At the start of Deuteronomy 14, Moses reminded the Israelites of who they were: "the sons of the Lord your God" (v 1); "a people holy to the Lord your God"; "his treasured possession" (v. 2). So they were to represent God well in all areas of life, being sure to "pursue righteousness" (16:20). That included their choice of meat to eat.
It was assumed throughout the Ancient Near East that the gods approved of some foods and disapproved of others. In the "Prayer to Every God," the supplicant confesses, "In ignorance I have eaten that forbidden of my god." Suffering, but not knowing what he has done wrong, he assumes he may have violated some taboo of which he was not aware. He would have appreciated the boundaries that God graciously gave to Israel.
In Deuteronomy 12 and 14-16, there is an emphasis on the blessing and bounty that Israel would enjoy in the Promised Land. In laying out the dietary requirements of 14:3-21, Moses emphasized all of the kinds of meat available to them (vv 4, 6, 9, 11, 20). The emphasis was similar in Genesis 2:16-17, where there was only one restriction We should not make the mistake of Adam and Eve and fixate on the restrictions.
God was inviting his chosen people, his adopted children, to a "family meal." Certain things would set this group of people apart from others. They would not practice pagan mourning rituals---14:1---and they would not eat "any abomination"--verse 3.
The Bible does not give an underlying rationale for its choices of which animals can be eaten and which are not to be. Commentator Daniel Block says his best guess is that the unclean animals tend to have some connection with filth and death.
Verse 21 repeats the cryptic instruction of Ex. 23:19; 34:26: "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk." In discussing possible meanings of this directive, Block notes an explantion proposed by Heath Dewrell in 2012.
In all three cases, this instruction appears in the context of discussion of firstfruits. Dewrell proposes that this cryptic saying is a restatement of the principle of firstfruits.
The best of the firstfruits of a harvest should be offered to God in gratitude. We should not consume it ourselves. Similarly, we should not take a kid from its mother. The milk consumed by the kid is like the firstfruits of the "harvest" of the goat's milk. We can enjoy the goat's milk--the rest of the harvest--but should show gratitude to the mother goat by allowing the mother to enjoy her kid and allowing the kid to drink the milk, the firstfruits of that harvest.
In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on May 20, 2023, Kyle Kettering reflected on what it means to be adopted children of God.
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