Why did God allow Meat eating?
The first time the children of Israel ate meat after the exodus is recorded in Numbers chapter 11. Let’s examine this chapter and note the events that transpired therein:
“And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?”
(Num 11:4)
“We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick”
(Num 11:5)
Through the many years as slaves in Egypt, eating flesh meat became a common thing to do. If you notice, they mentioned the fish, and then they mentioned some vegetables, but their question shows what they really wanted:
“Who shall give us flesh to eat?”
Again they cried at Moses, “give us flesh, that we may eat” –verse 13.
One will notice while reading through this whole chapter that God did not really want to give them the flesh meat for their diet. In fact, as they cried in their lust for flesh meat, God told them that they will get their desire; in fact, they will get a whole month of meat, even until it leaks from their noses (verses’ 19-20). So the Lord blew a strong wind, and in came the meat they so desired. Verse 31 says that the Lord brought them quail, and while the meat was yet in between their teeth, the Lord sent a plague, and they all died (verse 33). Take note reader, that the meat these people ate was not unclean meat, but rather clean meat according to the clean/unclean laws of Leviticus 11. Would God give them an unclean animal to eat? Yet, to show them he did not want them eating meat at all, whether clean or unclean, he allowed them to have the lust of their hearts, and they reaped what they sowed, sickness and death.
The clean/unclean foods: Laws God did not desire
Within the writing of the prophet Ezekiel, we read the following:
“Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live.” (Ezekiel 20:25)
What would you say were the laws God gave to the children of Israel that he did not really want to give them? Let’s look at three of the most basic of those laws and see if these are it:
The Sabbath: Because the immediate context of the whole chapter of Ezekiel 20 seems to be more about the Sabbath, I decided to comment on this one first.
Was God displeased with giving them the Sabbath day law? The verses in this same chapter immediately say “no.” First, the verse says “statutes” and “judgments” in the plural sense. There is only one seventh day Sabbath. Second, verses before show how God really did want them to observe the Sabbath, because it was to be a “sign” that God is the one who sanctifies them (verses 12; 20). The Sabbath is also seen to continue on forever. Evidently, the saints of God will forever observe it even in the New Heavens and the New Earth (Isaiah 66:23). This is proof that the Sabbath has not been abolished, and that God in Ezekiel 20:25 is not speaking about the Sabbath. How could God regret giving them the Sabbath but allow it to continue forever?
The 10 Commandments: These laws, recorded first in Exodus 20, set moral rules for the believer to live by. “Thou shalt not murder” and “thou shalt not steal” are certainly laws we wouldn’t dream of saying God did not want to give. Each law within the 10 commandments has a moral application to everyone of us. When we violate the first four of these laws, which most recognize as laws referring to mans relationship with God, we sin against our selves, because it is a sin to break Gods law (1 John 3:4). When we sin against ourselves we risk damaging our relationship and we offend God who made us in his image, thus losing our salvation because we have not turned away from sin. When we violate the rest of the 10 commandments we commit sins against our neighbors, which will again cause us to hurt ourselves spiritually and most of the times physically in the process. Was God displeased with giving these laws? The logical answer is no.
The Feast days: Time and place must be considered. When God through Ezekiel penned those words in Ezekiel 20:25, the feast days, while God found more pleasure in obedience (1 Samuel 15:22), he did in fact wanted them to observe them as laws because he desired them to see something special within these feast days, namely, that Jesus is the true lamb of God, which would be sacrificed for them in the not so distant future (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7). Today, these feast days can still teach us much, but we know that they have all found their end at the cross, as Jesus is our paschal lamb, and so on. Yet in the times of Ezekiel, God wanted them to observe these feasts.
The only possible laws the Lord must have been speaking about in Ezekiel 20:25 would have to be the laws of clean and unclean meats as listed in Leviticus 11. The following are the reasons why this must be so:
-Reason 1: God has never desired the death of any of his creatures.
-Reason 2: As shown in Numbers 11, God does not desire our eating or neither clean nor unclean animals.
-Reason 3: Animal eating has never been part of the original plan for mankind’s health, and God desires we return to his original plan.
Every other law, for that time, were laws God ordered to be kept for some reason as to maintain order within the theocratic nation of Israel (as in the civil penalty laws -we believe God did not desire these as well) or for moral issues relating to salvation. The clean/unclean animal’s laws have nothing to do with the maintaining of a nation, nor with anything moral at that. Simply put, animal eating is just not necessary. We can get sufficient nutrients from the natural foods of the earth without eating flesh meat. The most convincing evidence is in the fact that meat eating came into the picture after the fall, and not before.
Source: http://adventist-defense-league.blogspot.com
