Bible Study

Bible Study Part 5: Moses and the Law (Exodus through Deuteronomy)
Posted: August 19, 2010

Certainly the books Exodus through Deuteronomy are full of discussions pertaining to animals and even their consumption, and the majority has to do with animal sacrifices back to God. What animals are to be used for what particular kind of sacrifice, how they are to be slain, what is to be done with their bodies, etc. all are discussed in great detail.

There are four other events that I found especially interesting:

1. The Passover. This event from Exodus 12 includes the first recorded instance of God commanding the consumption of an animal, which I found to be interesting since it had been many years since the post-flood announcement that animals could be used for food. Yet sure enough Ex. 12:8-10 states, “And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire.” I suppose I could say that there isn’t necessarily a command here. One could have technically left the entire animal until morning and then burned it total, but that feels like a stretch. The great detail in the kind of animal they were to choose (“without blemish, a male of the first year”), the use of the blood on the doorposts, the manner of cooking (“roast with fire; his head with his legs”), and the manner of eating (“And thus ye shall eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet” and “and unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it”) serves to make the slaughter and eating of the Passover lamb much more like a sacrifice, an offering, than a meal.

2. Manna and Quail. In Exodus 16 the children of Israel begin to complain about provisions and claim that they ate better in captivity than they are in freedom. God then announces that he will provide manna (a wafer or bread-like food) for them in the morning and quail comes into the camp in the evening. However, it doesn’t appear that quail was provided every day or even regularly, because in Numbers 11 the multitude again complains about food, but now they are tired of manna. “There is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes” (Numbers 11:6). The Lord tells Moses, “And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the Lord, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? For it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the Lord will give you flesh and ye shall eat. Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; but even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the Lord which is among you, and have wept before him saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?” (Numbers 11:18-20). And while the people were still eating the quail God struck them with a plague. God was providing for them nutritionally without the need for meat. They complained because they were bored.

3. Clean and Unclean Animals. Leviticus 11 describes in detail the kinds of animals the children of Israel were allowed to eat. Certain animals were “clean” and some were “unclean.” Israel could eat the clean animals, but not the unclean. Unclean animals included pork, fish without scales (such as shark), and shellfish. Interestingly, since this time we have learned a lot of these animals and their living and dietary habits and their dietary detriments to humans.

4. Balaam’s Donkey. Numbers 22 includes the first recorded instance of animal abuse in Scripture. The prophet Balaam’s donkey turns aside from the road when she sees the angel of Lord standing in the way. Balaam, angry with his “stubborn” donkey, strikes her three times. Then the Lord opens Balaam’s eyes so that he can see the angel of the Lord blocking his path. The angel asks Balaam why he struck his donkey, saying, “unless she had turned from me surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.” (Numbers 22:33). Balaam’s response? “I have sinned.” (Num. 22:34).

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Bible Study Part 4: The Time of the Patriarchs (Gen. 11-50)
Posted: Thursday, August 5, 2010

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.

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Bible Study Part 3: Noah and the Flood (Gen. 5-10)
Posted: Saturday, June 5, 2010

This portion of Scripture contains a great deal about animals, of course. Most people know the story of Noah's ark and I have certainly read it many, many times. However, I had never read it for the sole purpose of gleaning insight about man's relationship with animals especially in the context of eating. This passage contains a great turning point in that relationship as we will see.

In Genesis 6:7 God announces that he will "blot out" men, animals, creeping things, and birds because He is "sorry that [He had] made them."  Noah, however, finds favor in God's sight, and he is chosen to be the human vehicle by which mankind will be preserved along with animals. God commands him to build a great ark for his family (his wife, three sons and their wives) and several of each animal. Genesis 6:19-21states, "And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall com in to you to keep them alive." Then the passage continues, "Also [emphasis mine] take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them." It would appear, then, that the animals that made it on to the ark were not a part of the food stores. The pairs of unclean animals could not be eaten, obviously because there would be no way to continue the species with only one male or one female, however, in Genesis 7:2 God commands Noah to take "seven pairs of all clean animals." And yet Scripture makes no mention of Noah using them for food, and for good reason.

After the flood subsides Noah and his family emerge and he makes an enormous offering of some of every clean animal and bird. This is the second recorded instance in Scripture of man killing animals (Abel's offering in Genesis 4 being the first). After the offering God charges Noah and his family to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Gen. 9:1). Then Scripture continues, "The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood." And there we have it. God clearly states at this point that animals are given to man for food. Man's relationship with animals was forever changed after the flood.

I think it is important to note that, at least to this point in the history of mankind, God has given animals to man for food, for clothing, and for giving back to God in the form of offerings. There is no mention of man killing animals for sport, for the fun of it.


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Bible Study, Part 2: The Fall of Man (Genesis 3)
Posted Saturday, May 29, 2010

Genesis 3 contains a lot of eating and talking about eating. Of course, since the discussion centers around the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the eating is plant-based. In this case, the eating of fruit is in rebellion against God's command to stay away from that fruit. This act of disobedience results in a curse against mankind and, indirectly, the first use of animals recorded in scripture when God "made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them."

The serpent, Adam, and Eve, each in their turn receive a curse from God. While woman's curse centers around family, her relationship with her husband and child-bearing, man's is centered on laboring in the earth to bring forth food. Genesis 3: 17-19 states, ". . . cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken."

Notice there is no mention of difficulty in raising and butchering livestock, for the eating of animals has not yet entered into the history of mankind. That won't come for many generations.


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Bible Study, Part 1: Creation (Genesis 1,2)
Posted: Saturday, May 22, 2010

As I mentioned in my opening post on Monday, part of my transition to a vegetarian diet will involve exploring the Bible thoroughly to make sure that my philosophies about animals and food line up with Scripture. I couldn't think of a better way to this than to start with Genesis 1 and just plow through to the end of Revelation, keeping detailed notes on what I read as I go.

Please keep in mind that I'm not a theologian. I don't know Hebrew, Greek or Arabic, though I do have access to common Bible study tools such as a concordance and Bible dictionary. My thoughts and observations in these Bible study posts are just those: my thoughts and observations. I encourage you to read these passages for yourself and join in the discussion. If you disagree with me or think I am in error, or have a thought you would like to add, please leave a comment below. I want to foster discussion on vegetarianism (or even "animal rights") amongst Christians, not just get on a soap box and spout, as I much as I enjoy that.

I began my study with Genesis 1, as I said, and food gets a mention by verse 29. Gen. 1:29, 30 states (all quotes are in the English Standard Version, unless otherwise specified), "And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.' And it was so."And the discussion on food ends there. God explicitly gives plants to man and beast for food in these two verses. He does not in any way give animals or their products to man for food here.

If we back up just a bit to verse 28 God says, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." By putting all three of these verses together I think we can reasonably infer that eating animals does not follow from what God means by "dominion." If it did, it would be unnecessary to then point out that plants are for food while animals are for dominion, or to rule over (which is what the Hebrew radah means).

As we move on to Genesis 2, events step back chronologically to give a bit more detail about the creation of man. Genesis 2:8 states, "And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food." Again we have an explicit link between plants and food. There is no mention of animals (for food or otherwise) in the verses immediately before or after this passage.

In fact, animals don't get a mention until verse 19, the first time animals come into the discussion since their initial creation account in Genesis 1, but only as possible companions for Adam, and certainly not for food. Gen. 2:19-20, "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.' So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was it's name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him." The passage goes on to describe the creation of woman.

I personally find this passage very interesting, and I believe describes the reason man and animals have such a strong link. We've all heard stories about children finding animals to take in temporarily ("just until we can find a home for it" or "just until it gets better") and the mother or father allowing it, but discouraging the naming of said animals. Why? Because once you name something you become attached to it. God gave Adam the task of naming the animals; He did not name the animals himself. Why? I believe it is because God wants us to be attached to the animals over which we have dominion, to love them and care for them. The Hebrew word does carry with it the idea of subjugation, but it is more the idea of the rule or dominion being total rather than hard or severe.

Of course, this is isn't the end of the discussion on animals or even eating animals. Things will change as events in the Bible unfold, but I think this is a good stopping point for now.