Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Leviticus 11:41-43
No Creeping Thing Is To Be Eaten (Leviticus 11:41).
Having seen examples of what cannot be eaten because of contact with what is unclean we now return to what cannot be eaten. The ban on creeping things is universal. To eat such things is not only not worthy of God, it is an abomination to Him. They grovel among the dirt outside man's sphere. That is the sphere of the snake.
“And every creeping thing which creeps on the earth is an abomination; it shall not be eaten. Whatever goes on the belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even all creeping things that creep on the earth, them you shall not eat, for they are an abomination.”
Every creeping thing is to be an abomination as far as eating is concerned, including snakes (going on the belly) and centipedes (having many feet). The question is not whether some of them are edible, but that they eat and live among the dirt and dust. They share the snake's environment. They are an abomination. Furthermore they are to be despised because they ‘have no ruler over them'. They are not of the regulated world, they are outside man's orbit (Habbakuk 1:14).
The stress in all these cases is on the need to develop purity and cleanness, and to avoid what is unclean by means of connection with death, degradation, dust and dirt. By these means they would be kept from harm and contact with death and remain pure in God's eyes. The positive side is that God's people should ever be taken up with what is pure and true and of good report (Philippians 4:8).
“You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps, nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled by it.”
To partake of any of these unclean ‘creeping things that creep' would be to make them both abominable and unclean. It would be to share their environment. It would doubly defile them. It is an absolute ban, not just something that could easily be remedied. They were not there for man to eat. The thought is abhorrent. And they were closely connected with idolatry (Ezekiel 8:10).
Note the distinction that has been maintained. Eating unclean animals, rodents and lizards is forbidden, but eating unclean sea creatures, birds, and insects is an abomination. The prohibition for the latter is thus much stronger, and may well relate to the curse on the snake, and the sphere in which they live. What is common for all these creatures are that they belong to the unclean world, and live from and lurk among either what dies or what is of the dust. They are thus not fitted for God's holy people, because God's people are superior to such things, and not to be connected with anything connected with death or uncleanness.
We may not be tempted to eat such things, although of course some do, but the principle behind it is the avoidance of all that is unfitting.
Now God states His purpose. It is that they might be holy as He is holy. That meant avoiding all that was looked on as unclean or loathsome, and all that was connected with dirt, dust and death. It meant seeking their true sphere, the holiness of God.