This post was a readers' favorite series over at my other blog, WARSKYL.
God designed Adam and Eve for dominion. That was His stated purpose before He created them.
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. (Gen 1:26)
The Lord's instruction to them begins,
Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion . . . . (Gen 1:28)
Since our first parents had to subdue the earth, you may infer that it needed subduing. Except for one relatively small part, the world was wilderness. It was good, as God had pronounced it, but it was also wild and untamed.
The Creator did not set them about their assignment without a plan of execution. He gave them a template for their task: a garden.
The Garden of Eden was, no doubt more than a flower bed or a vegetable garden. From what Scripture relates, we can conclude it was part orchard, part park, part botanical garden and part zoological garden.
God designed Adam and Eve for work. He put them together in such a way that fitted them physically and intellectually to tame the wilderness and turn it into garden through productive thought and labor.
The command, "Subdue the earth," sums up the intended work of man, but within it dwelt a foreboding.
Part 2
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it. . . . (Gen 1:28)
The Hebrew word translated subdue in Genesis 1:28 is kabash. TheTheological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT) explains this term as follows:
Despite recent interpretations of Gen 1:28 which have tried to make "subdue" mean a responsibility for building up, it is obvious from an overall study of the word's usage that this is not so. kabash assumes that the party being subdued is hostile to the subduer, necessitating some sort of coercion if the subduing is to take place.(Vol. I, p. 430)
The TWOT concludes,
Therefore "subdue" in Gen 1:28 implies that creation will not do man's bidding gladly or easily and that man must now bring creation into submission by main strength. (ibid.)
The Hebrew kabash comes from a root that means "to tread down". The Lutheran expositor Leupold observes that it carries the idea of a conqueror putting his foot on the neck of his foe.
God's use of this word, at the very least, lets man know that Adam would find his work a lot more challenging than a walk in the park. But there's a more sinister warning than hinted at in one word.
Part 3
The Lord not only told Adam & Eve to subdue the earth, He also told Adam to guard the Garden of Eden. Presumably, since Eve was Adam's helper, she was to assist him in this task.
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (Gen 2:15)
The word translated dress means, literally, to work. Adam was to work the garden (involving agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, entomology, etc.)
The word translated keep carries the idea of protection. J. Strong explains it thus:
A primitive root; properly to hedge about (as with thorns), that is, guard; generally to protect, attend to, etc.
This role from their Creator involves a security function in that the garden was their home and workplace, but it also involves a priestly function, because it was also the sanctuary where they met with God. One function of the priest is to keep the profane out of the holy place.
This leads naturally to the question, "From what or whom did God expect Adam to protect the garden?" Well, who first trespassed and challenged God's lordship over the garden?
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Gen 3:1)
Adam should have protected the place that served as the center for his home, work and worship by ejecting (or slaying!) the dragon (Rev. 12:9; 20:12). In this he utterly failed, but that was clearly his duty in that circumstance.
Part 4
How is it that God could design man for the task of taking dominion over the earth, yet expect him to function as a combatant against the dragon, as well? The lies in the fact that God made man to be a generalist.
Honeybees are specialists. They are fitted by the Creator for the task of producing wax combs and filling them with nectar they extract from flowers. They also produce an enzyme that turns the nectar into honey.
Likewise, birds are specialized for building nests, and rabbits for burrowing into the ground. Man, however, is different.
The tools his mind conceives, his hands can fashion and wield. He can hoe a garden, clear brush, fell a tree, build a house, compose and play music, and perform a host of other disparate tasks.
Because God constituted man as a generalist, individual human beings can specialize in whatever area suits them: farming, industry, business, science, technology, etc. This makes the division of labor possible for humans alone among the species.
A canary could not aspire to become an Olympic swimmer. Nor could a goldfish raise a field of turnips.
The secular humanist crowd credits evolution for man's generalist abilities. I don't know which is more incredible to believe, that totally random events produced a) a highly specialized creature like the honeybee or that aimless cause and effect resulted in b) a generalist creature like man, who can perform 10,000's of tasks well.
Those who posit an ultimate irrationality underlying all things demonstrate it personally by uttering such absurdities.
Part 5
Man's design allows for a broad range of physical and intellectual application. The hands that grasp a hoe, rake or shovel can also grasp a club, spear or firearm. The mind that plans parks, orchards and gardens can also plan strategy and tactics.
I believe humanity's ability to adapt to widely differing aspects of work and war has resulted from the providence of his Creator. God made man as His vice-regent to bring godly rule and order to the world by means of fruitful, fulfilling and purposeful labor.
In order to do this, Adam might have had to fight a dragon. Whether he would have slain the dragon immediately, or the attacks would have persisted over centuries as Adam and his progeny subdued creation, we cannot know.
We do know that our first parents' Fall into sin changed the nature of man with profound effects upon the nature of Nature (Rom. 8:22). Conflicts among men became inevitable.
From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war . . . . (Jas 4:1-2)
From the time that "Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him (Gen. 4:8)," it was manifest that, ultimately, war is an expression of rebellion against God and, by extension, against those upon whom God has set His love and grace.
As part of Christ's elect body, Christian Martialists must give thanks to their King for the high calling of placing themselves between the forces of evil and His people. And likewise thank Him for fitting us spiritually, mentally and physically for the task.
Blessed be the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. (Psa 144:1)
For we are workers by design, warriors by destiny
God designed Adam and Eve for dominion. That was His stated purpose before He created them.
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. (Gen 1:26)
The Lord's instruction to them begins,
Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion . . . . (Gen 1:28)
Since our first parents had to subdue the earth, you may infer that it needed subduing. Except for one relatively small part, the world was wilderness. It was good, as God had pronounced it, but it was also wild and untamed.
The Creator did not set them about their assignment without a plan of execution. He gave them a template for their task: a garden.
The Garden of Eden was, no doubt more than a flower bed or a vegetable garden. From what Scripture relates, we can conclude it was part orchard, part park, part botanical garden and part zoological garden.
God designed Adam and Eve for work. He put them together in such a way that fitted them physically and intellectually to tame the wilderness and turn it into garden through productive thought and labor.
The command, "Subdue the earth," sums up the intended work of man, but within it dwelt a foreboding.
Part 2
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it. . . . (Gen 1:28)
The Hebrew word translated subdue in Genesis 1:28 is kabash. TheTheological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT) explains this term as follows:
Despite recent interpretations of Gen 1:28 which have tried to make "subdue" mean a responsibility for building up, it is obvious from an overall study of the word's usage that this is not so. kabash assumes that the party being subdued is hostile to the subduer, necessitating some sort of coercion if the subduing is to take place.(Vol. I, p. 430)
The TWOT concludes,
Therefore "subdue" in Gen 1:28 implies that creation will not do man's bidding gladly or easily and that man must now bring creation into submission by main strength. (ibid.)
The Hebrew kabash comes from a root that means "to tread down". The Lutheran expositor Leupold observes that it carries the idea of a conqueror putting his foot on the neck of his foe.
God's use of this word, at the very least, lets man know that Adam would find his work a lot more challenging than a walk in the park. But there's a more sinister warning than hinted at in one word.
Part 3
The Lord not only told Adam & Eve to subdue the earth, He also told Adam to guard the Garden of Eden. Presumably, since Eve was Adam's helper, she was to assist him in this task.
And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. (Gen 2:15)
The word translated dress means, literally, to work. Adam was to work the garden (involving agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, entomology, etc.)
The word translated keep carries the idea of protection. J. Strong explains it thus:
A primitive root; properly to hedge about (as with thorns), that is, guard; generally to protect, attend to, etc.
This role from their Creator involves a security function in that the garden was their home and workplace, but it also involves a priestly function, because it was also the sanctuary where they met with God. One function of the priest is to keep the profane out of the holy place.
This leads naturally to the question, "From what or whom did God expect Adam to protect the garden?" Well, who first trespassed and challenged God's lordship over the garden?
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Gen 3:1)
Adam should have protected the place that served as the center for his home, work and worship by ejecting (or slaying!) the dragon (Rev. 12:9; 20:12). In this he utterly failed, but that was clearly his duty in that circumstance.
Part 4
How is it that God could design man for the task of taking dominion over the earth, yet expect him to function as a combatant against the dragon, as well? The lies in the fact that God made man to be a generalist.
Honeybees are specialists. They are fitted by the Creator for the task of producing wax combs and filling them with nectar they extract from flowers. They also produce an enzyme that turns the nectar into honey.
Likewise, birds are specialized for building nests, and rabbits for burrowing into the ground. Man, however, is different.
The tools his mind conceives, his hands can fashion and wield. He can hoe a garden, clear brush, fell a tree, build a house, compose and play music, and perform a host of other disparate tasks.
Because God constituted man as a generalist, individual human beings can specialize in whatever area suits them: farming, industry, business, science, technology, etc. This makes the division of labor possible for humans alone among the species.
A canary could not aspire to become an Olympic swimmer. Nor could a goldfish raise a field of turnips.
The secular humanist crowd credits evolution for man's generalist abilities. I don't know which is more incredible to believe, that totally random events produced a) a highly specialized creature like the honeybee or that aimless cause and effect resulted in b) a generalist creature like man, who can perform 10,000's of tasks well.
Those who posit an ultimate irrationality underlying all things demonstrate it personally by uttering such absurdities.
Part 5
Man's design allows for a broad range of physical and intellectual application. The hands that grasp a hoe, rake or shovel can also grasp a club, spear or firearm. The mind that plans parks, orchards and gardens can also plan strategy and tactics.
I believe humanity's ability to adapt to widely differing aspects of work and war has resulted from the providence of his Creator. God made man as His vice-regent to bring godly rule and order to the world by means of fruitful, fulfilling and purposeful labor.
In order to do this, Adam might have had to fight a dragon. Whether he would have slain the dragon immediately, or the attacks would have persisted over centuries as Adam and his progeny subdued creation, we cannot know.
We do know that our first parents' Fall into sin changed the nature of man with profound effects upon the nature of Nature (Rom. 8:22). Conflicts among men became inevitable.
From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war . . . . (Jas 4:1-2)
From the time that "Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him (Gen. 4:8)," it was manifest that, ultimately, war is an expression of rebellion against God and, by extension, against those upon whom God has set His love and grace.
As part of Christ's elect body, Christian Martialists must give thanks to their King for the high calling of placing themselves between the forces of evil and His people. And likewise thank Him for fitting us spiritually, mentally and physically for the task.
Blessed be the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. (Psa 144:1)
For we are workers by design, warriors by destiny
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