Human Sin And Creation

Take-Aways

Genesis 3 is the starkest example of human sin being born out in the land, if only because it is the first. It is here that the intended harmonious relationship between humanity and the rest of creation is first broken. As long as Adam and Eve followed God’s commands, the earth provided for them in ease out of its great abundance. Refer back to “Humanity’s Relationship to Creation” and Genesis 2:15. Humanity was created to be in relationship with God and to tend and till the Garden. When humanity’s relationship with God was fractured in the Fall, so too was its relationship with the land. This passage need not be read as only describing what has happened, but what is happening. When we disobey God’s ordinances, including those to care for the land, and for the poor and needy in our midst (see “Creation Care as Justice”), we continue to fracture our relationship with the land. Consider that the current global food crisis, which is predicted only to get worse, is exacerbated by droughts and flooding caused by climate change. Our abuse of the land is preventing millions worldwide from receiving their daily bread. It is important to note that even as the ground is cursed because of human sin, our inextricable relationship to the land is reaffirmed. Out of the ground we came, and to the ground we shall return.

John Calvin – Commentaries on the First Book of Moses Called Genesis

Chapter 3: v. 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth . . . Yet it is not our part to expostulate with the earth for not answering to our wishes, and to the labours of its cultivators, as if it were maliciously frustrating our purpose; but in its sterility let us mark the anger of God, and mourn over our own sins. It has been falsely maintained by some, that the earth is exhausted by the long succession of time, as if constant bringing forth bad wearied it. They think more correctly who acknowledge that, by the increasing wickedness of men, the remaining blessing of God is gradually diminished and impaired; and certainly there is danger, unless the world repent, that a great part of men should shortly perish through hunger, and other dreadful miseries (Vol 1, p174-175).

The New Interpreters Bible Commentary

Chapter 3: “What, then, of the “Fall” as a metaphor for what happens in this text? At least two issues present themselves: (1) the congruence of this metaphor with the metaphors in the text, and (2) the idea of the sin of Adam and Eve as a decisive rupture in the history of the relationship between God and humans. I believe that we may speak of a fundamental disruption, though this specific metaphor finds no textual basis (Volume I, p367).

Other readers assume that human beings were not created as sinful or evil creatures. If they were “perfect,” how could they have failed? Rather, they were “good,” which entails considerable room for growth and the development of potentialities. By the way human responsibility for what happens is lifted up, the writer does not assign the problem of human sinfulness to God or consider it integral to God’s creational purposes. Certainly God creates the potential for such developments for the sake of human freedom. Especially important are the effects of this human decision, which range in an amazingly wide arch; it disrupts not only their own lives, but (given the symbiotic character of creaturely relationships) that of the entire cosmos as well, issuing in disharmonious relationships at every level. … Perhaps these themes allow a variation on the “Fall” metaphor–namely, a fall “out.” The primary images in the text are those of separation, estrangement, alienation, and displacement.” In those respects, the story is written not only to reflect a story of the past, but also to claim that in fundamental ways it reflects the character of human life in every age, which is filled with disharmonious relationships at all levels of life. Human beings always “reject their God-given vocation, scorn their permission modestly to enjoy the good gifts of the Garden, and break across in the area of prohibition outside the sphere of human competence (Volume I, p368).

The concern for the relationship between the human and nonhuman, often neglected, pervades these texts. This connection ranges from the deep concern evident in the detail regarding God’s creating of the various creatures, to the assignment of the human to the further development of and care for the human world. The naming of the animals, while not finally solving human loneliness, establishes a “by name” relationship between the human and the nonhuman. God’s continuing concern for the animals in the story of Noah’s ark shows that God’s delegation of responsibility does not issue in a deistic perspective regarding the divine care for the world. The symbiotic relationship among the creatures, in which humans participate, remains a prominent theme throughout the OT (see Lev 18:24-28; 26:14, 20; Hose 4:1-3; Rom 8:19-23) (Volume I, p369-370).

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary

Chapter 3: vv. 12-19 – The punishment of the man, the central actor in the sotry, is climactic by its third position in the series and by its length. The man is not cursed, but the earth is cursed because of the man’s misdeed; his tilling and tending of it will be laborious. 18. Thorns and thistles will grow on the ground but man must still find his sustenance therefrom, enduring a hard life till he returns to the earth whence he came. (p 12-13)

Take-Aways

As began with the Fall, humanity’s continued sinfulness corrupts not only our souls, but the earth, and all of creation bears the burden of our iniquity (see Take-Aways for Genesis 3:17-19). In the time of Noah, humanity’s sinfulness had become so pervasive that God was “sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” Scripture takes great pains to emphasize that humanity’s actions have consequences for the land. Notice the number of times the earth is referred to in these few short verses and how often the adjective “corrupt” is used. What does it say that God would rather destroy God’s beloved creation (see “God Cares for and Sustains Creation”) than let humanity continue to despoil it.

New Interpreters Bible Commentary

The basic character of the human heart is set alongside the response of the divine heart. God appears, not as an angry and vengeful judge, but as a grieving and pained parent, distressed at what has happened. God “regrets” having proceeded with the creation in the first place, given these tragic developments. We may discern divine consternation and disappointment, since God’s vision for what the world might have been has been dashed by a narrow and self-centered human vision (Volume I, p389).

The author focuses on what has happened to the earth, a word repeated six times. God deems the earth to be corrupt (vv11a,12a) because it is filled with violence. Corruption (Hebrew sahat) involves ruin, decadence, or decay, the effect of violence; it stands over against the “good” God saw in chap. 1. The earth (not just the creatures) has not continued as it was created to be (on defiling or polluting the earth, see 4:10-12; Num 35:33-34; Isa 24:5-7; Jer 3:1-3) (Volume I, p390).

Leviticus 26: 14-35

But if you will not obey me, and do not observe all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes, and abhor my ordinances, so that you will not observe all my commandments, and you break my covenant, I in turn will do this to you: I will bring terror on you; consumption and fever that waste the eyes and cause life to pine away. You shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down by your enemies; your foes shall rule over you, and you shall flee though no one pursues you. And if in spite of this you will not obey me, I will continue to punish you sevenfold for your sins. I will break your proud glory, and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like copper. Your strength shall be spent to no purpose: your land shall not yield its produce, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit. If you continue hostile to me, and will not obey me, I will continue to plague you sevenfold for your sins. I will let loose wild animals against you, and they shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock; they shall make you few in number, and your roads shall be deserted. If in spite of these punishments you have not turned back to me, but continue hostile to me, then I too will continue hostile to you: I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. I will bring the sword against you, executing vengeance for the covenant; and if you withdraw within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into enemy hands. When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven, and they shall dole out your bread by weight; and though you eat, you shall not be satisfied. But if, despite this, you disobey me, and continue hostile to me, I will continue hostile to you in fury; I in turn will punish you myself sevenfold for your sins. You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense-altars; I will heap your carcasses on the carcasses of your idols. I will abhor you. I will lay your cities waste, will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing odours. I will devastate the land, so that your enemies who come to settle in it shall be appalled at it. And you I will scatter among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword against you; your land shall be a desolation, and your cities a waste. Then the land shall enjoy its sabbath years as long as it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its sabbath years. As long as it lies desolate, it shall have the rest it did not have on your sabbaths when you were living on it.

Take-Aways

Reading this passage in light of current events and climate change, it would be easy to believe that these words were written in a contemporary newspaper rather than in a book of the Bible thousands of years old. This chapter must be read in context with the rest of Leviticus in which God lays out a number of statues and ordinances for the people of Israel, including the repeated command to care for the land. These verses can be interpreted a number of different ways – a vengeful God striking a willful people, a grieving God punishing in love, or a loving God, carefully describing the consequences of our actions the way a parent warns a child not to touch a stove because she will be burned. Whatever God’s motives, it is chilling how accurately the consequences described here are being born out today as a result of humanity’s abuse of the land. Leviticus warns of food shortages; climate change is exacerbating an already critical global food crisis by decimating crops through increased droughts and flooding. Leviticus warns of disease; because of climate change, disease bearing insects are thriving in regions where they never before lived spreading dangerous illnesses. It is predicted that a 1 degree Celsius rise in global temperature will lead to spikes in typhoid, malaria, and water borne illnesses. Leviticus warns of war; consider that our current dependence on non-renewable fuels has us borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Middle East where we are currently engaged in war, meaning that the money we pay to fuel our military is going to many of the regimes funding the very people our soldiers are fighting. Furthermore, when the cost of a barrel of crude oil increases $10, the Ayatollah Kahmenei in Iran gets $15 billion more, Putin in Russia gets an extra $36 billion, and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela gets an additional $10 billion. Lastly, note what God promises for the land while humanity is ravaged by hunger, disease, and war – “Then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbath years. As long as it lies desolate, it shall have the rest it did not have on your sabbaths when you were living on it.” Notice that while Leviticus is filled with statutes and ordinances that humanity is to obey, when God describes the consequences for disobedience it is only the neglected land that is mentioned.

For more on Lev. 26, see the Adult Bible Study Sabbath for the Land.

John Calvin – Commentaries on the Harmony of the Law

34. then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths. In order that the observance of the Sabbath should be the more honoured, God in a manner associated the land in it together with man; for whereas the land had rest every seventh year from sowing, and harvest, and al cultivation, He thus desired to stir up men more effectually to a greater reverence for the Sabbath. God now bitterly reproves the Israelites because they not only profane the Sabbath themselves, but do not even allow the land to enjoy its prescribed rest; for this repose of the seventh year did not hiner the land from continually groaning under a heavy burden as long as it nourished such ungodly inhabitants. He says, therefore, that the land was disturbed by ceaseless inquietude, and thus was deprived of its lawful Sabbaths, since it bore on its shoulders, as it were, and not without great distress, such impious despisers of God (Vol 1, p 238).

Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible

This sermon is the rhetorical conclusion to the book driving home its message, especially that of the last eight chapters with their call to holiness. It is concerned with communal obedience and disobedience; the ritual and civil measures in chs. 16 and 20 and the warnings of divine punishment (“cutting off”) throughout protect the community from the effects of individual wrongdoing. The original audience, if this was after the exile, could well find the rhetoric recalling their experience and being reinforced by it.

There is, however, a special tie with ch. 25. The land is Yahweh’s supreme blessing on Israel; ch. 26 offers them its blessings if they are obedient and threatens them with its loss (v. 33) in case of disobedience. It is therefore appropriate to pair it with ch. 25, in which the land is the symbol of Yahweh’s claim on them (C.J.H. Wright 1990: 150). So the loss of the land is an ironic fulfillment of the savvath year law (vv. 34-35, 43; cf. 25: 2-7). V. 13 also picks up 25:42, 55.

Prefixed, however (vv. 1-2), is a reminder of the most fundamental of all Yahweh’s requirements: to be faithful to him, negatively (v. 1) and positively (v. 2). V. 2 repeats 19:30 word for word; v.1 recalls 19:4 (as well as Exod 20:2-6) but expands it. The “pillars” are free-standing undecorated stones which as late as the seventh century BC had been accepted symbols of Yahweh’s presence. It is perhaps to avoid even the suspicion of idolatry that they are forbidden (cf. Deut 16:22).

As the conclusion to a law code, Leviticus 26 is similar to Deuteronomy 28, which pronounces blessings and curses on Israel for obedience and disobedience. Both of them follow a tradition which is seen throughout the ancient Near East in law codes and treaties. Yahweh’s “covenant” with Israel is therefore a major theme (vv. 9, 15, 25 [?], 42, and 44-45). Heb. berit means “treaty” as well as “covenant,” so that the idea is appropriate to the literary form. But here there are no blessings and curses, but rather statements by God of his personal intentions. And the punishments are not presented as final vengeance, but rather as a graduated series of disciplinar “treaty” as well as “covenant,” so that the idea is appropriate to the literary form. But here there are no blessings and curses, but rather statements by God of his personal intentions. And the punishments are not presented as final vengeance, but rather as a graduated series of disciplinary actions intended to make Israel come to its senses (like Amos 4:6-12), which are expected to be eventually successful (v. 40). Yahweh in fact will never abandon Israel, but will “remember his covenant.”

The covenant is seen primarily as Yahweh’s promise (Genesis 17). There are conditions which Israel can break (v. 15, perhaps referring to Exodus 24), but this does not wipe the covenant out. The phrase “vengeance for the covenant” in v. 25 is unique and might better be translated “covenant vengeance” or “treaty vengeance,” referring not so much to the covenant as to treaties in general, with their pronouncement of vengeance on the violator. So in spite of the long series of fearsome warnings, the impression the chapter leaves in the ened is of God’s irresistible grace and faithfulness to his people (p 122-123).

The New Interpreters Bible Commentary

So desolate will the land become that even Israel’s enemies will be appalled. In the meantime, those who survive all of this will be scattered among the nations, and the Diaspora will be on (vv. 31-33). This will be the sixth, and final, curse. While the nation is in exile, the land will enjoy the sabbatical years that Israel failed to observe (v34). Based on the 70 years of Babylonian exile, it appears that the nation went 490 years without observing what Leviticus 25 urges (see Jer 25:11). This would be a period from approximately King Saul’s time (c.1100BCE) until the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. There is no need, however, to work out any exact number of years, for it appears to be a round number dealing with a rather extended period when Israel forgot God (Volume I, p1181).

The significance of singling out the Sabbath and the sactuary may be exactly as Andrew Bonar concluded: “All declension and decay may be said to be begun whenever we see these two ordinances despised–the Sabbath and the Sanctuary. They are the outward fence around the inward love commanded in verse 1” (Volume I, p1183).

Take-Aways

Not only is the connection between humanity and the land prevalent in the books of Moses, but it is a fact often witnessed to by the prophets. Because of human sin, “the gladness of the earth is banished.” Pay close attention to Isaiah’s description; he states, “The earth lies polluted under its inhabitants.” How often are we tempted to read that line figuratively and disregard its literal truth? The fact is that the truth Isaiah speaks lies both in the figurative and the literal. Humanity has literally polluted the earth with garbage and waste, and we also pollute it with the fruits of excessive consumption, greed, and hubris. Whether figurative or literal, however, this pollution is the result of sin. The sins that we inflict upon the land are then visited back upon us, through decreased production of crops, increase of natural disasters, and the spread of violence.

Calvin’s Commentary on Isaiah

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom14.xiii.i.html

There is a kind of mutual bargain between the land and the husbandmen, that it gives back with usury what it has received: if it does not, it deceives those who cultivate it. But he assigns a reason, imputing blame to them, that they render it barren by their wickedness. It is owing to our fault that it does not nourish us or bring forth fruit, as God appointed to be done by the regular order of nature; for he wished that it should hold the place of a mother to us, to supply us with food; and if it change its nature and order, or lose its fertility, we ought to attribute it to our sins, since we ourselves have reversed the order which God had appointed; otherwise the earth would never deceive us, but would perform her duty.

Because they have transgressed the laws. He immediately assigns the reason why the earth is unfaithful, and deceives her inhabitants. It is because those who refuse to honor God their Father and supporter, will justly be deprived of food and nourishment. Here he peculiarly holds up to shame the revolt of his nation, because it was baser and less excusable than all the transgressions of those who had never been taught in the school of God. The word תורה (tōrāh) is applied to “the Law,” because it denotes instruction; but here, in the plural number, תורת (tōrōth,) it denotes all the instruction that is contained in the “Law.” But as the “Law” contains both commandments and promises, he adds two parts for the purpose of explanation.

They have changed the ordinance. The Hebrew word חק (chōk) means “an ordinance,” and on that account some think that it denotes ceremonies, and others that it denotes morals. We may render it “commandments;” and I understand it to mean not only ceremonies, but everything that belongs to the rule of a holy life.

They have broken the everlasting covenant. The third term employed by him is, ברית, (bērīth,) by which he means a covenant and contract. This word is limited to those “contracts” by which the Lord, who adopted his people, promised that he would be their God. (Exodus 19:6; 29:45; Leviticus 26:12.) He therefore charges them with ingratitude, because, when the Lord revealed himself by all these methods, and gave proofs of his love, they were disobedient and rebellious, “transgressed the laws,” and “broke the holy covenant.”

He calls it “the covenant of eternity,” or “the everlasting covenant,” because it ought to be perpetual and inviolable, and to be in force in every age. It was to be transmitted, in uninterrupted succession, from father to son, that it might never be effaced from the memory of man, but might be kept pure and entire. He therefore represents in strong terms their treachery and wickedness, because they dared to violate that covenant which God had made with them, and to overthrow what the Lord intended to be firm and permanent. This was monstrous; and therefore we ought not to wonder that the earth takes vengeance for this wickedness, and refuses to give food to men.

The New Interpreters Bible Commentary

As in Hos 4:1-3, the earth suffers because of human sin, as commonly understood in the Hebrew Bible. Thus what follows in vv. 5-6 is the most explicit explanation for the coming trouble in the entire section (chaps. 24-27). The earth withers because it has been “polluted” by its inhabitants. Three sources of pollution are listed, but they are actually one. The first two, transgression of laws and violation of statutes, parallel one another, and amount to the third, breaking “the everlasting covenant” (v. 5). Which covenant does the author have in view? The obvious answer is the covenant with Noah (Gen 9:1-17), since it is called “an everlasting covenant,” and extends to all people and creatures of the earth. On the other hand, the reference to laws and statutes leaves open the possibility that this is the Sinai covenant (Exod 19-Num 9). In this context, and somewhat in tension with vv. 1-3, the disaster comes not from divine intervention against the people and the earth, but from the “curse” that has its effects, polluting and devastating all creation. “Guilt” need not be punished because it sets terrible effects into motion. So NIV reads “its people must bear their guilt” (v. 6), that is, they have set the tragedy into motion” (p211).

The pollution of the earth is a moral issue. In the biblical tradition the environmental implications of particular human crimes or sins is not always obvious. We can understand how dumping industrial waste into a river pollutes it. But how does the violation of, e.g., some of the Ten Commandments “cause” the land to mourn and fish to die? On this issue, as on so many others, the biblical tradition calls for those who take it seriously to reflect more deeply upon human responsibilities to both the earth and all its inhabitants. Moreover, it should not be surprising that prophecies concerning the virtual destruction of the earth elicit reflection on the environment, for many contemporary writers on the subject claim that the environmental crisis has apocalyptical implications. Those who destroy or use up natural resources will lose those resources, or their descendants will (Vol. 6, p213-214).

Take-Aways

It has been noted elsewhere that humanity’s sin is born out on the land (see Gen 3:17-19, 6: 5-13; Isa 24: 5-6). How often do we stop to consider the bloodshed caused by climate change? In addition to the victims of natural disasters, who number in the tens of thousands, there is a direct connection between climate change and political destabilization. As rivers and streams run dry and the land becomes barren, climate refugees are brought into closer and closer contact with one another and forced to compete for dwindling resources. After the drying of Lake Chad, competition for land led to the eruption of genocide in Darfur leaving 300,000 people dead. More than 50 percent of the world’s population lives within 40 miles of a shoreline. Rising waters and worsening droughts will force the mass-migration of billions of people, destabilizing regions and creating ungoverned spaces where terrorists can flourish. We have already witnessed this chain of events in Afghanistan in the 1990s, and currently see it in Somalia. Bloodshed follows bloodshed and the land mourns.

Calvin’s Commentary on Hosea

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/calcom26.xi.ii.html

But some one may here object and say, that it is unworthy of God to be angry with miserable creatures, which deserve no such treatment: for why should God be angry with fishes and beasts? But an answer may be easily given: As beasts, and birds, and fishes, and, in a word, all other things, have been created for the use of men, it is no wonder that God should extend the tokens of his curse to all creatures, above and below, when his purpose is to punish men. We seek, indeed, for the most part, some vain comforts to delight us, or to moderate our sorrows when God shows himself angry with us: but when God curses innocent animals for our sake, we then dread the more, except, indeed, we be under the influence of extreme stupor.

We now then understand why God here denounces destruction on brute animals as well as on birds and fishes of the sea; it is, that men may know themselves to be deprived of all his gifts; as when a person, in order to expose a wicked man to shame, pulls down his house and burns his whole furniture: so also does God do, who has adorned the world with so much and such varied wealth for our sake, when he reduces all things to a waste: He thereby shows how grievously offended he is with us, and thus constrains us to become humble. This then is the Prophet’s meaning.

New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary

Hosea 4:1-3 introduces the 4-11 complex, while still preserving obvious links with chaps. 1-3. The “word of the Lord” given to Hosea in 1:1 is now delivered to the people of Israel, who are summoned to hear in 4:1. Like 2:2-15, 4:1-3 constitutes God’s legal complaint (Hebrew rib), this time brought against the inhabitants of Israel. The rib accuses them of lacking three qualities that would manifest their covenantal relationship with God: “faithfulness” (Hebrew emet), “steadfast love” (Hebrew hesed), and the “knowledge of God (Hebrew da’at). These attributes refer to the gifts Yahweh will bestow on his wife when he renews the covenant with all of creation on her behalf (2:18-20). Although the bride is given faithfulness (Hebrew emuna, 2:20), the people lack emet. Steadfast love is missing, and the bride who would come “to know Yahweh” has no such knowledge of God.

The absence of these covenantal qualities gives rise to a number of covenantal violations among the people (4:2). The five crimes singled out (swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery) are prohibited by the Decalogue (Exod 20:1-17; Deut 5:6-21). Anarchy in the land is epitomized in the vivid image of one bloody deed following another (cf. the bloodshed of Jezreel, 1:4).

The “therefore (Hebrew al-ken) that begins 4:3 highlights the infection of creation itself, resulting from the social iniquity of the land’s inhabitants. Human wickedness pollutes nature and all the creatures within it. This cosmic corruption is described as a drought: The land dries up, the inhabitants languish, and creatures perish. The reference to drought sets the tone for Hosea 4-11, accentuating the theme of barrenness that ensues from Israel’s covenantal transgressions. The infertility of the land contrasts with previous descriptions of cosmic abundance, flowing from the covenantal reunion of husband and wife (2:1823). Nevertheless, three hope passages within Hosea 4-11, intermingled with oracles of doom . . . set the stage for the reversal of this barrenness in Hosea 14.

An ecological, “green” consciousness is widespread throughout the world today. In some countries, “green” has even become a party platform. Such a consciousness comes as a positive reaction to troubling times, when biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons capable of wiping out our entire planet are being developed; when we exploit our natural resources without renewing them; when our rivers, our skies, our lakes, and our oceans become polluted with our toxic wastes. Our antiseptic, plastic-wrapped society detaches us from the land. We abandon our farms and concentrate in cities. Our supermarkets distance us not only from the arduous processing of the land’s products, but also from the sense of gratitude and respect for what the land has yielded.

In contrast, what is underscored in Hos 4:1-3 is the intimate moral, as well as physical, link between all of creation and a covenanted people. As an agricultural, pre-industrial society, ancient Israel was fully conscious of its interconnection with the land. The way its people lived their lives directly affected the rest of creation. When the people blessed God, the land blossomed forth in lush vegetation. When the people sinned, “the land mourned.”

The pollution of our own land provides ample evidence of the brokenness of our society. The destruction of its creatures and its resources indicts us for forgetting “our mother.” Hosea 4:1-3 recalls our bonds with the rest of creation and exhorts us to restore the harmony between us by setting our own lives in order (Vol. 7, pg 236-237).

The New Jerome Biblical Commentary

The collection begins with a general introduction, a judgment on the whole people. The sons of Israel, sons of the promise who have received the land in fulfillment of the promise, have proved faithless. Fidelity (‘emet) and mercy (hesed) are the virtues proper to covenant relationships; their concrete working out is “knowledge of God,” i.e., action according to his moral will (c.f. 2:22). The catalogue of Israel’s sins in v 2 obviously recalls the Decalogue: precepts of the sort that were the condition for the continuance of the covenant have been violated and so the coveant is broken. 3. mourns: The alternate meaning of ’bl, “dries up,” fits better with what follows. When the covenant is broken, the object of the covenant, the land, is turned to desert and Israel reverts to its primitive, uncovenanted, unredeemed condition (p 222).

Take-Aways

It would be naïve and dishonest to ignore the economic realities at work in climate change. The U.S. has roughly 4 percent of the world’s population, but consumes 25 percent of its oil. It is the emissions of wealthy, industrialized countries that have the most significant impact on climate change. In order to maintain our standard of living, we deplete the earth of her non-renewable resources and then burn them in irresponsible ways that harm the planet. In short, climate change is fueled by our excessive consumption. Given this reality, Jesus’ warning should be a wakeup call. We have chosen to pursue wealth at the expense of caring for God’s creation.

God’s gifts, including the gift of creation, are meant for our enjoyment and our benefit. The problem comes when we abuse those gifts and indulge in excess. God is the proper object of our desire and the gifts that we receive are meant to draw us into closer relationship with God. But instead, we set our desire on the gifts themselves, setting our own wisdom above God’s and believing that the plans we make for ourselves are better than God’s plans for us (for more see Augustine’s concept of uti and frui in De Doctrina Christiana). Instead of drawing closer to God by caring for creation, we abuse God’s gifts to meet our own ends.

This truth that it is better for us to set God as the proper object of our desire is demonstrated by the fact that serving God by caring for creation will actually strengthen our economy. Investing in renewable energy will create good green jobs that cannot be outsourced and break our dependence on foreign oil. The United States also spends enormous amounts of money responding to natural disasters and intervening in regions of the world threatened with political destabilization, both of which are exacerbated by climate change.

Obeying God does not guarantee wealth; the rain falls on the just and unjust alike. That is why humanity must choose which master to serve. But the Bible does reveal that it is when we are first faithful to God and to God’s creation that the land yields its blessings and we can reap of its bounty (see Lev. 26: 3-13 in “God Cares for and Sustains Creation”).

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible

The Parable of the Unjust Steward

Whatever we have, the property of it is God’s; we have only the use of it, according to the direction of our great Lord, and for his honour. This steward wasted his lord’s goods. And we are all liable to the same charge; we have not made due improvement of what God has trusted us with. The steward cannot deny it; he must make up his accounts, and be gone. This may teach us that death will come, and deprive us of the opportunities we now have. The steward will make friends of his lord’s debtors or tenants, by striking off a considerable part of their debt to his lord. The lord referred to in this parable commended not the fraud, but the policy of the steward. In that respect alone is it so noticed. Worldly men, in the choice of their object, are foolish; but in their activity, and perseverance, they are often wiser than believers. The unjust steward is not set before us as an example in cheating his master, or to justify any dishonesty, but to point out the careful ways of worldly men. It would be well if the children of light would learn wisdom from the men of the world, and would as earnestly pursue their better object. The true riches signify spiritual blessings; and if a man spends upon himself, or hoards up what God has trusted to him, as to outward things, what evidence can he have, that he is an heir of God through Christ? The riches of this world are deceitful and uncertain. Let us be convinced that those are truly rich, and very rich, who are rich in faith, and rich toward God, rich in Christ, in the promises; let us then lay up our treasure in heaven, and expect our portion from thence.

New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary

This [verse] forms a conclusion to this unit of parables and related sayings. The verse is a compact unit, formed by (1) an opening assertion; (2) two supporting observations, chiastically arranged; and (3) the conclusion that follows from the argument.
(1) No slave can serve two masters
(2) For a slave will either hate (a) the one and love (b) the other, or be devoted (be) to the one and despise (a) the other.
(3) You cannot serve God and wealth.

Wealth, which can serve as a means and opportunity for securing one’s place in the kingdom if used shrewdly for the sake for others, can also become a master. Materialism enslaves us, but God requires exclusive loyalty. The Shema reminded Israel, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart” (Deut 6:5). Since one cannot serve two masters, one cannot be devoted both to acquiring wealth and to serving God. Moreover, the way we use what we have reveals who we serve. The choice of having no master is not an option; we can only choose the Lord we will serve.

Christians are to be faithful whether we deal in little things or vast resources. Whether we are as shrewd as a dishonest steward depends on whether we use our material goods, great or small, to help those in need. Then, when we worship God rather than our wealth, we will find that we truly have “friends in high places” (Vol. 9, pg 309).