By John Thiel

Isaiah 22:12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: 13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die. 14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. 

The Bible says we are to refuse nothing that by way of God has created for us to enjoy:

1 Timothy 3:3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 

We are clearly told what is the food God has created as nourishment for his human creatures:

Genesis 1:29 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 (food).  

The word meats g1033 in Strongs concorndance is βρωμάτων βρῶμα brōma in Greek. (neuter, plural, genitive) means “of, from foods” (1 Timothy 4:3).

After sin entered:

Genesis 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 

At his creation, food for humans was fruits, grains & nuts.  Herbs were created for animals.

Genesis 1:30 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 (food): and it was so.

Notice how God said it shall be for meat which means food.  Strictly speaking only these were created for food. Although God permitted eating of flesh after the flood:

Genesis 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth. 2 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. 3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat (food) for you; even as the green herb [vegetable] have I given you all things.  4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 

This was by no means the purpose of creating living creatures – it was clearly a circumstantial provision due to the chaos created by sin and the flood. When God led the children of Israel out of Egypt to the land flowing with milk and honey he was tentatively educating them for a vegetarian life there in the wilderness travels.  He started with Manna and Quails.

Exodus 16:12 I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God. 13 And it came to pass at even, that the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the camp. 14 And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness a small round thing, small as the hoar-frost on the ground. 15 And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, What is it? For they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, It is the bread which Jehovah hath given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded, Gather ye of it every man according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, shall ye take it, every man for them that are in his tent.

Then they continued with Manna only. After a while they complained –

Numbers 11:4 And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick: 6 But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.

Note Gods way of dealing with it.

Numbers 11:18 And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow, and ye shall eat flesh: for ye have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore the LORD will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. 19 Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days;
20 But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt? 

Number 11:31 And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. 32 And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. 33 And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague. 34 And he called the name of that place Kibrothhattaavah: because there they buried the people that lusted. 

Why was He so wrathful on them?

Psalm 78:22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation: 23 Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, 24 And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven. 25 Man did eat angels’ food: he sent them meat to the full. 26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven: and by his power he brought in the south wind. 27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea: 28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations. 29 So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire; 30 They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat was yet in their mouths, 31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel. 32 For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works. 

Meat eating was only originally a circumstantial stop gap measure – but it became a desirable indulgence which when it is removed, people lust after, and that makes God angry.

1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

Food was made for our nourishment – not lustful indulgence.

Psalm 104:27 These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.  28 That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good. 

The counsel.

Ecclesiastes 10:17 Blessed are thou, O land, when they king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength and not for drunkeness!  

When God supplies us with ample food which He has created as food – then eating meat is an unnecessary indulgence.  Much more at a time when he calls for restraint as in spiritual self-examination and affliction, meat eating is a definite exclusion.

Daniel Gives the Example

Daniel 10:1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision. 2 In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks. 3 I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

Isaiah is inspired by God to reveal this principle.

Isaiah 22:12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: 13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die. 14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. 

The quotation of Isaiah 22 is a prophetic foresight to a specific time (‘in that day’) – this is further continued in verses 20 – 22.

Isaiah 22:20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah. 21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. 22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 

When is that? Compare verse 22 with Revelation 3:7,8.

Revelation 3:7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 

The church period of Philadelphia was from 1833 to 1844 – the announcement time of Jesus entering into His final work of mediation in the Sanctuary in heaven – moving from the Holy place into the Most Holy Place: Symbolised by the day of atonement in the Hebrew Sanctuary.  This day of atonement was a day of fasting and deep heart searching.  This is what God means in Isaiah 22:20-22 & 12-14.  In that day when Jesus leaves the holy place and enters into the Most Holy Place – all Gods people are to eat only for nourishment and not for drunkenness.  If they ignore this day of judgement and indulge in lustful joy and gladness eating, to satisfy appetite only, their judgement is expressed – That sin shall not be purged.

All true believers who are aware of the truth of Jesus’ meditation in the heavenly sanctuary, have the Bible reason for vegetarianism clear and do not eat flesh or any nature of alcohol/strong drink.

In these closing chapters of earth’s history, God is calling a people to build up his original institutions ordained in Eden.  The original diet is one of these which even after sin entered, is still the best diet for mankind.

Isaiah 58:12 They that shall be of the shall build up the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

Vegetarianism – A Test of Fellowship