The Human Race Plunders and Exploits Nature

The fall of humanity alienated Homo sapiens from the rest of creation (see the previous blog). It destroyed the harmonious relationship with nature that the first couple enjoyed in the Garden of Eden. Eventually, even the animals Adam named and were his companions began to fear the human race (Gen. 9:2). All this set into motion an exploitive behavior that became pervasive throughout the entire family of man. Since the Fall, mankind has shown little concern for the welfare of his physical environment—the land, water, and air—or for the survival of other created life. This article will explore how this exploitive behavior and alienation from God affected mankind’s relationship with nature.

Nature Suffers Because of Human Sin

God has not told us exactly why nature was cursed and suffers because of human sin, but it makes perfect sense. Many scientists, theologians, and Christian apologists have argued that God created the cosmos—and the earth in particular—to support human life. As theologian and philosopher William Lane Craig said in Reasonable Faith, “The entire universe and its history are fine-tuned from its inception with incredible precision to produce man on earth” (91). If God designed the earth with the human race in mind and placed Adam and Eve in a perfect natural environment specially prepared for them—and put nature under their management—it would be incongruous for nature to be unaffected when Adam and Eve rebelled against God, opened the door for death and decay to enter the world, and were expelled from the Garden as part of their punishment. Nature suffers the consequences of the Fall, and there is ample biblical and observational evidence that human sin continues to despoil nature. To the present day, human greed, self-indulgence, and indifference creates pollution, destroys natural habitats, and exterminates wild species of plants and animals.

Nowhere is the direct link between human sin and its devastating consequences on nature more profoundly and expansively demonstrated than the worldwide Flood. Because “the LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” (Gen. 6:5), God destroyed all life, including all people, plants, and animals—except those He called to the ark.
Unfortunately, even after God had purged the earth with worldwide floodwaters, humans continued to sin and nature continued to suffer as a result. Throughout Jewish history, the fate of the land was often interwoven with the behavior and spiritual life of the Israelites (see for example, Hosea 4:1–3; Deuteronomy 11:13–17; Jeramiah 7:16–20; 9:12b–14).

Time and again, God warned the Israelites that their behavior would directly affect the quality of the land. When the Jews broke God’s covenant, the land suffered. Speaking though the prophet Jeremiah, God said: “I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable” (Jer. 2:7). Consequently, Jeremiah wrote that the land was parched and the grass in the fields was withered, and because “those who live in it are wicked, the animals and birds have perished” (12:4).

The biblical record also reveals that God’s judgment came upon other nations who abused nature. The prophet Habakkuk reported that the Babylonians’ downfall was vindicated in part because “you cut down the forests of Lebanon . . . [and] you destroyed the wild animals” (Hab. 2:17 NLT; cf. 2 Kings 19:23). In the final judgment at the end times, the Bible reveals that God’s judgment and punishment for mankind’s rebellion and sin will include “those who destroy the earth” (Rev. 11:18).

The Good Land

In spite of the curse God placed on creation because of Adam’s rebellion, nature after the Fall remained a place of beauty, solace, serenity, and wonder—and a blessing from God to the human race. Nowhere does the Bible reveal this with more passion and delight than in its description of Israel’s “Promised Land.” Moses described it as, “a good land—a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills” (Deut. 8:7–9).

Elsewhere Moses spoke of the Promised Land as “a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD . . . are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end” (Deut. 11:11–12).

These passages not only describe a land that was abundant in natural beauty and natural resources, but a land God valued. And, as we’ll explore in a later blog article, God entrusted the Israelites to care for and manage the land, just as He instructed Adam and all other peoples.

The land—nature—still sustains the human race. We have a right to use it, but like the Israelites, we are instructed to manage and care for it until the time—at the end of the present age—when nature returns to a paradisaical, pre-fall state in the new heaven and earth (Rev. 21:1; 22:3). Then perfect harmony will return between people and nature. Before this can happen, however, both the human race and nature must experience redemption. This brings us to the next step in developing a theology of nature, and the topic of my next two blog articles. ©

* The blog articles in this series are adapted from my book Should Christians Be Environmentalists? published by Kregel Publications in 2012. The blog articles do not contain all the chapters, data, quotes, references, or my personal experiences, which the book includes. So, for “the rest of the story” you will need to purchase the book, which is available in both paperback and Kindle. This and the following articles are copyrighted material and may not be reproduced in book or article form. But feel free to send links to these articles to your personal email list, Facebook friends and groups, Twitter followers, or other people who may enjoy them.