Every Creature As Meat?
A few days ago we read chapter 9 and in it is a very confusing verse – vs. 3.
“Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all these.”
This verse is in the midst of the blessing and the instructions Elohim is giving to Noah and his sons.
When I look into the resources I have, with my limited knowledge of Hebrew, it sounds as if He is literally saying that He is giving mankind every animal as meat, including reptiles. This does not make sense to me, however, since we have already seen a distinction between clean and unclean animals both before and after the flood. We know the distinction between clean and unclean meat is made incredibly clear later on, when the instructions were given to Moshe.
I have considered the possibility that Elohim was speaking of the animals themselves being given all creeping things to eat but that does not entirely make sense, either.
Does anyone have information to share on this?
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January 23, 2019 at 10:57 pm /
This verse is pretty clear, but note also that 7 pairs of “clean” animals and just one of unclean. So, there was more Qadosh (Set Apart) Way that was later codified my Moshe and required of Israel. The Gentiles are not required to keep the Laws of Israel unless they are dwelling amongst Israel (i.e. physically or spiritually through the Messiah). Grafting requires conforming to the new root of course.
January 23, 2019 at 9:27 pm /
This is how I see it. When Israel came out of Egypt they had a lot to learn. Moshe did not make any moves unless YHWH said go. So Moshe taught us what food is. If it not clean it is not food. Heard s lot of ideas and teaching on this important learning, so this is how I settled it for us.
January 23, 2019 at 10:32 am /
We’ve looked at this many times and we’ve heard several explanations.
1) Obviously, this says what it says…we can eat all things. However, in the light of all scripture this is not and can not be what it means even though my gentile friends are sure.
2) This is where God is giving His permission to Noah and his family to eat all clean animals as defined in His instructions, which at this point is an oral law, until Moshe writes it down.
3) This is where God is giving His permission to Noah and his family to resume eating all clean animals as defined in His instructions. (Some believe that while on the ark (more than a year) non of the animals nor Noah and his family were eating meat…they were all vegetarian; perhaps like it will be in the future when lion and the lamb will coexist).
I like number 2 or 3 but lean towards the 3rd understanding. Since God cannot change, how can we justify eating clean and unclean. If there are no unclean, then they are just animals we like to eat or not. If there are no unclean animals, then how can there be clean animals (see Lev. 11). If all animals are in the same category there is no difference, yet Elohim states that there is a difference. Somebody is wrong…it is nod God.
Hope this helps,
Carl 🙂
February 9, 2019 at 3:05 pm /
I believe that when there is confusion, we must look at the wholeness of scripture. If one verse seems to be saying something that is in contradiction to the rest of the evidence, perhaps there is something missing in our understanding of that verse.
Thank you, Carl, for the clear response and enumeration of what some of the different schools of thought are about this. It is all good ‘food for thought’ (pun intended!)
–Janlyn
February 10, 2019 at 1:04 am /
I like the way you’ve broken down the possible explanations.
January 22, 2019 at 8:32 pm /
Hello, I am thinking that most likely Noah had a close relationship with the Father where he was able to learn what was clean and what was not clean. As I have been reading lately the Book, each day I see where the instructions of the Father have been present since the beginning and not only when given to Moses in a written form. They should have known the difference of clean and not clean since when the animals entered the ark, the Father mentioned that seven pairs of clean animals had to enter the ark and only a pair of unclean animals were to enter. They then knew that there was a difference. This called my attention in these days so I though I would share.
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