Genesis 1:29 commentary
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. (Gen 1:29)
Verse 29: God having given man a general dominion gives him a particular grant of provision. Though the ruled over the beasts, they are to be his subjects, not his food. In his first state of bliss, he needed them not: yet no doubt his board was spread with such fruits and herbs as this now ruined earth cannot produce.
1. The provision was liberal. Every tree. God is no niggard of his gifts, nor restrains us from any thing truly good for us. When it became needful, he added the living creatures to his former grant, Ge 9:3 and hath given them to us richly to enjoy. Tis not the use but the abuse, which he forbids; may we never then spend in the indulgence of our lusts, what was given for the comfort of our lives.
2. It was plain and simple, suited to preserve his body in health, and to perpetuate his life, either here below, or till his translation to a better world. The curse which entered by sin, hath indeed now brought in death: but the unnatural luxury that hath taught many so to disguise their food, that we can no longer know it, is no small means of shortening the few days that are yet allotted.
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