The Bread of Tears: All Creation Continues to Moan

The Bread of Tears: All Creation Continues to Moan.

“To this day we are aware of the universal agony, the desperate groaning, of the whole creation, as if all of nature is in late-stage pregnancy and enduring the continuous contractions of labor pains.” (Romans 8:22).

The Entire Universe Agonizes on Tiptoe. St. Paul is inspired to exclaim in Romans 8:18-22 about something that all of creation shares, a truth that is collectively experienced by the whole cosmos… Against its will, every part of the natural world has had no choice but to endure as one entity the consequences of mankind’s fall from grace. The universe has been forced to experience bondage to corruption, to decay, and to the mournful elements of God’s curse (Genesis 3:17). Ever since mankind’s disastrous rebellion against Creator God in the Garden of Eden, creation has been groaning but somehow still knows that restoration is just around the corner. All of creation is hopeful, is eagerly expecting, a triumphant return to God’s original beauty and usefulness of nature, returning to God’s intended purposes for His creation. The cosmos is fully aware that the dreaded curse will soon be lifted, freed to reflect God’s glory and not mankind’s sin. Rabbinic tradition has long taught that when the Messiah finally comes to earth, there will be a definitive “Repairing of the World.” Creation knows that Messiah Jesus will fulfill that hope and is waiting for that day.

Linked. Since the Beginning, God forged a union between humanity and the rest of creation. God even named the first human being in honor of the ground, “Adam” from the word for dust, “adamah.” Before sin entered Paradise, mankind and nature lived in complete harmony and were uniquely linked together. This intimate union meant, and still means, that man and creation share destinies. Creation’s destiny is linked to mankind’s destiny. When man sinned, nature had to experience the consequences along with man. The curse of God’s punishment was shared by both creation and mankind. When mankind became corrupted and subject to decay, so did all of nature. When mankind held a mutiny against the Creator, creation had no choice but to groan in misery at what was done. But it’s also true that humanity and creation will also share in the ultimate destiny of everything God has made… the full restoration of the universe, the redemption of the world, the full healing of the cosmos.

Poetic License or Literal Reality?  Does all of creation really share a connected consciousness of these eternal things? Can the trees actually, in their own way, clap their hands while the countryside rejoices and the mountains break out into singing? (Isaiah 55:12). Can Scripture be proclaiming literal truths here and not mere metaphors, picturesque language or poetic license:

1. “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; and let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!’ Let the sea roar and all its fullness; let the field rejoice, and all that is in it. Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth.”  (1 Chronicles 16:31-33).
2. “You crown the year with your goodness, and your paths drip with abundance. They drip on the pastures of the wilderness, and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered with grain; they shout for joy, and they also sing.” (Psalm 65:11-13).
3. “Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Shout for joy, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Israel and glorified Himself in Zion!” (Isaiah 44:23).
4. “Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together before the Lord!”  (Psalm 98:8).
5. “The beast of the field will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:20).
6. “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens! Praise Him from the skies! Praise Him, all the armies of heaven! Praise Him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you twinkling stars! Praise him, skies above! Praise Him, vapors high above the clouds! Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for he issued His command, and they came into being. He set them in place forever and ever. His decree will never be revoked… (Psalm 148:1-6);
7. Praisethe Lord from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths, fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather that obey Him, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all livestock, small scurrying animals and birds, kings of the earth and all people, rulers and judges of the earth, young men and young women, old men and children… ( 148:7-12).

The Scripture seems to take seriously the idea that all creation is able to rejoice, to praise God and worship Him, from the smallest creature to the kings of the earth.

Let’s Follow the Science. Atoms, the building blocks of all created matter on the earth, are all comprised of impossibly small particles that have synchronized movement. They have an innate knowledge that enables them to cooperate in a natural “dance.” God created them with the ability to move together faster than the speed of light. Electrons move so fast that an electron could race around the earth in eighteen seconds. Scientists have discovered that each atom is “extremely turbulent,” that these particles in the atom “move and interact endlessly.” Surprisingly, these particles all seem to “vibrate coherently.” This discovery of coordinated movement in the atoms suggests that there may be a mysterious intuitive consciousness even at the cellular level in all of creation. Evidently, even inanimate objects have movement and are animate at that basic level.

The great Christian novelist Flannery O’Connor once suggested that we need to discover “a way of reading nature which includes the most possibilities.” Might any of these statements be among those “possibilities”?

(1.) The movement at the cellular level is a form of creaturely self-expression; this “self” is foreign to human experience or knowledge;

(2.) The synchronized movement of the electrons and protons are their form of dancing, of rejoicing, of being expressive according to the way God created them;

(3.) Each cellular particle of every part of creation is vibrating with joy in praise of their Creator, rejoicing in its own existence, and dancing to God’s rhythm;

(4.) All of creation has been blessed to have its own relationship with God; each creature has its own unique way of communicating with God, even at the level of the atom’s inner particles; nature has its own “language” that God can understand;

(5.) Since all of creation is able to “groan” (Romans 8:19-22) under the fall’s curse, creation is thus able to rejoice, now and with the future restoration; so if creation can express joy, it can also express sorrow; if creation can praise God, it can certainly grieve sin; if trees can clap their hands, then creation can also weep its own kind of tears; creation can include both songs of joy and songs of lament.

(6.) God’s creation is mysterious to humans to the point that it contains elements that are at the same time fact and symbol, reality and imagination, flights of natural fancy that are so elegant and “perfect” that they must be true;

(7.) Trees are clapping their hands at the subatomic level, expressing joy in their own way, unbeknownst to humans; trees clapping and hills singing are a “living reality” according to Christian poet and scientist Virginia Stem Owens.

“Then the Lord said to Cain, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ” (read Genesis 4:1-16).

The Ground Speaks. After Cain’s tragic murder of his brother Abel, a horrific beginning to the world’s first family, God stated that “Abel’s blood cried out from the ground, and that somehow the ground received that blood by opening its “mouth.”  Isn’t it fascinating that blood is given a vital speaking part in this family drama? The blood of Abel shouts out from the ground! It should be noted, too, that the blood in this passage is in the Hebrew plural… “Your brother’s bloods are crying out to Me from the ground!” The Hebrew Bible scholars say that this plural form of blood signifies a particularly violent shedding of blood, bloodshed that must be avenged in some way.

“Do not pollute the land in which you live; it is murder that pollutes the land.” (Numbers 35:33).

Does Innocent Blood Continue to Cry Out from the Ground? What did the Lord God say soon after the murder of Abel… “The sound of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground!” (Genesis 4:10). When innocent blood is shed, the land is defiled. Wherever the sanctity of human life is violated, human society becomes contaminated. A culture that tolerates the taking of innocent life is morally polluted and will not be able to sustain healthy life. This seems to be a principle built into God’s creation. Murder is like pouring toxic chemicals onto a nation’s spiritual ground, rendering the land barren, fruitless, unable to sustain life. When human life is not valued or protected, holy ground becomes unholy. The life-giving potential of a land is in jeapordy when a nation is stained with innocent blood.

A Sacrilege. In his commentary on this passage from the book of Numbers in the Hebrew Bible, noted scholar and rabbi Jonathon Sacks has this to say… “Since the human person is the image of God, murder is not merely a crime; it is a sacrilege. It defiles the land. It desecrates something holy, namely human life.” He goes on in his commentary to quote a famous rabbinic teaching on the profound importance of a single human life. “Anyone who destroys a life is considered by Scripture to have destroyed an entire world, and anyone who saves a life is as if he saved an entire world.”

Pollution. It is painfully clear that our land in contemporary life is polluted to a profound degree. Our land is stained with the blood of over 70 million preborn babies. Our land is defiled because of abortion-on-demand. We may be blind to the consequences of this defilement, but the signs are there… hearts that are strangely calloused regarding the value of human life; consciences that have significant scar tissue; the mistreatment of children throughout society; the degrading of the great gift of a woman’s womb; the slippery slope from frozen embryos to abortion to infanticide to assisted suicide to euthanasia. Our land continues to dishonor human life to an astonishing degree.

Can Creation Mourn? To address that question, perhaps some prophets from the Hebrew Bible would shed some light: “The land and the earth are pining away, they’re mourning and withering; the earth is defiled by the feet of its inhabitants; the curse has devoured the land.” (Isaiah 24:4-6); “How long will the land be in mourning? The animals and the birds are dying as a result of the wickedness of the people; They have laid it  waste; desolate, the land mourns to Me, and I hear its mournful cry.” (Jeremiah 12:4, 11 and 23:10); “Because of sin, therefore, shall the land continually mourn and grieve.” (Hosea 4:3); “The ground mourns…” (Joel 1:10).  

Tears of Mourning Ultimately Lead to Tears of Joy. “For look, I am going to create a new heaven and a new earth, and the past will not be remembered and will come no more to mind. Rather be joyful, be glad forever at what I am creating.” (Isaiah 65:17); “Then He will send you the Messiah He has promised, who is Jesus, whom heaven must keep till the universal restoration comes which God proclaimed, speaking through His holy prophets.” (Acts 3:21); “What we are waiting for, relying on His promises, is the new heavens and new earth, where righteousness will be at home.” (2 Peter 3:13); “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared.” (Rev. 21:1); “When everything in the universe, the entire created order, has finally taken its rightful place under Creator God’s sovereign authority, the Son will present to God His redeemed creation so that God will be all in all, utterly supreme over everything everywhere, including everyone, the Father indwelling all there is, the comprehensive authority and presence who has reclaimed all creation.” (1 Corinthians 15:28).