What Scripture says about vegetarianism. Does God allow you to eat meat
When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, only plants served them as food, and more importantly, the same was true for animals that ate plant food. There was no sin yet, so there was no death either, and since there was no death then you couldn't eat meat either, because it was obvious that it came from dead animals.
Genesis 1.28-30 "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 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."
What does the word "dominion" mean? Today it is very readily used by those who justify themselves when they mistreat animals, keep them in cruel conditions. Let's remember that there was no sin in the Garden of Eden, so it is not possible for the word rule to be associated with violence, treating animals like objects, and eating them. Adam and Eve, as rational beings, were supposed to take care of the animals, to live in accordance with nature. The word reign is also used in 3:16, where the man was to reign over the woman. Misunderstood words, or the desire to misunderstand them, led to the tragic situation of women as we now have in Islamic countries.
When sin crept into the earth, until the coming of the Flood, we do not find a single verse that speaks of man or animals eating meat. In the First Book of Moses we read:
Genesis 3.17-19 "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
As we read, people were to feed on vegetation, not animals. Sacrificing animals on the altar, was a symbolic payment for sin, it taught that the consequence of sin is death and suffering. Blood is life, shedding the blood of an animal on the altar indicated that the sin was so bad that it could not go unaddressed. Killing innocent animals and shedding their blood, was also a foreshadowing of Jesus' sacrifice. It can be stated unequivocally that the animal sacrifices offered were not so that the human sacrificer could eat them.
First permission to eat meat
Only when the contamination of sin reached, unimaginable proportions, and Noah and his family survived the flood, God said:
Genesis 9.3-4 "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat."
This is not a command to eat meat, but a certain concession that God allowed. It is possible that the reason for this was the aftermath of the Flood, that is, the lack of sufficient fruits and vegetables suitable for consumption. In later biblical verses, we can read about clean and unclean animals, which Noah knew because he took a sufficient amount of them aboard the ark.
People should take care of animals
Note, however, that God forbids the abuse of animals, does not approve of their mistreatment, moreover, animals had certain rights, such as the commandment disobeyed by most of Christianity today:
Exodus 20.10 "But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates"
How are animals treated for consumption today? Watch videos, reports, read articles and you will see that horrors are happening there. This is not just a temporary condition, but months of torment. Is this how the Israelites treated their flocks of sheep or other animals? Some of them probably did, but it was not "normal" as it is today. The animals that God allowed to be eaten did not undergo such a long ordeal. By eating meat that comes from farmed animals, you are contributing to their suffering. Would you want the same thing to happen to you? If you eat meat buy it more sensibly, it is increasingly possible to buy so-called organic meat, it is more expensive, but by doing so you are not putting yourself on the same level as the torturer. Don't be fooled by colorful packaging and the word Bio or Eco if there are no serious certifications there. Examples include fake eggs with colorful packaging and hens raised like in concentration camps. You can read more about eggs in the article: Which eggs to buy so as not to contribute to the suffering of hens.
Did Jesus eat fish? There are texts in Scripture that indicate so, such as the feeding of five thousand men plus women and children, or the meeting with the apostles after the resurrection. Here, too, let's remember that these were certainly fish from a natural lake, not from a farm pond where fish are kept in crowded tanks.
Artykuł o nakarmieniu 5000 osób znajdziesz w: Miracles of the Lord Jesus - Feeding the five thousand.
