Isn’t the only reason God allowed Noah to eat meat was because it was convenient?

Answer:

Congratulations! You've followed the long line of false teachers talked about by Peter:

"Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation--as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures" (II Peter 3:14-16).

Yes, God made humans and animals vegetarians at the beginning. "And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so" (Genesis 1:29-30). But you make the foolish mistake of assuming that vegetarianism showed a lack of evil. It was the vegetarian Adam and Eve who committed the first sin and brought death into the world. It was the vegetarian Cain who murdered his brother Abel. It was the vegetarian world who became so evil that, "the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5).

You claim that God gave Noah permission to eat flesh because there wasn't enough plant life. Yet such reasoning is not given in the Scriptures. Once again, you demonstrate that you see only what you want. Noah and the animals remained on the Ark after it rested on the mountain for months. Noah sent out birds to see the world was ready yet and until the dove brought back an olive leaf, showing that vegetation was growing again, they remained on the ark. "Then the dove came to him in the evening, and behold, a freshly plucked olive leaf was in her mouth; and Noah knew that the waters had receded from the earth. So he waited yet another seven days and sent out the dove, which did not return again to him anymore" (Genesis 8:11-12). Even then they didn't leave; they waited nearly two months more. "And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried. Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 'Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth'" (Genesis 8:13-15).

The eating of flesh was given as part of the covenant with Noah. There is nothing in the terms which indicates it was a temporary measure. Quite the opposite, all the terms of that covenant are in effect as long as there are rainbows in the sky. Have you noticed that the animals still eat flesh? Have you tried convincing a lion that he would be better off living on a vegetarian diet? Their diet changed with the covenant as well as the human diet.

Now, shall we show the world how you play games with the Holy Word of God?

"Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah: "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?" says the LORD. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats. "When you come to appear before Me, who has required this from your hand, to trample My courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; incense is an abomination to Me. The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies - I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your New Moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. "Come now, and let us reason together," says the LORD, "though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword"; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken" (Isaiah 1:10-20).

God was tired of Israel trying to play on both sides of the fence. They pretended to serve God by bringing the required sacrifices and celebrating the required feasts while at the same time committing all sorts of sins. Notice in the complete context you will not find God condemning men for the killing of animals. The blood on their hands was the "blood" of sin -- their guilt. Your fudging the Scriptures is transparent when people see how many ellipses you used in your quote.

"I said in my heart, "Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals." For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust" (Ecclesiastes 3:18-20).

Solomon is looking for why God placed mankind on this earth and what purpose we serve. He concludes at this point that it isn't to live on this earth because we all die. In this, we have no advantage over the animals because we suffer the same fate. This is not a claim that animals and men are equals. Quite the opposite. Solomon understands that men are different from the animals because men are made in the image of God. "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man" (Genesis 9:6). Unlike the animals, mankind will be judged by their observance of God's laws. "Moreover I saw under the sun: in the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, iniquity was there. I said in my heart, "God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work"" (Ecclesiastes 3:16-17). Eventually, Solomon concludes what man's purpose is: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

Your quotes of Paul's writings are hilarious because you are so blatantly manipulating his words. You have to quote from different paraphrases (not even true translations) to find something that makes it look like Paul has given up the eating of meat -- which never happened. Both statements are conditionals:

"But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble" (I Corinthians 8:9-13).

In context, the meat Paul is talking about is not all meat, but meat sacrificed to idols. What Paul is stating is his willingness to restrict himself in regards to something that he clearly has a right to in order to not cause another person to sin against his own conscience. Paul is talking about purposely forgoing a personal right to help in teaching a weaker person. Romans 14 is about the same topic.

"Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin" (Romans 14:15-23).

But a willingness to change personal behavior to keep another person from offending their conscience doesn't change the fundamental fact regarding what is a right given to mankind. Paul also said:

"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer" (1 Timothy 4:1-5).

Clearly, just being able to pull a few choice quotes from the Scriptures doesn't mean that the Scriptures teach what you desire. Actually all you have accomplished is to show that you are able to misuse Scriptures as Satan did in Matthew 4:6 in tempting Jesus.

As a side note, I find this particular argument, that we are only eating meat because it is convenient, hilarious coming on the heels of another animal rights activist who argued we shouldn't be eating meat because animals can defend themselves. You folks should do a better job coordinating your thoughts.

If it were true that we should eat animals because we're only doing it out of convenience, then we shouldn't eat fruits and vegetables that are convenient to eat, since all you have to do is go to the supermarket to purchase them.

If you don't want to eat flesh, that is your choice. But stop the pretense that you are somehow morally superior because you choose to forgo a God-given right to mankind. And please stop pretending to be a Christian when you teach contrary to God and espouse the doctrine of demons.