God's Original Design

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 8, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 48.

God's Original Design.

In Rev. 4:11 we read that God created all things for his own pleasure. It needs no argument to convince one who has any just conception of the character of God that the Creator cannot take pleasure in the death of his creatures. But the use of flesh meats daily sacrifices the lives of millions of God's creatures. Therefore the use of flesh is contrary to God's original plan. Indeed, death itself had no place in his design, for sin and Satan were its progenitors. Rom. 5:12. And when God's original plan is carried out, "there shall be no more death, . . . neither shall there be any more pain." Rev. 21:4. But if there were no death, there would be no consumption of the flesh of dead animals. It was not even designed that the lower animals should subsist on the carcasses of their fellow-creatures. When the Almighty spoke perfection upon his created work, no carnivorous beast was there, with thoughts of blood, to breathe defiance to his Maker's will that all should be in subjection to the power of man; for when, in that bright morn so soon to dawn, the earth shall again blossom as of old, and Eden be restored to the condition it enjoyed before marred by sin and death, "no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon." But "the wolf and the

lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock. . . . They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." Isa. 35:9; 65:25. Therefore when one eliminates from his dietary all forms of flesh foods, and teaches others so to do, he is simply working in harmony with God's original plans, and preparing himself to enjoy that life in the kingdom of his God, where mercy and peace shall reign supreme. The record in Gen. 1:29, 30 confirms the above position:—

"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 everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat; and it was so."

In his original and typical bill of fare no flesh meat was provided. Its arrangements contemplated not the taking of animal life. A strictly vegetable diet is the plan of the all-wise God. Can man improve upon his ways? Many have tried it but have made a miserable failure. To the question the words of inspiration give a most emphatic negative: "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isa. 55:9.

God certainly gave his creatures the food best adapted to their needs, and it is a matter of great satisfaction to know that science and human experience, in perfect accord with revelation, testify in no uncertain tones that grains and fruits contain all the food elements necessary to fully sustain and nourish the body, and that, too, in better proportion, and in a form more easily assimilated, than those found in flesh foods. If flesh foods were necessary or beneficial, God would have given them freely to man at the beginning; for "no good thing will be withheld from them that walk uprightly." Ps. 84:11. But God did withhold flesh meats from his people for the first two thousand years after creation. Therefore flesh meats are not among the "good things" that God desires his people to have. It was during this period, too, that men of giant frames and mighty intellects lived—men whose lives, not shortened by the stimulating poisons found in all animal tissues, lengthened out their days to almost a thousand years, men who, physically at least, were much nearer "the image of God" than the puny, short-lived, degenerate specimens of to-day, who, puffed up in their own imaginations, and supported by custom and tradition, bid defiance to their Creator's plans, and, following their own lusts, in the language of the illustrious Greek, "gorge the ungodly maw with meats obscene." Would not a just conception of the sixth precept of the Decalogue forbid the slaughter of animals except in cases of dire necessity, where one's life was at stake, in which case the destruction of inferior animals might be justified by the fact that man's life is worth more than that of the lower animals, and by the statement of Christ that "the life is more than meat"?

In Isa. 43:7 we are told that man was made for God's glory. The use of any article of food that poisons or stimulates the body, that breaks down the system, that beclouds the intellect, that causes sickness or premature death, cannot be for the glory of God. If, then, it can be shown that the use of flesh meats is responsible for all or any of the above conditions, it will be promptly discarded by all who heed the admonitions of the apostle recorded in 1 Cor. 10:31: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." But that the use of flesh is inimical to the best interests of mankind physically and mentally is susceptible of the clearest proof; and, did space permit, many testimonies might be given from eminent physicians and scientists, who have given this subject careful thought and painstaking investigation, in support of this statement.

That the flesh of animals is a prolific source of various disorders common to man in this country is so well known that a simple statement of the fact is all that is necessary here. Newspapers frequently contain reports of persons suffering with trichinosis, tapeworm, consumption, etc., contracted by eating diseased meats. Gout, rheumatism, and various digestive and nervous disorders are commonly caused by the use of flesh meats. Can this be to the glory of God? "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" 1 Cor. 6:19. We cannot afford to use anything that will injure or destroy our God-given powers, physical or mental. God requires us to present to him our bodies in the very best possible condition, a living sacrifice. This is simply a "reasonable service." Rom. 12:1.