In Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14, God very clearly points out the following animals as being unclean:
A. All animals which do not have a split hoof and chew the cud. “And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat” (Deuteronomy 14:6).
B. All fish and water creatures that do not have both fins and scales. Nearly all fish are clean. “These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat” (Deuteronomy 14:9).
C. All birds of prey, carrion eaters, and fish eaters. “And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, and the vulture, and the kite after his kind; every raven after his kind; and the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, and the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you” (Leviticus 11:13-20).
D. Most “creeping things” (or invertebrates) are also unclean. “‘These also shall be unclean to you among the creeping things that creep on the earth: the mole, the mouse, and the large lizard after its kind; the gecko, the monitor lizard, the sand reptile, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. These are unclean to you among all that creep… You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps; nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be defiled by them…‘” (Leviticus 11:29-43).
There are many clean animals. However, there are some that are unclean but are popular in our culture today such as: hogs, squirrels, rabbits, catfish, eels, lobsters, clams, crabs, shrimp, oysters, frogs, and many others. God gave health rules because He knows what is best for the human body. These great health laws are like a wall or fence to keep out the diseases of Satan (Deuteronomy 7:15).
In His service,
BibleAsk Team