“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
-Edmund Burke
Perfunctory: an action or gesture carried out with minimal effort or reflection.
In the previous blog entry, In The Beginning, we looked at the Ancient Near Eastern context of existence as functional rather than material. We noted that the universe with all of its spheres (space, sky, waters, land) and functionaries (stars, planets, animals, humanity) did not exist (in the literal sense) until God took up residence with us (Immanuel) and rested within His creation.
We went beyond that to describe Genesis 1:1’s proclamation, “In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” and described “Beginning” as referring to Jesus Christ as source rather than how creation happened (e.g. ex nihilo) or when (e.g. young vs old earth theories).
When we come to Genesis Chapter Two we find a much more personal account of creation. Even God’s name has been nuanced from simply “Elohim” (conveying a sense of almighty, transcendent, omnipotent, sovereign, and eternally relational God) to a very personal “Yahweh Elohim.” The Yahweh aspect conveys an intimately and personally involved God. Throughout the rest of Scripture (e.g. Exodus 3:14) this name, “Yahweh,” identifies God as the Sovereign King of creation who simply refuses to leave us hopelessly destitute in sin’s rebellion.
In Genesis 2:15 we read that the man (הָֽאָדָ֑ם) is dedicated by God in the Garden of Eden (not simply "put") with a very specific purpose: to minister to, cultivate, serve (Hebrew verb abad) and watch over, guard, protect (Hebrew verb shamar) the woman.
Most English Bibles botch the translation here and render it something like, “to work it and take care of it.”
The problems with this rendering are extensive and numerous. Suffice it to say that, firstly, it fails to convey the significance of the man’s divinely ordained ministry to the woman whom God is about to create from the man’s own body.
Secondly, it fails epically as a polemic against other Ancient Near Eastern culture cosmogonies (origins stories), which typically explain human origins to labor, work, and slave for the gods; e.g. maintaining the earth to relieve the gods from these burdensome tasks.
In other words, nearly all Ancient Near Eastern creation stories describe human origins -not- for fellowship with the gods, but rather doing the burdensome menial tasks, which the gods despised.
In stark contrast, the Bible paints a picture of humanity as the whole point, in fact, the crown jewel, of creation: so that Yahweh Elohim could sabbath rest with us and bless us with abundant joy-filled life in His glorious presence - forever.
If Yahweh Elohim had merely created humanity “to work it and take care of it,” (referring to lawn and garden maintenance), then the polemic is moot and the profound exclusivity of humanity 1) being made by God, 2) made in the image and likeness of God, and 3) made to simply enjoy God forever... would ALL be diminished to novel insignificance.
Additionally, if Yahweh Elohim had merely created humanity “to work it and take care of it,” there would be little significance to God’s curse upon man in Genesis 3:17-19. That would be like telling teenagers they need to do their chores every day. Then telling them the consequence for not doing chores is that they’ll need to do their chores every day.
Huh?
Exactly!
God’s “work curse” in Gen 3:17-19 would have merely changed man from a happy-go-lucky farmer to a disgruntled one.
Adam is “dedicated” in the garden with a very specific ministry: to care for and watch over the woman -the one whom God creates- in order for them to function and experience what it is to be made in the image and likeness of God, i.e. relational beings functioning in altruistic, selfless, and benevolent love.
Adam’s failure is evidenced in Genesis 3:6 when we realize that throughout the entire theological debate between the crafty, slick, devious, and wily serpent and the woman, Adam simply stood by.
In Romans 5:12 we read, “sin entered the world through one man…”
Apathy is the doorway of sin.
“Perfunctory” (an action or gesture carried out with minimal effort or reflection) is a great way to describe Adam’s performance in the midst of the serpent’s attack.
At best, Adam was idle, careless, apathetic, disinterested, disengaged, and inattentive. At worst, he was blatantly negligent.
The Bible doesn’t tell us how much time had transpired since the whole “rib” incident, so there’s no point in speculating. But I can say this: after being married for just a few months - I had a whole new level of appreciation for Adam’s plight of perfunctory disconnectedness.
“Oh, you’ve got a better idea? You wanna talk to the snake about theology? Oh certainly! By all means please do. See how that works out for ya! I’ll just stand over here and watch the grass grow. A snack? Sure thing... You got this from which tree? Oops.”
Scripture tells us that Adam was negligent. It also tells us the result was exactly what God said it would be - death. Sin entered the world through one man.
In the midst of humanity’s self-induced death sentence, God blessed everyone with mercy via a prodigious proclamation of hope “In the Beginning.”
The man and woman might have simply dropped dead apart from ever experiencing God’s gift of procreation (woohoo!) and subduing the earth (1:28). Clearly, they failed epically in exercising dominion over it - something God had ordained as part of their function, i.e. existence.
Death wasn’t the final word. God heralded the future advent of a male offspring who would utterly destroy the serpent and all those who followed his crafty, slick, devious, and wily ways.
Humanity would endure exclusively by God’s grace, albeit currently marred by sin. Meanwhile, the serpent and its crafty offspring are assured imminent destruction via the hand (heel actually) of the woman’s future male offspring, i.e. Jesus.
Unlike Adam, this anticipated male offspring of Eve would most certainly never stand by idly as His Bride is attacked. Rather, He zealously crushed the serpent’s head. Permanent unquestioned and definitive victory.
In their desperation and futility, the man and woman “sewed fig leaves together.” Their efforts were grossly inadequate. Therefore, God “made garments of skin” (3:21). The Bible does not say that these “garments of skin” were made from an animal. That assumption results from deductive reasoning, not inductive study. Scripture does tell us elsewhere (Rev 13:8; 1 Peter 1:20) about a Lamb that was slain “from the creation of the cosmos.”
In yet another act of grace - Elohim, God, placed “cherubim and a flaming sword” to “watch over” (there’s that Hebrew verb shamar again!) “the way to the tree of life.”
Watching over was something that the man was supposed to do for his bride, i.e. the woman, his rib-friend, his partner, and his co-image bearer of eternally relational God Almighty.
Our failure became His joy and pleasure. Not in the sense of sadistic gloating, but as an opportunity to abad (serve, cultivate, minister) and shamar (watch over, guard, protect). Now, God is graciously serving and watching over all of humanity until we can be brought back into right relationship - communion, atonement, Sabbath rest.
That reconciliation happens exclusively “In the Beginning” through the source of creation and the covering of the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the cosmos.
The Lamb, the Beginning, Eve’s anticipated single male offspring, i.e. Jesus permanently crushed the serpent and all his wily “brood of vipers” offspring and said, “It is Finished.”
“In the Beginning” The Lamb of God, slain before the creation of the cosmos, sacrificed Himself in order to perfectly and permanently cover humanity’s rebellion and sin. Later, God placed powerful angelic beings (cherubim) and the Holy Spirit’s presence as a flaming sword between humanity and the Tree of Life.
Throughout the Bible, cherubim are identified with the presence of God. They appear on the throne of the ark where God’s presence dwelled (Exodus 25:18); in Ezekiel (22 times); in Psalms 18:10, 80:1, 99:1; and also throughout the New Testament: Matt 10:34; Luke 22:36; Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12; and Rev 1:16.
Throughout the Bible we read about people who stood idle and allowed events to unfold around them with little or no interest in anyone or anything but themselves.
God told us the Messiah was coming. God tells us that standing idly by is no different than vehemently opposing Him. Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
God's explicit warning is this: we can either be like Abram - part of the solution, “all the people of the world will be blessed through you,” or continue to be the problem. The latter will ultimately hear, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
There will be no sin in heaven because there will be no apathy, no perfunctory attitude, no doorway, no cracked windows, and no entry point or portal for sin to enter - ever. Satan is overthrown. Death is defeated. Everything that fails to function as God intended will be thrown into the eternal lake of fire (Rev 20:14).
There is no apathy in the children of God. There is no detachment, disinterest, or lassitude for the members of the Bride of Christ. For those with this malady Jesus says, “So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” -Revelation 3:16
Instead, we who follow are intimately identified with, and actively involved in, the will of Father, the obedience of the Son, and the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. That’s what it means to be baptized in Their name. That’s when Jesus promises: “And surely I am (Yahweh) with you always (Immanuel), to the very end...”
Adam demonstrated that life ends the day we become silent. It's not just about things that matter (subjective), but about the things (objective) that matter to God.
Will you follow or stand idly by?
Blessings,
-Kevin M. Kelley
aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com
No comments:
Post a Comment