Hunting

The Bible on hunting--

There are four hunters mentioned in the Bible: three in Genesis and one in Revelation. The first hunter is named Nimrod in Genesis 10:8-9. He is the son of Cush and founder of the Babylonian Empire, the empire that opposes God throughout Scripture and is destroyed in the Book of Revelation. In Micah 5:6, God's enemies are said to dwell in the land of Nimrod. Many highly reputable evangelical scholars such as Barnhouse, Pink and Scofield regard Nimrod as a prototype of the anti-Christ.

The second hunter is Ishamel, Abraham's "son of the flesh" by the handmaiden, Hagar. His birth is covered in Genesis 16 and his occupation in 21:20. Ishamel's unfavorable standing in Scripture is amplified by Paul in Galatians 4:22-31.

The third hunter, Esau, is also mentioned in the New Testament. His occupation is contrasted with his brother (Jacob) in Genesis 25:27. In Hebrews 12:16 he is equated with a "profane person" (KJV). He is a model of a person without faith in God. Again, Paul elucidates upon this model unfavorably in Romans 9:8-13, ending with the paraphrase of Malachi 1:2-3: "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated."

The fourth hunter is found in Revelation 6:2, the rider of the white horse with the hunting bow. Scholars have also identified him as the so-called anti-Christ. Taken as a group, then, hunters fare poorly in the Bible. Two model God's adversary and two model the person who lives his life without God.

"Fishing is a pleasure of retirement, yet the angler has the power to let the fish live or die."

Hung Tzu-ch'eng (1593-1665)