Sinful Leftovers

There is an unwritten code of office refrigerator etiquette that says,
"if it ain't yours, don't touch it;" or is that the lazy mans motto?

So I'm at work looking in the fridge at this decomposing lump of something encased in styrofoam. It seems to resemble meat but I cannot tell what it is exactly. How long has this thing been in here and who does it belong to? This molding flesh in the styrofoam coffin reminded me of something I recently stumbled upon in the Scriptures. In the Torah, sometimes leftovers were sinful to eat. Really, this is a Biblical principle. It's an interesting concept that something that is 'lawful' to eat can become 'sinful' to eat. The permissible can become forbidden. Check it out:

1. Regarding the first Passover (Ex 12:8-10), whatever was left of the lamb was to burned with fire and not eaten.
2. Regarding the manna (Ex 16:16-19), nobody was to keep any of it until morning.
3. Regarding future Passovers in the Land (Ex 34:23-25), it was not to be left over until the evening.
4. Regarding Peace, Votive or Freewill Offerings (Lev 19:5-8, 7:15-18), leftovers could be eaten on the next day but on the third day, it was supposed to be burned with fire and not eaten because the meat would be tainted (Lev 7:18, ESV).

Most of the examples above involve flesh that was offered as a sacrifice to Adonai. We don't perform sacrifices today so this leftover principle isn't really relevant for us here in Denver. The other example, manna, was a very unusual situation. It was a miracle that, as far as I know, never happened again; it is not relevant for us either. But are their other instances relevant for us today where permissible meat becomes forbidden? I found two scenarios in the Torah that render kosher meat uneatable.

1. When the kosher animal is torn up by wild animals
2. When the kosher animal dies of natural causes

You shall be holy men to Me, therefore you shall not eat any flesh torn to pieces in the field; you shall throw it to the dogs.
- Ex 22:31 (NAS)

Also if one of the animals dies which you have for food, the one who touches its carcass becomes unclean until evening. He too, who eats some of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening, and the one who picks up its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.
- Lev 11:39-40 (NAS)

When any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or an alien (ger; foreigner), he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean. But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his guilt.
- Lev 17:15-16 (NAS)

You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien (ger; foreigner) who is in your town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner (nokree; pagan), for you are a holy people to the LORD your God....
- Deut 14:21 (NAS)

He [the priest] shall not eat an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, becoming unclean by it; I am the LORD.
- Lev 22:8 (NAS)

Another instance in which food becomes uneatable is when a swarming animal (i.e., lizard), either dead or alive, comes into contact with the food (Lev 11:33-34). Yuk!

I hope that we can say like Ezekiel, "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I have never been defiled; for from my youth until now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has any unclean meat ever entered my mouth." (Eze 4:14)



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