The Difference Between Clean and Unclean
"They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean." — Ezekiel 44:23
The Job Description of a Priest
When God described the work of His priests, He named a duty we almost never hear listed today.
Not preaching. Not organizing. Not counseling. "They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean."
That was the assignment. Teach the people to tell the difference.
Ask yourself when you last heard a sermon on that subject. Most believers today could not name three things God calls unclean. We have vague instincts and strong opinions, but very little instruction. And so our lives and our homes fill quietly with things we never learned to identify.
Why God Gave Israel So Much Detail
When God brought Israel into Canaan, He knew something about that land that they did not fully appreciate: every person living there was involved in the service of spirits. Not most. Every one. The religion of Canaan saturated its art, its farming, its architecture, its jewelry, its music, and its family customs.
So through Moses, God gave detailed and sometimes tedious instructions — what to touch, what not to touch, what to destroy, what to bring home, what to burn. Modern readers skim those chapters impatiently. But every instruction had a purpose: so that His people would neither be snared into serving demons nor harmed by curses when they entered the land.
"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil." (Deuteronomy 30:15)
The Principle Did Not Expire
We are not under the law of Moses. Jesus fulfilled it and set us free under a new covenant in His blood (Matthew 5:17; Galatians 4:5). Nobody is asking you to keep ceremonial regulations.
But the spiritual principles underneath those regulations have not changed, because the spiritual realities they addressed have not changed. Demon worship and the occult are as present in our culture as they were in Canaan. They have simply acquired a veneer of sophistication — rebranded as wellness, heritage, art, entertainment, self-discovery — precisely so we will not recognize them.
The enemy has not reformed. He has rebranded.
And the same command still stands: "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you" (2 Corinthians 6:17). That is a New Testament verse, written to the church.
The Cost of Never Being Taught
Here is the practical consequence of this teaching gap. Sincere believers, who genuinely love God and would never knowingly displease Him, live in homes cluttered with objects they have never examined, holding memories of places they never should have visited, wearing symbols whose meaning they never asked about.
They are not rebellious. They were never taught.
Which means the remedy is not shame. It is instruction — followed by action.
Point to Ponder
God commanded His priests to teach the difference between clean and unclean. If no one taught you, that is not your fault. What you do now that you know is.
Verse to Remember
"They shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean." — Ezekiel 44:23
Question to Consider
If someone asked me to name what God calls unclean, what could I actually say — from Scripture, not from instinct?
Today's Practice
Read Deuteronomy 7 in full. It is short.
Notice how physical it is. God does not tell Israel merely to disapprove of the idols of Canaan. He tells them to burn them, break them, cut them down, and refuse to carry the silver home.
Then ask yourself one question and write the answer down: is there anything in my possession that I have never examined? You are not making decisions today. You are only beginning to look.
Prayer
Father, I have lived a long time without ever asking what You call clean and unclean. I assumed my instincts were adequate. They were not.
Teach me. Be to me the Priest I never had. Show me from Your Word what pleases You and what offends You, and give me a heart that wants to know rather than a heart that would rather not.
I do not want to live in fear of objects and places. I want to walk in the world You made with my eyes open and my conscience clear. Give me discernment, Lord, and give me the courage to act on it. In Jesus' name. Amen.
You cannot discern what you were never taught to recognize.