Genesis 29 states seed bearing plants,fruit trees for humans and grasses and green plants for animals. Does that mean we were all supposed to be vegan or vegetarians?
There is nothing wrong with being a vegetarian. The Bible never tells us to be a vegetarian or not be a vegetarian. What the Bible does say is that we should not force our convictions on this issue onto other people or judge them by what they eat or don’t eat. Romans 14:2-3 tells us, "One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him."
God gave humanity permission to eat meat after the Flood (Genesis 9:3). In the Old Testament law, the nation of Israel was commanded to not eat certain foods (Leviticus 11:1-47), but never commanded against eating meat. Jesus declared all foods, including all kinds of meat, to be clean (Mark 7:19). As with anything, each Christian should pray for guidance as to what God would have them eat. Whatever a person decides to eat is acceptable to God as long as we thank Him for providing it (1 Thessalonians 5:18). 1 Corinthians 10:31 declares, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
Why would God place the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden,knowing we would fall?
God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden to give Adam and Eve a choice – to obey Him or disobey Him. Adam and Eve were free to do anything they wanted, except eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:16-17, “And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.’” If God had not given Adam and Eve the choice, they would have essentially been robots, simply doing what they were programmed to do. God created Adam and Eve to be “free” beings, able to make decisions, able to choose between good and evil. In order for Adam and Eve to truly be “free” – they had to have a choice.
There was nothing essentially evil about the tree or the fruit of the tree. It was the act of disobedience that opened Adam and Eve’s eyes to evil. Their sin of disobeying God brought sin and evil into the world and into their lives. Eating the fruit, as an act of disobedience against God, was what gave Adam and Eve knowledge of evil. Genesis 3:6-7, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”
God did not want Adam and Eve to sin. God knew ahead of time what the results of sin would be. God knew that Adam and Eve would sin, and would thereby bring evil, suffering, and death into the world. Why, then, did God put the tree in the Garden of Eden and allow Satan to tempt Adam and Eve? God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden to give Adam and Eve a choice. God allowed Satan to tempt Adam and Eve to force them to make the choice. Adam and Eve chose, of their own free wills, to disobey God and eat the forbidden fruit.
I was always told that if you loved God and followed him ,that Satan cannot touch you. The story of Job I cannot resolve in my mind,no matter how hard I try. He loved God, and God let Satan hurt him.
The short answer is that Satan can and often does work to attack Christians. While a Christian cannot be oppressed, he can certainly be
opressed.
Remember that even Jesus was tempted by the devil (Mar 1:13) and the 1 Peter 5:8 tells us that Satan is like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Remember, that was written to Christians.
So how do we combat Satan when he or his devils come for us?
Well, to start with, there are two primary errors when it comes to spiritual warfare: over-emphasis and under-emphasis. Some blame every sin, every conflict, and every problem on demons that need to be cast out. Others completely ignore the spiritual realm and the fact that the Bible instructs us that our battle is against spiritual powers. The key to successful spiritual warfare is finding the Biblical balance. Jesus sometimes cast demons out of people, and sometimes healed people with no mention of the demonic. The Apostle Paul instructs Christians to wage war against the sin in themselves (Romans 6), and to wage war against the evil one (Ephesians 6:10-18).
Ephesians 6:10-12 declares, “A final word: Be strong with the Lord’s mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms." This text teaches us some crucial truths: (1) We can only be strong in the Lord’s power, (2) It is God’s armor that protects us, (3) Our battle is against spiritual forces of evil in the world.
(1) A powerful example of this is Michael the archangel in Jude verse 9. Michael, likely the most powerful of all of God’s angels, did not rebuke Satan in his own power, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Revelation 12:7-8 records that in the end times, Michael will defeat Satan. Still, when it came to his conflict with Satan, Michael rebuked Satan in God’s name and authority, not his own. It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we, as Christians, have any authority over Satan and his demons. It is only in His Name that our rebuke has any power.
(2) Ephesians 6:13-18 gives us a description of the spiritual armor God gives us. We are to stand firm with (a) the belt of truth, (b) the breastplate of righteousness, (c) the gospel of peace, (d) the shield of faith, (e) the helmet of salvation, (f) the sword of the Spirit, and (g) by praying in the Spirit. What do these pieces of spiritual armor represent for us in our spiritual warfare? We are to speak the truth against Satan’s lies. We are to rest in the fact that we are declared righteous because of Christ’s sacrifice for us. We are to proclaim the Gospel no matter how much resistance we receive. We are not to waver in our faith, no matter how strongly we are attacked. Our ultimate defense is the assurance we have of our salvation, and the fact that spiritual forces cannot take that away. Our offensive weapon is to be the Word of God, not our own opinions and feelings. We are to follow Jesus’ example in recognizing that some spiritual victories are only possible through prayer.
(3) Jesus is our ultimate example for spiritual warfare. Observe how Jesus handled direct attacks from Satan: "Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by the Devil. For forty days and forty nights he ate nothing and became very hungry. Then the Devil came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, change these stones into loaves of bread.' But Jesus told him, 'No! The Scriptures say, "People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God."' Then the Devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, 'If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say, "He orders his angels to protect you. And they will hold you with their hands to keep you from striking your foot on a stone."' Jesus responded, 'The Scriptures also say, "Do not test the Lord your God."' Next the Devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him the nations of the world and all their glory. 'I will give it all to you,' he said, 'if you will only kneel down and worship me.' 'Get out of here, Satan,' Jesus told him. 'For the Scriptures say, "You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him."' Then the Devil went away, and angels came and cared for Jesus" (Matthew 4:1-11). The best way to combat Satan is the way Jesus showed us, and that was to quote Scripture because the devil cannot handle the sword of the Spirit, the Word of the Living God.
The ultimate example of how not to engage in spiritual warfare is the seven sons of Sceva: "A team of Jews who were traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus. The incantation they used was this: 'I command you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!' Seven sons of Sceva, a leading priest, were doing this. But when they tried it on a man possessed by an evil spirit, the spirit replied, 'I know Jesus, and I know Paul. But who are you?' And he leaped on them and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and badly injured." (Acts 19:13-16). What was the problem? The seven sons of Sceva were using Jesus’ Name. That is not enough. The seven sons of Sceva did not have a relationship with Jesus; therefore, their words were void of any power or authority. The seven sons of Sceva were relying on a methodology. They were not relying on Jesus, and were not employing the Word of God in their spiritual warfare. As a result, they received a humiliating beating. May we learn from their bad example and conduct spiritual warfare as the Bible describes.
So, to recap: what are the keys to success in spiritual warfare? First, we rely on God’s power, not our own. Second, we rebuke in Jesus’ Name, not our own. Third, we protect ourselves with the full armor of God. Fourth, we wage warfare with the sword of the Spirit – the Word of God. Last, we remember that while we wage spiritual warfare against Satan and his demons, not every sin or problem is a demon that needs to be rebuked. “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).
There are other instances where a guy is picking up sticks on the Sabbath and God kills him,and another man steady's the Ark of the Covenant and God strikes him down. Does that not seem ridiculous?
You know, it's really funny that you should mention this because I was just listening to a sermon by Leonard Ravenhill on this very topic.
You can hear it here:
http://www.ravenhill.org/touchark.htm
The name of the man who was killed for touching the ark was Uzzah and the reason God was so offended by Uzzah's actions is that the Ark of the Covenant was an embodiment of God's presence with the Israelites. The atonement cover (or "mercy seat") that covered the ark was God's throne (2 Sam 6:2) and God's presence was above it (Lev 16:2). It was also the place where God met Moses and gave him commands (Ex 25:22).
If someone approached the ark, they would effectively be in God's presence - a sinner standing before a holy God who does not tolerate evil (Ps 5:4-6) - and would die as a result of their sins. For this reason, God had given the Israelites many rules concerning the Ark of the Covenant. It was to be kept in the Most Holy Place in the temple, hidden from view by a curtain (Ex 26:33).
Only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place, and then only after he had undergone ceremonial cleansing, made sacrifices to atone for his sins and the nation's sins, and burned incense to conceal the atonement cover (Lev 16). When the ark was moved, it was covered with at least 3 layers of cloth by the priests to protect others from seeing it (Num 4:5-6, 15, 18-20); the priests/Levites carried it and everyone else had to stay about a thousand yards away (Josh 3:4). These laws enforced the concept of God's holiness: sinful people couldn't be in his presence, not even the high priest.
Hence, when Uzzah touched the ark, he was profaning it and disobeying God; he should have grabbed the poles used for carrying the ark instead, for that was their purpose (Ex 25:14-15).
