The World Development Committee - Whose Earth?

Whose Earth?

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Communities of Life

Biblical Reflections on Genesis 1:28

For the first of the Whose Earth? World Development Appeals, the World Development Committee produced sermon notes on Genesis 2:4-15. What follows in this the concluding year of the Whose Earth? series of Appeals is a reflection on Genesis 1:28 as a resource in the search for communities of life. While not in themselves sermon notes, these comments can be used in sermon preparation. The notes on the projects we will be supporting through this year's World Development Appeal, particularly those on Honduras, can illustrate the biblical material.

Genesis 2:15 emphasises that care of the earth is part of the calling of every member of the human family. As our patterns of living in the modern world push the earth closer to disintegration, it is a dimension of our vocation that increases in importance. In what follows, Genesis 1:28 is used as a point of departure in reflecting on how we as Christians are called to create communities of life in the midst of a world so often dominated by systems of exploitation and domination.

In this text, the proto-community are blessed, encouraged to be fruitful, and authorized to subdue the earth and rule/have dominion over all living creatures, aquatic, air borne and those living on the earth's surface. It is a text that has sometimes been used to justify a theology of exploitation and colonisation, contributory factors to the present sorry state of the world.

A close reading of this verse inter-textually as it resonates across scripture demonstrates that this interpretation is virtually the opposite of how communities of faith are called to live. Indeed, communities that take this text seriously in shaping their relationship to the world are called to live in resistance to the logic of exploitation and its destructive influence on peace, justice and the integrity of the natural world. As such, it is a key place to begin a discussion of how we are to live in a troubled world as the community of faith seeking the health of the wider community--seeking the welfare of the city where we are in exile (Jer. 29:7).

From a contemporary perspective, with relevant questions being asked about global population growth and the carrying capacity of the earth to provide for all the new people being born, it might seem appropriate to question the injunction to an increased birth rate contained in the phrase "Be fruitful and increase in number." Of course we know that the situation in the ancient world was very different from today. High birth rates were necessary to form and sustain national groupings. But even in the modern world, a crude focus on tackling population increase in isolation of other factors is of limited value in the struggle of the human family to find a viable way of living together on a planet of finite capacity.

We know that a child born in the developing world will only use a fraction of the resources used by a child born in the rich world. As George Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, writes: "A child born in a wealthy country is likely to consume, waste, and pollute more in his lifetime than 50 children born in developing nations. Our energy-burning lifestyles are pushing our planet to the point of no return. It is dawning on us at last that the life of our world is as vulnerable as the children we raise." So, in some ways, a smaller number of people in the developed world have a more detrimental environmental impact than larger numbers in the poor world.

No doubt the issue of the earth's population needs to be considered, but only as part of a wider discussion of lifestyle choices for rich and lack of any choices for the poor, otherwise the debate is distorted. A graphic illustration of how this distortion may be characterized is found in a cartoon on the subject of population growth and its impact on the planet.

The cartoon pictures a rowing boat, which clearly symbolises the earth. At the front of the boat there are many people of colour and they are all very tiny. At the back sits one overweight white person. He is so big and heavy that the back end of the boat where he is sitting is about to dip below the water line, threatening the boat with sinking. As a result of this imbalance, the front end of the boat is consequently up in the air and a large number of the little people of colour are being tossed over the side into the water. Yet the over consuming, overweight, earth destroying, white person blindly says, "We really must do something about population growth before we are all sunk!"

The deep issue is about the creation of an alternative global system to the present one, an economy of life that meets the needs of all and encourages fruitful human flourishing.

Interestingly, if we trace the use of "be fruitful" through Genesis, it is regularly used in connection with a desire for the community of God's people to increase. After the flood narrative, the theme of fruitfulness emerges again in a general sense in Genesis 8:17: the earth is once again to teem with life. Genesis 9:7, which closely follows the wording of Genesis 1:28, indicates that the specific thrust of the pre-flood verse is still operative.

Then it may be noted that the term "fruitful" is found in a series of texts concerned with the promise of community/national growth. In Genesis 17, Abram becomes Abraham, the covenant of circumcision is established, and God promises that the patriarch will be very "fruitful" (Gen. 17:20), the father of many nations. Then in Genesis 28:3, Isaac blesses Jacob, wishing him to be "fruitful... a community of peoples." Genesis 35:11 picks up the idea of fruitfulness being connected to the growth of the nation, again in the context of a patriarchal name change, this time from Jacob to Israel. As Jacob/Israel comes to the end of his life, he passes the torch of fruitfulness to Joseph as the one to carry national population growth forward (Gen. 48:4; cf. 49:22).

There are indicators that life is precarious for the embryonic community, which is the vehicle of God's ethic and economy in the world. Some of these have a surprisingly contemporary ring and resonance. For example, Isaac (Gen. 26:19 ff.) is party to a conflict involving different groups vying for limited resources, in this case access to well water. Today many commentators argue that the wars of the near future will be fought to secure supplies of the earth's diminishing resources. Water in particular may become even scarcer in certain parts of the world as global warming increases and fighting over the equivalent of modern day wells may proliferate and intensify.

Oil is also a primary concern of the big players on the contemporary global stage.

In the Bible, Egypt most obviously is one of the big players, associated with crushing oppression, in whose shadow Israel must live and against whose modalities of life Israel must be in a constant state of resistance. So Joseph, after the birth of his second son Ephraim in Egypt, celebrates that "God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering" (Gen. 41:52).

Significantly, after what we can call the "Genesis Generation" are honoured and named at the opening of the book of Exodus (Ex. 1:1-6), the next words we read are, "the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied" (Ex. 1:7). In effect, they lived out of and enacted, carried forward and were the legitimate successors of Genesis 1:28 as the proto-community engendered and shaped by this text threaded its way through the Genesis narrative. As a result, they now begin to suffer for it in the key story of liberation in the Old Testament.

All of this suggests that Genesis 1:28 has in mind the growth and creation of a particular type of community, embodying God's ways in the world. When this community becomes sufficiently fruitful and numerous to be perceived as a threat by a different social ordering, suppression ensues--there is a clash between the ordering of life under God and life under Pharaoh.

Importantly, in the world of the Bible, Egypt is the first in a series of empires, including Assyria, Babylon, Greece and Rome that embody power structures that benefit the elite, enslave the poor, and dominate the weak. Symbolically, the empire represents any power that takes to itself the power that rightly belongs only to God, or any entity or institution that subjugates the poor and needy for its own gain. Empire and its ways in the world continued in the post biblical world, and are alive and operative in the modern world.

The word Egypt (mitsrayim) literally means "double straits", "narrow places", "narrow confinement"--references to the shape of the territory of Egypt as defined by the river Nile. Egypt was really the thin strip of land on either bank of the Nile. Beyond the literal meaning of the term mitsrayim, figurative allusions to the nature of Egyptian society are striking as they contrast with how Israelite society is conceived in the Bible.

So Israel was not only delivered from a geographical place but also from a narrow way of thinking. Specifically, Yahweh shifted Israel from a place of slavery and the mentality of empire to a space of freedom and a mentality of generosity. Thus freedom from empire means something more comprehensive than simply taking off the shackles of Egypt. It means taking on a new mind-set, adopting a new way of living in the world, out of a different narrative as a community, and ultimately learning to love as God loves. In contrast to the narrowness of Egypt in every sense of the word, it is no coincidence that the land of promise is regularly described as a "broad land", with all the connotations consequently invested in that phrase in light of this analysis.

Throughout the Bible, starting with Egypt, there is what can be called the narrative of empire, with a clear social dynamic based on exploitation of the poor and the natural order. This we can term a predominant "version" of reality that persists to the present day. Opposed to this and continually threatened by it there is what can be called the narrative of freedom and abundance, with a clear social dynamic based on justice for the poor and a restored natural order. This we can term a "sub-version" of reality, to which the church bears witness.

The idea that Israel should embody a different--"sub-versive"--social ethic to that of empire, one governed by freedom rather than oppression, is further supported by an exploration of the "subdue", "have dominion" word pair found in Genesis 1:28. On the face of it, this may be strange, for dominion, so linguistically close to domination, and subjugation are characteristic of how empires operate, not communities of liberation.

However, in the Bible, tracing these words as they are used in different contexts confirms the primacy of freedom over exploitation. It is as if, understanding the propensity of humanity to misuse power, especially people of faith if they seem to have a scriptural warrant for it, the Bible inter-textually constrains this type of interpretation and renders it invalid.

Thus the verb "have dominion" occurs three times in Leviticus 25, the jubilee charter text that foundationally defines the community ultimately engendered by Genesis 1:28 as committed to freedom and socially structured against perpetual poverty and enslavement. The Israelites belong to a God of justice, who had worked liberation from Egypt, as a consequence of which God's people "must not be sold as slaves" (Lev. 25:42). Within the community, one member must not ruthlessly "have dominion" over another (Lev. 25:43).

This passage does not display a naïve utopianism, for it recognises that in the real world circumstances can change for the better or worse for both Israelite and alien. It is possible for Israelites to benefit from the work of members of surrounding nations, but it is also possible for resident aliens, who prosper in Israel, to benefit from the services of Israelites who have fallen on hard times (Lev. 25:47-52). But the implication of the passage is that these people must be treated with dignity: the community must regulate itself so that those doing well do not ruthlessly "have dominion" (Lev. 25:53) over those struggling to make ends meet.

In addition, the term "subdue" is found three times in Jeremiah 34, a powerful text reinforcing jubilee and freedom as the basis of Israelite life together. Slavery had become prevalent in Israel, as the poor indentured themselves to the rich. The Jubilee principle, to ensure a society living according to the rhythm of freedom, and so prevent permanent enslavement, had not been used.

However, King Zedekiah and the people make a covenant to proclaim freedom for the slaves (Jer. 34:8). Then they cannot bring themselves to stick to it. They are so attached to the pampered lifestyle slavery makes possible that they change their minds and take back the slaves they have freed. They "subdue" them once again (Jer. 34:11). For Yahweh, this "subduing" (Jer. 34:16) is profanity--that is, shockingly against the will of God. Subsequently, God declares that since the ruling elite has not been able to proclaim lasting freedom for their fellow country folk, God will give them a different set of freedoms: "freedom to fall by the sword, plague and famine" (Jer. 34:17). Injustice engenders social catastrophe and collapse.

This underlines that to subdue the earth is not a licence to exploit. In our modern world, where the west has secured a pampered life by enslaving so many in poverty in the developing world and exploiting the earth's resources, it may be that our warning is that if we do not reshape the global order we will be granted different freedoms: we will be free to watch our world fall apart through climate chaos and the break down of the world's economy as the oil runs out and banks collapse. Recently Europe agreed measures to reduce its carbon footprint, but is already arranging get out clauses so that gas guzzling luxury cars are not included. Currently we are at least as blind as those in the time of Jeremiah.

The exploitation and slavery condemned by Jeremiah resulted in exile. Beyond the trauma of exile, in the time of Nehemiah, the same problem raised its head again, a warning that deeply engrained patterns of abuse are extremely difficult to alter. In our time--increasingly a kairos moment brought about by climate change--transforming the deeply established models of economic growth that lie at the root of our impending ecological crisis will also be exceptionally challenging. The church must be part of the prophetic movement to make change happen.

When Nehemiah was involved in trying to rebuild national life in Israel after the experience of Babylonian exile, debt again drove the poor into slavery. They lost their fields and vineyards and so were not able to provide for their families. Daughters and sons, who in an echo of Exodus 1:7 were too "numerous", had to be sold into slavery.

Today, because people are not secure on their land, shantytowns around big cities grow and the quality of life for the poor who live there after moving from the countryside diminishes. Young migrant workers, unable to find viable livelihoods in their own lands risk their lives trying to reach Europe and other wealthy places in the world. Their worried parents might well still say, in a contemporary version of the complaint made in Nehemiah's era, "Although we are of the same flesh and blood as the rest of the human race and though our children are as good as everyone else's, ours are subdued in slavery. Our sons and daughters are subdued, but we are powerless, because our fields and vineyards belong to others" (Neh. 5:5).

Structural injustices mean that the global community is not healthy. Steps must be taken to empower families and communities to live and provide for themselves on their own land.

The biblical articulation of this is found in the phrase describing ordinary people able to "live in safety, each person under their own vine and fig tree" (1 Kings 4:25). It is a vision of secure and independent self-sufficiency beyond the grasping hand of empire. Significantly, in 1 Kings 4 the phrase is used in a passage in which Solomon's "dominion" is moving towards adopting the exploitative social structuring of neighbouring nations, particularly Egypt.

This involves agricultural produce flowing to the king to keep him in luxury rather than feeding the people, conscription of farmer's sons to the army to fight his wars rather than till the land, forced labour for grand building projects to make the elite feel proud rather than efforts to cement a just society, and the skills of the people being directed to the manufacture of weapons rather than to more productive ends--in short, the whole apparatus of imperial oppression. The Chronicler's version of events tellingly notes that during the move by Solomon to embrace the ways of monarchy and empire, he married a daughter of Pharaoh (2 Chron. 8:11).

According to rabbinic wisdom, it is easier to take Israel out of Egypt than to take Egypt out of Israel. In that day and our own, it is so easy to be co-opted to systems of domination and exploitation. A church seeking communities of life needs to be keenly aware of this and to resist it if it is to contribute to the creation of a just world.

The truth is that while the ways of empire, exploitation and domination may work for a while and secure a high standard of living for a privileged minority, ultimately they cannot last and are not in any regard sustainable. Eventually, as Jeremiah graphically puts it, death climbs in through our windows and enters the fortresses we try to build for ourselves on the backs of the poor and by degrading the earth (Jer. 9:21).

Ezekiel 28 makes this point well, interestingly making connection to the opening chapters of Genesis by reference to the Garden of Eden. This is a passage that poses many textual problems, but some issues are very clear.

The king of Tyre comes to imagine himself a god (v.1) on account of the way his wisdom and understanding have enabled him to amass a vast fortune through great skill in trading (vv.4, 5). But the pattern of trade contains the seeds of its own destruction because it is based on violence and exploitation (v.16). The way Tyre acts in the world creates a counter reaction. Rivals rise up and the whole system spirals out of control to crash in destruction. Ezekiel intriguingly comments that once the king of Tyre was in Eden (v.13) but that pride and corruption bring a terrible fall (v.17).

The parallels to our moment in history do not need to be laboured. This is surely a parable for our times. As a human family we have the capacity and the ingenuity to create a world where all are included in the banquet of life and the earth is respected. But instead, in arrogance and hubris, powerful elites have generated unimaginable wealth for themselves through a global trading system based on abuse of the world's people and resources (see Rev. 18 for a New Testament understanding of this). And it has not brought contentment or peace, but the planet to the point of ruin.

The domination of empire destroys the environment and ecology. It has a terrible impact on humanity and the natural world. This is underlined through reference to a remarkable passage in Isaiah 14.

Picture the scene: the entire underworld is astir because the most powerful man on earth, the ruler of the Babylonian Empire, is about to join them (v.9). The one who had in pride said that he would conquer heaven and raise his throne above the stars of God, to sit there pre-eminent in all creation, above the clouds, like the Most High, is brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit (vv.13-15), where a blanket of worms and maggots covers him (v.11). The rule of the oppressor has come to an end (v.4), the reign of the one who shook the earth and made the world a desert has come to an inglorious close (vv.16-20).

Note that the result of his demise is that "all the lands are at rest and at peace" and they even break into singing (v.7). The pine trees and the great cedars of Lebanon rejoice in the death of the Babylonian king and proclaim that now that he has been laid low they will not suffer deforestation for now "no woods man comes to cut us down" (v.8). Among other things, the death of the king marks the end of ecological degradation.

Empire oppresses humanity and devastates the environment. The end of empire creates the opportunity for human flourishing and the possibility for ecological restoration. The power of empire, which seems so crushingly impregnable and immovable, is really more fragile and transitory than we think. As those who in surprise and disappointment greet the Babylonian king in Sheol observe, "You also have become weak, as we are; you have become like us" (v.10).

In the face of all that confronts us, all of the powers of empire exercising dominion--or perhaps more accurately distorted and false dominion--in our world, this gives us confidence in keeping going shaping counter-cultural churches positively contributing to environmentally aware communities of life. Something of the attitude we should have is contained in the comment of Martin Luther King Jr. that if he knew he was going to die tomorrow, he would still plant a tree today. Without undue exaggeration, we might say that we are faced with ecological death, but as communities of hope and faith we are called to plant trees of justice and environmentalism.

Jeremiah puts the challenge well. He says, "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." In an ecological perspective, we stand at the crossroads. The way we are travelling, if we take the time to look, is leading us as a human community to a precipice of ruin through destruction of the earth.

If we look the other way, down the paths of ancient wisdom, in which living in harmony with nature was often valued, we see that we are called to be good stewards of a creation that God is in covenant with as much as God is in covenant with us. If we follow God's deepest way of justice for the poor and justice for creation, there is the promise of a flourishing and a fruitfulness that our present world order demonstrably cannot deliver. As Leviticus 26 promises, adherence to God's standards will bring a "fruitfulness" (v.9) such that "You will still be eating last year's harvest when you have to move it out to make room for the new" (v.10).

An often overlooked dimension of the biblical witness is the way it regularly, poetically and powerfully presents the fullness of divine presence and blessing in terms of a restored and abundant natural order: part of the understanding of deliverance from empire is grounded in the language of ecology.

In a verse of similar vision to that of Leviticus 26:10, Amos 9:13 uses imagery drawn from nature to picture the abundance of God's restoration beyond the barrenness of exile. He imagines the fullness of deliverance as a super-fertile creation: the reaper will still be gathering in the crop when it comes round to ploughing time again; and the wine-treaders will still be trampling the grapes when the planters are ready to start again--"New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills."

Picking up on this stratum of thought Revelation, so steeped in the rhythms of the Hebrew Bible, concludes with a vision of a restored and super fertile creation in which there will be a harvest every month (Rev. 22:2). As part of this abundance, we find the resonantly poetic phrase "And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations" (Rev. 22:2). This tree is of course the tree of life, and so we circle back to Genesis.

The Greek word that means "household" or "world" is oikemene. In English it is the word from which we get three important words for our time--economy, ecology, and ecumenism. As a household of faith, seeking health for our communities and those of our partners in the developing world, it is time to play our part to the fullest in the family of humanity to work with like-minded folk in restructuring our economic affairs to reflect justice to the poor, in such a way that we are ecologically engaged.

We do this remembering that the narrative of the Bible and baptism through the waters of chaos bring us within an alternative economy, where loaves and fishes multiply and the Lord Almighty prepares a feast of rich food for all people--the best of meats, the finest of wines, death swallowed up forever, tears wiped away from all faces and the disgrace of God's people removed (Isa. 25:6-8).

We do this constructing an economy of life, in which infant mortality and premature adult death are abolished (Isa. 65:20), where people are secure from exploitation on their own land (Isa. 65:21, 22) and where the curse of Genesis 3 is undone (Isa. 65:23).

At our point in history we are all called to more sustainable, more ecologically balanced life styles, working with, rather than against, nature. We are called to take those steps we can to stop climate change, to end ecological disaster, to bring the world into closer conformity with the biblical vision we have explored of a healthy, abundant creation. We do this for the benefit of the whole human family, but most especially the poor of the earth, and we do it to the glory of the God who wills abundant life.

Mark Gray, Advent 2008