Stephen
Terry, Director
"The Eyes of the Lord": The Biblical
Worldview
Commentary
for the October 24, 2020 Sabbath School Lesson
"Then the people
answered, 'Far be it from us to forsake the Lord...'" Joshua 24:16a, NIV
According to the
United States Geological Survey, over seventy percent of the earth's surface is
covered by water. The same source also tells us that our bodies are sixty
percent water. Even our bones, hard as they are, are over thirty percent water.
It seems, given our makeup, fortuitous that we live on such a wet planet. One
might think that we would find ourselves loving water since it is so vital to
our being. However, strange as it might seem, mankind often prefers other liquids
to water, such as sodas or alcoholic beverages. We even add flavor aides to
water to make it more palatable. We are so disdainful of water that we are too
often not careful in protecting our abundant water supplies from pollutants. As
I write this, our own local aquifer is contaminated with polyfluoroalkyl
substances (PFAS) found in fire retardant chemicals used by a nearby military
base. Even though we now pipe in water from a less contaminated source, many
now use bottled water, fearing to trust the public water supply. The half-life
of PFAS is so long that even if the chemicals are no longer being used, many of
us will not live to see them gone from the water table. Unfortunately, we pour
pollutants into the ground never stopping to think or ask ourselves, "Will I one
day have to drink what I am pouring into the earth?" Too many of us find it far
less taxing to act without thinking.
This not only affects
mankind. It also affects the animals who depend on those natural sources of
water to sustain them. They do not normally seek out other sources when thirsty
like we do. They prefer water. This preference reflects an overall difference between
man and animal. Several decades ago when I was attending college and making
heavy use of the theology stacks at the school library, I became aware of this
difference when I discovered that several writers spoke about man being the
only creature that chooses to dishonor God. The rest of creation, as an
extension of God's creative glory, glorifies the Creator without effort to do so.
But mankind will go to great effort to not glorify God, even denying his
existence. Perhaps they do not realize that the effort spent may be more a sign
of God's existence than not. As Shakespeare once wrote in "Hamlet" about Queen
Gertrude watching an actor overacting in a play. She said that the actor
protests too much, meaning the protestations revealed the truth of the matter rather
than the desired opposite view of the one protesting. Throughout recorded
history, we have seen opposition to the idea of creation by God in any biblical
sense. That opposition has evolved over time. According to the Bible, initially
it was a simple choice to walk away from God and follow one's own will as with
Cain. But eventually, even those who walked away felt the need for worship, and
they created alternative gods, idols, as objects for veneration.
Religion, in these
circumstances, became a means to secure political power, allowing aspiring
tyrants to vault themselves into rule over many through the endorsement of priestly
castes.[i] Since these were religions
created by man, they evolved to serve the interests of those who created them.
Eventually, even those who served God as Creator saw some advantages to using religion
in this way and either apostatized to become idol worshippers or tried to
introduce ways to seek power over others to the true worship of the Creator.
Ironically, the most effective means to do this was to call it religious
freedom. They forget that Cain's slaying of his brother Abel was founded in a similar
idea that he should be free to offer vegetables instead of a sacrificial lamb.
Cain's position is a refutation of the idea that the remission of sin is
through the shedding of blood.[ii] Perhaps he was wanting to
return to the bloodless conditions of Eden. Although the Bible tells us that
similar conditions are to be restored one day, Cain was apparently unwilling to
wait. His actions were like trying to force the gates of Eden to reclaim what
was lost. But the angel with a flaming sword in Genesis underscores that such
attempts will fail. It begs the question as to whether Cain's attempt to force
restoration of Eden with vegetables is all that different from those who attempt
to do the same by eating only a vegetarian diet today, claiming they do so because
it was the original diet in Eden. The attempt to coerce others into doing the
same may tell us whether these are the teachings from God or mankind reflecting
the desire of Cain, the first to demand that things be done his way.
Alternatively, the
biblical worldview is one that sees man as created by God and like the rest of
creation, glorifying God through positive interaction with the Creator and all
other creatures. Nothing in the biblical creation account says that man was
created to have dominion over the rest of mankind. Those ideas only began to
arise because of the falling away when the first pair walked away from God and
hid from his presence. This left such an empty void in our being that some
sought to fill it with following bold individuals who were willing to assume
the position of power and control formerly held only by God, individuals like
Nimrod, the reputed founder of Babylon. Throughout the Old Testament, and even
into the Book of Revelation, the Bible is the story of the conflict of two
worldviews. One represented by Jerusalem, the site of God's temple, and the other
by Babylon, the seat of power and control through religion developed by
mankind. Eventually, the worship represented by Babylon makes such inroads in
Jerusalem that the city falls to Babylon, and the Jews who wanted to worship
the idols of Babylon are taken captive and forced to serve those whom they had aspired
to emulate. But after seventy years in captivity there, those who had learned their
lesson about idol worship were given an opportunity to return to Jerusalem and
start over. Most, apparently won over by Babylon's worldview remained in that city,
but a remnant returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the city and the temple despite
persistent opposition from those who preferred the Babylonian system and would
once again have Jerusalem a part of that system. To their credit, those who
returned to Jerusalem and their descendants never again willingly allowed idol
worship to become established.
This does not mean,
however, that they did not fall prey to the principles behind Babylon's world
view. Even though their religion was based upon worship of the true Creator,
too many still saw it as a steppingstone to power and control over others.
Eventually the power of Babylon was replaced by that of Greece and then Rome.
Each brought with them the idea that religion was the worshipping of idols and
a means to control others by manipulating belief to suit the ends of those in
power. Although, they did not submit to idolatry, the Jews were so infused with
the idea of religion being a means for an elite to rule over others that once
again Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed, this time by the Romans. The
temple has not been rebuilt since. Perhaps this is because the Jews and by
extension the rest of mankind has not learned that religion is not about an
elite assuming control over others to enrich themselves. Individuals like Joel Osteen
and Benny Hinn are examples of the ongoing truth of this failing in our nature.
Too many even of the poor and downtrodden see the church as a gateway to wealth
and power. Sadly, the church has done more to advance that idea than to refute
it.
The life of Christ
modeled exactly the opposite perspective. His poverty silently mocked the wealth
and ostentation of the religious leaders and rulers of his day. The epitome of
God's worldview may be seen in his example when he picked up a towel and a
basin of water and though he was Creator of all, he humbly washed the feet of
his bickering disciples. He told them they should do likewise. Some have
mistaken that to mean that washing feet was to become an ordinance of the
church. But the real message was that we were to eschew the pursuit of power
over one another that we might be free to consider their needs equal to our
own. Very few have achieved that even among those who profess to follow Christ.
Everything in this world tells us to reject that view and instead pursue wealth
and power. But when we look past the glitter and the neon lights, we see the
broken people and the failures of our world as nature chokes in thrall to mankind's
depredations, seeking a return to God's plan for Creation.[iii] There is a better way, a fountain
of life. Who will drink from it?
