Reference: Clean
Easton
The various forms of uncleanness according to the Mosaic law are enumerated in Le 11-15; Nu 19. The division of animals into clean and unclean was probably founded on the practice of sacrifice. It existed before the Flood (Ge 7:2). The regulations regarding such animals are recorded in Le 11 and De 14:1-21.
The Hebrews were prohibited from using as food certain animal substances, such as (1) blood; (2) the fat covering the intestines, termed the caul; (3) the fat on the intestines, called the mesentery; (4) the fat of the kidneys; and (5) the fat tail of certain sheep (Ex 29:13,22; Le 3:4-9; 9:19; 17:10; 19:26).
The chief design of these regulations seems to have been to establish a system of regimen which would distinguish the Jews from all other nations. Regarding the design and the abolition of these regulations the reader will find all the details in Le 20:24-26; Ac 10:9-16; 11:1-10; Heb 9:9-14.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate.
Take all the fat that covers the internal organs, the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar.
Remove the ram's fat, the fat tail, the fat covering the internal organs, the fat attached to the liver, the two kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh.
Also use the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. Some of the priests will lay these pieces on the altar and send them up in smoke with a smell that pleases me, together with the sacrifice that is offered to Jehovah. read more. If your sacrifice is a fellowship offering of sheep to Jehovah, you must bring a male or female animal that has no defects. If your offering is a lamb, you must bring it to Jehovah. Place your hand on the animal's head. Slaughter it in front of the Tent of Meeting. Aaron's sons will throw the blood against the altar on all sides. Take the fat from the fellowship offering and offer it by fire to Jehovah. Remove all the fat from the tail and the fat that covers the internal organs.
The fat from the bull and the ram, the fat from the tail, the layer of fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver
If Israelites or foreigners eat any blood, I will condemn them and exclude them from the people.
Do not eat any meat with blood still in it. Never cast evil spells, and never consult fortunetellers.
I am Jehovah your God. I have promised you their land that is rich with milk and honey. I have chosen you to be different from other people. That is why you must make a difference between animals and birds that I have said are clean and unclean. This will keep you from becoming disgusting to me. read more. I am Jehovah, the Holy God. You have been chosen to be my people, and so you must be holy too.
You are the sons of Jehovah your God. Do not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. You are a holy people to Jehovah your God. Out of all the people on the face of the earth Jehovah has chosen you to be a people for His own possession. read more. Do not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope (chamois) and the mountain sheep. You may eat any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud. Do not eat of these that chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan. Even though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof. They are unclean for you. The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. Do not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses. These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat. Do not eat anything that does not have fins and scales. It is unclean for you. You may eat any clean bird. These are the ones you should not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, and every raven in its kind, and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, the swan, the great owl, the white owl, the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. And all the teeming life with wings is unclean to you. Do not eat them. You may eat any clean bird. Do not eat anything that dies by itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your town, so that he may eat it. You may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to Jehovah your God. Do not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
The next day they journeyed to the city. As they drew near, Peter went to the housetop to pray. It was about the sixth hour. He became very hungry. While the meal was being prepared he fell into a trance. read more. He saw heaven opened, something like a great sheet lowered by the four corners was descending to the earth. In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles and birds. Peter heard a voice say: Kill and eat. But Peter said: No Lord for I have never eaten any thing that is defiled or unclean. The voice spoke to him again the second time: You stop calling defiled that which God has cleansed. This happened a third time and immediately the sheet was taken up to heaven.
The apostles and brothers in Judea heard that the people of the nations also received the word of God. When Peter went to Jerusalem, those who favored circumcision argued with him. read more. They said: You went to the uncircumcised and ate with them. Peter started at the beginning and explained what happened. I was in the city of Joppa praying. In a trance I saw a vision. A vessel descended like a great sheet. It let down from heaven by four corners and it came to me. I looked in it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things and birds of the air. I heard a voice say to me, 'Get up Peter slaughter and eat.' I said, 'No Lord, for nothing defiled or unclean has at any time entered into my mouth.' The voice answered me again from heaven, 'Do not call defiled what God has cleansed!' This happened three times. Then everything was pulled up again into heaven.
This is a symbol that points to the present time. It means that the offerings and animal sacrifices presented to God cannot make the worshiper's heart perfect, since they have to do only with food, drink, and various purification ceremonies. These are all outward rules, which apply only until the time comes to change them for something better. read more. Christ came as the high priest of the good things that are now here. He also went into a much better tent that is not made by humans and does not belong to this creation. He went once and forever into the Most Holy Place having eternal salvation. It is not with the blood of goats and young bulls, but with his blood. The blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes from the burning of a young cow, sprinkled on the unclean made them outwardly clean. The blood of Christ did even more. Through the eternal Spirit he offered himself without blemish to God and cleansed your conscience from dead works. Now we can serve (worship) the living God.