June 15, 2008

Living Green - Dominion and Stewardship of God’s Creation

by Stacey Schifferdecker

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

Genesis 1:31

When God looks over the earth now, is it still very good, or even good? Our world is troubled by air and water pollution. Many animals are facing loss of habitat and are endangered or extinct. Natural resources such as oil and water are becoming scarcer. People in many parts of the world are facing hunger due to lack of food, while people in other parts of the world are obese due to poor diets lacking natural nutrition.

And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

Genesis 1:28

When God created the world, humans were given a job: to subdue the earth and have dominion over other living things. What exactly do “subdue” and “dominion” mean? Well, going back to the original Hebrew, subdue comes from the word kavash, which means to force someone into a subordinate position, as through a military conquest. Similarly, dominion comes from the Hebrew word radah, whichsignifies the power, control, and authority of one individual or group over another.