Deuteronomy 14
BBCDeuteronomy 14:1
H. Clean and Unclean Foods (14:1-21)14:1, 2 These two verses prohibit the idolatrous practice of disfiguring the body in mourning for the dead. The Jews had a higher regard for the body as God’s creation than did the Gentiles. 14:3-21a This paragraph reviews the subject of clean and unclean foods, whether animals (vv. 4-8), fishes (vv. 9, 10), flying insects (v. 19), or birds (vv. 11-18, 20). (For exceptions to verse 19, see Lev_11:21-22.) A similar list is given in Leviticus 11. The two lists are not identical in every detail, nor are they intended to be. Some animals were unclean for hygienic reasons, and some because they were used in idolatrous rites or venerated by the heathen. The NT principle concerning foods can be found in Mar_7:15, Rom_14:14, and 1Ti_4:3-5. Gentiles were permitted to eat the flesh of an animal that died by itself, whereas Jews were not (v. 21a). To do so would violate Deu_12:23 because the blood had not been properly removed from the animal. 14:21b A goat was not to be boiled in the same pan with milk from its mother (v. 21b). (This appears to have been a Canaanite practice. It is forbidden three times in the Pentateuch.) From a natural standpoint, this rule would save the people from the poisoning that is so common when creamed meat dishes spoil. In addition, there is evidence that the calcium value is canceled when both are eaten together. From this restriction the elaborate rabbinical rules about having different sets of dishes for meat and dairy products have evolved.
Deuteronomy 14:22
I. Tithing (14:22-29)14:22-27 Verses 22-29 deal with the subject of tithes. Some commentators feel that this section does not refer to the first tithe (Lev_27:30-33), which belonged to God alone, was given to the Levites, and was not to be eaten by the Israelites. Rather it may refer to a secondary tithe, called the festival tithe, part of which the offerer himself ate. Generally speaking, these secondary tithes were to be brought to the place which God appointed as the center for worship. However, if the offerer lived so far from . . . the place where God placed His name that he was not able to carry his tithe there, he could exchange the produce for money, carry the money to God’s sanctuary, and buy food and drink there to be enjoyed before the LORD.
Notice in verse 26 that the Bible does not teach total abstinence. But it does teach moderation, self-control, non-addiction, and abstinence from anything that would cause offense to another. The difference between wine and strong drink is that wine is made from grapes, and strong drink is made from grain, fruit, or honey. For two years the offerer was required to go up with either the tithe or its monetary equivalent. 14:28, 29 In the third year he used the tithe at home to feed the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Once again we see that the poor and needy are a high priority as far as the LORD is concerned. “He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given” (Pro_19:17).