19 ‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not breed together two kinds of your cattle; you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment upon you of two kinds of material mixed together.
Okay, I’ve got to write something here, at least so it doesn’t look like I’m afraid to! This verse is a bit of a curve ball to me, to tell the truth, and I think it would be even if I had grown up on a farm or ranch. Why the agricultural, animal husbandry, and textile related commands? I’m not sure. I’ve looked in a couple of commentaries and found one theory has to do with the holiness of God—that to mix the breeds and seeds somehow communicates a want of respect for the “separate otherness” of our transcendent Creator. (Holiness = separateness, etc.) Another approach is that these three commands are all actually common-sense rules for running a good farm: The mixing of cattle weakens the breed; the mixing of seeds diminishes the crop and presents harvesting challenges, etc. One commentator mentioned that to mix wool and other types of fabric for clothing was actually dangerous to the wearer—resulting in an increased skin temperature, which could cause boils to break out on the skin! These explanations aren’t very compelling to me. God’s people may have been stubborn and spiritually immature, but they weren’t stupid. There is plenty of evidence that the surrounding peoples of the land of Canaan had a developed farming industry. To tell the truth, if I were to see a herd of all cross-bred cattle, or one field or varied types of grain, I don’t think the word “unholy” would come to mind… Lazy, perhaps…but not unholy.
So, why these three commands? Perhaps they are given to aid the Israelites in forming a culture that is different in its treatment of animals and land. Perhaps a blurring of breeds would create a singularly unique animal, but would erase the beauty of one particular type of breed. Perhaps God likes different breeds of cattle. Perhaps to sow your field with two different kinds of seed would make you look like a desperate, foolish farmer instead of a person who worked hard, played by the rules, and trusted God for the outcome. Perhaps wearing clothing from two different kinds of cloth…. Well, I’m open to suggestion on that one! Whatever the exact reasons for these divine commandments given to the Israelites, we can say with relative certainty that God cares about how we treat the animals we raise for food, the land that we sow our seed on, and how we put to use the resources that we gain from land and animals.
(Whew… Glad I’m done with that one….!)
downtownpastor