Arcana Coelestia #1002
1002. 'Not eating' means not mixing together. This follows from what has been said above. Regarded in itself eating animal flesh is something profane, for in most ancient times people never ate the flesh of any beast or bird, but only different kinds of grain, especially wheaten bread, also the fruit of trees, vegetables, milk, and milk products such as butter. Slaughtering living creatures and eating their flesh was to them abominable, akin to the behaviour of wild animals. Service and use alone was demanded of those creatures, as is clear from Genesis 1:29-30. But in the process of time when mankind began to be as savage as wild animals, indeed more savage, they first began to slaughter living creatures and eat their flesh. And because man had become such, he was permitted to do so and is still permitted today. And insofar as he does so from conscience, it is quite legitimate, for his conscience is given form from all those things he presumes to be true and so legitimate. Consequently nobody nowadays stands in any sense condemned because he eats meat.
Genesis 9:8-27
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God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
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"As for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you,
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and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ship, even every animal of the earth.
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I will establish my covenant with you: all flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood, neither will there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth."
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God said, "This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
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I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.
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It will happen, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud,
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and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
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The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
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God said to Noah, "This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."
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The sons of Noah who went forth from the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan.
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These three were the sons of Noah, and from these, the whole earth was populated.
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Noah began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard.
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He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent.
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Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
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Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn't see their father's nakedness.
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Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him.
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He said, "Canaan is cursed. He will be servant of servants to his brothers."
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He said, "Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant.
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May God enlarge Japheth. Let him dwell in the tents of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant."
