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The Hebrews were given the dietary law as a script for a play. They would act out the play, and the audience; everyone else, would learn from it. The play is written in symbols and riddle. The dietary law says nothing about what we can eat. Eating is a symbol for learning. It tells us who we should learn from, and who we should not learn from.

These animals represent the behaviors of some people. We will need to understand what symbols are, then we can examine how the symbols are used to represent various kinds of people.

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Before God created anything, there was just God.

Everything... absolutely everything after this is to teach who God is. Through the dietary law, he reveals his nature by showing how to select good teachers.

Everything God made is designed to teach about him. However, it is difficult to learn from the stars and rocks. We learn easier through words and actions.

In this book, we will look at the script; the rules God gave them about things they could eat. Through the symbols, good and bad teachers will be revealed by their behaviors.

In order to hide a second story in the history of his people, God had to use symbols.

I will tell you a secret riddle: Why did the chicken cross the road? The real answer is not "To get to the other side" but "To get to the other side". "The other side" is a symbol for going to heaven. If you saw a dead chicken in the road, you would ask the riddle.

The dietary law was written for Israel. 'Is' means 'man'. 'El' means God, just as it did in 'Elohim'. The 'R' sound means 'revelation'. Israel means 'man joined to God by revelation'.

As we sit down to breakfast, we can eat the tasty bacon and be reminded that we should not learn (eat) from people who cannot tell if their own learning is good or bad.

Since eating is a symbol for learning, each animal is a symbol of someone who teaches. Some people we should learn from, and some we should not learn from. Benjamin Franklin said, "He who lies down with dogs, gets up with fleas." He used dogs as a symbol for people who behave poorly, and fleas as bad behaviors we might learn from them.

You learn to walk with God by meditating on his word. A good teacher is like this.

The camel is a symbol of a judge. We hope our judges are good people. But God is using the judge to teach about himself through the nature of his teachers.

We should not learn to be a judge, because if we judge, we will be judged.

When Adam named the coney he must have seen the coney take a treasure into his den, then return to the opening to defend it with bared teeth. His name means 'hide the treasure' but it also means 'mystery of the biting teeth'. The coney is a symbol of a teacher who hides the Gospel.

The coney-like teacher hides the treasure, or message of love, and only presents the teeth; the law. He uses the Bible to threaten people with the anger of God.

Some teachers are symbolized by rabbits. A warren of rabbits may look like popcorn. They jump when happy; they jump when scared; they just jump sometimes. The name in Hebrew means 'divided jubilation'.

The teacher symbolized by rabbit or hare is not a good teacher because the knowledge of God does not produce a separated hoof. He does not live what he knows. Without discernment of what to celebrate, the teacher cannot dedicate his life to God.

People say their favorite verse of the Bible is "God helps those who help themselves". That isn't in the Bible. The swine eats, or learns anything, and teaches it as truth.

The one who cannot understand the word of God is not a good teacher.

The attitude of the swine-like teacher is so contagious it is dangerous. God says we should not even 'touch their dead bodies'. This is a riddle in Hebrew that says we should not be 'joined to their foolishness nor plagued by it.' God is talking about teachers, not swine.

Have nothing to do with the swine or you may get caught up in their folly. Perhaps this is a source for Paul's teaching: 2Co 6:14 ''Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?''

With water representing the word of God, the clean fish represents the teacher who has been commanded to pursue, or search, the scriptures.

The one who wears the armor of God as he searches the scriptures and is motivated by the love of God, is a good teacher.

The dietary law says nothing about what we can eat. Eating is a symbol for learning. It tells us who we should learn from, and who we should not learn from.

:we meditate on his word and allow it to produce a life dedicated to God.

Scripture footnotes on each page as appropriate.