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Saturday, January 31, 2009

Tamarisk Trees

Reading: Genesis 15-21

"32 Thus they made a covenant at Beersheba. So Abimelech rose with Phichol, the commander of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines. 33 Then Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God. 34 And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days. (emphasis mine)"

This can explained by the following quote:

"Why did Abraham plant a tamarisk? Trees were often used as memorials for great men. It is therefore appropriate that Abraham should honor God by planting the tamarisk. It would be a permanent memorial of the covenant between the two."*

In the same way, we should preserve forests and habitat for God's glory and plant trees to restore his creation in honour of Him and in memory of our recognition of our role as stewards of creation.

Note also that Abraham planted a tamarisk tree- a tree common in the Beersheba region- not a great Cedar or some other plant that may have seemed appropriate but was exotic to the region. We should also remember to do our research into the plants that actually lived in our area before planting. Thus we can prevent mistakes like planting forests where naturally there was in fact grassland (trust me, it has happened!).

*http://www.odu.edu/~lmusselm/plant/bible/tamarix.php

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Important Lessons from the Bible

Why Jesus came:
"that the world might be saved through him"
John 3:17

Who Jesus is going to use to save the world:
"For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God."
Romans 8:19

Our role on earth:
"The LORD God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it."
Genesis 2:15

The Five Pillars of A Christian Theology of Sustainability

1. God is the creator, sustainer and redeemer of creation.

2. Covenantal Stewardship (we have a covenant with God as stewards of the earth).

3. The creation-fall-redemption paradigm (God made a good world; human failure broke the relationships between god, man and creation; Christ provides hope for all creation).

4.Bodily resurrection(we will rise with bodies, not as spirits)

5.New Creation (a new Heaven and new Earth refers to a renewal and an earthing of heaven, not starting over).

Adapted from When Enough is Enough: A Christian Framework for Environmental Sustainability, Edited by R.J. Berry, Published by Inter-Varsity Press, 2007, Nottingham p43+