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Field Ethos
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By Caleb McClain
Holy Scripture covers many topics freely, but it is relatively silent about hunting. This has led many faithful followers of Christ to consider whether the pastime we love is good and holy in the eyes of God. As you dig into the topic, it gets even more concerning, as verses that are often used to support hunting are not quite what they seem on the surface. In fact, some really don’t support hunting at all, causing great confusion. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered.
The first mention of a wild animal being killed in the Bible takes place just a couple of pages in, during the fall of man where, “the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” While there isn’t much to defend or oppose hunting in these verses, but it is notable that God used the killing of a wild animal as an act of grace to cover the nakedness (that is, understood sin) of Adam.
Flipping a few pages forward, we come across Nimrod in Genesis 10, who is described as “a mighty hunter before the Lord.” Unfortunately, he is under the curse of his father rather than being of the so-called “line of promise,” a common theme in Genesis. Furthermore, we are also confronted with the fact that he birthed a pagan nation, so our understanding of him is shaky at best. He is definitely not the poster child for hunting being good.
Genesis 27 gives us the most famous verse about hunting, where we are told, “Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me….” The problem? When read in context, this verse represents a terrible act of defying God from a tragic story. The CliffsNotes version is that Isaac is told by God that his son Jacob is to be the heir of the promises of God; Isaac rejects God’s commands, instead favoring his son Esau, the brawny hunter. This misquoted verse is not God commanding us to hunt, but rather Isaac actively disobeying God. The story is finished off with lying, deceit, and a permanently broken family. Furthermore, many see this as a story of God telling the Israelites that the agrarian ways of Jacob were superior to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle of Esau. All of that to say that this verse is probably the worst defense of hunting in scripture.
Then, we finally get to it: the only explicit approval of hunting in the Bible. Buried in the ceremonial law of Leviticus, we are given the singular command that, “Anyone … who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.” There it is: they could make game kosher, so it must be approved of by God. In Deuteronomy, there is an expansion of this concept where Moses writes that they could eat animals including gazelle and antelope, roe deer, wild goat, ibex, and mountain sheep. Because these animals were wild, we can only assume that eating them would require hunting.
Beyond that, the Bible is more or less quiet on the subject. Animals die by sacrifice, but those were domesticated and for religious purposes. A young King David kills lions and bears, but that is in self-preservation, not hunting. There is a metaphor of proverbs something about care for game, but that thought is not even given a full breath. Peter is told to kill and eat many animals, but that is a dream about the law being fulfilled and kosher diets not being required.
So, is that it? Does the entire biblical defense of hunting come down to an obscure Kosher law and an inference from a list of animals that are ceremonially clean? Basically, yes. Because things that are permitted aren’t sin, our focus should shift to motive and execution.
Going all the way back to Genesis 1, we are simply told that we are to exercise dominion over all living things. I think most would agree that we should exercise the dominion by being rulers who maintain balance in the ecosystems given to us. To execute this balance, selective hunting is required. Additionally, since we are provided some guidelines around food care, we understand that game should generally be consumed when killed. Finally, we should take Paul’s advice to the Corinthian church and do it, like all things, to the glory of God.
So go take your gun, hit the woods this fall, and give thanks to God for the adventurous life we can lead enjoying his creation.
The post What Does the Bible Say About Hunting? appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...
Holy Scripture covers many topics freely, but it is relatively silent about hunting. This has led many faithful followers of Christ to consider whether the pastime we love is good and holy in the eyes of God. As you dig into the topic, it gets even more concerning, as verses that are often used to support hunting are not quite what they seem on the surface. In fact, some really don’t support hunting at all, causing great confusion. Fortunately, we’ve got you covered.
The first mention of a wild animal being killed in the Bible takes place just a couple of pages in, during the fall of man where, “the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” While there isn’t much to defend or oppose hunting in these verses, but it is notable that God used the killing of a wild animal as an act of grace to cover the nakedness (that is, understood sin) of Adam.
Flipping a few pages forward, we come across Nimrod in Genesis 10, who is described as “a mighty hunter before the Lord.” Unfortunately, he is under the curse of his father rather than being of the so-called “line of promise,” a common theme in Genesis. Furthermore, we are also confronted with the fact that he birthed a pagan nation, so our understanding of him is shaky at best. He is definitely not the poster child for hunting being good.
Genesis 27 gives us the most famous verse about hunting, where we are told, “Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field and hunt game for me….” The problem? When read in context, this verse represents a terrible act of defying God from a tragic story. The CliffsNotes version is that Isaac is told by God that his son Jacob is to be the heir of the promises of God; Isaac rejects God’s commands, instead favoring his son Esau, the brawny hunter. This misquoted verse is not God commanding us to hunt, but rather Isaac actively disobeying God. The story is finished off with lying, deceit, and a permanently broken family. Furthermore, many see this as a story of God telling the Israelites that the agrarian ways of Jacob were superior to the hunter-gatherer lifestyle of Esau. All of that to say that this verse is probably the worst defense of hunting in scripture.
Hunting Any Beast or Bird
Then, we finally get to it: the only explicit approval of hunting in the Bible. Buried in the ceremonial law of Leviticus, we are given the singular command that, “Anyone … who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.” There it is: they could make game kosher, so it must be approved of by God. In Deuteronomy, there is an expansion of this concept where Moses writes that they could eat animals including gazelle and antelope, roe deer, wild goat, ibex, and mountain sheep. Because these animals were wild, we can only assume that eating them would require hunting.
Beyond that, the Bible is more or less quiet on the subject. Animals die by sacrifice, but those were domesticated and for religious purposes. A young King David kills lions and bears, but that is in self-preservation, not hunting. There is a metaphor of proverbs something about care for game, but that thought is not even given a full breath. Peter is told to kill and eat many animals, but that is a dream about the law being fulfilled and kosher diets not being required.
So, is that it? Does the entire biblical defense of hunting come down to an obscure Kosher law and an inference from a list of animals that are ceremonially clean? Basically, yes. Because things that are permitted aren’t sin, our focus should shift to motive and execution.
Going all the way back to Genesis 1, we are simply told that we are to exercise dominion over all living things. I think most would agree that we should exercise the dominion by being rulers who maintain balance in the ecosystems given to us. To execute this balance, selective hunting is required. Additionally, since we are provided some guidelines around food care, we understand that game should generally be consumed when killed. Finally, we should take Paul’s advice to the Corinthian church and do it, like all things, to the glory of God.
So go take your gun, hit the woods this fall, and give thanks to God for the adventurous life we can lead enjoying his creation.
The post What Does the Bible Say About Hunting? appeared first on Field Ethos.
Continue reading...
) through Jerusalem's eastern gate is incredible to say the least.. (placed a huge cemetery in front of the gate because they believe Christ won't pass through a graveyard? Sealed/Walled the gate closed something like 10-12 feet thick to prevent him from coming through.. posted armed guards on top of the wall of the gate (like that's going to do anything lol 
