A Rejection of Mediocrity

God gave the Jews two signs to tell whether an animal was kosher, and therefore fit for food. There was an internal sign: kosher animals must chew their cud. There was an external sign: kosher animals must have split hooves. It is the presence of both signs that rendered the animal kosher.

Just as animals are either kosher or not, so men are either marked by the signs of redemption or they are not. In speaking of Jews themselves, Rabbi Moskowitz says:

“…a kosher Jew is marked by two signs. The internal: faith…[and]…prayer…. The external: the actual fulfillment of [God's requirements]. It is not enough to have one sign alone. The camel, which chews its cud but doesn’t have split hooves, represents those with internal signs while the [pig], which has split hooves but doesn’t chew its cud, symbolizes those that have only the external signs.”

This mirrors very closely the comparison of faith and works spoken of by Paul and by James under the new covenant:

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” -James

“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in His sight…But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law: the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” -Paul

We know that a man who has been born again will have both enduring faith and visible fruit. In the new covenant, again, we’re given two signs whereby we can tell a “kosher” Christian: their faith in Christ and the fruit of the work of grace in their life.

I thought that the analogy can carry a little further. A pig – with the external sign of split hooves – is like a man who takes pride in his works, trusting them to save him. A camel – with the internal sign of chewing the cud – is like a man who simulates a relationship with Christ by his own efforts but has no lasting fruit.

And just as it would take a miracle to change a pig or a camel into a sheep, so it takes the miracle of grace and imputed righteousness and salvation to change human “pigs” and human “camels” into sheep. Sheep that hear the Shepherd’s voice and follow.

There’s no continuum between split hooves and un-split hooves. There’s no “halfway point” between chewing the cud and not chewing the cud. And there’s nothing that an unclean animal can do to change itself into a kosher one.

If you’ve been born again, then thank God that He has miraculously changed you and given you faith to trust Him and the Holy Spirit to produce fruit in your life. Seek to display the fruit of your salvation however you can.

And if you are one who, like a camel, has all the right words and beliefs but no externally changed life to accompany it…or, like a pig, has the external show of good deeds but a heart that doesn’t yearn for the things of God…then seek the Lord while He may be found.

May God bless you this year.

David