Purposes of Work in Genesis

This post highlights the stories of a few men in Genesis, and the prominent purposes of their work.

Adam: Dominion and Food

Man was made to rule over the earth and the animals. We subdue the earth by working the ground. We rule over the animals by caring for them and directing them. Adam was commissioned not to keep the earth how God made it, but to subdue it. Eden was a uniquely fruitful place (Genesis 2:8–9), and Adam was put there to work it (Genesis 2:5). This would eventually mean the expansion of Eden to fill the whole world. It would involve digging up gold and precious stones (Genesis 2:12) and perhaps building something like the New Jerusalem. God man made in his own image so that he would look at God’s world and understand how to bring it to its full potential.

Working the ground would produce food for man (Genesis 1:29) and for the animals (Genesis 1:30). When the ground was cursed, this function remained, but became more difficult (Genesis 3:19). Man would work to prolong his life, but in the end he would die.

Cain: Worship, Security, and Culture

Cain fulfilled Adam’s calling to work the ground and produce fruit; and this allowed him to give an offering to God. Cain’s offering was not acceptable because of his sin (Genesis 4:7, 1 John 3:12), but if his heart had been in a better state then the offering would have been a good act of worship.

Cain built a city to protect his his family as they pursued creative endeavors. The invention of tents helped some rule over animals (Genesis 4:20), and metal instruments presumably helped others work the ground (Genesis 4:22). Musical instruments were created surprisingly early as an essential component of human culture (Genesis 4:21).

Jacob: Building a Household

Jacob did 20 years of hard labor for Laban, and left with a family and property. 14 years of this work was for the right to marry Laban’s two daughters. At least the first 7 years were a good deal for Jacob, because there was a shortage of God-fearing women, and he couldn’t start building a household without a wife. The next 7 were caused by Laban’s deceit and Jacob’s strong desire for Rachel. This kind of desire is a powerful motivation for young men to work, and it can make 7 years of labor feel like a few days (Genesis 29:20).

When the 14 years were finished, Jacob’s next step in building his household was to acquire wealth-producing assets (Genesis 30:30). God’s blessing turned a few sheep into many, which could provide clothing, milk, meat, and money to Jacob’s family.

Joseph: Using Resources Wisely

Jacob’s family was preserved not only by his own labor, but by Joseph’s wise administration in service of Pharaoh. Joseph managed available resources for the common good. He sold goods and negotiated prices, and this allowed resources to get to those in need.

The Penultimate End of Man, Part 2

I am God almighty. Live in My presence and be blameless. I will establish my covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you greatly… As for Me, My covenant is with you: you will become the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you. I will keep My covenant between Me and you, and your future offspring throughout their generations, as an everlasting covenant to be your God and the God of your offspring after you. And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing– all the land of Canaan– as an eternal possession, and I will be their God.

Gen 17:1-8, HCSB

As discussed in The Penultimate End of Man, Part 1, man was made to glorify God by working and raising kids. In a fallen world, people still work and raise kids, but there is something wrong with the way they do these things, so that they do not rightly glorify God and spread his kingdom. Outside of covenant with God, men build the city of man. When work is not done with justice, the world is subdued for Satan instead of God.

Through Abraham, God begins again to build His kingdom on Earth, and this time the mission will not get derailed. God’s kingdom is established by a covenant, received by Abraham’s faith (Gen 15:6), and demonstrated in circumcision (Gen 17:11) and justice (Gen 18:19). The blessings promised to Abraham are that he will multiply, fill the land of Canaan, and rule over it, and thereby bless every family in the world. The covenent and its blessing is passed to Isaac, then to Jacob, then to the nation of Israel, then through David to Jesus; and through Him it is passed to everyone who has faith like Abraham. This post is an overview of how God’s kingdom is built by faithful (but flawed) people working and raising godly children.

Abraham’s Family

Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what He promised him.

Gen 18:18-19

Abraham is a rich and powerful man who obeys God, and his greatest achievement is raising a son. Without a son, he would not care for anything else in the world God could give him (Gen 15:2). God creates a new people through the miraculous birth of Isaac. Abraham teaches Isaac to trust God, circumcizes him into the covenant, and leaves him a large inheritance. Isaac is blessed because of Abraham’s obedience (Gen 26:5). The purpose of Abraham’s military power is to protect his family and their possessions (Gen14:14-16).

One of the greatest demonstrations of Abraham’s faith is the way he goes about finding Isaac a wife. If Isaac marries a Canaanite he will likely be corrupted, but it is also unacceptable for Isaac to leave Canaan. So Abraham is confident that the Lord will give success to a servant sent on a nearly impossible mission to bring a woman from Abraham’s family to Isaac. By the rules Abraham sets up (Gen 24:2-8), if this servant fails, then Isaac will never get married, and what will come of God’s promises? So the Lord gives the servant success in his mission to bring Rebekah to Isaac.

Isaac sows and reaps, digs wells, and keeps livestock. Abraham had left his whole inheritance to Isaac because of God’s promise, but Isaac does not have this attitude when God chooses Jacob from the womb. Esau falls into the trap of marrying Canaanites, and Jacob has to flee Canaan. This seems to go against all of Abraham’s wishes, but through God’s blessing and 20 years of hard labor, Jacob comes back to Canaan with a large and prosperous family. The rest of Genesis describes how they multiply to 70 people, survive a famine because of Joseph’s work, and are given their own land in Egypt.

Israel

But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them.

Exod 1:7

Like Jacob, the Israelites take refuge outside of Canaan while they multiply. They pass the knowledge of God and his promises down to their children until the time comes for God to bring them back to their land. As slaves they are generally kept alive because of their labor, and even while Egypt kills their sons God makes them continue to multiply. When they leave Egypt, there is a shortage of faith, so God spends 40 years raising the next generation Himself, giving them food, water, discipline, and guidance.

The Lord gives each family in Israel (except the tribe of Levi) land. Each family would work their own land to provide for the family’s needs, and they would pass the land down to their descendents forever. They are called to teach their children to obey God and worship Him. Military force is often necessary to defend the land. The Old Testament wisdom literature gives instruction for being productive. Some of the produce grown on a family’s land would help take care of widows, orphans, immigrants, and Levites.

God’s promise to bless and multiply Israel is conditioned on them 1. loving Him and 2. treating their neighbor fairly. The Levites also work and raise children, for the purpose of leading the people to worship and obey God, and to receive His peace and forgiveness through sacrifices. This work preserves the nation, and the Levites are preserved by the nation’s offerings. In the end, idolatry and injustice bring God’s curses, which are the opposite of the blessings promised to Abraham.

The Church

So the preaching about God flourished, the number of the disciples multiplied greatly, and a large group of priests became obedient to the faith.

Acts 6:7

Though the New Testament adds new meaning to the household, it does not forget the mission given to Adam, Noah, and Abraham. A concept taught sometimes in the Old Testament and more frequently in the New Testament is that marriage, fatherhood, and motherhood are pictures of God’s relationship to His covenant people. We are to perform our household roles not only for for the good of our family and to raise godly children, but also to give a picture of spiritual truths.

In the new covenant, God’s people multiply and bear fruit by the labor of preaching of the gospel. Paul, a single man, is more fruitful than many families, taking the roles of both mother and father to his young churches (1 Thess 2:7-12). The Spirit produces “fruit” in us as He sanctifies us (Gal 5:22-23). Jesus is appointed ruler over the earth, and we make his rule visible as we teach the world to obey him (Matt 28:18-20). Those who are spiritually circumcized by putting off the flesh (Col 2:11) are counted as sons of Abraham because they belong to Jesus (Gal 3:29) and share Abraham’s faith (Gal 3:6-7).

Obeying Jesus, for most Chistians, involves managing a household, physically working, showing hospitality, and raising children. Much of the ethical teaching in the New Testament revolves around these, because they are the basic good endeavors of humans. The household is the context where human needs are normally met, and most young Christians should plan to get married (1 Tim 5:14). Managing a household well can prepare a man to manage the household of God (1 Tim 3:4-5, 15).

Managing our own household is the bare minimum ethic, but Christians are also concerned with one another and with the world. Work and family are not our ultimate goal, but they are inherently good things that can also be used for the good of the church and the world. A stable household can be hospitable, share with widows and orphans, and preach the gospel. And it is the place where the next generation of Christians is taught to worship God, work, raise children, and preach the gospel.

The Penultimate End of Man, Part 1

Sure, the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, but how are we supposed to do that? The best way to find out is to see what God told man to do when He made him.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis 1:28

Gen 1:28 in Eden

Genesis 2 explains how man was originally supposed to obey this command. He is put in the garden to work the ground (Gen 2:15) so the plants would grow (c.f. Gen 2:5). He was restricted from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:17), which (spoilers!) would involve ruling over the serpent. As ruler of the animals, his first task was to name them (Gen 2:19). The woman was made to help Adam fulfill his mission (Gen 2:18-22).

The original plan was to spread Eden throughout the world. Man would rule the earth as God’s representative, spreading God’s kingdom throughout the world. God would continue to walk with man in the garden (c.f. Gen 3:8). The difference between Eden and the rest of the world, besides God’s presence, is its fruitfulness. The surrounding wilderness would be conquered and subdued to meet the needs of man, for the glory of God.

Man was meant to glorify God by spreading His kingdom, both by working and by raising godly children. These two tasks are essential, and should not be put in opposition to one another. Feminists tend to think that work is more important than family, and Christians tend to think that family is more important than work. But ideally, these two tasks are mutually reinforcing. Work meets the needs of a family, allowing parents to raise godly children. Raising godly children means filling the earth with workers. Neither of these tasks are the ultimate end, but both work together to spread the kingdom of God for the good of man and the glory of God.

Genesis 3 explains how the mission gets derailed. God’s small kingdom has a clear hierarchy: God is the head of man, man is the head of woman, and together they rule the animals. The serpent completely subverted this hierarchy by deceiving the woman, who led the man into rebellion against God. The man was no longer welcome in God’s kingdom, so it did not spread throughout the earth.

Gen 1:28 East of Eden

In Genesis 4 man begins to multiply, and we see Adam’s sons at work. Cain works the ground, and Abel keeps sheep. They are continuing to do the work that Adam was made to do, and they use the fruits of their labor to worship God. In a sense this is how it was meant to be, except now God apparently requires the blood of sheep to atone for sin (Gen 4:3-5). Cain envies his brother, and is called to obey Gen 1:28 in the way his parents failed to do: rule over sin. He must rule over the serpent and not be subdued by him.

Cain fails to subdue the serpent, but he is allowed to live, multiply, and work. He builds a city (Gen 4:17), and his descendents begin new family trades to pass onto their descendents. Jabal’s family makes tents and keeps livestock (Gen 4:20). Jubal’s family makes musical instruments (Gen 4:21). Tubal-cain makes tools from bronze and iron (Gen 4:22).

Man is taking the materials God made, and bringing them to their potential, for the good of man. But is it for the glory of God? A sign pointing to “no” is Lamech, who brags to his two wives that his vengeance is more terrifying than that of God. The line of Seth provides some hope that man will glorify God (Gen 4:26), but they are corrupted by the sinful world (probably Gen 6:2). As man multiplies and fills the earth, he is not subduing it for God, but for Satan. Another way this has been said is that Cain built the city of man, not the city of God. The more man multiplies, the more sin multiplies. This leads to 40 days to slow the spread.

After the flood, we’re right back where we were in Genesis 4: one sinful family (according to Gen 8:21, no less sinful than before the flood). But for some reason, God allows man to continue in this state. God makes a covenant with the earth, promising to preserve the natural order of days and seasons. He renews his command to man: “be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it” (Gen 9:7). Despite sin, God has not given up on his intentions for man.

The entrance of death into the world brings two notable changes to the mission. First, animals fear us (Gen 9:2), and we eat them (Gen 9:3). Our rule over the animals necessarily involves violence. If we don’t want our house overrun by cockroaches, termites, and mice, we should be prepared to use lethal force. It is possible to survive without eating animals, but God explicitly allows us to eat meat. Second, God establishes the death penalty as the just retribution for murder. This demonstrates the need for governments in a fallen world, to justly punish criminals and to protect from foreign invaders.

While we’re on the subject of how sin changes the mission, I should mention that in a fallen world, charity is necessary. The source of this need is seen in the four groups who receive charity under the law of Moses: widows, orphans, immigrants, and Levites. Ideally, work meets the needs of the family; but widows and orphans do not have a man to provide for them, and immigrants and Levites do not have land to work. In our modern world, those with families, houses, land, and jobs should help take care of those who lack such blessings.

To Be Continued

I thought Abraham would be the final section of this post, but he deserves his own post. Here are some spoilers: With Abraham, Genesis 1:28 changes from a command to a promise. It begins to be fulfilled in Abraham’s family and in the nation of Israel, and it is finally fulfilled in the Kingdom of God under Jesus Christ. I’ll discuss what this all means for Christians and even for singles. Later posts in this Ethics From the Ground Up series will discuss work, family, charity, church, and politics in more detail.

What have we learned so far? Man was made to work and raise godly children. These two tasks are mutually reinforcing, and serve the ultimate end of glorifying God. Adam’s family works the ground, makes tents, keeps livestock, builds cities, makes music, and makes tools. In a sinful world, we must rule over our own sin, punish criminals, and provide for the needy.