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After the creation of Adam, God informed him, “And God went on to say, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.” (Gen 1:29) However, meat was not on the human diet. Therefore, some are confused by God’s words to Noah after he came out of the ark, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.” (Gen. 9:3) Is this a contradiction of God’s earlier command to Adam?

No, it is not. We must remember that the human family was like a child, growing and maturing as they adapted to life as a creation. This was a progressive revelation where the latter supersedes the former, as a parent would give a child. Norman L. Geisler offers a human example of what progressive revelation is. When you have a toddler, you will let him eat with their fingers. When they get a little older, you may instruct them to eat with a spoon. Older still, you might instruct them to use a fork to eat certain foods. It would only be a contradiction if one of the two were in opposition to God’s standards. Therefore, God has the right to alter a command as he pleases, being that he is the Creator.

TO REITERATE

In Genesis 9:3, God says to Noah and his sons, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.” This passage indicates that God allowed Noah and his sons to eat both meat and plants. Prior to the flood, God had only allowed people to eat plants (Genesis 1:29). However, after the flood, God expanded the permissible food sources to include animals.