God explains exactly why in the text. No need for the speculations of post-modernist humanists.
It is so that Israel would be holy, i.e. set apart and distinct from the other nations. It discouraged table fellowship and intermarriage with idolaters who regularly sacrificed and ate swine, camel, dog, rat, etc.
If Israel completely assimilated and ceased to be separate there would be no Messianic lineage, no promised Messianic Return, no Resurrection of the dead, and no future Messianic Kingdom.
God explains exactly why in the text. No need for the speculations of post-modernist humanists.
It is so that Israel would be holy, i.e. set apart and distinct from the other nations. It discouraged table fellowship and intermarriage with idolaters who regularly sacrificed and ate swine, camel, dog, rat, etc.
If Israel completely assimilated and ceased to be separate there would be no Messianic lineage, no promised Messianic Return, no Resurrection of the dead, and no future Messianic Kingdom.