Certain Mammals are Good for Food

Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 are the primary passages in the Bible that describe the dietary laws. These chapters provide very specific information summarized in simple, easy-to-understand principles that could be applied long before the microscope was invented, and long before germ theory was proposed. Today, the discoveries of modern science are revealing just how important and practical these laws really are.

Beginning in Leviticus 11, we read that God told Moses and Aaron to inform the Israelites, “These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth: Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud—that you may eat” (vv. 1–3). Plant-eating mammals (herbivores) that fit this description are called ruminants. These animals have four-chambered stomachs that convert grasses that are inedible to humans and other animals into nutritious, high-quality protein products (meat and milk) that people can then use for food. Examples of clean animals would be all cattle, sheep, goats, deer, bison, moose, antelope, gazelles, caribou, and giraffes. They are all divided-hoof herbivores that obtain their food by grazing or browsing on grasses and other plants.

From the standpoint of wise environmental management, these guidelines make a lot of sense. Vast areas of the globe are covered by rangelands (savannas, veldts, and pampas), which are often called “marginal lands” because they do not have enough rainfall to support the production of food crops like corn or wheat. “Cattle, sheep and goats have the ability to convert plant carbohydrates and proteins into available nutrients for human use, making otherwise unusable land productive.”4