The Core Of The Problem

why our earth and its inhabitants are suffering

In the first article of this series, I wrote about some troubles that agriculture and, as a consequence, all of us, are facing today. I was deeply saddened by what I could see around me and hear in my studies of agricultural sciences. I started a journey to find answers to these important questions: How do we live sustainably and in harmony in this world? Is there any hope? My quest for answers made me turn to the Creator-God… I wanted to know what the Bible has to say about these issues. After all, the Israelites were a very rural nation, just like all the other nations of that time. And, even though these scriptures are up to several thousand years old, they speak about today’s issues with stunning accuracy!

While I was reading the Bible, I was surprised by how often the old testament, or the Jewish Torah, refers to the environment and to agriculture. On one side, the land is used as an allegory for blessings from God. The promised land is a “land flowing with milk and honey”, in which the Israelite nation could enjoy its fruits and thrive. On the other hand, the Torah describes the consequences of turning away from God in very environmental terms. If the Israelite nation stops to care about God, the beautiful, fertile land God has given them will waste away. 

Be my guests… but be good stewards of the Earth!

Let’s start with the story of creation – yes, with Adam and Eve! When God created humans, He gave them the task to manage His Creation and told them in Genesis 1,28: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and master it. Take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, and everything crawling on the ground.”

What a great responsibility, and what dignity humans are given here! And how often we have failed to measure up to the challenge…

Later, when God led His beloved and chosen people into the promised land, He told them that they were like foreigners or His guests, who may use the land. (1) Therefore, the land is not the property of people, but it is God’s possession! A land which we may marvel at, enjoy and eat plenty from – all with that caring responsibility and due respect to its Creator in mind. 

Milk and honey

There is a beautiful passage in the Torah (2) which describes the land once promised from God to the nation of Israel, before they entered it on their way from Egypt. 

“In Israel there are mountains and valleys, and the land gets its water from the rain that falls from the sky. The Lord your God cares for that land. The Lord your God watches over it, from the beginning to the end of the year… I will send the autumn rain and the spring rain. Then you can gather your grain, your new wine, and your oil.  And I will make grass grow in your fields for your cattle. You will have plenty to eat…”

Above all, this stands as the reminder that, once the nation can eat their fill and live in peace, it mustn’t forget to follow God’s commandments and to thank him from for the good land He has given them. (3)

The story of humanity

Those who know the story of the Bible will remember that it all didn’t go that smoothly for the Israelites. As soon as they were well established in this rich, plentiful land, they forgot what God had told them and rebelled against him. They ignored His good rules and the perfect order of His creation. Isn’t that plainly the story of humanity? We do sadly mess up things, even to this day… 

One day, I was puzzled by a verse I stumbled upon in the book of the Jewish prophet Hosea. (4)

“Hear the Lord’s word, people of Israel; for the Lord has a dispute with the inhabitants of the land. There’s no faithful love or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land. Swearing, lying, murder, together with stealing and adultery are common; bloody crime followed by bloody crime. Therefore, the earth itself becomes sick, and all who live on it grow weak; together with the wild animals and the birds in the sky, even the fish of the sea are dying.”

Don’t these words remind us of manifestations we can see today? Think of climate change, droughts, the dying of species, hunger, conflicts and suffering resulting from it around the world. 

To the heart of the problem

According to the Jewish prophets, the root of all this is sin, or rebellion against God and his commandments. I believe that, in the wealthier parts of the world, we have long forgotten to thank God for his goodness and provision. And this in the midst of the abundance and prosperity we’re living in! 

Now, I dare to ask you: could it be that the cause of environmental problems, social tensions and hunger in the world lie in war, violence, greed and human destruction of the environment? That the underlying reason of climate change and its devastating effects is, in fact, a sickness of the human heart? Could it be that we have often destroyed instead of taken care of the symbolical garden back in the beginning of the Bible? This garden in which God wanted us to find food in abundance, given that we cultivated it well! (5)

Of course, this is not to say that, if a nation experiences a drought, a hurricane or a flood, it is due to their moral misconduct. Often, it is the poor, rural population of developing countries that suffer the most from the consequences of climate change – a problem that is mostly caused by the industrial nations. Rather, it is the greed and self-centeredness of humanity as a whole that leads to environmental, social and economic disintegration.

There is no superficial solution to a problem that is, at its core, a moral one.

Paradise lost

When we start to grasp this, we realize that we really need help. Alone, we are not even capable of changing our own heart. I believe we need this God who wants to make peace in our fragile, broken world!

It is not enough to preach about climate change, enact law after law to save the environment or accuse each other. This would be tackling the problem at the surface level only. The cause lies much deeper – that is, in the human heart.

Now that we’ve seen the core of the problem, how do we make real change possible? The next article will try to explore just that!

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Sources:

(1) The Bible: Leviticus 25,23; (2) Deuteronomy 11,11-15; (3) Deuteronomy 8,10; (4) Hosea 4,1-3, see as well Jeremiah 2,7; (5) Genesis 2,15