Some Worship the Creation, Some Destroy It.
What Would the Creator Say About All This?

By Mike Bennett

FEW WEEKS AGO I was jogging early in the morning, enjoying the natural beauty of God's creation. The road I run on winds through majestic forests and beside green pastures. Sometimes as I run I'll even startle a deer. It's quite a contrast to the smoggy big city I used to live in back in the Los Angeles basin.

But as I ran, even amid this pristine beauty, I noticed signs of man's presence -- a beer can here, and a few steps later another can, a broken bottle, gum and candy wrappers, plastic bags, bags from fast food places. It seems I couldn't go 20 steps without seeing more of man's litter and refuse.

Then, as I turned east and neared a creek pouring out of a lake, I was startled to see something on the water. You've probably seen at a gas station how gasoline on the ground can leave a multicolored, filmy rainbow? Well, that's what I saw on the creek -- a colorful filmy substance on the water. A gas or oil spill, I thought. Then it dawned on me -- I looked up at the early morning sky and saw the same reds, pinks and oranges that I had seen reflected in the water. Thankfully it wasn't a spill, just a beautiful sunrise reflected in the creek.

Environmental Extremes

Man is commanded to be fruitful and multiply, to subdue the earth and the creatures on it.

WHY DO I tell you all this? This experience, and the events surrounding Earth Day, got me thinking about the environment and how we are to care for it. This can be a controversial area, and it seems like there are lots of extreme views. Some people today, as in ancient times, literally worship nature. Some are so fanatical and radical that they put nails in trees to hurt loggers! They hurt people to save trees. But on the other side there are many who ravage the earth with toxic wastes, who consider it their right to exploit the earth to the max.

What does the Bible say about how we should care for the earth? First let's go back to the beginning, to see what God intended for humans. In Genesis 1:26 and 28 God is discussing his plan to create man.

"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'

"Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"

God gave man dominion over the creation. The New International Version of the Bible uses the word rule here instead of dominion. Man is commanded to be fruitful and multiply, to subdue the earth and the creatures on it. The word dominion is from the Hebrew word radah, "to tread down, to subjugate." So far it looks like the exploiters of the earth have a biblical argument in their favor. You could read this to say that man has a duty to make the earth serve him, to get the most out of it.

The dominion God had in mind is not to get for self, but to consider others, including future generations.

But let's not take these verses out of context. Just reading on into the next chapter allows us to see more about man's God-given responsibilities. In Genesis 2:15 God gives man a job:

"Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it."

In the New King James Version it says to tend and keep it. The Old King James Version says to dress and keep it. The NIV says to work it and take care of it. To dress or tend comes from the Hebrew word abad which means "to work." To keep comes from the Hebrew word shamar, which means "to hedge about, guard, protect." Together these words convey the meaning of taking care of the earth God has given us.

Yes, God did put us in a rulership position. But we aren't to rule as the world rules. The dominion God had in mind is not to get for self, but to consider others, including future generations. Polluting and exploiting don't show love for our neighbor as ourselves. This approach doesn't show honor to the Creator who made this amazingly interconnected world.

Those Who Destroy the Earth

AT THE END OF THE BOOK we learn more about how God views the environment. Revelation 11:18 tells about the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the return of Jesus Christ:

"The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth."

God will reward his servants, but will destroy those who destroy the earth -- those who recklessly or purposefully harm the ecosystem. We don't want to be one of those who destroy and end up destroyed. We want to be God's servants who take care of the things entrusted to them.

We may not be able to stem the tide of pollution and destruction going on around us, but we don't have to be part of the problem. We can be part of the solution by setting an example of not littering, but instead recycling, conserving energy and not wasting precious resources.

Times of Refreshing

AFTER WE'VE DONE what we can, we can pray more fervently for the complete solution -- God's Kingdom. Acts 3:19-21 tells us what we have to look forward to.

We can be part of the solution by recycling, conserving energy and not wasting precious resources.

"'Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.'"

We can look forward to these times of refreshing, the times of restoration of all things. The earth is groaning now, and you can really see it when you visit cities like LA. But man's selfishness, greed and wastefulness are evident in beautiful rural areas too. Let's do our part and then pray for God's Kingdom.

I told you at the beginning of this article about all the trash along our road. One thing my family is doing is going for walks and picking up that trash. Last year we took the aluminum cans we had collected to be recycled, and we got $2.22 for them! That's not why we did it, of course. We want to do something to try to dress and keep the world God has entrusted to us.

We do not have to worship nature. But we can and should do our part to take care of it!

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