Right before Noah and his family got on the Ark, God told Noah to organize groupings of animals to bring onboard with him. Of the “clean” animals, Noah was supposed to bring seven pairs of each, but only two pairs of the “unclean” animals (Genesis 7:2).
How did Noah know which was which? I couldn’t find a verse that shows where God told Noah how to know the difference—at least not to the level that God does in Leviticus 11. In that chapter, the difference is very clear: Clean animals have split hooves and chew the cud. They must have both of those characteristics to be clean.
Further regulations are given to fish (must have fins and scales), along with certain types of birds and even insects. At the end of Leviticus 11, God says that the point was to show the difference between clean and unclean animals—the edible versus the inedible. These distinctions served not only to identify which animals were permissible for consumption but also emphasized the importance of holiness in daily life. The laws regarding clean and unclean animals were part of a broader system that included purification practices and cleansing rituals in Leviticus. By adhering to these guidelines, the Israelites were reminded of their commitment to God and the need for spiritual cleanliness.
Did Noah know about all of this? He had to know somehow, and the easiest (and most likely) answer as to “how” is that when God told Noah to take differing quantities of each animal, He also filled Him on the specifics. If it’s lost to us, that’s a problem for us today, not Noah.
But if God did tell Noah, that raises other questions. For instance, one of the main arguments against God decreeing these types of animals as unclean in the Old Law was health-related. Bats and pigs are associated with certain illnesses, so in order to protect His people, God told Israel they were impure.
If that is the reason why God forbade unclean animals, why are there no other mentions of unclean or clean animals in the rest of Genesis or Exodus? Did the Patriarchs eat pork? Was Abraham a fan of pelican?
We’re dipping into the absurd here and I totally get that, but it’s questions like these that help us search deeper into Scripture. The only thing we know for sure is that God gave Noah a command that was within Noah’s capabilities to fulfill. He must’ve told Noah how to tell the difference—for us, that’s the only thing that matters.
Still, it’s interesting to think about the progression of laws in creating God’s people. What was hinted at and alluded to and assumed in so many ways has now become codified through the Old Law. In other words, maybe nobody ever ate unclean animals, but it didn’t become an actual Law until Leviticus 11.
By the time Leviticus 11 rolls around, the Jews were told to abstain from these animals in order to create distinction from other groups of people (Leviticus 11:46-47). Whereas other people had no scruples about eating pork or dolphin or whatever else, the Jews avoided them out of deference to God.
That’s still the same marker that we have today. People around us have no problem engaging in whatever things they want to do, no matter how sinful they may be. Christians refuse because of our devotion to Him. It’s part of what makes us separate and unique.
I’m just glad bacon isn’t one of them.
