Does God Want Us To Eat Meat?

From All-Creatures
Christian Living

True Christian living requires us to live according to Kingdom standards which bring Heaven to earth

Does God Want Us To Eat Meat?
by Janis Cooper

Genesis 1:29,30   And God said, Behold, I have given

you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

At CREATION God gave only plants to man and animals to eat.

Genesis 1:31   And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good…

God said that all His works were “very good”. 

This is how God originally intended His creation to be. 

Genesis 3:7   And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

The FALL.

Note: it was the influence of satan through an animal that led to the first sin; the Fall of mankind.

Genesis 3:18   …and thou shalt eat the herb of the field…

After the Fall and prior to the Flood God gave Adam only plants to eat.

Genesis 6:5    And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

The wickedness of man was great.

Genesis 6:7, 12   And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them……And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

God is sorry He made ALL creatures (men, women, children, and animals).

Could this be why He chose the Flood as a method of destruction?  Because not only man, but the animals became corrupt? 

Genesis 7

The FLOOD.

Between the Fall and the Flood ALL flesh (animals, men, women, children) became corrupt.

Genesis 9:2   And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

After the Flood animals now have a fear of man.  So this must mean that they had no fear before the Flood (even though they were ‘corrupt’).

Could this new fear be because evil men abused these non human-fearing corrupt animals before the Flood? Maybe, but notice above in Genesis 6:12 the words ‘his way’.  In the original Hebrew the word is ‘its’, not ‘his’.  And the word ‘way’ is used which means ‘a mode of action’, hence ‘its way’, which leads us to believe that somehow the animals (just like humans) corrupted themselves.

Genesis 9:3    Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you: even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Now, after the Flood, God gives every animal and plant to man for food.   Why?  What could it

have been about the animals after the Flood that God would give them to us to eat?  We are only told they are fearful of man.

Could it have been that since the Fall some were made into carnivores by satan?  (for only satan would do that)  But then what could have been corrupt about the herbivores? And why is it that the herbivores (the uncorrupt animals, in our eyes) are the ones that get eaten?

How were animals any different after the Flood?  Or did it have something to do with people being different why God began to allow meat eating?

Whatever the answers are, it does not mean that God had changed His mind about His original intent. In Genesis 9:3 above, the words ‘shall be’ in the original Hebrew mean ‘to be, to become, to exist’. Therefore, we should not say that God commanded the eating of meat, but rather a concession to man was made for the eating of it.  Since man in his fallen state wanted to eat meat God set down rules for eating it, but it does not mean it was His desire.  For example, God gave in to the Israelites in the wilderness when they whined for flesh to eat instead of the manna even though it was not God’s desire that they eat the quail.  In fact, it says in Numbers 11:33 that God was even very angry about it and struck the people with a great plague. Another example of how God yielded to the people’s own desires is in Matthew 19:8 where God said that because of the hardness of the people’s hearts Moses gave permission for them to divorce, but that divorce was NOT God’s desire for His people. 

It is very clear that God did not want the people to eat flesh.  This is also how a loving parent would act because they know that sometimes their children need to learn important lessons the hard way, through experience.

Now, having said all this, let us look at the very next verse. 

Genesis 9:4    But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

The word ‘life’ here in the original Hebrew means ‘soul’.  The same word is also used in

Genesis 2:7 which says, Then the Lord God formed man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Both ‘life’ and ‘soul’ here are the same word in the ancient Hebrew for ‘soul’.

In other words, Genesis 9:4 could be translated, But flesh with a soul you shall not eat.

God is using the same term, ‘soul’, for both humans and animals in these two verses. 

This is also proof that animals have souls, as it is animals that God is referring to in Genesis 9 from verses 2 -4.  

However, some people might think that verse 4 could refer to dead or live animals.  The life resides in the blood (Leviticus 17:11).  The blood is the life.  They believe that the flesh is not to be eaten while the soul, or the blood, is still in it; whether the animal is dead or alive.  Leviticus 7:27; 17:10,14 states that the blood must first be drained before the flesh is eaten. 

But I can’t believe that God would give in to man’s desire to eat meat so far as to consent to the eating of an animal while it is still alive, especially when I use my childlike faith.

Now, mainstream Christianity teaches that God accepted the soul of the sacrificed animal as a substitute for the soul of man, and that is what Jesus did for us, once and for all on the Cross.  So mainstream Christianity is also (even unknowingly) teaching us that animals have souls.

Following is a short discussion about the spirits and souls of animals.

Animals possess intelligence. They have better moral values and skills than most people. Fidelity, and love, are one of the highest and strongest attributes of the soul, and is greatest in animals.  Many

people can honestly say that their companion animals are the ones that have truly taught them what love is really all about.  I know I can say that.

Animals, especially domesticated animals, exhibit numerous attributes some of which are love, hate, unselfishness, pride, jealousy, loyalty, body and verbal language, friendship, reasoning abilities, memory, foresight of consequences, and a sense of moral responsibility, all of which belong to the spirit and not the body.  Animals posses knowledge, intellect, thoughts, dreaming abilities, physical and emotional feelings, and free will.  Instinct is also a very strong attribute of the soul, and it is superior to man.  They receive their knowledge/instinct directly from God and are governed by the same physical and mental laws as man. 

Communication with animals is a spiritual thing, not physical.  The eye cannot see without a soul’s presence.  Every movement and sound they make is a result of messages to the brain that have nothing to do with their physiology.  The soul is in the heart/brain/mind.  Matter – cannot think or speak.  Matter - cannot move without the spirit.

The animals praise God according to Scripture* and according to their own nature.  You must have a spirit in order to worship God!  The Bible actually says that they have spirits**  and that they are going to Heaven.***

Since all God’s creatures have souls and spirits and are going to be in Heaven, I really don’t want to have to explain to any farm animal that I ate on earth why I did, when I get to Heaven. 

Bottom line

The killing of innocent flesh, whether human or animal, for any reason, was not God’s original intent for man or animals.  There was no violence of any kind before the Fall, neither will any of God’s creatures hurt nor destroy each other in the world to come.

*     Psalm, 145:10,21, Psalm 148:10-13, Psalm 150:6, Isaiah 42:10, Revelation 5:13

**   Numbers 16:22, Numbers 27:16, Ecclesiastes 3:18-21,

      *** Isaiah 40:5, Isaiah 52:10, Psalm 36:6, Psalm 104:24-30, Nehemiah 9:6, Mark 16:15,

             Luke 3:6, Acts 3:20,21, Romans 8:19-21, 1 Corinthians 15:22,38-44, Colossians 1:19,20,23, 

             Hebrews 1:1,

Bibliography

Book:  All Creatures Here Below  by Frank L. Hoffman from

http://www.all-creatures.org/bookallcreatures.html

Janis Cooper
Independant researcher specializing in human and animal safety, protection, health, nutrition, and spirituality /
Animal lover / Pet guardian.
Point Roberts, Wa

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