(Note: I use “earth”, “nature” and “creation” almost interchangeably in this article. Not to say they mean the same thing but to drive home my point, I use them as if they do.)
As you may already know, the Bible begins with the description of a formless, empty, and dark earth. Then, we are systematically taken through the creation of the earth and everything that dwells in it. We will not go into details regarding creation but rather God’s sustainability plan for the planet. This is seen in two concepts that we are introduced to in the opening passages of the Bible.
These are:
- The concept of Goodness: It refers to the fact that God was pleased with creation and according to his assessment, it was good. This is the first time anything is described as good according to scripture and it was based on God’s assessment. Hence, since he is the originator and definer of goodness, it is important that we consistently check back with him to ensure our definition of goodness aligns with his. This further proves the point that God remains the objective point of reference for morality. He is the supreme assessor and the originator of the concept of goodness.
- The concept of Stewardship: It refers to the charge God gave man to keep the earth and to be good stewards of his creation. The Bible states categorically that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord (James 1:17). This quote ties the two concepts under discussion together. God handed the earth to man (as a good and perfect gift) to keep, to have dominion over it and subdue it. This presupposes two things:
- The earth doesn’t belong to man; the earth is the LORD’s
- God has given the earth to man to keep it.
God didn’t command man to let the earth be as it is. He said in Genesis 1:28 that man should subdue the earth. To subdue anything implies to bring it under control. It also implies, in this context, that the earth or nature has the propensity to go rogue, hence there is the need for special attention and the development of specific capacities that can help humans work to keep the earth in its pure state. This is the idea that has necessitated such professions and fields of study as environmental science, environmental conversation, natural resource management, etc. To subdue the earth doesn’t imply that man has the right to treat nature in whatever way pleases him. Especially, since God declared creation “good” then it means that our sole duty as servants and stewards of the good gift that creation is to us is to preserve and conserve it so that the Master will still find it to be good. It is a lot of work to keep nature in its purest state. No wonder some professionals have dedicated their lives to keeping the earth. Every human being, so long as they live on this earth, must contribute to the sustainability and preservation of nature. Why? Because “the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). This is God’s charge to the human race concerning the earth: to work it and keep it.
Therefore any human activity that degrades nature and our environment is diabolic and against the will of God. This is why I spent considerable time and space explaining the two concepts above, they go hand in hand and if adhered to, the purity of nature will be preserved and conserved, first to the glory of God then for the benefit of mankind and nature itself. The concept of stewardship refers to the command to subdue the earth. Adhering to this alone without understanding that God has declared creation good and requires it to remain good could spell doom for us all. Without an understanding of the concept of goodness, it seems man is given the sole responsibility of keeping the earth without an objective point of reference as to how to keep it and what the benchmark for a well-kept earth is. But once we combine the two concepts (stewardship and goodness), we have both the charge to keep the earth and the standard we have to maintain in doing so. In this case, the standard is “goodness according to the LORD”. God assessed and declared creation “good” 6 times in the creation story alone, when he appears here on earth today will he still find it “good”?
From the Christian perspective, God is deeply concerned about what happens on and to the earth. Some people believe that God set things in motion and left the earth to its fate; they are called Deists. Deism is a philosophical belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe. Jehovah, the God of the Bible, cannot be equated to the Deist god because throughout scripture he shows us that he cares about how humans live and what they do on and to the earth. Here is proof; a few environmental laws the LORD gave in the Old Testament:
- Sabbath for the Land (Leviticus 25:1-7): Every seventh year, the land was to be given rest from cultivation. This practice allowed the soil to recover and prevented over-exploitation.
- Preservation of Fruit Trees (Deuteronomy 20:19-20): When besieging a city, the Israelites were forbidden from destroying fruit trees. This law promoted the preservation of valuable resources.
- Waste Management (Deuteronomy 23:12-14): Specific instructions were given about designating areas outside the camp of Israel for human waste and covering it, maintaining cleanliness, and preventing disease. In verse 14, we are told that the reason for this particular instruction is that “the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp…”. This presupposes that the Israelites previously disposed of human waste within their camp and it wasn’t pleasing to the LORD.
God used to walk in the midst of the camp of Israel, I believe he is still doing that today: walking in the midst of his people. My concern is, if he walks throughout the country of Ghana, will he be pleased with how we have kept the land, water bodies, plant and animal life, etc? The idea of establishing a natural ecosystem where different living things rely on each other for survival is God’s original plan. From the creation story, we are told there was a river that flowed through the garden of Eden to water it (Genesis 2:10). This depicts the dependency of plant life on water bodies. The flourishing of plants is highly dependent on proximity to sources of water. This reality is even used as a metaphor to illustrate the state of a godly man who delights himself in the LORD in Psalm 1:3. The Bible describes such a man as “a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither”.
It is also interesting to note that there was a river in Eden called Pishon which flowed around the land of Havilah, where there was a lot of gold. The gold in Havilah is described as good. It is as if the creation story in Genesis is trying to emphasize the fact that a land that has a lot of gold in it can (or should) coexist with rivers in their purest state. The point is that rivers don’t have to be polluted because there is gold in the land. Unfortunately, we cannot say this about Ghana. Illegal small-scale mining, popularly known as Galamsey, has destroyed the vegetation of most mining communities in the country and polluted the rivers in those same communities.
One thing about water is that it flows; it flows with the pollutants and the impurities in it. Hence, the pollution is fast spreading into other water bodies all over the country. I saw this for the first time while on a flight to Cote d’Ivoire in 2019. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the extent of degradation and the fact that it was visible even on a flight got me concerned more. Guess what, on my flight to Ghana from Senegal a few days ago, I took the pictures below. I heard the pilot mumble a few words but I wasn’t paying attention till I heard the phrase “… we have entered the Ghana air space…”. Just to be sure, I looked out of the window and there it was; proof that we had entered the Ghana air space.
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Ironically, I was returning from a Climate Change workshop. According to the Ghana National Climate Change Policy 2013, illegal mining and even other forms of mining are key challenges this country faces in the “Management and Resilience of Terrestrial, Aquatic and Marine Ecosystems”. This is to say that mining activities, whether legal or illegal, could have negative implications on nature – be it life underwater or on land.
We are facing a major challenge with this menace. It is the commercialization of environmental degradation and since the effects on the general populace are not readily visible, the advocacy against it will always appear irrelevant to perpetrators. There is a lot of advocacy going on online and through protests in Accra, some other parts of the country, and even in the UK. One thing is for sure, people are concerned and worried sick of this menace. We rather find a certain level of reluctance or unwillingness on the part of the authorities in charge to nip this issue in the bud. I will not make assumptions here, but if it is the case that we found out that there is illegal mining being done 200 meters away from a Police Station in Anyinam and the police are yet to make an arrest, what kind of conclusions do you expect us to draw from this?
All of this is embarrassing and those in charge should bow their heads in shame. In a proper jurisdiction where the laws work and policies are implemented, all involved parties would be facing some jail time or some other punishment due to their actions and inactions.
If you walk away from this post remembering nothing at all, I need you to remember that the earth is the LORD’s and he assessed creation and found it to be good. Have we done a good job at working and keeping the earth? Will God be pleased with the state of our environment? I have no biblical basis to assume that we have been good stewards of the good and perfect gift that the earth is to us. Again, the earth is the LORD’s and he has given it to the children of man (Psalm 115:16). We haven’t been good stewards of the LORD’s good gift.
(Feature image taken at Twifo Praso by Mawuli Adjabeng in 2019)