Caring for Creation
In Genesis God tells Adam to take dominion over and subdue the created world. There are many commentaries on this, some arguing it means that God gives man ‘carte blanche’ over nature, while others explain that the gift of dominion and subjugation is similar to that given to a king who will rule and reign over a kingdom, and it’s the king’s responsibility to bring order and justice to the land. Ultimately, man is accountable to God for the way in which we live (Romans 14:12) and handle the roles He has given us. The other verses below help us understand more fully God’s thoughts about His created world and what He meant when He handed over our dominion.
It seems to make sense that God is giving us the authority, the free will and also the responsibility to take care of what He has created, because the day will come when we have to give an account.
On a personal note, I had to smile at the Lord’s comments regarding the unnecessary destruction of trees.(I think he really loves trees!) Not only didn’t it make sense from a purely logistical perspective, it would seem He is not in favor of it on behalf of the trees who have no stake in a war. .
Numbers 35:33-34 NIV “ ‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.’ ”
| Address | Verse | Link |
| Genesis 1:28 | 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue (have dominion over) it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” | https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%201&version=NIV |
| Genesis 2:14 | 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. | https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+2%3A15&version=NIV |
| Deuteronomy 20:19-20 NIV | When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them? However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you fails. | https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+20%3A19-20&version=NIV |
| Isaiah 28:25-29 | When he has leveled the surface,does he not sow caraway and scatter cumin?Does he not plant wheat in its place,[a]barley in its plot,[b]and spelt in its field?26 His God instructs himand teaches him the right way. 27 Caraway is not threshed with a sledge,nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin;caraway is beaten out with a rod,and cumin with a stick.28 Grain must be ground to make bread;so one does not go on threshing it forever.The wheels of a threshing cart may be rolled over it,but one does not use horses to grind grain.29 All this also comes from the Lord Almighty,whose plan is wonderful,whose wisdom is magnificent. | https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+28%3A25-29&version=NIV |
| Matthew 10:29-30 | Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. | https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew+10%3A29-30&version=NIV |
| Rev 11:18 | The nations were angry,and your wrath has come.The time has come for judging the dead,and for rewarding your servants the prophetsand your people who revere your name,both great and small—and for destroying those who destroy the earth*.” | https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+11%3A18&version=NIV |
