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Why animals eat animals?
Posted : 30 Oct, 2011 12:14 PM
Why animals eat animals?
Did God create them to eat each other?
All animals once were herbivores, since neither man nor beast ate animal flesh prior to the great flood.
Genesis 1:29-30 "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so."
Both Adam and the beasts are given the herbs and fruits to eat. So man and beast were all vegetarian. However, God changed things after the great flood. Why? The nature changed and animals needed food to survive.
In Genesis 9:2-3 God says to Noah, "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things."
What will be in the Millennial Kingdom Reign of Jesus Christ?
Animals Become Peaceful
Now regarding the character of the kingdom, the book of Isaiah is rich with kingdom prophecies. In Isaiah 11:6-9 it is revealed that "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea."
Life Spans Increased
Here is another passage which is loaded with information. Isaiah 65:20-25 says, "There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD."
We see a great increase in life spans. Like the previously mentioned Isaiah 11 passage which says that "... the leopard shall lie down with the kid ...", many have taken what this passage says about the long life spans and tried to spiritualize (allegorically interpret) the truth away from it, saying it is not literal. However, not only will life spans literally be longer, but this too was this way before the great flood.
In the genealogy from Adam to Noah given in Genesis 5 and 9:29, there are extremely long life spans. When we exclude Enoch who was taken by God (Genesis 5:24) at the age of 365 years and Lamech who died at the age of 777 years, we find that all of the other eight lived between 895 and 969 years. After the great flood, there was a rapid drop in life span to a little over 400 years. Around the time of the tower of Babel, life spans dropped to a little over 200 years. Then they began to slowly decrease to more modern life spans over a period of hundreds of years.
An End to Wars
There will be no war during this one thousand years, until Satan is released (Revelation 20:7-9) for a short period at the end. In reference to Jesus Christ, Micah 4:3 says, "And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Isaiah 2:4 is very similar passage. Not only will there no longer be any war, but the weapons will be dismantled and battle strategies will no longer be taught.
Israel will be at peace and dwell safely in the kingdom. "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jeremiah 23:5-6). This is certainly in contrast to the present with Israel surrounded by her enemies on all sides.
The Micah and Jeremiah verses above also refer to Jesus Christ judging the nations of the earth. He will do so in all wisdom and perfect justice, with a rod of iron. "And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God" (Revelation 19:15). He will reign as a literal king on a throne, dwelling in Jerusalem. He will also restore the judges to Israel. "And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city" (Isaiah 1:26). Who will the judges of the twelve tribes of Israel be? Jesus Christ told His disciples, "... Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matthew 19:28).
Israel will be a Kingdom of Priests
"Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you" (Zechariah 8:20-23).
"Now therefore, if ye will obey:bow: my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests:angel:, and an holy nation:angel:. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel" (Exodus 19:5-6).
The Feast of Tabernacles
One very interesting prophecy occurring in Zechariah 14:16-19 concerns the Gentile nations keeping the feast of tabernacles in the millennial kingdom. "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles."
Here we see that in the kingdom the Gentiles must keep the feast of tabernacles which was formerly a feast just for Israel. To do so, they must travel to Jerusalem once each year in the autumn to "worship the King", Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will reign on His throne in Jerusalem like Ezekiel 43:7 says, "And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile ...".
In addition to the annual feast, Deuteronomy 31:10-13 explains that the law was to be read to all of Israel once every seven years, at the feast of tabernacles. "And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law:angel: before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it."
Geographical Changes in Israel
There will also be tremendous geographical changes in Israel. When Jesus Christ returns to the mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem, an earthquake will split the mountain in two. "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee" (Zechariah 14:4-5).
In addition, the fountain of living water described in Zechariah and Ezekiel will have a geographical impact. "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness" (Zechariah 13:1). Then Zechariah 14:8 shows us where the waters will flow, "And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former (eastern) sea, and half of them toward the hinder (western) sea: in summer and in winter shall it be." The living waters will flow out of Jerusalem in two directions, to the west to the great sea (western or Mediterranean Sea) and to the east to the Dead Sea (eastern or Salt Sea). Also see Ezekiel 47:1-7.
What effect will this have on the Dead Sea? The Dead Sea is about 10 miles wide and 50 miles long running north and south on along the eastern side of Judea. Its northern end is about as far north as Jerusalem. It has no outlet and is seven times more salty than the oceans. No fish live in the Dead Sea, and ocean fish placed in its waters soon die. Only certain types of microbes live in it. Yet In Ezekiel 47:8-11 we are told the waters of the Dead Sea will be healed. "Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof (swamps and marshes) shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt." Engedi, mentioned above, is on the western coast of the Dead Sea about 25 miles southeast of Jerusalem. A peninsula juts out into the sea from the east. South of this peninsula the Dead Sea is shallow, less than 20 feet deep in most places. But the majority of the sea is north of the peninsula, where the central and northern part of the sea is more than one thousand feet deep. Perhaps verse 11 refers to the shallow southern end, furthest from Jerusalem, that will remain too salty for aquatic life.
The nation of Israel will also be given far more land than they presently possess. A general description is found Genesis. "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates ..." (Genesis 15:18). God confirmed this promise to Abraham's son, Isaac, in Genesis 26:3 and later to Isaac's son, Jacob, in Genesis 35:12. A detailed description of how this land will be divided by the tribes of Israel is found in Ezekiel chapter 48.
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