The Gift of Provision and the Goodness of Creation

Genesis 1:29–31 (NASB95) 

29Then 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; 30and 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. 31God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 

As the story of creation reaches its crescendo, God’s gracious provision for all living beings becomes abundantly clear. God pronounces a performative grant, bestowing every seed-bearing plant and fruit-bearing tree as food for humanity, while “every green plant” serves as sustenance for the animals of the earth and sky. This divine gesture is marked by generosity and completeness, emphasizing the sufficiency of God’s provision and the absence of rivalry or scarcity in the original order. The text highlights that, at the dawn of creation, both humans and animals were given a vegetarian diet—a vision of harmony and peace that will only be revisited in glimpses during later eras of biblical history. 

This initial dietary arrangement reflects an ideal state, a paradise where violence and competition have no place. The motif recurs in prophetic visions such as Isaiah’s, where even predators return to peaceful coexistence, “the lion, like the ox, will eat hay.” Comparisons with ancient Near Eastern literature show that other cultures, too, remembered a time when early humans lived simply and peacefully, before the advent of agriculture, city-building, and animal husbandry. But in the biblical account, the absence of meat-eating is not a sign of savagery or lack, but of a lost paradise—an order in which creation is declared “very good” by its Creator. 

God’s final pronouncement over creation is one of highest commendation. With the completion of His work, God sees everything that He has made and declares it “very good.” This blessing is bestowed not just on any single aspect of creation, but on the totality of the ordered world—earth, sky, seas, and all living things—now transformed by God’s Spirit and word from empty chaos to a vibrant, life-filled cosmos. Yet, this “goodness” is also fragile, as the narrative foreshadows the coming corruption and violence that will mar the earth, necessitating new covenants and divine intervention. Still, in this moment, creation stands as a testimony to God’s wisdom, bounty, and life-giving power.