Fundamental #14

Memory Scripture

For I am the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.—Leviticus 11:45

Summary Statement

In two chapters in the Old Testament (Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14), the Bible goes into great detail describing some animals as clean and some as unclean. God’s lists of these animals show us His very specific instructions about what people should and should not eat. The animals described as unclean are not fit to be eaten by humans.

Eating clean meats does not earn us special favor with God or give us “extra righteousness points,” but it does show God that we are willing to yield to His wisdom, authority, and instruction in our lives. We show Him our desire to be clean, pure, and holy by obeying His instructions.

Begin Your Study

Read through the memory scripture together with your children, then read through the summary statement (remember to simplify the statement, if necessary). Have your children cut and paste the summary statement from this page in their “Fundamentals Bible Study Journal” (as suggested in the Memorizing Scripture resource “The Fundamentals”).

Next have your children write the memory scripture, Leviticus 11:45 , in their journals. Discuss the meaning of the word holy with your children. (A possible definition you may wish to use is “being set apart by God for a special reason.”) To be holy, we must be different from the standards of the world. We must obey everything God tells us to do.

Ask your children, “What do you think being holy has to do with eating clean meat and not unclean meats?” Remind your children that God wants us to have the best life we possibly can. He tells us how to be healthy and have that good life. When we live a life of being holy—different from the world because we do what God says—we will live a healthy and good life.

Digging Deeper Interaction #1

Go through the clean and unclean foods in Leviticus 11. Review the memory scripture in Leviticus 11:45 . Next make a chart of the clean and unclean animals to hang on the refrigerator. This could be done individually, or make it a game with various family members.

To make it a game, family members should each come up with their own charts. Then, after a specified amount of time, everyone comes together and shares one animal at a time in rounds (Round 1: clean animals; Round 2: unclean animals). You each get a point for each animal you say, but an animal can only be named once. For example, if the eldest says “pig” for unclean, no one else can say “pig” to get a point. Whoever has the most points at the end wins the game!

Digging Deeper Interaction #2

You may find the “Clean and Unclean Meats Infographic” very helpful for this interaction! Find it in the Learning Center at LifeHopeandTruth.com.

There’s a lot of evidence today to show that the foods God tells us not to eat are actually bad for human health! Animals like shellfish and pigs are scavengers, eating almost everything they find. They were designed to be nature’s garbage disposals, so what they eat gets processed in their bodies and eventually gets turned into muscle, fat, and protein.

That means many unclean animals are very efficient at cleaning up waste, but that doesn’t mean our bodies were designed to eat them. In fact, a lot of unclean foods are responsible for diseases and illnesses in humans when people do eat them! It makes sense that our Creator knows which foods are best for our bodies. God wants us to have such good health that He tells us to not even eat the animals that eat waste products! We should treat our bodies like temples, only allowing in the good, pure, and holy ( 1 Corinthians 6:19 ).

Today have some fun with your children and introduce them to meal planning. Choose a main dish to prepare for dinner. Keep it simple, like grilled chicken or cheeseburgers. Or if you’re feeling adventurous, try a new meat someone hasn’t had before, like bison, goat, or duck. (You may need to call around to source these meats).

Next, head to the grocery store or a local farmers market and choose some delicious fruits and vegetables to add to the menu tonight. You could try something new here, too, such as dragon fruit, jicama, or Swiss chard. See how delicious eating clean can be! Remember to review the memory scripture, Leviticus 11:45 , as you prepare your yummy meal with your children.

Bible Story: Noah

Read through the story of Noah (Genesis 6-8) with your children. Did they notice that Noah knew about clean and unclean animals? After reading, ask your children how Noah showed that he was living a holy life. Create a list together to add to their journals.

Bonus Ideas

Many people believe that Jesus Christ and the apostles changed the rules about clean and unclean foods and that now it’s okay to eat them. If unclean foods were bad for people to begin with, why would that suddenly change? If eating clean foods is a way to obey God and be holy, why would it suddenly be okay to eat unclean foods? If clean and unclean foods were rules that only the Jews were supposed to follow, why did Noah know about clean and unclean animals hundreds of years before the Jews existed? Do a search on LifeHopeandTruth.com for “clean and unclean” to find some helpful articles on these topics and go through these concepts with your children.

Locate the “Clean and Unclean Meats Wheel” resource in the Additional Resources section. How many wheels can you and your children create?

Test the entire family’s knowledge of clean and unclean foods with the “Clean and Unclean Meats Spin-Away” located in the Additional Resources section.

Wrap-up Activity

Add another scripture poster to the collection this week by writing Leviticus 11:45  on a piece of paper or card stock and hanging it up in the house. Your children may wish to decorate this poster with pictures of clean and unclean animals. You may even want to create several small posters of this scripture and put them in various places around the house. This will help your children memorize the scripture and also serve as a reminder throughout the day of how we are to live our lives.

To end your study, have your children recite the memory scripture for a small audience, perhaps for a Sabbath school instructor or at a church speech club.