Definition:
1.a. The science of the relationships between organisms and their environments. Also called bio-nomics.
b. The relationship between organisms and their environment.
2. The branch of sociology that is concerned with studying the relationships between human groups and their physical and social environments. Also called human ecology.
3. The study of the detrimental effects of modern civilization on the environment, with a view toward prevention or reversal through conservation. Also called human ecology.
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| Father and Son voting for Environmental Stewardship |
A Scriptural Call for Environmental Stewardship
Every time we, as humans, drive a species to extinction, we are stating that what God created, we can destroy. There is no scripture to support that view. Every time a species goes extinct, we are defaulting on the account that God has called us to manage. We are at the crossroads, able to choose to save or to destroy. It is our choice. The Bible is clear that creation expresses Gods wisdom and power. Christians are called to be stewards, to nurture, to protect, to preserve His creation. God Created the Earth and All of Nature in it Psalms 104:25,30. In wisdom you made them all, the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number - living things both large and small... When you send your Spirit, they are created and you renew the earth. John 1:3. Through Him all things were made: without Him nothing was made that has been made. Colossians 1:16-17. All things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. God has a Relationship with All of His Creation Psalm 96:10-13. The Lord reigns... Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let the seas resound and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy, they will sing before the Lord for He comes, He comes to judge the earth. Isaiah 43:20-21. The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen. Deut. 32:1-2. Listen, Oh heavens, and I will speak, hear, Oh earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. Job 37:14-18. Listen to this, Job. Stop and consider God's wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes his lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of Him who is perfect in knowledge? Psalms 104:25, 27. Animals, both small and great.. they all wait for Thee to give them their food in due season. Matt 6:26. Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. And are you not worth much more than they? God's Power is Seen in Nature Joshua 2:11. For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below. Romans 1:20. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Psalms 104:24. How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number - living things both large and small. God Calls All of His Creation to Worship Psalm 19:1. The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Isaiah 55:12-13. The mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. All this will be a memorial for the Lord, a sign that for all time will not be cut off. Nehemiah 9:6. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You gave life to everything and the multitudes of heaven worship you. Psalm 8:3-8. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man. I Chron. 16:7,30-34. Tremble before Him, all the earth! The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Let the heavens rejoice. Let the earth he glad; let them say among the nations, "The Lord reigns!" Rev 5:13. Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing "To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever." Job 9:5-10. But how can a mortal be righteous before God? Though no one wished to dispute with Him, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. His wisdom is profound, His power is vast. Who has resisted Him and come out unscathed? He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth from its place and makes it pillars tremble. He speaks to the sun and it does not shine. God Teaches Humans through Nature Job 12:7-10. But ask the animals, and they will teach you; or birds of the air and they will tell you; or speak to the earth and it will teach you; or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the lord has done this. In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. Romans 1:19-20. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world His eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things He has made. So they are without excuse. Isaiah 11:9. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. God Expects Humans to be His Stewards with Nature Genesis 1:26. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground." Lev. 25:23-24. The land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. Throughout the country that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land. Ezekiel 34:2-4. Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not the shepherds take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you did not take care of the flock! You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. Ezekiel 34:10. 0 shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. Ezekiel 34:17-18. As for you, my flock... Is it not enough for you to feed on good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Isaiah 24:4-6. The earth dries up and withers, the world languished and withers, the exalted of the earth languish. The earth lies under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Jer. 2:7. I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and you made my inheritance detestable. Luke 16:2,10,13. And He called him and said to him, "What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward. He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous in much. You cannot serve both God and mammon. James 5:5. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. Mark 4:19. ...and the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. Revelation 11:18. The nations were angry and your wrath has come. The time has come for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great - and for destroying those who destroy the earth. God Expects Us to Obey Him in our Lifestyle Luke 12:15,23,34. And He said to them, "Beware and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does life consist of his possessions. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Leviticus 26:3-4,6. If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit... and I will grant peace in the land. God Expects Us to Obey His Commands 1 Peter 3:17. It is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right, rather than for doing what is wrong. Psalm 37:34. Wait for the lord and keep his way. Exodus 23:2. Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. Hebrews 10:30-31. For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge his people." It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Scriptural Defense of Endangered Species Fact #1 God Created the Different Species of Plants and Animals Genesis 1:11-12. God created plants. Then God said, "let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees hearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:20-21. God created fish and birds. And God said, "let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:24-25. God created animals. And God said, "let the land produce living creatures according to their kind: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Fact #2 God Blessed the Different Species of Plants and Animals Genesis 1:22. God blessed [the birds and sea animals], and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number." Fact #3 God Protected the Different Species Genesis 6:19-21. God said, "You are to bring into the ark two of every kind of living creature, male and female, to keep them alive with you. Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and them." Noah did everything just as God commanded him. Genesis 7:8-10. Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah. And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth. Fact # 4 God Made an Eternal Covenant with the Different Species of Plants and Animals Genesis 9:8-9. Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: "I now establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you - the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you - every living Creature on the earth." Genesis 9:12-13. And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will he the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. |
| Scripture clearly states that God created, blessed, protected and made a covenant with the different species. As stewards of His creation we are called to do no less. It is our scriptural and moral duty to protect species and their habitat. |
| HOW TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR GOD AND HIS CREATION?1. Read the foregoing Bible study. Learn the key points. Realize that how we care for creation must be raised to a moral issue, not simply viewed as an economic one. 2. Join Christians for Environmental Stewardship and stand up for God's creation. 3. Take the Bible study, copy it and pas it around. Ask family and friends to consider working with you on getting the message out. 4. Encourage your pastor and church leaders to study scripture to determine God's will towards the environment. 5. Contact your elected officials. Let them know that you are a Christian who believes that the Bible is clear that we must protect the environment from greed and exploitation. 6. Vote your conscious and protect the environmental policies such as the Endangered Species Act. 7. Live like a shepherd, not like a wolf. Remember, recycling is an act of worship! Christians for Environmental Stewardship P.O. Box 284 Brush Prairie, WA 98606 (360) 574-8230 |
