The Significance of a Shed

The other day I made a significant discovery while walking in the woods. There in the trail lay a buck’s shed antler from earlier this year. It is remarkable that I found it in such great shape, as there appeared to be hardly any evidence of the chewing of rodents. Deer will shed their antlers so they can grow a new set each year. With this being the case, it’s not really a loss for the buck, because it leads to new growth with a new pair of antlers. There is something bigger and better that will come as a result of what he shed.

Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ shed his blood and He lost his life. However, that was not the end of the matter. Not only was Jesus raised from the dead, but the blood that He shed led to some great things.  As He was instituting the Lord’s Supper on the night of his betrayal, He said “for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Mt. 26:28, KJV). As the writer of Hebrews reflected on the Old Law, he says “…without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22). The forgiveness of our sins was only made possible by the shedding of Christ’s blood.

Another thing that was much more significant was what the blood of Jesus bought. When Paul was giving his farewell address to the Ephesian elders at Miletus, he said the church was purchased with the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28). The institution that we are a part of today as members of the body of Christ was bought with blood. Even as Peter says that we were redeemed by “…precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:19).

The shedding of Christ’s blood is something that we need constant reminders of, for it is of the utmost significance for the Christian who is the recipient of the cleansing effects of His blood and a citizen of God’s household, the church. The next time I see a shed antler I’ll be reminded by what came about as a result of the shedding of the blood of Jesus.

When Did Hunting Begin?

I pose this question, not to be silly or frivolous, but to point out some things from Scripture. Some people in the world are animal rights activists who continually bash outdoorsmen who hunt, whether for sport or for food. As long as there are people in this world, this conflict will exist. I want us to ponder this question, partly because of a recent post where a friend of mine was inquisitive about my comment on hunting being a part of stewardship. Let's see if we can tackle this one.

Upon the creation of man on day six, Adam and Eve were not given instructions to eat anything they wanted. Prior to the first sin in the garden, mankind and animal life was given plants and fruit to eat. "Then God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life; I have given every green plant for food'; and it was so" (Gen. 1:29-30). Yes, it was a vegetarian diet at this point. There were no meat-eaters; this even included the dinosaurs!

When did this change? After the flood, God changed the diet of mankind. God gave the charge that all of the creatures had been given over into mankind's hand. "Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant" (Gen. 9:3). Not only did we have dominion over them as God said in Gen. 1:26, but now we would be a cause of fear for them. This would have changed things drastically in the animal kingdom.

We go on to read about Nimrod, who was a great-grandson of Noah, and he was a mighty hunter (Gen. 10:9). Fast-forward to today, where hunting abounds as ways to acquire food solely for some, but also as an outdoor conservation method. The fact that God gave us rule over the fish, birds, cattle and every other creeping thing has not changed. When we talk about stewardship, we mostly think about money and what we give back to the Lord. However, I proposed a few years ago that hunting and fishing is a part of our stewardship. How is this?

One of the reasons we hunt is to control the animal population. How many of you have come close to hitting a deer while it is crossing the road? If hunting were to stop, can you imagine how many more automobile accidents would happen as a result of this? Take Tennessee for example. A few years ago, the TWRA increased the limit on deer to three does a day. This has really not even made a dent in the population, as many hunters are only able to hunt on weekends. Deer are still being hit by cars and they are still contracting certain diseases. If hunting were stopped, there would be so many ill effects on the human population that it wouldn't be a laughing matter. I wish everyone could go back and read an article by John Sloan in Reader's Digest. It will make you think!

Don't think of it though only in terms of keeping the population in check. Think about it in the sense of continuing to do what God told Noah upon exiting the ark, as well as understanding what God said early on about us having dominion over them. So, when did hunting begin? Hopefully I answered any questions you might have had about this subject about its necessity and beginning. We can surely say it is scriptural!