God, the Devil and Nature
God, the Devil and Nature
In the beginning, there was no church. Nor was there clergy. Nor a holy book. Nor a worship day, or posture, or format. There were no sacrifices and no worship music.
There was just nature, man and God.
The first command was to take the Garden to the non-garden part of the world, as an act of stewardship.
The first prohibition had to do with nature.
The first sin was about nature.
The first curse had to do with nature.
Throughout the period of Israel’s kings, the main offence between God and man was their desire to worship Him in nature, rather than at the specific place in Israel.
Occult movements through the millennia have demonstrated a deep connection to nature. The current expression of the age old stream is called New Age.
So what does the Christian do in light of this?
Most ignore the spiritual dynamics of nature – or even deny they exist.
The Biblicists among us go to the various passages about the Millennial Reign and we see that the redemption of nature is the King’s primary focus.
Yes, there is a section about the restoration of worship that Ezekiel recorded for us.
Yes, there are some fascinating snippets about the geo-political constructs. Most intriguing is that even though Jesus will reign from Jerusalem, Egypt will become his flagship covenant nation while Israel will be demoted to third place (Isaiah 19:24ff).
There is a short paragraph about the educational process of the Kingdom.
One verse discusses the revised actuarial tables of the Kingdom.
But the bulk of what we know about the Kingdom of God on earth is about the restoration of nature at a level we can hardly imagine.
The wolf lies down with the lamb. Snakes do the babysitting. The fields are so productive farmers stop farming for long periods of time. The whole geological dynamic of islands and mountains will be changed.
The short version is that God is not content to redeem a people for Himself from out of a broken world. He is determined to heal nature, before He dissolves this world and creates the new one.
While we are most assuredly not in the Millennium at present, since we are moving that direction, it comes as no surprise that God is releasing a body of wisdom about the spiritual dynamics of the land, the animal kingdom and various spiritual structures in nature.
Megan Caldecourt is one of those learners who is on the cutting edge of discovering the treasures that Adam and Eve lost access to when they were evicted.
She is coming to invest time in South Africa exploring the magnificence of your natural resources. AFTER she has tasted of the immensity of the land and the animal kingdom, she will be doing some seminars.
I feel justifiably disappointed that you will be getting the first fruits of what God will be revealing to her there. She comes with a foundation of Biblical knowledge, practical experience in cleansing land, and broad exposure to the range of American geography – from the Great Lakes to the Great Basin, northern forests and southern deserts, blizzards and earthquakes, eagles and monstrous sting rays.
Most recently she spent some time in Australia. She had little to say about the people there, but her report was full of the spiritual dynamics of the birds and the land.
Interesting that God is sending her back under the Southern Cross so soon.
Those who share God’s love for the treasures in the land in South Africa will be blessed and enriched by seeing the spiritual dynamics of your nation through the eyes of this trail blazer who loves what the King loves – His creation.
Arthur Burk
Sapphire Leadership Group, Inc.