In part one of this series, I introduced the theme of kings and beasts. God is the high King and Adam is the earthly king, given dominion over all the earth and the beasts that God had made and tasked to cultivate the earth in cooperation with Eve—a helper fit for him. They rejected God’s word, obeying Satan under the guise of a sibilant “beast of the field” asking, “Did God really say?”
Humanity was made in God’s image, but obedience to sin shapes us into the image of the dragon. We were created to bear righteous fruit like trees planted by living water (Psalm 1). In obedience to God, humanity could have cultivated the world in ever more beautiful and glorious ways, living reconciled and productive lives. Humanity, instead, waters the land with blood which cries out to God. Sin causes the earth to bring forth fruitless thorns and makes us into withered vines, bearing “unfruitful works of darkness” (Eph. 5:11). As I’ve heard Douglas Wilson say, “God wants lush gardens, and the devil wants a moonscape.”
While it is common for evangelicals today to emphasize individual forgiveness for sin as God’s primary redeeming purpose, this is only half the story. In order to grasp the full scope of God’s redemptive plan, we must look beyond mere individual forgiveness to God’s corporate work. God saves individuals from their sin into something greater—a body, a nation, a kingdom. “Beasts” form kingdoms, as well.
In order to grasp the full scope of God’s redemptive plan, we must look beyond mere individual forgiveness. God saves individuals from their sin into something greater—a body, a nation, a kingdom. “Beasts” form kingdoms, as well.
Humans were created to be social, and salvation is social, too. When God said it is not good for man to be alone, this was not a take-it-or-leave-it suggestion. God was naming reality as it is—he was describing human nature, declaring that isolation is contrary to our nature as a reflection of God’s triune image.[1] Every time a son leaves his father to cleave to his wife, they form a new “society” in micro. Groups of families form the basis for tribes, peoples, and nations. Humans take dominion individually, exercising self-control over their immediate life and environment, but they cooperate to form larger “dominions”—families, churches, organizations, nations. The character of any such group, from a family to a nation, depends upon the character of those involved. Sin makes men beastly, and beastly men create bestial societies.
Cain was tempted by sin that was “crouching at the door,” like a predator (Gen. 4:7). Obeying sin, Cain becomes a predator himself, lying in wait for Abel. But it is not good for man to be alone and Cain does not remain a lone wolf. Cain marries and begets a son. Cain builds a city named Enoch, for the glory of his son’s name; in a land far from Eden (Gen. 4:17). They produce the first instruments—methods for agriculture, animal husbandry, and tools from iron (Gen. 4:20-22). But like their father, Cain, they bring perverse sacrifices—they make weapons of war, practice polygamy, and murder (Gen. 4:19). After Cain killed Abel, he grieved (if only for himself). Cain’s grandson kills men and boasts about it, blaspheming God directly (Gen. 4:23-24). In only ten generations from Cain “the wickedness of man was great in the earth” and “every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5).
Sin at an individual level causes dire harm to individuals, but when sin is allowed to fester, it causes devastation everywhere. When Joseph came into Egypt, Pharaoh acknowledged that Joseph was empowered by the Spirit of God, and when the king acted to bless God’s people, Egypt was blessed by God as a result (Gen. 41, 45). But when another Pharaoh rose up who did not acknowledge Joseph nor Joseph’s God, he began devouring God’s people and was subject to God’s judgment (Ex. 1). Pharaoh, with a snake on his headdress, had become another “serpent” like Cain and he fathered another beastly society.
Nations that raise themselves up against God are often described as great beasts—winged lions, bears that rise to devour flesh, “terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong” (Dan. 7:4-8). The enemies of God are “locusts” that lay waste to the land (Judges 6:5). Satan prowls like a lion seeking to devour and evil nations have “lions’ teeth [and] the fangs of a lioness” (Joel 1:6). The prophets speak of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon as a “monster” who “devoured” God’s people (Jer. 51:34). God, in judgment against Nebuchadnezzar, reveals his inward, animalistic nature, causing him to go mad until “he ate grass like an ox, [and] his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws” (Dan. 4:33).
While we often reduce the biblical story down to an individual relationship that we have with God, this misses key parts of the narrative. God’s war in redeeming individuals often takes on a much broader, societal context because redemption involves the state of the world around you. The conflict among tribes, peoples, and nations is the earthly manifestation of the spiritual battle that began with Satan in the Garden.
The conflict among tribes, peoples, and nations is the earthly manifestation of the spiritual battle that began with Satan in the Garden.
When God redeemed Israel out of Egypt, God waged war against the “house of Pharaoh” (Ex. 8:24) and “all the gods of Egypt” (Ex. 12:12). Despite how it looks, when God turns the sun black, kills the firstborn of Egypt, and tosses Pharaoh and the Egyptians into the sea, it is not a war “against flesh and blood”—it is a spiritual war that involves real people, places, kingdoms, and nations (Eph. 6:12). It’s a spiritual war, but spiritual doesn’t mean it has nothing to do with happenings on earth. All of life is spiritual.
Israel’s invasion of the promised land continues this war against demons. While the Garden had been destroyed in the flood, God intended that the holy land would become a new sanctuary. Their first order of business is to eliminate pagan worship from their midst: “[Y]ou must devote [them] to complete destruction… [B]reak down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord” (Deut. 7:2, 5-6).
We often struggle reading about God’s merciless judgment on those living in the promised land. But God wasn’t merciless, even here. In the first case, God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, even toward his enemies. When God made covenant with Abraham, he was told that his descendants would not inherit the land for over four hundred years because “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Gen. 15:16). A recurring theme in the Bible is that God is patient, even in judgment, waiting until such a time as the sin becomes too great for him not to respond (Matt. 23:32, 1 Thes. 2:16, etc). But when God does act in judgment, it is done for the sake of mercy upon the innocent and so that righteousness and justice might again be established.
We must understand this episode in history in light of God’s ultimate purposes. From the beginning, God has desired a priestly people who worship him and govern their lives according to his commands. Israel was called to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:6). Although the nations were divided at Babel, God intended to make Abraham into “a great nation [so] that [he would] be a blessing” for “all the families” and “nations of the earth” (Gen. 12:1-3). In every successive generation, God has been working in the world, among real people, in real places, among real kingdoms and nations, to redeem the righteous living in the midst of the wicked. This often includes bringing righteous judgment against the wicked, clearing the way for greater flourishing to come. As individuals are brought into covenant with God, he sets them about creating a counter-society to the pagan nations that walk in darkness. God redeems individuals, but then he makes them part of the next step of his much greater redemptive purposes. Adam was supposed to guard the Garden, but allowed evil into its midst. God’s people are here set about the task of cleansing the land from evil in order that a new sanctuary could be established, for the sake of a greater redemption to be possible in the future.
As individuals are brought into covenant with God, he sets them about creating a counter-society to the pagan nations that walk in darkness. God redeems individuals, but then he makes them part of the next step of his much greater redemptive purposes.
God speaks of his people as a gift to the world, giving “light for the nations” (Isa. 42:6). God intended his word to go forth out of Zion and promised that one day “nations [and] many peoples” will say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths” (Isa. 2:3). God’s people were intended by God to shine as reflections of his own light, in order to attract the nations like moths to the fires of God’s presence (Isa. 42:6). Nations that heed God’s words and repent, turn from their wicked ways (see Jonah). Nations that cling to their demons become monstrous.
God intends to have dominion over these beasts and he has taken dominion through his Son. In our final installment, we will consider how these various threads find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ and what that means for the church.
[1] For more on the relationship between humanity as a social creature and God’s nature as Father, Son, and Spirit, see my article “Be Fruitful and Subdue the Earth.”
