The dominion mandate was given before the Fall and remains in effect after the Fall. What about after the worldwide flood of Noah’s day?

After the Flood, God repeated the dominion mandate yet again. There are several additional details in mandate 2.0 that were not in the original. One of the most striking differences has to do with man’s diet.

“The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. ³ Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. ⁴ But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.” Genesis 9:2-4

A divine mandate is a directive or a rule for man to obey. Thus, the eating of meat is a now divinely established human right—just as it was divinely established for man to eat plants before the Flood. But the passage goes beyond just a change in dietary permissions. After the Flood, humans were not only given dominion over the animal kingdom, but now a fear of man came upon every living creature. Yet, the text states “they are delivered into our hands”. God supernaturally placed the fear of man into animals at this point. From this time forward, animals would be harder to catch, but we were allowed to consume them along with plants. Two restrictions stand out: we are not to eat flesh “with its life, that is, its blood” (Genesis 9:4); and we are not to murder other human beings (Genesis 9:5–6).

“There is frequently an appeal to return to… what is ‘natural’… But the Bible teaches something very different. Man is not to go back to an untamed, uncultivated world… man is to subdue and rule over creation… transforming it and improving on what is ‘natural’.”

When Jesus returns to set up His Millennial Kingdom this mandate will not change. We will be transforming and improving on what is natural. Nuclear Fusion will be a power source. Driverless electric cars will be the normal method of transport and use of robots will be widespread in industry and the home. Go to http://www.millennialkingdom.net for more on what is next on God’s agenda for planet Earth.

Jesus Millennial Kingdom is a transition period. The nation God established for His purposes will finally fulfil its destiny with Jesus, Israel’s messiah ruling the nations of the world from a magnificent new Jerusalem.