Some may wonder if Christians are supposed to be eating kosher and following rules about bodily fluids and circumcision. Ritual purity laws differ from moral purity in that they don’t involve behavior; therefore, breaking them is not punishable by execution. These laws were designed to set the Israelites apart, and they were never given to Gentiles. Paul had a lot to say about not enforcing these laws in the New Testament, and even Jesus said some things to that effect. Let’s take a deeper look at why they existed in the first place and whether new covenant Gentiles are exempt from following them. What were they pointing to?

Leviticus can be divided into eight sections; the first 7 are the specific details of the law, and the 8th declares the terms and conditions of keeping faithful to the covenant. The seven sections of Leviticus: Sacrificing Rituals (Lev 1-7), Priestly Ordainment (8-10), Ritual Purity laws (11-15), The Day of Atonement (16-17), Moral Purity Laws (18-20), Priestly Consecration (21-22), Festivals, Feast, and Sabbaths (Lev 23-25), and Terms and Conditions (Chapters 26-27).

The Messianic Covenant made available through Jesus the Messiah connects Jews and Gentiles into one Covenant. The Sinaitic Covenant did not disappear, but was instead fulfilled in specific ways. The ritual purity laws, the priestly system, the sacrificial system, and the holy days are all fulfilled in Jesus in one way or another, and this is mainly explained in the book of Hebrews. The Moral laws (murder, adultery, etc) were established before the covenant on Sinai with Moses, so those applied to everyone, not just Jews. Only the moral laws apply to us today in the New Covenant. This is until the resurrection and judgment day, when believers get the new bodies that will be sin-free and live eternally in a world without sin.

In the Old Covenant, a person could not come before God’s presence at the Temple or Tabernacle if they were unclean, which included people who had skin diseases (like leprosy) or touched the carcass of an unclean animal or human. This also applies to contact with sexual fluids via intercourse, menstruation, or seminal emission, making a person unclean until the following evening (in the case of sex and semen) or for the whole week (in the case of menstrual fluid). These laws do not apply in the New Covenant since believers’ bodies are the new Temple. A believer’s body is a new Temple because God’s presence resides inside; this presence is the Holy Spirit. In other words, God’s presence is no longer confined to a Temple or Tabernacle building in Jerusalem. Instead, Christians are in the Temple now. It wouldn’t make much sense for these laws to apply now because that would mean the Holy Spirit would have to leave if a Christian had sex with their spouse, was menstruating, or touched a dead body. The Holy Spirit is always with those who follow Christ and will abide with them forever, as stated in John 14:16-17.

In the New Covenant, we no longer need to be clean (ritually pure) to interact with God’s presence. We have God’s Spirit inside of us because we were made pure by the sacrifice of Jesus, making us the new Temple rather than having to build another one (1 Cor 6:19-20, & 2 Cor 6:15-18). God’s presence previously required ritual purity just to come to the Tabernacle or Temple, but now He can be inside us as if we are the Temple because of what Jesus did. Jesus’ blood has made our hearts pure and cleansed our bodies as if they were washed with pure water (Heb 10:22). In the Old Testament, blood and water were used to purify the Israelites under the Old Covenant. The blood of the sin-offering for the high priest and the community is sprinkled on the inner curtain of the Most Holy place and the Ark itself (Lev 4:3-21), spiritually purifying Israel. Being bathed in or sprinkled with water is how they became physically pure (Leviticus 13-15, Numbers 19:17-19, Deut 23:10-11). 

Hebrews 10:22 says that Christ’s blood functions like water, so pure that it permanently removes ritual impurity. Interestingly, the water that Jesus turned into wine at the wedding in Cana was for ritual purity washing (John 2:6). Wine represents Jesus’ blood in communion (Luke 22:20, 1 Cor 12:25). Also, notice that blood and water came out of Jesus’ side when the soldier pierced him with the lance in John 19:33-37. Usually, suppose a person touches an unclean person or anything that person has sat on or lain on. In that case, they become unclean themselves until the evening (Leviticus ch. 15). In contrast, Jesus himself was perpetually pure because he could touch lepers (Matt 8:1-4) and hemorrhaging women (Matt 9:19-22) and make them clean instead of becoming unclean. His death put us in that state so that we could receive God’s spirit like Jesus did when he was baptized (Mark 3:13-17), thus fulfilling the requirements of ritual purity laws.

Furthermore, according to Leviticus 14, when someone is cured of skin disease, they must show themselves to the priest and go through both a process of purification (Lev 14:1-9) and reconciliation (Lev 14:10-32) because skin diseases (like leprosy) are caused by sin. For purification, the priest will examine them outside the camp (because they were quarantined) and then gather two birds (pigeons or doves), a hyssop branch, a cedar stick, and scarlet yarn. They will tie the cedar stick and hyssop branch together with the scarlet yarn, then sacrifice one bird and drain its blood into a clay pot filled with water. Then, they will tie the living bird to the hyssop stick, dip it into the blood and water mixture, and shake the bird and stick combination at the person, sprinkling them with blood. Then, the priest will let the live bird go, and the person will shave (all of their hair), bathe, and wash their clothes. This cleanses the person, allowing them to return to the community. However, they cannot enter their house or tent for a week. There are two birds: one is sacrificed, and one is set free; this points to Jesus because his sacrifice sets us free (John 8:36). Notice the live bird is covered in the blood of the dead bird; I believe this points to New Covenant believers being “covered in the blood” of Jesus. This concept is similar to what happens with the scapegoat in the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) holiday in Leviticus 16, but without the blood covering. One goat is slaughtered as a sin offering, and the other is set free in the wilderness. For Yom Kippur, both the sin and burnt offerings blood were sprinkled on the Ark and the gold incense altar seven times each. 

Lastly, we can see in 1 John 5:1-13 that the water and blood work together as witnesses of Jesus being the Messiah and the Holy Spirit (some translations of 1 John 5:7 also include the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit). He purifies us ritually with water and spiritually with his blood like the sacrifices, and this puts us in a state where our bodies could function as new Temples of God, holding God’s Holy Spirit on the inside. Therefore, since water and blood are the mechanisms that make it possible for humans to receive God’s spirit. The presence of God’s Spirit in His people is proof that what Jesus did worked, and He was who He said He was.

Continuing with Leviticus 14, the former quarantined person must bathe, shave, and rewash their clothes seven days after being purified. Then, they will gather three animals to sacrifice on the eighth day. They must bring two male lambs and a female lamb (a year old) if they can afford it, or one lamb and two birds if they are poor. One animal is for the burnt offering (lamb or bird), one for a sin offering (lamb or bird), and one for a guilt offering (a male lamb). Along with that comes a grain offering of six quarts of flour mixed with olive oil, as well as a cup of olive oil. The priest will apply the blood of the guilt offering (the male lamb) to the person’s right ear, thumb, and big toe, mix it with olive oil, and sprinkle the blood before the Tabernacle or Temple seven times. Then, they will apply the blood and oil mix to the person’s right ear, thumb, and big toe. They will then sacrifice and offer the sin and burnt offerings along with the grain offering, and that person will be reconciled to God. Jesus’ blood cleanses and reconciles us to God by pardoning our sins so that God’s presence (the Holy Spirit) can inhabit our bodies as he did the Tabernacle/Temple.

Lastly, concerning kosher food laws, Jesus said what we eat does not defile us. Instead, it is what we say, which comes from our heart, that will acquit or condemn us (Matt 15:10-20, Matt 12:33-37). This alludes to a larger lesson concerning Gentiles being saved, which God picks up with Peter in Acts 10-11. Here, Peter sees a vision of unclean animals, and God tells him to eat, but Peter says he will not eat unclean food. God responds, “Don’t call unclean what I have called clean.” Afterward, Peter is visited by some Gentiles who request his presence, and God tells him to go with them. Peter then meets their boss, a Gentile Roman man named Cornelius, whom an angel had spoken to send for Peter so that he could hear the Gospel. Peter was hesitant at first because he was a Gentile (a person who was “unclean”), but after hearing the gospel, Cornelius and his family believed and received the Holy Spirit. This revealed to Peter that the New Covenant and the Holy Spirit are not limited just to Jews but also Gentiles who don’t observe Jewish customs like kosher food laws. In Peter’s vision before this meeting, the unclean meats represented Gentiles. 

In Romans 14, Colossians 2, and 1 Corinthians 8-10, Paul confirms that these laws don’t apply to Gentiles anyway, much like the laws concerning circumcision and holidays, and are to be followed if a person’s conscience is moved to do so, but they are not required for salvation. Unlike the moral laws, these rules were given only to Israel, not to Gentiles. Clean and unclean meats are categorized in Genesis 7-9 for Noah’s Ark, but in Genesis 9:3-4, God said humans can eat any meat as long as they drain the blood. Lastly, in Deut 14:21, God said that while the Israelites couldn’t eat unclean animals, they were allowed to give/sell them to foreigners living among them and outsiders (Gentiles). Therefore, only the Israelites under the Sinai covenant had to follow these dietary rules. This doesn’t mean it isn’t beneficial to restrict one’s diet to clean animals, but that isn’t required to be considered righteous.