Topic(s):  Bible Study

Todd Clippard

From the days of the Creation, it appears as though all creatures, including man, were vegetarians. Genesis 1:29-30 says: "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." NKJV

From this text, we are told God gave the herbs for food to man and all beasts. In Genesis 6:21, in giving instructions to Noah, God told Noah to gather all the food to be taken on the ark, and this food was for both man and beast. It seems logical to conclude this "gathering" of food stuffs was vegetation and not flesh.

So what does all this have to do with this question? I believe the answer is found in Genesis 9:2-3. It reads:

"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." NKJV

The fear of man was not in animals until after the departure from the ark. Consider the garden of Eden, where there was obviously no fear between Eve and the serpent. This would seem to address any potential problems between man and beast or between the animals.