Bible quote about environmental protection?

Question

Are there some hints in the bible that man has to take care of nature and creation? Something about the woods maybe?

Answer 1

Genesis 1 v 26...
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Genesis 2 v 15
Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend [dress, KJV] and keep it".


Tend (Hebrew 'abad) means "to work or serve," and thus referring to the ground or a garden, it can be defined as "to till or cultivate." It possesses the nuance seen in the KJV's choice in its translation: "dress," implying adornment, embellishment, and improvement.

Keep (Hebrew shamar) means "to exercise great care over." In the context of Genesis 2:15, it expresses God's wish that mankind, in the person of Adam, "take care of," "guard," or "watch over" the garden. A caretaker maintains and protects his charge so that he can return it to its owner in as good or better condition than when he received it.

To Noah, God gives a similar command after the Flood:

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. (Genesis 9:1-2)

Once again God gives man dominion over all other life on the earth, and with this renewed authority comes the implicit responsibility to tend and keep what was explicitly given to Adam. In this post-Flood world, God gives mankind a second chance to use and preserve the resources He had so abundantly provided. To that end Noah, after 120 years as a preacher and shipwright, took up farming and planted a vineyard (verse 20). We can assume, from what we know of human nature, that this attitude of stewardship did not pass to very many of his descendants.

Answer 2

OUTSTANDING QUESTION!

Romans 1:20: ...Start with the purpose of Creation here.

Romans 8:19-25 ...the decay of Creation because of sin .

Colossians 3:5, I Corinthians 6:10 ...listing greed as a sin; probably the biggest factor in decay of our environment, don't you think? Also consider idolatry (as it pertains to coveting material goods and the way it impacts...exploits... natural resources), and sexual sin (which is a factor in overpopulation and stresses the environment's ability to support us).

Now... we move into passages that refer to the environment and its flora and fauna .. and its stewards.

Genesis 2:15 and Genesis 1:28 ...where God instructs Adam and Eve on their care of Eden.

Genesis 6:9-22 ...how God feels about protecting living creatures.

Exodus 15:22-26, II Kings 2:19-22 ...examples of two environmental crisis points and how they were managed.

Leviticus 25:1-7 ...Instructions to give the land a year of 'Sabbath rest.' ... which intelligent land management recommends today (allowing the fields to lie fallow .. rest). Failure to follow this instruction resulted in the great 'Dust Bowl' in early 20th Century America.

Matthew 22:34-40 and Matthew 7:12 ...Consider how the 1st and 2nd Commandments relate to the environment; how about 'doing unto others as we would have them do unto you.'

James 5:17-18 ...Humans are the root of the problems in our environment; our environment causes many of our illnesses.

Matthew 25:31-46 ...Hungry people affect the environment.

Matthew 25:14-30 ...relating to our responsibility of caring for Creation (our environment).

Revelation 11:18 ... what is going to happen to those who destroyed the Earth.

Revelation 21:1; 2 Peter 3:7,10,12 ... how God will restore the environment to its initial perfection.

Answer 3

In Genesis 2:15 Adam was given responsibility to work the Garden of Eden and to take care it. Here is given the ethics of improvement and maintainance without destruction of the attributes of the Garden home.

In the book of Numbers 13 we see the children of Israel we on the edge of the land of Canaan (called a land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8)) and Moses told 12 men to spy out the land to see how fertile it was, if there were trees there, and how was the fruit. This shows the intrinsic value of nature and creation and what makes it a suitable place for habitation of man and implies our duty to protect and preserve it. We see later in Numbers 14:8 that their report was "If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us."

It is recorded in 1 Samuel 17:15 where David, before he was king, and before killing Goliath, he used to play the harp for King Saul, King of Israel, yet he went back and forth from Saul to take care of his father's sheep at Bethlehem', showing us that taking care of sheep is a good training ground for taking care of a nation in the future.

Even Solomon, arguably the wisest man that ever lived was an avid student of nature and from his studies we have some great lessons in the book of Proverbs. For example, Proverbs 6:6 says
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!

Jonah 4:10 talks about Jonah who used a vine for shade but it died suddenly. And the Lord said to Jonah, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. Which gives us some insight into our responsibility to tend in order to preserve.

These are just some examples and hints. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Yes, God said the man has to take care of the ground.
Genesis 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

Mankind is also the ruler of the animals and the rest of living creatures
Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them (Adam & Eve, mankind), and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

God was always the one who took care of the rest. Atmosphere, etc.

Answer 5

Ah yes... the bible says to take care of the earth and keep it as the center of the universe. Being that the sun and other planets revolve around the earth, it is very important to take care of it. At least better than we have for it's first 5000 years it's been around.

MAN I hope my sarcasm rings through on this one

Answer 6

Moses says somewhere that the life of man is in the trees so I think he was implying that if you cut all the trees down in an area mankind will die out ie famines.

Answer 7

We are told to be good stewards over the earth and the animals. To me that would be about protecting the environment.

Answer 8

Ps 96:12 let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;

Answer 9

Only in the garden of Eden was man there to groom and care for. Now we are out in the mess and only told it would take lots of work to fend for ourselves.

Answer 10

Revelation 8:18 says that God will destroy them that destroy the earth....that is not just a hint!