Have Dominion and Subdue...

Preaching on Genesis 1 Sunday I reflected upon our role in relationship to the earth. I am not fluent in Hebrew and so I rely heavily on the dictionaries and commentaries written by others. If there is much agreement I usually have more confidence. Most define the Hebrew words 'dominion' and 'subdue'. They are strong terms (kavash and radah) and have a sense of force, treading down, imposing one's self on a reluctant recipient. I was struck by the power, almost violence, the words conveyed. Partly because I am still shaped by my first and second grade religion books. You remember, the one with the picture of Adam strolling around with a lion? The image of "the Garden" was one of total bliss. I still recall gathering with other angry seven year olds who blamed Adam and Eve for wrecking it for everyone. The dream of playing with animals and never being sick and everything going perfectly weighed heavy upon us as we struggled with learning to read and write and comply with the demands of the nuns and parents who watched over us with eagle eyes.

For the first time, I got a sense, that things were not so perfect, even in the beginning before the Fall. It is not clear, mind you, but the verbs chosen do seem to imply that there is some serious effort on our part to subdue the (reluctant) earth. Makes one think that struggle may have always been part of the deal.

The reason this is important is because it impacts how we envision a world where there was no Orignal Sin. A world where Adam and Eve were compliant and we were not expelled would still entail work and battling in some sense. Perhaps things would not have been totally and completely different. Maybe the biggest impact has been upon our relationship with God and each other.

At any rate, the struggle, the daily battle, may well be God's intention. Mind you, I am not saying nothing changed with "the Fall" but I do think that the simplistic view of "Before" which my second grade mind conceived may not be true at all.

The other thing that really resonated with me was the role humans play. I often ponder this question, so it is little wonder that this has jumped out at me. But I do think Genesis 1 makes a strong case that we (humans) are in a decisive role in creation. I think it can be interpreted that God has withdrawn and given us space (and authority) to act. The Hebrew word "create" is only used with God as its subject. I do not think we are creators in the same sense as God. Yet, it seems that we do have the key role in much that takes place in this world. It is tempting to try to dodge our responsibility or avoid it by pointing to God. I think, however, God has handed things over to us in a real way. It is why I believe that all the grousing about "Where is God?" which people do whenever something bad happens is probably the wrong question. The real question is "what are we going to do about it?" I think that at the Judgment Day the Lord will tell us, "I gave you dominion, how did you rule as my ambassador?" If that work was difficult before the Fall, I think it is even more so now. All the more reason to pray more and work harder. God is counting on us. apparently, and so is the world.