You are going ahead of a step that is not even close to start in the plan made by God. Let me give an example. It was a test for new navy applicants, and the test had 51 questions. The supervisor told them to answer any 50 questions of those 51. The only one applicant who scored 100% in the test, were denied to become a navy, and when he asked why, it was told that he didn't follow orders, because he answered the 51 questions.
This is what happened when people don't read properly the writings.
I have no doubt that it is
you who is not reading the scriptures properly. You seem to be focusing ONLY on certain scriptures that appear to justify your penchant for eating flesh, which indicates that you are being led by your personal fleshly desires, and that is not the way we are supposed to read the scriptures.
If Jesus, the Son of God, said nothing about stop eating flesh, is because such a new physically established kingdom is not here yet.
Then, we are in the status of "applicants" only. We are not navy troops yet, just the applicants.
There’s a lot wrong with this. First of all, in our bible today, we do not have ALL of Jesus' words, we only have a small portion. When you do the research and dig deep on this topic, there is SO much more to it, but I don’t want to get into all that right now, so for now I’m going to stick to the undeniable points.
Secondly, although we do not have ALL of Jesus words, we DO have many clear teachings that indirectly support vegetarianism, and many teachings that indirectly oppose flesh-eating for selfish reasons.
For example:
Mercy
"Be
merciful, just as your Father is merciful”
– Luke 6:36
(God has mercy on all He created, so likewise, we should have mercy on all, not just our own circle.)
"Blessed are the
merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
– Matthew 5:7
“Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire
mercy, not sacrifice.’”
– Matthew 9:13
Selflessness
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”
–John 10:11
(Sacrificial love, this is the heart of God, love, mercy and selflessness. God has dominion over us and His love is merciful and sacrificial. Likewise, we have dominion over the animals and as image-bearers of God, we should be loving and merciful to those under us. Having a sacrificial love means not putting our selfish desires first, but caring about the interests of others. Not just others in our circle, but ALL others.)
'Love your neighbor as yourself.’ – Mark 12:31
(Our neighbors in this world are not only humans, animals are our neighbors too)
[love] "...it is
not self-serving”
– 1 Corinthians 13:5
Servanthood
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but
to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
– Mark 10:45
"Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very
nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”
– Philippians 2:6-8
"The greatest among you will be your
servant.”
– Matthew 23:11
“You have liberty, but do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh but through love,
serve one another."
– Galatians 5:13
"And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, 'If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and
servant of all.'”
– Mark 9:35
Peace
“Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."
– Matt 5:9
"For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and
peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
– Romans 14:17
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
– Galatians 5:22-23
I could go on and on. There are TONS more teachings on setting aside our own selfish desires and instead choosing to love, serve and be merciful to others. Now, I know what your response is going to be. You’re probably thinking, “Those scriptures only apply to humans, not animals.” That mindset pinpoints the problem. Creation is about more than just humans. We are not the center of creation, GOD is. To think of ONLY humans is selfish and anthropocentric, and it goes against God’s way, because God created, loves and cares about ALL of creation.
Do you honestly think that our God of love and mercy WANTS humans and animals to be at each others throats? Of course not! Again, that is not the way it was in the beginning, and it is not the way it will be again one day.
Yes, we live in a fallen world. But you seem to be using that as an excuse to do what YOUR flesh wants to do, rather than seeking God’s perfect will.
Like I said to the other guy, Jesus taught us to pray for God’s will be to done ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. In other words, here on earth a lot of things take place that are not God’s perfect will, but things that God allows to take place. In heaven there is God’s perfect will - which we already know is love, peace, non-violence…. A world without suffering, exploitation, killing and death. Jesus taught us to pray for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done… on EARTH as it is in heaven.
As applicants, there are conditions to follow, otherwise the entrance will be impeded.
Trying to go ahead the orders and status, and start dressing as navy troops without being one is simply nuts. And in many places is considered illegal, pretending to be something that one is not.
No one has been selected yet, and the questionnaire to get inside with the 51 questions (following the analogy) is solely by keeping the so called "kosher diet". This is to say, no fat, no pork, fish with scales only, and etc.
I’m sorry, but not only is that nonsensical as a comparison but as I just said, in regard to Jesus teaching about praying for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, it goes against what the Bible says.
You are basically saying that because we are not yet in God’s perfect world, in the restoration of the peaceful world that He created in the beginning… we should just throw our hands up in the air, forget about trying to make this a better world and just wallow in the sin and misery and fallen ways! No, we are told to do the opposite!
Those are the questions to be answered properly. Those were the questions same Jesus answered properly. He didn't came to the word as vegetarian, he ate fish, lamb and more, because he was following the diet given, and every Passover he ate lamb and unleavened bread like any other Israelite.
There is NO verse in the Bible that states Jesus ate lamb. You are reading into the text. As for fish, that one is debatable, but as I said earlier, I’m not going to get into that right now, because not only is it controversial but it is a big topic that I don’t think we even need to get into at this point. In today’s world, especially for us in the west, there is zero need to eat animals… people do it because they want to, to satisfy their tastebuds, or out of habit/ tradition. In my opinion, those reasons do not outweigh God’s commands for us to be merciful, selfless, loving kind and at peace with all others.
Here is what we know: God’s original intent and perfect will for mankind is peace and harmony among all creation, and NO flesh eating. That is clear from Genesis 1:29-30 as well as the many prophetic scriptures about God restoring that perfect world, and as well as the many scriptures on mercy, love, selflessness, serving, etc.
I’m going to post the words of someone else that I read today on a different site, because these words eloquently sum up what I have been trying to say: "Looking for ways to get around God’s original intended vegan diet and his oft-stated calls for mercy and humility is neither faithful nor compassionate. A God of love will of course prefer kindness over violence to the innocent."
The diet you have mentioned in Genesis won't apply until the prophecy of the "lion and the lamb" will be seen together in peace. Even when this is just a symbolic figure (the lion and the lamb), it is the time when things will become like the beginning. But surely is not today.
On the other hand, people is free to choose the diet they think is most convenient for their health, but no one is authorized to imply that the bible says that in our current moment in this "plan" of God, we must start returning back to Genesis.
Jesus didn't do it, neither the apostles, and we must be very careful in how to advice others, because by trying to look for perfection in the wrong way, we can be carrying others to fall rather than stand up and walk in the right path.
Once again, your “we can do it later we don’t have to do it now” mindset goes directly against Jesus teaching on God’s heavenly will, Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!
Secondly, I never said that people are not free to choose. Yes, of course we have free will. But if you can choose between selfishness or selflessness, why choose the former? If you can choose between violence and peace, why choose violence? If you can choose between the temporary fallen world or honoring God’s original intent and eternal plan... why choose this fallen world? If you can choose between eating something that screamed in terror and begged for their life… or something that is meant to be food and never screams, why choose the former? If you can choose between serving your own interests or serving the interests of others who are innocent and created and loved by God, why choose your own interests?
Again, that type of mindset is not Godly. Granted, I'm not saying that everyone who eats meat falls into that category. I honestly believe that MOST people who eat meat are simply unaware of just how evil and horrific the animal industries are. It's kind of like a blissful ignorance... and many people may not want to look into it, for fear of finding a truth they will have to deal with in their own conscience. So I differentiate between those who are doing something without full awareness... and those who KNOW what goes on but still choose to do it, for selfish reasons. The latter is who I'm talking about when I say that mindset is not in line with the heart of God.
But the video is actually about something else. I don't know if you'd like it, but for those who do watch it, I hope it is thought-provoking.
