The Garden and Fallen Culture

Some thoughts on Genesis, the garden, and fallen culture, not thought through, but "wondering" me: Adam was given a mandate to "replenish the earth and subdue it." The context of this mandate was the garden, which was to be "dressed" and "kept" (served and protected). There is a beautiful fragility to this. The mandate meant dominion, not domination. Adam was to extend the boundaries of the garden over the whole earth. That means that, while science and technology would certainly have increased in an unfallen race, the mission which they served was primarily (for want of a better word) agricultural.

This garden theme reoccurs in Ezekiel, whose eschatological new temple sends forth a river whose banks are lined with trees whose leaves are for healing. The same image reoccurs in Revelation. Jesus spent his final hours praying in a garden, and was buried in one. When he emerged in resurrection glory as the second Adam, it is no accident that he was mistaken for a gardener (we are his "field," his "vineyard").

It was a bit of a shock to discover that, after the fall, the development of what we would call culture or civilization was accomplished by the Cainites, who created a civilization based on human effort and hubris ("and Cain went out from the presence of the Lord"). This is not to say that the dominion mandate was abrogated, but it was certainly marred. Domination was the rule, not dominion. The godly seed (the ante and post-diluvian patriarchs) were hidden and protected by God within the greater culture, like fifth columnists. They contained the seed that would bring forth Israel, and eventually, Christ.(This “secret” working of God through history is another “wondering.”)

Genesis 4:20-22 describes the emergence of the Cainite civilization. Jabal was the father of “such as dwell in tents and have cattle;” Jubal was the “father of all such and handle the harp and organ;” Tubal-cain was “an instructer... in brass and iron.” Animal husbandry, the arts, and industry. Notice the absence of farming and agriculture.

Of course there were farmers and crops at the time. What is interesting is the biblical emphasis. Civilization as it is described in Genesis required gathering together, the formation of cities, and the evolution of a governing oligarchy (domination). The Adamic garden mandate, on the other hand, required scattering

(a foreshadowing of the Great Commission).

I’m not sure where I’m going with this. But there is this association of gentle care of the earth with the Sethite (Judeo-Christian) line, and hard industry, smoke, and close quarters with the Cainite. I recognize that agriculture is a symbol for other realities (our hearts, the church). But there is a greater earthiness to the eschaton than our vision of little wings and clouds will allow. I remember back in Church of the Comforter days one of our members describing our work in the New Creation as freeing the earth from the tons of asphalt and power lines that bind her, and recreating her as a garden. At the time I thought he was indulging in some hippie fantasy. Now I’m not so sure. Certainly the New Jerusalem is pictured as a city (a very symbolic city), but (also certainly) there is work to be done outside her walls.