I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 14-17.

Every time I read the list of what animals the Israelites were, and were not, allowed to eat I get different thoughts.  In the context of today’s news about the COVID-19 virus and the suspicion that it resulted from eating some type of “exotic” animal these food commands take on a new light.  This new disease is not the first time in recent memory that a new, deadly disease was believed to originate from people eating animals which would be forbidden for eating by these rules.  An examination of these rules reveals that while not every animal listed here as forbidden presents a serious health risk if eaten, but the animals which are listed as acceptable will rarely be a health risk.  The point I want to make is that the list of acceptable animals for eating consists primarily of categories of animals which are essentially all safe to eat.  Those which fall outside of those categories would have to be evaluated on a case by case basis, and most of them would have significant health risks if eaten.  I spent more time on this than I intended, so I am going to stop here.