I'm sorry I haven't written in a long time. I'm a failure as a blogger. I try my best, but the life of a college student is CRAZY!
So, you might be wondering why I'm talking about vegetables today. Here's my question: Were Adam and Eve vegetarians?
This question was forming as I was reading Isaiah 11:6-9. "the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat..." I am assuming here that he is talking about the second coming of Christ--when he reigns over the earth. But was it like that before sin entered the world?
In Genesis 1:29, it says, "Then God said, 'I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earty and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.'" He never says anything about the animals. Later on, in Genesis 9, God is speaking to Noah and says, "Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything."
Is it possible that no one ate meat until after the flood? Did God, perhaps need to cleanse all the animals to make them edible?
My roommate disagrees with my theories, and I see her points. She says that the Bible specifically mentions how Abel is a shepherd. And why would there be sheperds if there weren't sheep, meant for eating? (Although the sheep could be used for other things, like milk, wool, and sacrifices.) Also, aren't our bodies made to eat meat? Why would it be this way unless God specifically made us to eat meat--even before the fall?
I don't know, it's a very interesting topic. What do you think?
Genesis 9
Staying on Your Feet
18 years ago
I realize this post was written over a year ago, but I just stumbled onto your blog (apparently we like some of the same books... :) ), and I thought this post was interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think that yes, Adam and Eve were vegetarians in the garden of Eden--and afterwards. I don't think they ate meat until after Noah. Why? *shrug* Only God knows. But Adam and Eve were created as perfect beings, and the plants they ate were also perfect. Therefore they were able to get all the nutrients they needed from the plants. However, the farther away from "perfection" the world got after the fall, the more humans started needing more than the plants were providing. Make sense? Yes, Abel was a shepherd, but as you pointed out, there are other uses for sheep than eating them.
This also helps solve the problem of having carnivores on the ark with the animals they usually would have eaten--they were ALL herbivores until after the flood. :)