Posted
by Michael Bunker
mailto:editor@lazarusunbound.com
The
Bible teaches that mankind, in his most perfect state, is designed (and has a
primary duty to) dress the garden and to till, manage and overcome the land –
for the pleasure and provision of man, and for the Glory of God. Man’s duty then, apart and above all other
duties, is to manage the Creation for God’s glory, for “The earth is the
LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they
that dwell therein” (Psalms 24:1).
The first hint of any commandment or duty given to man in the Bible is
from the first chapter of Genesis:
“And God blessed
them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth
upon the earth”
(Genesis 1:28).
In
a deeper explanation of this command, we find some details in the second
chapter:
“And the LORD God
took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to
dress it and to keep it” (Genesis
Prior
to the fall, the duty of man was primarily the management, dressing and keeping
of the Garden of Eden. Although we do
have facts that tell us that mankind was to have “dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth
upon the earth”, we have no indication that man was in the practice of
consuming animals at this time. Although
some denominations and cults have tried to prove that man was strictly a
vegetarian at this time, such teaching is merely speculation – and really is a
moot point, since we know that soon after the fall God allowed the consumption
of clean animals into the diet of men.
So we have solid evidence that man was designed perennially to have
primary duties in agrarianism and animal husbandry. Specialization and urbanization did not exist
for quite awhile, and only entered into the human system by way of the
sinfulness and rebellion of mankind.
The
parables of the New Testament go on to re-establish mankind’s agrarian
responsibilities, and also recognize man as the steward of God’s possession
who, in time, will give a reckoning and account to God who is his absentee
landlord. The earliest believers
inextricably linked our responsibility as farmers and land managers, to the
final judgment and the return of the One righteous
landlord. The stewardship and the
working of the land was designed, not just for our sustenance and provision,
but to instill in the working design of the mind God’s sense of orderliness,
cleanliness, and beauty. Our minds were
designed by God to be trained at a
very young age by agrarian behaviors.
Working the land and the animals gave man a sense of dominion, but always a limited sense of dominion. Whereas a man could certainly improve his
odds of a plentiful and bountiful crop by hard work and planning, the results
were always left at the foot of God, who alone was and is sovereign over
conditions, weather, war, plague, etc.
Biblical Agrarianism (and Biblical Agrarianism alone) trained man in the
godly balancing art of submission and dominion.
Agrarianism
was never a system devised whereby man would “make money”, or “earn a
living”. Agrarianism was primarily
beneficial in that man could, though - Biblical methods, hard work and honest
obedience, provide for himself and his family and household – IN ORDER TO keep
himself and his household separate from the ways and means of the godless
world. Living an “off the grid”
lifestyle should not instill in us pride or a sense of self-sufficiency, but
should reassert a humble worldview, totally dependent on the grace, mercy, providence
and sovereignty of our God.
It
is interesting to note that our assertion that God trains MINDS through
Agrarianism can be judged by a cursory view of Biblical history. Where mankind thrived in godliness and
righteousness, we find an Agrarian society – and it is only in these types of societies
(like in
The
shadow pictures (types/antitypes) of sin, separation, reconciliation and
redemption can only be properly understood from a foundational knowledge of the
Agrarian/Urban contrast. When a man
lives in harmony with God, we find him in an Agrarian/Pastoral setting,
dependent on God and not on neighbors, city dwellers or other forms of
commerce. When man rebels and rejects
God’s ways, we find him gathered together with like-minded rebels in
cities. In the picture of
salvation/redemption, God pictures his own children as wheat seed, which must
fall in “good ground”, well prepared and managed soil, in order to germinate
and bring forth fruit. God’s children
should be found as workers of the soil.
They are spread out in good land, thinned by the sovereign gardener, and
nourished and pruned in order to bring forth good fruit. In contrast, when seed falls among the
thorns, meaning a crowded, weed-filled place, with all manner of wild plants
competing for sustenance, that seed is said to be “choked” by “the
deceitfulness of riches”. Most urbanites
today, especially those who claim to be Christians, would deny that they are
being choked by the deceitfulness of riches, and yet their continued reliance
on specialization in an urban setting for survival contradicts their
claims. Any urbanite today must find himself in league with the ungodly in order to survive,
whether it be in a neighborhood or at the workplace, the city-dweller must be
in unity and union with apostates and professed unbelievers on a day to day
basis. Why? Well, “in order to make a living” you will be
told. This in itself denies the
providence of God in giving gifts and provision to His children.
God
promised to deliver His people from such a land of bondage and dependence, into
a
“And I am come down
to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of
that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and
honey…”
(Exodus 3:8).
Now
God promised that He would give His children a good and productive land, and
that all they had to do was to go in and “possess it” (which is to say, subdue it,
till it and manage it), but the children were rebellious, and preferred their
urban (yes, the children in the desert were really urbanites, city dwellers,
etc.) ways. They had become specialized
and feared the job ahead of them in overcoming the land.
“And Moses sent
them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the
mountain: And see the land, what it is;
and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; And
what the land is that they
dwell in, whether it be good or
bad; and what cities they be
that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood
therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land.
Now the time was the time of
the firstripe grapes. So they went up, and searched
the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. And
they ascended by the south, and came unto
For
the wickedness of the people we see that God curses the whole nation (over the
age of 20) except Joshua and Caleb to perish in the desert, never to see the
true land that overflowed with milk and honey.
But why did Caleb and Joshua see what no others would see?
“But my servant
Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him
will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his
seed shall possess it” (Numbers
Caleb
(and later we see him joined together with Joshua) had “another spirit with
him”, and God said of Caleb that he “followed me fully”. Do you understand the importance of this as
it relates to separation? Most who hear
these messages, but who still will not separate themselves from the wicked, and
who still live in cities, and who still will not live a life directed by a
truly Biblical Worldview, are not able to SEE the good land, because all they
can see is giants and problems and things that cause fear. When people contact me about “getting off the
grid”, they are afraid because they don’t think they can subdue the land, and
they don’t know how they will survive.
They see with carnal eyes, and do not see the providence and promise of
God as if it were already completed.
They do not see with the eyes of faith.
God’s
children were designed and created to live in Agrarian communities, knit
together by a common worldview and common faith. Whereas there was always
“micro-specialization” (every man did not have to produce 100% of what he
consumed) in that some individuals and regions produced some individual items
for sale to other individuals and regions that might specialize in another
product, it is evident that most of the people were expected to provide for
most of their own goods and needs. Each
family should produce the bulk of their own food and supplies from their own
homestead. Farmers never produced just
one crop, or one type of good, expecting to make enough money from the sale of
his goods to buy the rest of the things he needed to survive. This concept left too much to “chance”,
“luck”, “circumstances”, and did not rely on the Providence of God through the
obedience of faith. Proper farm and land
management techniques (crop rotation, multiple and cross-beneficial crops,
etc.) were passed down from the Patriarchs through the family and descendents –
until inevitably the children rebelled, sold or abandoned the land, and moved
into cities where specialization and segmented labor would “insure” temporal
survival.
When
the Puritans and Pilgrims left the crowded and corrupt cities of
Note
where the “food” of a man is supposed to come from, and think about it as a
sign of how our spiritual “food” (The Word of God) comes to us:
“He watereth the hills from his chambers: the earth is
satisfied with the fruit of thy works. He causeth the
grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may
bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth
man's heart”
(Psalms 104:13-15).
Spiritually,
God puts forth those things necessary to bring our spiritual food forth for our
service. But who will understand the
Word of God? When man has put aside the
Agrarian system and knowledge that showed us how God brought our physical food
to us, how is man to understand the spiritual antitype (or fulfillment) of this
type? So much of God’s Word and so many
of God’s mysteries are hidden in the Agrarian system. Is it any wonder that we are a people starved
for wisdom and understanding (just as our bodies starve for natural provision)?
The Evils of
Urbanism
The
modern economic system is actually crumbling around us, having been built on
nothing and suspended by mythologies and lies.
The economies of commerce that feed and support the large urban centers
today (and even most midsize and small towns) is a system built on lies and
worldly “good faith and credit”. When
that system collapses, more than 90% of any modern nation’s population will
suffer and starve, OR more wicked and statist means
of production will have to be brought forth in order to feed and provide for a
great majority of consumers who have neither the desire nor the skills to
produce and survive.
Many
people read the commandments in the Bible to “come out of her” and to separate
from the world, and they think, “Listen, I don’t go to bars, and I don’t do
drugs, and I don’t go out and party, and I don’t spend my money foolishly… so I
have separated from the world”; but
in their rationalistic replies they show how foolishly and ignorantly they have
failed to discern the plain teaching of the Bible. It is our mutual dependence and interdependence upon the world and worldlings that evidences whether or not we are Biblically
separated people. Listen, if all the
wicked worldlings immediately perished or were
stricken with some serious malady that caused them to be unable to continue in
their jobs – the cities (and all those who rely on them) would collapse and
perish. It is your dependence on the
world that is at issue here, not whether or not you partake of ALL of their
habits.
The
In
one of the most telling types/shadows of all of history, God had his people
(the Christians) flee the adulterous and rebellious city of
Your
servant in Christ Jesus,
Michael
Bunker