Genesis 1:29

Back to Genesis 1

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food:

Classification

The Principle

This passage qualifies a specific liberty allotted to man: "I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food".

Categories

This principle is understood to be a part of the Principles and Definitions. It establishes the role of plant life as subordinate to human life; a plant may die so that a human may eat and live. This principle pertains to the Created Order, and to Food.

This principle also affects our understanding of Dominion.

Fulfillment

This principle is subject to significant change in scope, from covenant to covenant.

With the establishment of the Noahic Covenant, the scope of things which man may eat is expanded to include every living thing (Genesis 9).

With the establishment of the Mosaic Covenant, the scope of things which Israel may eat is reduced to include only foods which are Ceremonially Clean (Leviticus 11).

With the establishment of the New Covenant, Jesus made all foods clean, thereby allowing Covenant Israel to again eat everything, as it was in the Noahic Covenant (Mark 7:19, Acts 10:9-16).

Topics

This command has direct relevance to an understanding of the following topics:

• Creator-Creation Distinction
• Created Order
• Dominion
• Food
• Ceremonial Cleanness
• Covenant