A MIGHTY HUNTER

A MIGHTY HUNTER

 “Also, for Adam and his wife, the LORD God made tunics of skin and clothed them.”

Genesis 3:21

            Many people have different views on whether to kill animals and whether we should eat meat or not.  If you choose to not eat meat, that’s okay and if you choose to eat meat is also okay.  Someone asked me about this and because Christians should try to live as what is written in the Bible, I base this teaching on that.

            In the beginning of Genesis when Adam and Eve sinned, things changed for them and for the future generations.  Prior to the knowledge of sin, they had no shame and walked around naked.  After the sin, they realized they were naked and were ashamed [too bad some don’t know what ‘shame’ is today].

So, God took the skins of animals and made clothing for them to wear.  I don’t know how he killed the animals, but they had to be killed to get their skins.  From that time on the animals were used for a variety of things such as clothing, warmth, food and many other things.

Noah had a son, Cush and Cush had a son named Nimrod. “Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth.  He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.” [Genesis 10:8-9]  Nimrod was known to be a mighty hunter and was approved by the Lord.

In Genesis we read about the patriarch Isaac who had twin sons.  Although twins they were nothing alike. “So the boys grew. And Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents.” [Genesis 25:27]  Isaac loved Esau the best because Esau killed deer and cooked venison for his aging father. It was not a sin.

When Moses led the people out of Egypt, they began to complain they had no meat or bread and God “heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, at twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the LORD your God.”   [Exodus 16:11-12]  God provided meat along with a bread source and the people had to kill the quail and prepare it and cook it.  It was not a sin.

            One thing God told his people was to not eat blood.  “Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the meat.”  [Deuteronomy 12:23] God showed his people that eating meat was not a sin.

            Going on to the New Testament, Jesus ate fish and you can’t eat fish without first catching it and then killing it.  In those times many animals were sacrificed in the temples and much of the meat was eaten by the priests. Jesus had no problems with that. 

            God has always provided meat and fish for our health and pleasure.  Down through the ages it has taken hunters [both men and women] to kill animals to put food on the table and it’s not a sin.  God provided fish, birds and animals for food to sustain our bodies.  He also provided all good things for us to eat.  If you want to be a vegetarian, that’s alright, but don’t condemn the hunters who provide for those of us who like meat.

            God was the first mighty hunter and others followed His example to provide food to eat and skins for clothing and shelter. If I could afford it, I would have no problem wearing a fur coat which I did as a young woman. 

            We forget that God provided animals for his children.  We forget that animals have no soul and are not equal to people.  I know we love our pets; I have a cat, GrayC that is so spoiled that we usually do what she wants.  I would grieve if anything happened to her; she is not a person, but an animal. “Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth?” [Ecclesiastes 3:21]  You may not like this answer, but God is the author of the Bible, not me.

Another confirmation of this is that animals do not have ‘redemption’.  “Like sheep, they are led to the grave, where death will be their shepherd. In the morning the godly will rule over them. Their bodies will rot in the grave, far from their grand estates. But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of the grave.”  [Psalm 49:14-15]

In the beginning God made man to rule over all things, “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." [Genesis 1:28] Yes, God made man farmers and hunters and fishermen to provide for mankind.  Let us thank our heavenly Father for His provision!