith in Yeshua has made you a son of Abraham. “If you belong to Messiah Yeshua, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”-Galatians 3:29
Matthew 15:11 “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person…”
Acts 10: 9 – 16 Peters vision of unclean animals and God’s voice that says “rise kill and eat”
Jesus didn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfil it. Now we get to live by the Spirit in freedom. The whole of Galatians is a warning to the early Jewish Church not to go backwards in their faith, adopting all the Jewish customs into their new faith in Christ. To live by Grace and freedom in the Spirit is not easier. It is the harder way. We need to walk closely with God every day, hearing his voice and asking Him what he wants us to do and what choices to make. We don’t live by the rule book when we have a Father to talk to along the way. I didn’t make an instruction manual for my son and give it to him at birth and then ask him to consult the manual every time he has a question. I sit down with him and we talk. This is the Father that I have and that you have ! Praise Jesus for making a way back to Him! Many blessings to all of you, I don’t speak in a contrary Spirit but I do seek to bring a balanced opinion.
Thanks for your comment.
I see this differently.
I believe the Old Covenant is not something separate or removed. I understand the New Covenant as the same law, but now written on the hearts of believers. The problem was never God’s law—it was the heart of man.
Because of that, I don’t see diet as a small issue.
If you look back to the beginning, the first sin in the Garden of Eden was about what could and could not be eaten. That’s not a small detail. It shows that obedience in this area matters to God.
So when God later gives instructions about food, I see a clear pattern. He is teaching His people how to obey Him and how to be set apart.
For that reason, I do believe that those who are grafted in through faith in the Jewish Messiah are called to follow what God has already established, including His instructions about diet.
I understand that many people see passages like Gospel of Matthew 15 and Acts of the Apostles 10 differently. I just understand those passages in another way, and I don’t see them as canceling what God already put in place.
I’m happy to agree to disagree, and I truly appreciate you sharing your thoughts.