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The Earth Cursed

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, Cal. · Sep 23, 1908

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 35, No. 8.

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The Earth Cursed

By Allen Moon

By Allen Moon
IN the beginning God created man upright (Eccl. 7:29), and it was His purpose that he should be supremely happy. To this end, "God planted a garden . . . in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the Tree of Life also in the midst of the garden. . . . And a river went out of Eden to water the garden" (Gen. 2:8-10)—all for man's joy and happiness.
God said to man, "Multiply and replenish the earth." That is to say, Multiply and fill the earth, and all this sphere shall be as the garden of Eden. He had begun the work of beautifying man's abode by surrounding him with a garden of living green—a garden of flower and fruit wherein was lacking nothing upon which he could feast his sight or satisfy the demands of his being; and above all, the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden, from which flowed the river of the water of life. This pure stream was the habitation of the finny tribe in all its glory and beauty; and the trees of the garden were the habitation of the birds of song and plumage. It was while he was in the midst of this glorious scene that God caused the animal creation to pass before man, that he might give them names, for they formed a part of his dominion.

The Changed Condition.

"And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." Gen. 1:31. God saw not as man now sees. "His work is perfect." Deut. 32:4. Therefore He saw no imperfection in it. This perfect beauty and utility might have been perpetual, only that it was man's to enjoy on condition of loyalty and obedience. Rebellion and disloyalty had appeared in the universe of God, even among the higher order of beings, and the glorious estate in which they were placed was liable to corruption, unless they were removed. So when man joined in transgression against the law of his Maker, "unto Adam He said, Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field." Gen. 3:17, 18. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken.
How changed is man's condition now—shut away from the garden of perfection and beauty, to till the earth upon which the curse rests, so it can not yield in perfection as did the garden which God had planted. And sad as it may seem, man was the cause of this change, as stated in the language of inspiration: "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are found guilty." Isa. 24:5, 6 (R. V.).
The Tree of Life no longer remains on the earth. Cut off from the life-giving tree, man himself is imperfect. He no longer is the stalwart being that came from the hand of his Creator. The animal creation has gone from his dominion. Man no longer regards the life of these creatures, the gift of God, with pleasure, but he feeds upon their flesh to satisfy his hunger, because the earth fails to respond to his tillage in the sweat of his brow. The insect that God created for man's pleasure in the garden has become his enemy, destroying plant and tree and shrub, so that the language of the prophet of Israel is literally fulfilled when he said, "The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish." Isa. 24:4. And this because of sin that brought the curse; and through the curse, everything that God made perfect upon the earth has become abnormal and unnatural.
The earth still retains a portion of its strength; but God permits the strength to diminish as time goes on. But it is not God's purpose to permit this blot in His fair dominion to continue. He will bring to an end the state into which man plunged himself by the fall; for "the earth shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word" (R. V.). He will not make a full end, but will have respect unto His redeemed people; for He has said, "When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive-tree, and as the gleaming grapes when the vintage is done." Isa. 24:13. A remnant shall be gathered out of the ruin, when "the earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly" (Isa. 24:19), for it is polluted with blood.
In each generation of men on the earth there have been a few loyal ones, and for them God has in store an Edenic inheritance yet in this earth.