SUBJECT:   The Environment and the Bible

QUESTION:  What does the Bible say about environmental issues?  Should we be taking care of the environment?

ANSWER:

Clearly, every individual should do all he or she can to not pollute the earth.  The Bible is clear on this from the very beginning.

Genesis 2:15

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Surely, God instructed Adam and Eve to take care of the environment.  There is nothing to support the waste management practices mankind has devised.  Read the following verses:

Psalm 8

1 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.

2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:

7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;

8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!

Note:  In reading this chapter of Psalms, we see that creation is glory to God and demands that we take care of it and keep it in the form He gave it originally. 

Certain key words define God's position on the environment:

GOODNESS:

God’s original creation is good.

Genesis 1:31

And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Note:  We cannot be justified in changing that which is declared good if that change includes waste and pollution.

REVELATION:

Creation reveals God’s character.

Romans 1:20

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Note:  God gave us creation partly to understand Him.  If we pollute that creation, we are polluting the substance which gives us understanding of God.

VALUE:

God values all of creation.

Matthew 10:29-30

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Note:  God values the creation and all the animals in that creation.  How can we justify being different?

DEPENDENCE:

All things depend on God’s continuing care.

Colossians 1:17

And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Note:  This verse shows that God takes care of His creation and by Him the creation and environment continues.  He set up how the ecosystems work.  We cannot be justified in polluting something He is involved with and which is dependent upon Him.

Note the following verse...

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Notice:  What is the work of the Lord?  Clearly there is a Spiritual work in the spreading of the gospel and our becoming more like Christ but we have established that part of God's work is to keep the environment as He would and does.

Now here are some scriptures regarding land management from God's point of view:

The Old Testament does have some useful environmental prescriptions to do with proper care for land and animals:

Fruit-bearing trees should not be cut down in siege warfare [Deuteronomy 20:19].

The Lord commands a fallow year for fields and vineyards every seven years [Leviticus 25:3-5].

People are required to help distressed animals [Deuteronomy 22:1-4].

Not to muzzle an ox when it treads the grain [Deuteronomy 25:4]; and to allow beasts of burden to rest on the sabbath  [Exodus 20:10].

Now notice this from Isaiah.  It shows God's relationship with the creation and environment.

Isaiah 40:12

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
 

Isaiah 40:21

Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?
 

Isaiah 40:22

It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
 

Isaiah 40:24

Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
 

Isaiah 40:25

To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
 

Isaiah 40:26

Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth.
 

Isaiah 40:28

Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends  of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.

Note:  When one understands and sees God's relationship to His creation, we can see the importance of taking care of it and not polluting it.

GOD OWNS THE EARTH

Exodus 9:29

And Moses said unto him, As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will spread abroad my hands unto the LORD; and the thunder shall cease, neither shall there be any more hail; that thou mayest know how that the earth is the LORD's.
 

Exodus 19:5

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

Note:  God owns the earth, therefore we are the stewards and must care for His property.  We will answer to just what kind of job we will do.

GOD GAVE THE EARTH TO MAN

Psalm 115:16

The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

Note: Therefore we must take care of it.