Genesis 6:21 and pre-flood food?

[Many Miles]

“But this little fellow is essentially a scavenger, doing the work for which he was created: returning trash, garbage, and dead carcasses to the earth.” (Ref: https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101992046?q=cockroaches&p=par )

Genesis 6:21 reads: “And on your part get yourself some of every kind of food that is eaten, and stow it with you, so as to have it for your eating and for theirs.” BLE (Ref: https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/b/r1/lp-e/by/1/6 )
 

If we accept Genesis 6:21 literally for what it says, what does that mean regarding what Noah took onto the ark as food ‘for [his] eating and for [the animals]?  

[Pudgy]

Gawrsh Mickey, Ah Hyuk, Ah Hyuk . if we have ta’ start using comun cents, who knows WHAREit might lead?

… might start thinking about why Able was a tenderer of sheeps!  Ah mean, makin that big rock barbeque grill, and the smoke goin’up, an’ God gettin a whiff and likin’ it … “Hey Able, yo gonna offer me soma that?”

If we starts usin comun cents “Hey!, whazzup with da nasty animals gettin on da Ark by SEVENS … and da CLEAN by TWOs? I mean … you only need two of either.

Hmmmm … mabee to feed the meat eaters? A ham sammich fo Noah, hyenas and bears?

Oh! Oh! howzabout many of the animals on da Ark bein’ PREGGO!  Ys got one guy Hippo and a big fat preggo gal Hippo, who has a baby gal Hippo on da Ark, an’ da momma Hippo dies, and Noah recycles her into 14 bags of Purina Lion Chow!  

Add 5 out of 7 crocs and snakes andit woiks ZACTLY THE SAME WAY IT ALWAYS HAS FOR FOUR BILLION YEARS! 

WOOHAA!

…. ‘course, ya gotta start usin’ sum comun cents … and not see nuthin’ in the Bible dats NOT ‘DERE! … like Winnie da Poo, Bambi, Thumper, Tigger, and Caleb and Sophia.

HOLYMOELE!! If da lion and da lamb nap togedder, howzabout da Owl and da mouse?

I never liked Mickey, so I’d pay a dollar to see THAT!

But of kawrse, Ah Hyuk Ah Hyuk … I’m just Goofy!

 

[Many Miles]

The society has opined that Noah took only vegetation onto the ark as for food for his family, and for the animals we was instructed to preserve alive. This is premised on a notion that “humankind and animal kind were originally designed to live at peace with one another and to get their nourishment from vegetation.” (Ref: https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101983011?q="get+their+nourishment+from+vegetation"&p=par

This premise leverages the text of Genesis 1:29, 30. Though informative, this text is not a comprehensive list of food eaten by humans and animals.

Creation is also part of God’s testimony. Though Genesis 1:29,30 says nothing about it, for humans and animals, creation shows that water is an essential nutrient at every age. Creation also shows that human children were primarily nourished by mother’s milk, which milk is laced with carbohydrates, protein, fat, immune cells, minerals etc, none of which is vegetation. Creation also shows us that after death carcasses were food for animals designed as carrion eaters, which is also not vegetation.

Thought not specifically as food, we know God himself taught early humans to transplant carrion flesh onto their bodies as clothing. We also know that, initially, there was only one food prohibition upon man. They could not eat of the tree of knowledge. That was the sole food prohibition placed on the earliest humans.

Because early humans were not prohibited from eating carrion (if they needed or wanted to), and because they would have witnessed animals eating carrion as well as vegetation, and because the test of Genesis 1:29, 30 is not exhaustive, then I see no reason to think carrion was not part of what Noah was instructed to take onto the ark as food for himself (if he wanted or needed to eat it) and the animals (if they wanted or needed to eat it).

As for the premise that “humankind and animal kind were originally designed to live at peace with one another and to get their nourishment from vegetation”, eating carrion would in no way disturb peace because eating carrion is not an act of violence; no life is taken; carrion is not soulical.

These things, though all acknowledged in our literature, are not accounted for when it comes to food Noah was instructed to take onto the ark.

[Pudgy]

Hard, hard irrefutable evidence shows the food chain is EXACTLY THE SAME now as it has been for 4 billion years.

There in NOTHING to indicate it was ever different, although with four mass extinctions, the menu changed.

The whole Disneyland scenario was invented in the 1930s by a WTB&TS lawyer, and promoted by “Judge” Rutherford.

Even ChatGBT has access to that info.

[Pudgy]

When a complex matrix of “opines” contradicts every piece of evidence that exists, for 4 billion years, that is clear evidence of being taught by DELIBERATE fools.

”Ignorance is bliss”, so they say, but that level of ignorance is orgasmic!

When the Society sticks with hard facts, that speaks well of them. When they conjure up ridiculous fantasy, it’s embarrassing..

… even worse than when my attempts at humor bomb out.

[Pudgy]

… Notice on the plates there is ZERO “spiritual food”.

 

[George88]

Well, according to scripture and not the opinion of the Watchtower as opinions indicate, the instructions regarding diet in the Bible can be found in Genesis 1:29 before the time of the Great Flood and in Genesis 9:3 after the Flood. Prior to the Flood, humankind was directed to consume the products of both field and tree, which include grains, nuts, and fruits. Additionally, animals were permitted to eat from the abundance of "every green herb," including vegetables, green plants, and grass. This would mean that insects consumed the remains of food from both humans and animals before the Flood. After the Flood, the diet included a succulent steak with a few droplets of animal blood remaining on the meat.

In Genesis 1:29, it mentions that God gave humans every herb bearing seed, and every tree yielding fruit, as food. This suggests a plant-based diet that includes grains, nuts, and fruits. After the Flood, in Genesis 9:3, God gives permission for humans to also consume animals as food. The verse states, "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs." This expanded the dietary options for humans to include meat. 

Did Noah and his family have roaches with their bread and vegetables? I seriously doubt it.

So, does this mean, prior to the flood, evil individuals did not eat meat? It seems to me that this was one reason why God sought to destroy humanity due to their wickedness, as indicated in scripture, rather than being solely the viewpoint of the Watchtower.
 

 

[Many Miles]

1 hour ago, George88 said:

Well, according to scripture and not the opinion of the Watchtower as opinions indicate, the instructions regarding diet in the Bible can be found in Genesis 1:29 before the time of the Great Flood and in Genesis 9:3 after the Flood. Prior to the Flood, humankind was directed to consume the products of both field and tree, which include grains, nuts, and fruits. Additionally, animals were permitted to eat from the abundance of "every green herb," including vegetables, green plants, and grass. This would mean that insects consumed the remains of food from both humans and animals before the Flood. After the Flood, the diet included a succulent steak with a few droplets of animal blood remaining on the meat.

In Genesis 1:29, it mentions that God gave humans every herb bearing seed, and every tree yielding fruit, as food. This suggests a plant-based diet that includes grains, nuts, and fruits. After the Flood, in Genesis 9:3, God gives permission for humans to also consume animals as food. The verse states, "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs." This expanded the dietary options for humans to include meat. 

Did Noah and his family have roaches with their bread and vegetables? I seriously doubt it.

So, does this mean, prior to the flood, evil individuals did not eat meat? It seems to me that this was one reason why God sought to destroy humanity due to their wickedness, as indicated in scripture, rather than being solely the viewpoint of the Watchtower.
 

 

Genesis 6:21 says, “And on your part get yourself some of every kind of food that is eaten, and stow it with you, so as to have it for your eating and for theirs.”

According to the society, carrion was a kind of food eaten prior to the flood. Creation testifies to this. Carrion eaters, like cockroaches, are part of God's creative work.

So, do we accept Genesis 6:21 literally for what it says?

If not, then aren't we interjecting a food prohibition what was never stated to Adam in the first place? I don't see anything in the biblical record prohibiting pre-flood humans from eating carrion, just like I don't see anything in the biblical record prohibiting pre-flood animals from eating carrion. Do you?

As for Genesis 1:29, 30, for reasons already stated, we know the list there of what humans could eat is not exhaustive. Though the text (Gen 1:29, 30) does not spell out carrion it also does not spell out essential nutrition like water or milk. Do you think pre-flood humans could not (did not) eat water or milk because they were not listed at Genesis 1:29, 30?

 

[Pudgy]

It is a FALLACY to think that if God gave Adam and Eve permission to eat green vegetation and fruits and nuts, that that MEANS they could not eat anything else.

There is infinite variety. 

The Dinosaurs usedto eat rocks the size of baseballs and larger to help grind their food, and even birds today eat gravel and grit.

I can tell you from experience working in the Congo,  four days without food and a big chunk of a lion’s raw leftover gazelle would look better and better.

 

[Many Miles]

18 minutes ago, Pudgy said:

I can tell you from experience working in the Congo,  four days without food and a big chunk of a lion’s raw leftover gazelle would look better and better.

 

Human use of carrion as food was, historically, pretty common, and more common today probably than many folks think. The Bible even talks about carrion being used as food.

I don't see anything in the pre-flood Genesis account that prohibits this, and we know if God wanted to prohibit a particular food item He could because He did actually issue a food prohibition to Adam, but it was not of carrion. On the other hand, given the testimony of creation where we find animals created to eat carrion, and given a literal reading of Genesis 6:21, it seems that carrion was a known food staple, and particularly in relation to the harsher living conditions outside of Eden.

[George88]

I would have to say, who are we to question God when scripture itself acknowledges it? While we may ponder and form countless theories, unless someone comes forward to claim firsthand knowledge of God's conversation with Adam and Eve, informing them they could eat of every tree expect one and since they were perfect, I doubt they had carnivore desires in their flawless capacity as our imperfect thoughts and speculations can hardly comprehend the concept of perfection.

By disregarding the remaining portions of scripture, the significance of Genesis 6 is invalidated. Paul's words to the Galatians continue to haunt us, reminding us that we cannot cherry-pick favorable verses from scripture to support a misplaced argument.

[Many Miles]

1 minute ago, George88 said:

I would have to say, who are we to question God when scripture itself acknowledges it? While we may ponder and form countless theories, unless someone comes forward to claim firsthand knowledge of God's conversation with Adam and Eve, informing them they could eat of every tree expect one and since they were perfect, I doubt they had carnivore desires in their flawless capacity as our imperfect thoughts and speculations can hardly comprehend the concept of perfection.

By disregarding the remaining portions of scripture, the significance of Genesis 6 is invalidated. Paul's words to the Galatians continue to haunt us, reminding us that we cannot cherry-pick favorable verses from scripture to support a misplaced argument.

What scripture acknowledges that prior to the flood humans could not eat carrion? The only pre-flood food prohibition I see is not to eat of the tree of knowledge. Are we supposed to believe that eating carrion was also a sin prior to the flood?