Four Biblical Principles for the Environment

Our look at Biblical Anthropology continues today as we study some principles for caring for the environment. Let’s see what we can discover…

We’ve already looked at some general principles in Genesis. “work it and keep it” – “Be fruitful and multiply” – “subdue it, and have dominion” You can read the previous articles for more on those.

We can also find some principles in the Law of Moses, so let’s go there next.

One example is found in the laws of the Sabbath. In Leviticus 25, we find some important agricultural regulations for Israel:

The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD. For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. The Sabbath of the land shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield shall be for food.

Leviticus 25:1-7

After this, there would be a special year of rest, every 50 years. We’ve already talked a little about this when we studied justice.

Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely. The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely. And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.

Leviticus 25:18-22

We see two purposes here – food itself, “you will eat your fill”, and security. This system cares for the poor, and it also provides for you.

And here’s something interesting – there is a supernatural element here. God promised the Israelites a larger crop every six years, so that there would be enough for the seventh year – a year of rest. We’ll talk more about this later.

Today we know from scientific study that the earth – the soil – does indeed need “rest”. Overuse can permanently damage the soil, even leading to desertification. Basically, converting fertile soil into a desert. God is wise.

Another fascinating law is a law about sieges in Deuteronomy 20. Basically, when you’re conquering a city (remember, the Israelites were about to enter Canaan), your army could cut down trees for weapons or fuel, but it was not permitted to cut down fruit trees. In other words, at the end of the war, you didn’t want everyone to die of hunger. (Take a look through history – how many times has that exact thing happened?)

There are also various laws for animals. Here are some quick examples.

If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.

Exodus 23:5

That one’s pretty simple. Help your neighbour, help his donkey. Even if your neighbour hates you.

You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain…

Deuteronomy 25:4

Why? Because your cattle need the strength to do the work. This law is good for you, good for the ox.

If you come across a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.

Deuteronomy 22:6-7

This is an interesting one, and no explanation is given. But we can make some educated guesses.

There are a couple of reasons why you may want to take the young birds or the eggs. First, for food (or maybe for the feathers). That is allowed. Second, population control. If there is a huge population boom of a certain species, that can cause major problems in the ecosystem. This is a way to control population growth.

But – “let the mother go”, so that the species may not be wiped out completely. If you kill too many birds, what have you got? Snakes, scorpions, and everything else that the birdies eat.

So yes, go ahead and eat eggs and birds and control the population, but you still need to allow for a balanced ecosystem. God is wise.

What is the only explanation for this in the text? “…that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.” Keep that in mind as we continue our study.

Let’s look at a couple more principles in Proverbs.

Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast,
but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.

Proverbs 12:10

Don’t be cruel. Take care of your cow or your donkey.

Know well the condition of your flocks,
and give attention to your herds,
for riches do not last forever;
and does a crown endure to all generations?

Proverbs 27:23-24

Why should you pay attention to the condition of your flocks? Because you’re preparing for the future. It’s as if someone were to say, “I don’t need to save money. I have a great job!” or “I don’t need to eat nutritious food, I’m healthy!” No – you should be thinking of the future, and preparing for it.

Let’s just stop at look at four principles that we can draw from our study so far:

1. We care for creation for the glory of God.
2. We care for creation to benefit people (quality and length of life).

Remember that phrase? “…that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.” So that the soil is productive, and so that our community is secure. These laws are very focused on human beings, the family, the community.

Take care of the garden, expand it, for food and – in a fallen world – medicine and general well-being.

You might have noticed something else. These are very local laws. In other words, you are especially responsible for yourself and your family.

This is a very interesting point. Now, of course, we have to admit that the world has changed a lot. Most of us don’t live on farms. And that raises a lot of other questions – like how should we be setting up our communities and our families? But I think that the Bible does emphasize for us the importance of our own geographical area, our own homes, our own community. Local responsibility.

So the next principle is:

3. We care for creation through local responsibility.

Finally, we have noted this supernatural element. God Himself blesses the earth.

We already discussed how God Himself cares for and sustains His creation. We’ve also learned that following wise principles tends to lead to abundance. This is simple logic. God has even more scientific knowledge than we do.

And so the fourth principle, obedience to God also brings blessing.

4. We care for creation through our general obedience to God.

This principle is all throughout Scripture, but here’s an example.

And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers. He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock.

Deuteronomy 7:12-14

You might object that this is for Israel, not for us. You raise a good point. There are certainly special and specific promises in the Bible for the land of Israel. A covenant with a nation.

But I think there’s a universal principle here. Why?

Because we’re still talking about some of the same things we’ve been talking about since Genesis 1, things that apply to all humanity. Caring for the earth. Obeying God. Having children. “By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their livestock diminish” Psalm 107:38.

God is still in control of His creation. And yes, we have a certain amount of control over our environment. But many things happen on our planet and in our solar system that we simply cannot change.

We don’t have the same land promises as Israel had. And we all know that God chooses when we live, when we die, what sufferings we’ll go through. But He still sends us many physical blessings. He still sends physical judgements as well – and we suffer physical consequences if we are disobedient.

In reality, a couple of things are happening. First, the logical consequences of our actions. And it’s amazing how many things are connected together. Sometimes, ignoring the proper role of government, or not properly training our children, or sexual immorality, can have direct or indirect consequences when it comes to the environment.

But God may also choose to bring blessing or judgement to the earth – the planet – directly in answer to our actions.

Even before the Law of Moses, God said this to Cain:

The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength.

From Genesis 4:10-12

A connection between murder and the environment?

And again, before the Law of Moses, the nations in Canaan were condemned for their immorality. Here’s what God said about that:

Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.

Leviticus 18:24-25

The land, the land, the land “vomited out its inhabitants”.

And so this has led me to a surprising conclusion. What is the very best thing we can do to care for our planet? How should we celebrate Earth Day? Obey God’s Word. Not just the parts about the environment – all of it. General obedience.

Once again, we’re ending up at a very different place than the world ends up. I warned you!

But now that we have a biblical foundation, let’s take a look at some of the things that the world is promoting regarding the environment. What I found interesting about this is how so many themes from all of the Biblical Anthropology topics actually come together when we get into environmentalism. But we’ll get into that next time. 🙂