icon__search

Deuteronomy 14:6 (3/21/19)

a Hoof and a Cud

March 21, 2019

* All Scripture points to Jesus - even the weird stuff. * Luke 24:25-27 - Road to Emmaus - Christ was the fulfillment of all Scripture. * So when you see crazy stuff try to see how it points to Jesus. * What about the animals that have a split hoof and chew the cud being clean? * ** Split Hoof - animals like this had a natural separator in their feet. * When they walked they separated out wheat from chaff. * This was valuable as the Israelites were farmers. * God is a separator - In Creation God separated things before He filled things. * Matthew 10:34 says that Jesus is a divider - He separates light from dark and wheat from chaff. * ** Chewing the Cud - animals chew the food to soften it and then swallow it so that the stomach acid breaks it down even further. * Then it comes back up so they can chew it more and then back into the stomach to break it down. * This process allows the animal to get all the nutrients out of the food slowly. * Ultimately, the animal is able to live off the nutrients from this food. * Likewise, we are to eat Jesus - we chew on His Word and then meditate on it. * This process take the nutrients of God’s Word and feeds our life - makes us strong. * Hebrews 5:13-14 - solid food is harder to digest but you get more life out of it. * ** Putting both together - when God’s Word gets inside us it divides us - separates the evil from the good, convicts us of the bad and encourages us in the good. * ** NOTE - They were not allowed to eat an animal who had one but not both. * Chewing the cud but not splitting the hoof is like meditating on God’s Word but not letting it divide us, thus affecting the way we live. * Splitting the hoof but not chewing the cud is like separating from the world but not mixing into it like we’re supposed to. * Or being about division and not reconciliation (like Peter with the sword).