Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all tended flocks and herds: cattle, goats, sheep. All throughout these chapters of Scripture great numbers of animals are a sign of wealth and used even as gifts (when Jacob was meeting Esau again after their bad parting) and as wages (as in Laban’s agreement with Jacob that he take the speckled cattle and goats). Animals were clearly a very important part of everyday life. Increase in animals was also seen as blessing from God.
Three events from these chapters stand out to me:
1. In Genesis 22 God asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac, the very son that God promised to him in his old age. Abraham prepares to obey God and even has his knife ready to slay his son when the angel of the Lord stops him, commending him for his faith and obedience. A nearby ram caught in a thicket takes the place of Isaac as the sacrifice, a lovely picture of what Christ would do later as the spotless Lamb of God who would lay down His life as the sacrifice for sin in the place of all mankind.
2. In Genesis 37 Joseph’s brothers kill a young goat to deceive their father Jacob into thinking his favored son was attacked and killed by a wild animal rather than sold into slavery. This is the first recorded instance of man killing an animal for something other than food or a sacrifice back to God. The animal is killed in order to deceive.
3. In Genesis 41 Joseph interprets two dreams of Pharaoh both of which predict the same events. Egypt was to have seven years of plenty followed by seven years of extreme famine. During the seven years of famine the people of Egypt consume the stores of grain Joseph lays up during the seven years of plenty. The implication is (and we know this from the pre-flood years) that plant-based diets are perfectly capable of sustaining life and can do so more efficiently than animal-based diets (It takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of meat). In fact, by the end of the famine Egyptians were exchanging livestock for bread.
Question: What have you observed in Scripture about animals and eating?
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My observation...it's not a big deal: "Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do." I Cor. 8:8. See also, Rom. 14:17 ("For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.") As you noted earlier, animals were given to man for food after the flood. I'm no better or worse off if I eat them, and you're no better or worse off if you don't. That doesn't mean you can't decide not to eat meat for health or other personal reasons, but seems to me the Scriptures teach that we're not to make it a big theological or moral issue.
ReplyDeleteKevin, I agree with you 100% as far as the actual eating is concerned. If I haven't made it clear in this blog that I don't believe it is immoral to eat meat then I apologize. It is the cruelty that is part and parcel of the modern American factory farming system of which I think more Christians should be aware. After all, God created every sparrow, and if he sees each one that falls why should we think he doesn't see each calf that is skinned alive?
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