Leviticus 11:46 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

This is the law of the beasts, &c. It was to them a statute as long as that dispensation lasted, but under the gospel we find it expressly repealed, by a voice from heaven to Peter, (Acts 10:15,) as it had before been virtually set aside by the death of Christ, with other ordinances that perished in the using, Touch not, taste not, handle not, (Colossians 2:21-22,) and now we are sure that meat commends us not to God, (1 Corinthians 8:8,) and that nothing is unclean of itself, Romans 14:14. Nor doth that defile a man which goes into his mouth, but that which comes out from the heart, Matthew 15:11. Let us therefore, 1st, Give thanks to God that we are not under this yoke, but that to us every creature of God is allowed as good, and nothing to be refused. 2d, Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and take heed of those doctrines which command to abstain from meats, and so would revive Moses again, 1 Timothy 4:3; 1Ti 4:3 d, Be strictly and conscientiously temperate in the use of the good creatures God has allowed us. If God's law has given us liberty, let us lay restraints upon ourselves, and never feed ourselves without fear, lest our table be a snare. Set a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite, and be not desirous of dainties or varieties, Proverbs 23:2-3. Nature is content with a little, grace with less, but lust with nothing.