Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Camel, Ostrich, and Crocodile
I am reading through the Bible in a year and this morning I was reading Leviticus 11 (I'm a little behind!) and I was surprised by what I read.
Two weeks ago I was in Kenya visiting Marisa. One night we went to a restaurant called Carnivore. It is the epitome of tourist dining. In a country of all blacks, 95% of the restaurant was white. Everyone who I know that has been to Kenya has been to this restaurant. It really is a novelty. They serve all sorts of exotic meats including, camel, ostrich, crocodile, etc. I love to try new things, so I never hesitated to partake in this exquisite cuisine. Camel was my favorite, but ostrich was a close second. Crocodile wasn't as fishy as you might thing and was also quite good.
Then this morning I came across these verses:
Lev 11:4 - "Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these, among those which chew the cud, or among those which divide the hoof; the camel, for though it chews cud, it does not divide the hoof, it is unclean to you."
Lev 11:13,16 - "These, moreover, you shall detest among the birds; they are abhorrent, not to be eaten: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard...and the ostrich and the owl and the sea gull and the hawk in its kind."
Lev 11:29-30 - "Now these are to you the unclean things among the swarming things which swarm on the earth: the mole, and the mouse, and the great lizard in its kinds, and the gecko, and the crocodile, and the lizard, and the sand reptile, and the chameleon."
I couldn't believe it! All three of the exotic animals that I had eaten were included in the list of unclean animals. For a brief moment I felt conviction. But then I began to rejoice because,
"...and he saw the sky opened up, and an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals (camels, maybe) and crawling creatures of the earth (crocodiles, maybe) and birds of the air (not ostriches, cause they don't fly, but...). A voice came to him, 'Get up, Peter, kill and eat!' But Peter said, 'By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything unholy and unclean.' Again a voice came to him a second time, 'What God has cleaned, no longer consider unholy.'"
Thank you, God, that you have made these animals clean and that we are no longer bound to your Law!
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7 comments:
I like pudding. And mushrooms! Oh, wow, I love mushrooms. Fried. They are delicious. Wow.
Hey! I like you too, Nate! Don't think that, just because I like mushrooms, I don't like you too. Sorry if that was unclear.
Yep. I've been there, and I think I only saw a few black people. But here is the bigger question - were there a million cats walking around while you were there?
I didn't get camel or ostrich. I had wildabeast, zebra, crocodile and water buffalo, I think. Oh, and maybe cat too.
Sorry to say this Czech lover...you prbably had one deep fried cat, one slow roasted, and another b-b-qued. lol...Martel, you crack me up.
I like cow...with barbeque sauce.
Two questions;
Why do ostriches stick their heads in the sand? (that's just crazy) and How big would an ostrich drum stick be? (It must be HUGE)
P.S. Hi Nate, Love you brother.
I have been there, isn't it great. I personally loved the camel.
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