So this week we're going to continue flying through our survey of how the scriptures speak of how we need to live in relation to God's creation and how creation lives in relation to us. This post will cover the wisdom, poetry, and prophecy books. Later this week I'll get to the crux of it all, Jesus (get it? crux! I'm so funny :).
Obviously, when we think of the Bible and wisdom we often think of Solomon.
There are at least two passages where Solomon addresses the natural world. Both of these have been mentioned either in previous posts or comments so I will simply cite them here (1Kg.4:29-34; Ecc.3:19). In 1 Kings this passage says that the wisdom that God gave Solomon included trees, beasts, birds, reptiles, and fish. If this is a part of God-given wisdom, is it fair to say that God fully endorses an intimate knowledge of the created world?
There are also some interesting statements in the book of Job. In chapter 5 it is said of the one who is blessed and reproved by God: "At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and none shall fear the beasts of the earth. For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you" (vs. 22, 23 ESV). Hmm. The blessing and discipline of God leads to unity with creation?
But there's another theme that comes out of Job:
Job 12:7-10 (ESV) "But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
Job 35:11 (ESV) "who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?"
It turns out that wisdom is a two way street; the wise human will have great knowledge
of the natural world... and at the same time some of that wisdom comes
from the natural world
(ie. from God through nature).
[In what ways is our wisdom shaped by our relationship with creation?]
But we run into some great eschatological stuff when we hit Isaiah. Like this Messianic prophecy:
Isaiah 11:5-9 (ESV) Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Under the righteous rule of the Messiah, all of creation is united (also see Is. 35; 43:19-21; 65:17-25). {and as an additional aside: notice that this doesn't happen in heaven this is on earth; again, see Is.65 & Rev 21}
[Acknowledging that this can only be accomplished in its fullness with the return of Christ: if we are followers of Christ and this is what His dominion looks like, should we not be striving for this? Why/why not? And if so, in what ways?]
In these books there is also evident the same theme that we've talked about before, where nature is bound up with the covenant obedience/disobedience of God's people.
Jeremiah 12:4 (ESV) How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? For the evil of those who dwell in it the beasts and the birds are swept away, because they said, "He will not see our latter end."
The land suffers because of the evil of mankind.
Hosea 4:1-3 (ESV) Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel, for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or steadfast love, and no knowledge of God in the land; there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the heavens, and even the fish of the sea are taken away.
All of nature feels the consequences of mankind's lack of faithfulness, love, and knowledge of God.
[Do we see nature reaping the consequences of our obedience/disobedience today?]
But it's not all death and despair! There is hope!!
Joel 2:21-22 (ESV) "Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things! Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield.
So, what do you make of all this?
9 comments:
"[Acknowledging that this can only be accomplished in its fullness with the return of Christ: if we are followers of Christ and this is what His dominion looks like, should we not be striving for this? Why/why not? And if so, in what ways?]".........
I have a problem with this line of thinking...and I think that it is because it is implying that the Messiah, or the return of the Messiah, is dependant on the condition of the earth. Or that it is dependant on us to try to recondition or repair the earth to fulfill the plan to establish the new heaven and the new earth. I am pretty sure that as long as we are folowing the commandments precisely as they were given to us (giving the seventh year as a Sabbath unto the Lord) and if we follow that then Yahweh promises to provide threefold in the sixth year to provide for us. Unfortunately, we don't really do that, so I don't think there are any strategies we could come up with that would be better than God's...so here we are.
Oh, I see what you mean...
Sorry, maybe I should have phrased that differently. In no way do I mean to imply that the return of Jesus is dependent on the state of the environment.
In fact, I meant quite the opposite. What I meant to say was that it is only upon the return of Christ that we will truly see a reunited creation. Man and the rest of creation won't be truly reunited until Jesus returns.
And so my line of thought was: If at the return of Christ we will see a renewed unity between God-Man & Man-Man & Man-Creation should we not be striving towards that now? How God chooses to use these efforts is completely up to Him but if the Kingdom of God is here aren't we as Christians supposed to implement the Lordship and Reign of Jesus in ALL of our relationships?
Of course, this brings us back to the centre of this whole discussion: does that include nature? And if it does how is it similar/dissimilar to the current secular "green" movement?
Now, as far as the pragmatics of agriculture go I'm in an area of almost complete ignorance so anyone please feel free to correct me/inform me...
Do some farmers still follow some semblance of "sabbath rests" in their fallow practices? I think I've heard of people doing this. Does anyone know, is there an historical connection between crop-rotation & Sabbath? I have no idea. It would be interesting to know...
Found some interesting quotes that might fit with your talk about creation.
"Unlike an office complex or gymnasium, which have no value if people do no inhabit them, creation can glorify and bring God delight apart from human presence. Plants, animals... exists first and foremost not for human use or enjoyment, but for God's pleasure."
"C.E.B. Cranfield suggests that the universe is unable to do its part in praise of God unless humans do their part. So faithful people articulate the praise of all creation; they pronounce the resounding and thankful 'yes' every grateful creature would utter to its Maker, Sustainer, and Redeemer. Since the stones and trees and cats are not as articulate as we are, humanity praises God on behalf of stone, tree, and cat."
Rodney Clapp "Why The Devil Takes Visa" In Christianity Today (Oct 7, 1999), 33.
Tim, what did you mean by "if the kingdom of God is here"? Did you mean if it is here now, or if it will be established here after the second coming? I really wish I could use bold, underline and italics in posts...it would make it much easier to emphasize! haha
I guess I was implying that, yes, the Kingdom of God is here (ie. present in us who believe in and act out the Lordship of Christ). The Kingdom of God was inaugurated through the ministry of Jesus and is continued in us as we proclaim the rightful Reign of God in this world through our words and deeds.
However, the Kingdom of God won't be completely realized until Christ returns. That is why people have sometimes used the analogy of Christians being like an underground resistance movement.
It goes something like this: The world is under "foreign occupation" and as Christians we are "resistance fighters" who are doing our best to bring about the downfall of the Occupation. The resistance is alive and well but we won't ultimately achieve our goal until God's liberating army comes and sweeps the Occupation aside. It's an imperfect analogy but it kinda works.
That is why we often describe the Kingdom of God as being both "now" and "not yet." It is "now" in the sense that Jesus began it and is continued through us. It is "not yet" in the sense that it won't reach fruition until the return of Christ.
Does that provide any clarity?
Yeah, I think it does. Tim, could I ask you to do something for me? And if you want you could send it to my email rather than on the blog forum here....but I was wondering if you could paint me a picture (figuratively of course) of what your view of the end-times is? I am wrestling through what you are saying because it seems contrary to what I have "grown up" believing. Do you think that the book of Revelation might just be allegorical or metaphorical, rather than literal? I read it very literally, and anticipate the events in it very literally, but I get the impression from your posts that your view may be quite different from that. Forgive me if I am wrong....what you are putting out there is foreign territory to me! Thanks in advance!
Tim, another question (s)....
In your analogy, who or what is the "foreign occupation"? What does "bring out the downfall" entail? How is it done....how do we know when it's done? Who or what is God's liberating army?
Tim, thanks for your discussions. I think this is interesting and fun and I appreciate it. You asked in your post before how caring for God's creation would look different from the "Green" movement of today and I think it's in the reasoning. People are "going green" to save the world from global warming and greenhouse gasses. I'm not sure I believe in either of those things but I do believe in God and that he has created a good world that we should respect. I guess it's like (in my imaginary world) if my mom baked a cake and told my brother and I that it was for a birthday and not to touch it. My brother may not touch it because he doesn't want to ruin the birthday party, but I may not touch it because I love and respect my mom and know how much work she put into it. Okay, that's probably a bad example, but it's just that different people do things for different reasons. Sometimes we do the same things but some people do them for wrong reasons and some people do them for right reasons. That doesn't make the action itself wrong.
Now I'm rambling nonsense. I need to go to bed. :)
I like that analogy, Lisa. It works on a certain level.
Of course, no analogy is perfect; they are helpful images, not the thing itself.
So, to flesh out another imperfect analogy:
When I first heard this analogy, Carey, it was described using terms from WW2. Christians were "French freedom fighters" and this world was "Nazi occupied France." So, from that angle I took it to mean that the "Nazis" were Satan and his followers. They had control of a country that was not rightfully theirs. The freedom fighters would do anything they could to counteract and oppose the Nazis but ultimately it wasn't until help came from outside (the "Allies" on D-day... God - the second coming) that France would be liberated and put back to rights.
So, in what ways is our world that we live in under "foreign occupation?" I don't think any of us are in doubt that as Christians we are a huge minority. Between people who follow "the flesh" and Satan it's clear that there is a lot of opposition out there. We're outnumbered quite significantly.
What does it mean to bring about the downfall of the enemy? That's a huge question that I think has a lot of different answers. Ultimately, for me it's all about the Kingdom of God. Jesus showed up and started the Kingdom. When He left, He equipped us with everything we need (the Holy Spirit) to build His Kingdom for the day of His return. In short, I think this means proclaiming and (as much as possible) implementing the Lordship of Jesus over all of creation.
Who is God's liberating army? I'd probably be inclined to say the "armies of heaven" described in Rev. 19:14... although in this scenario the armies don't really even do much. It Jesus who singlehandedly triumphs.
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