At Alpha the other week, one of the participants on my hosting table happened to have read the story of Noah and the flood and asked the question, what has a rainbow got to do with the story of a flood? Very good question from a young lady seeking a connection. And it put me on the spot for bit fumbling for a quick answer to a profound question. I said something like, ancient Middle Eastern people didn’t know about rainbows being caused by rainwater droplets acting as prisms to split sunlight up into its seven component colours. They thought about them as the sign and seal of a covenant between God and his creation after the catastrophic flood. Well at least the ancients correctly associated a rainbow with the clearing rain storms.
Had I thought quickly enough, I might have commented that
the story of the flood, and its associated promise of a never-to-be-repeated
global flood, together with the sign of a rainbow, is an apology against the
widespread ancient worldview that the gods are at war with the earth, whereas
Israel’s god, the one and only true and living Yahweh, is not at war with the
earth. In fact he has bound himself to it in covenant promise, signed and
sealed to preserve it as his own. It is a good creation, a good natural
environment, and God is not hostile towards it.
The land is God’s gift. It is not ours to own, but to tend
and take care of it, made clear in Genesis 2.15 and Leviticus 25.23-24. The
land is given to support us, and if we use it responsibly it will support us.
We are not to consume, abuse and exploit it. Would you consume, abuse and
exploit your own home? Of course not.
These are the words in Leviticus 25.23-24, the land is
mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. Throughout the country that you
hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land. This
is as good as God saying to us, be careful what you do on and with my land.
This sets up a relationship between ourselves as tenants and Yahweh as owner-landlord,
and this in turn sets the framework of our ethical thinking about it, that is
to say, the way we think through our decisions and choices regarding our use of
the natural environment.
To love God means to value what God values. Conversely therefore,
to collude in the abuse, pollution and destruction of the natural order is to
trample on the goodness of God reflected in his creation. It is to devalue what
God values, to mute God’s praise and to dimmish his glory.
Israel was dependent on the land for her livelihood, and that
is why the law provided for harvest festivals of ingathering and first fruits.
They were festivals of thanksgiving to God for his provision of land and
produce. I remember as a boy at Church of England primary school in the village
of Hazelmere, harvest festivals in the church next door. The altar would be piled
high with farmers’ produce in thanksgiving to God. Those local farmers knew
where their livelihood came from, and in gratitude they offered the first
fruits in worship of their divine provider.
Perhaps if we were to suggest a harvest festival of first fruits to the farmers of here in Lara and Little Rive, we might get a response. Perhaps they would appreciate it if their local church (us) recognized the contribution they make to the community and the fact that their land feeds us.
There is in Genesis chapter 3.17 a statement to Adam (in the
story that explains the how mankind and God relate to each other, or not) that sets
out one of the consequences of mankind’s sin against God as being, cursed is
the ground because of you. What this tells us is that mankind, because he
is out of harmony with God, is also at odds with the earth from which he was
taken (made). And you don’t have to look very far to see that.
When I see land abused, used as a dumping ground, logged
until there’s nothing left but dead stumps, untended and weed-ridden, it takes
on what to me is an unhappy ambiance about it. It’s a sad land, a cursed land
to use the language of the ancient writers, which if it could speak would say
something like, what have I done to deserve this from you? But land that is
tended, watered, and cared for flourishes. Forests provide homes for birds and
animals; flowing rivers water the land and so on. It takes on the ambiance of a
blessed and fruitful land.
Living in harmony with the land includes being aware that we
are not the only created beings on this earth. In the creation story, we share
the sixth day with other life forms. God formed the animals and birds from the
ground, just as he formed humans from it. In other words, we share the land
with fauna and flora, and that means it devalues the glory of God to abuse,
destroy, make endangered or, the ultimate, to cause extinction of God’s good
created things.
So when you visit a wilderness park, think about these
points of biblical ethics. It’s God’s beautiful creation, so give thanks to him
for your visit. Leave it as you find it. I remember one of my bush walking
trips to Sealers Cove at Wilsons Promontory, a ranger happened to be making his
rounds, and I commented that there weren’t any rubbish bins at the campground.
He said yes, that’s because what you carry in you can carry out again. Point
taken.
I’m also reminded of how indigenous Australians have known
how to live in harmony with the Australian landscape for thousands of years.
They use only what they need and leave the rest alone. They belong to the land,
whereas we think the land belongs to us.
So what can I say to sum up before we break into our chat
groups? Well, it occurs to me that since God is a god who provides for all our
needs, he is a servant god. Christ is our servant king. Think about it for a
moment. God provided our relational way back to him through the death of our
Lord Jesus Christ; God provides the land to meet our needs of sustenance,
recreation, and aesthetical appreciation. It’s a beautiful creation and it’s
provided for us out of God’s generosity. And since Yahweh is the god who serves
us in this manner out of his great love for us, it is our bounden duty towards
him, in reciprocal covenant love, to use it responsibly and sustainably, and to
take care of it.
Philip Starks
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