Why God Said Eat Meat

The first humans were instructed to eat vegetation. Latter after the flood of Noah God expanded the human diet to include meat. This thread will discuss some of that matter.

First, here we see God telling His created man to eat vegetation:

"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth and every tree which has fruit yeilding seed; it shall be for you as food.

And to every animal of the earth and to every bird of heaven and to everything that creeps upon the earth, in which is a living soul, I have given every green herb for food; and it was so." (Genesis 1:29,30)

After the flood of Noah God expands the diet of man to include meat. I don't think man HAS to eat meat. I think man MAY eat meat according to what God has commanded.

After the flood:

"And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

And the fear of you and the terror of you shall be upon every animal of the earth and upon every bird of heaven, on everything that creeps on the ground and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered.

Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; just as I [gave you] the green herb, [so] I have given you everything.

But flesh with its life, [that is], its blood, you shall not eat.

And indeed your life blood I will require; from every animal I will require it. And from [every] man, from every man's brother, I will require the life of man.

Whoever sheds man's blood, By man shall his blood be shed, For in the image of God He made man. And you, be fruitful and multiply, Abound on the earth and multiply in it." (Genesis 9:1-7)

The verses of interest to my point are those concerning man being commanded now to include meat in his eating. The theological significance I will discuss.

People were getting too numerous to survive by gathering alone.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
People were getting too numerous to survive by gathering alone.

there was only noah and his family. and just a handful of animals. i believe god could have postponed making noah eat the few animals left and make the tigers and the wolves themselves carnivores. that if indeed all the animals before the flood only ate vegetation. including the t-rexes. and sabretooth tigers. and raptors. who had razor sharp teeth to kill the elusive plants.

Originally posted by Zahlanzi
there was only noah and his family. and just a handful of animals. i believe god could have postponed making noah eat the few animals left and make the tigers and the wolves themselves carnivores. that if indeed all the animals before the flood only ate vegetation. including the t-rexes. and sabretooth tigers. and raptors. who had razor sharp teeth to kill the elusive plants.

on the ark there were 7 pairs of clean animals, or animals that may be eaten. That would actually be quite a large number of animals, and would likely have sustained the small group until their first crop arrived. Remember also there were 7 maiting pairs of birds, so protien from eggs would be available.

Originally posted by Doward
on the ark there were 7 pairs of clean animals, or animals that may be eaten. That would actually be quite a large number of animals, and would likely have sustained the small group until their first crop arrived. Remember also there were 7 maiting pairs of birds, so protien from eggs would be available.

If there was life on Mars, do you think Noah traveled to the Mars in the Ark?

God gave man food to sustain his created life. This provision was made before Adam sinned. The divine commands concerning food are in Genesis chapter two, before the fall of man.

Clothing is another basic matter to man's existence. But it seems the will of God concerning clothing comes after the fall of man. But the commands concerning food come before the fall of man.

God ordained that man should consume fruits of every kind for food. Before the fall of man the God-ordained food was fruit.

In Genesis 3, after the fall of man, God gave man herbs for food and ordained taht man would eat bread in the sweat of his face.

Even at the time of the offerings of Cain and Abel in Genesis 3 the God ordained diet for man was herbs, vegetation.

Coming to Genesis chapter 4 we see that God put His seal of approval upon Abel's offering of cattle but rejected Cain's offering purely of vegetation.

Cain was a farmer and Abel was a keeper of sheep. But they were not yet eating the sheep as far as we know. God had not yet told man that he could eat meat. So then what was the purpose of Abel raising sheep?

We know that God accepted Abel's sacrifice of a animal but did not accept Cain's sacrifice of vegetation.

"And the man knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain ... And again she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a tender of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

And in the course of time Cain brought an offering to Jehovah from the fruit of the ground. And Abel also brought [an offering] from the firstlings of his flock, that is, from the fat portions. And Jehovah had regard for Abels and for his offering. But for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. And Cain became very angry, and his countanance fell.

And Jehovah said to Cain, Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not [your countenance] be lifted up ? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and his desire is for you, but you must rule over him." (Genesis 4:1-7)

Cain murders Abel in a fit of jealousy and premeditated murder.

But Abel did not raise sheep for eating. Possibly milk and clothing were by-products of Abel's tending the sheep. Possibly Abel raise them for offerings to God in worship. The revelation to do so probably had its roots in what his parents told him about how God slew a cattle to cloth them when they had sinned.

Meat was not eaten, but meat was used in the offering which was accepted by God. Vegetation alone, Cain's self made offering, was rejected. And Cain was offended that his original idea was not accepted by God as a valid offering.

We are talking about the eventual diet of meat. Cont. below.

Originally posted by moon1969
If there was life on Mars, do you think Noah traveled to the Mars in the Ark?

Is that supposed to be some witty edgy response? Best leave that to the boys with long pants.

Originally posted by jaywill
God gave man food to sustain his created life. This provision was made before Adam sinned. The divine commands concerning food are in Genesis chapter two, before the fall of man.

Clothing is another basic matter to man's existence. But it seems the will of God concerning clothing comes after the fall of man. But the commands concerning food come before t ...[text shortened]... as a valid offering.

We are talking about the eventual diet of meat. Cont. below.

The Bible has been fashioned by the meat eaters for the meat eaters.

God is not speaking.

The Bible is not the authority.

Men who are not sincere will embrace the Bible for it is an offering of emotional sentiment that attracts the minds of bewildered men.

Bhagavad Gita Cht 15 v 11

yatanto yoginas cainam
pasyanty atmany avasthitam
yatanto 'py akrtatmano
nainam pasyanty acetasah
SYNONYMS
yatantah--endeavoring; yoginah--transcendentalists; ca--also; enam--this; pasyanti--can see; atmani--in the self; avasthitam--situated; yatantah--although endeavoring; api--although; akrta-atmanah--without self-realization; na--does not; enam--this; pasyanti--can see; acetasah--undeveloped mind.
TRANSLATION
The endeavoring transcendentalist, who is situated in self-realization, can see all this clearly. But those who are not situated in self-realization cannot see what is taking place, though they may try to.

Cain brought the produce of the land to god, but God rejected that as a sacrifice. Genesis 4 says nothing about God's will. But in chapter 9, God gave the animals to man for food (v.3), just as He had given fruit to man for good in the beginning.

The question to explore is why God gave animals to man to eat.

Man's need for food before the fall was different from his need for food after the fall. But this can only be appreciated in considering the real spiritual meaning of food.

Food sustains human life. If man does not eat, he will die. No one can survive without eating. Food is needed for human survival. Food sustains human life.

Eventually, God ordained not only herbs, vegetables, and fruit for this sustaining power of food. But God ordained that man must add MEAT in order to live and survive. This addition came after the judging flood of Noah.

I think the significance below the surface here is that God ordained that man must sacrifice life in order to preserve life. There is the need for an animal to lose its life in order that man may maintain his human life.

After SIN entered this world, there was the need for the shedding of blood to maintain life. This is the that man's food after the fall is different fom his food before the fall. This significance is most appreciated by the Christian who is familiar with God's plan of redemption. Christians should feel quite free to take meat as food.

Perhaps it is better for Christians to take meat for food in order to be impressed that God's salvation requires that a life be sacrificed that the redeemed may live.

The issue here is not what meat will necessarily do or not do for our body. That is an interesting area of study. But that is not my spiritual or theological point here. After the flood God impresses upon man that a life had to die in order that man can sustain his human life. He now commands that meat of animals be eaten.

The basic principle for the Christian is that since sin has entered into the world, man can no longer have life without the sacrifice of life. The anticipation of the redemptive work of the Son of God is seen in the expansion of the human diet from vegetation only to include meat.

Cont. below

The basic prinicple for the Christian to be reminded of whenever we take meat as food is that we human beings can no longer have life unless there is the sacrifice OF life.

This fact points to the redemption of Christ. Life from God cannot be received unless there is the sacrifice OF life. Each time you eat meat, I would encourage you to meditate on this. For man to live before God a life had to be sacrificed. And without the redemption of the Son of God man cannot be saved from sin and be made living.

Since Christ and His work are so central to the eternal purpose of God, even back in Genesis the symbolism is teaching us concerning Christ's redemption. The addition of meat after the fall and especially after the flood teaches man that life must be sacrificed in order for man to be sustained in life.

Life to man after the fall could only come through death. Without death, man cannot live. God teaches this to mankind through the expansion of the diet to eat meat.

Eating After the fall of man requires that life be sacrificed. A life had to die in order that we may live.

Being a vegetarian is a subconcious declaration that we can live without death, that we can live without the shedding of blood. By eating meat, we are indicating that we cannot live without death and the shedding of blood.

The Christian can appreciate this because he understands Christ was slain for redemption from the foundation of the world for man's redemption. God gave the animals to man for food adter the flood. Man can no longer have life without the loss of life.

This points to the Son of God having to give up His life that we might receive divine and eternal life.

cont. below

What I have written does not mean that the Christian sins if he does not eat meat. We can see from Paul's letter to the Romans that some of the Christian brothers were vegetarian. They were to be left in peace. This is in Romans 14.

The Apostle instructs that we Christians should not pass judgment upon each other's diet. But Paul also says that those Christians that can only eat vegetables are rather weak. He said, do not criticize them for their weakness. We are to receive one another as Christ received us.

Some Christians brothers are sensative in their conscience to the degree that they do not want to eat meat. But God ordained that it should be eaten. And I believe that the eating of it points to the need for Christ to die in order that we fallen sinners may live.

The militant declaration of the some posters here that it is abominable to eat meat subconcieously is there rejection of God's plan of redemption. They reject that the Son of God had to die in order that the fallen sinner could have life.

Next we will come to the matter of NOT eating blood in the meat. This too has a spiritual significance related to the redemption of Jesus Christ.

cont. below

Teaching children at Sunday school to kill animals and eat the flesh is criminal and child abuse.

The choice to kill is up to each person.

But to teach children to kill is abominable.

Originally posted by Doward
on the ark there were 7 pairs of clean animals, or animals that may be eaten. That would actually be quite a large number of animals, and would likely have sustained the small group until their first crop arrived. Remember also there were 7 maiting pairs of birds, so protien from eggs would be available.

however don't you think its highly illogical that the human race survives for some hundreds of years on weed, noah's family and all the animals eat only weeds on the ark then after the whole shebang is over, they are to start eating meat all of a sudden? instead of waiting for the populations of the animals to be replenished? and 7 pairs of clean animals ain't that much. i will not even go into the inbreeding here. but to kill them and turn them into burgers?


and don't forget the tigers and wolves and whatever. they were vegetarians too right? so since there is no mention of god telling them to eat meat later on, does it stand to reason that they too were blessed with a craving for meat right then? and the tigers wouldn't abstain to only eat the eggs of the birds.

Originally posted by Zahlanzi
however don't you think its highly illogical that the human race survives for some hundreds of years on weed, noah's family and all the animals eat only weeds on the ark then after the whole shebang is over, they are to start eating meat all of a sudden? instead of waiting for the populations of the animals to be replenished? and 7 pairs of clean anima ...[text shortened]... ing for meat right then? and the tigers wouldn't abstain to only eat the eggs of the birds.

Well its obviously where all the dinosaurs went.

They were the first things to get eaten.

Originally posted by Zahlanzi
however don't you think its highly illogical that the human race survives for some hundreds of years on weed, noah's family and all the animals eat only weeds on the ark then after the whole shebang is over, they are to start eating meat all of a sudden? instead of waiting for the populations of the animals to be replenished? and 7 pairs of clean anima ...[text shortened]... ing for meat right then? and the tigers wouldn't abstain to only eat the eggs of the birds.

I largley think the Noah story is not meant to be read literally, but offered the information for clarification purposes