Antioch Biblical Seminary & College, Pondicherry-14

An Academic Paper

By
Arul Samuel Raj. J

Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Course

Bible & Eco-Concern

As A Part of Requirement for the Programme

Master of Divinity

To

Pr. Eslish Bhuyan, M.Th.

On
12/08/20

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

MOSES TEACHING ON ECOLOGY ......................................................... 3

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 3
THE BIBLE & HUMAN ECOLOGY ................................................................ 3
HISTORY OF MOSES.................................................................................... 4
MOSES SPEECH - ECOLOGICAL CARE & THE ENTRY INTO CANAAN ............... 5
The Crossing of the Red Sea ........................................................... 6
The Waters of Meribah .................................................................... 7
Bitter Water Made Sweet ................................................................. 8
DESTRUCTION OF KORAH ................................................................... 9
MOSES TEACHINGS ...................................................................................10
THE CONSEQUENCES OF ECOLOGICAL NEGLECT ............................11
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................12

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 Moses Teaching on Ecology

Introduction
In this Assignment I‘m going to review about Moses‘s teaching on ecology. The Bible is
not a book of science, and therefore not of ecology. The Bible's vision is simultaneously bio
centric, anthropocentric, and theocentric. The Hebrews discovered who they were as they
discovered where they were, and their scriptures can be a catalyst in our ecological crisis. 1
The early Hebrews maintained an unparalleled degree of ecological sustainability, since the
Law of Moses regulated fruit crops, prohibited certain mixed crops, and required the non-
cultivation of the land in the seventh year, enabling the land to recover from human activity.

The Bible and Human Ecology

Biblical writers did inhabit ecology. But perhaps we ought not to focus on the
ecological science they might have known, but rather on the human ecology into which they
had insight. Emphasize the human, not the ecological side of the relationship. We want to
regain their insights into human nature more than their insights into nature. True, one cannot
know the right way for humans to behave if one is ignorant of how human behaviours result
in this or that causal outcome in the natural systems about which one is concerned—what (in
our terms) is the carrying capacity of the Bethel-Ai rangeland, or whether letting the land lie
Fallow one year in seven is adequate to restore its productivity. At times the knowledge of
biblical writers was possibly archaic and they did not have the right categories for
interpreting nature.2

Foot notes

1. (Holmes Rolston, III Professor of Philosophy Colorado State University)

2. (Interpretation: Journal of Bible and Theology 50(1996):16-26 Holmes Rolston,
III Professor of Philosophy Colorado State University)

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History of Moses
Moses (/ˈmoʊzɪz, -zɪs/), 1 it also known as Moshe Rabbenu (Hebrew: , lit. ‗Moses
our Teacher‘), is the most important prophet in Judaism, and an important prophet in
Christianity, Islam, the Bahá‘í Faith, and a number of other Abrahamic religions. In the
biblical narrative he was the leader of the Israelites and lawgiver, to whom the authorship of
the first five books of the bible, the Torah, or ―acquisition of the Torah from heaven,‖ is
attributed.

Rabbinical Judaism calculated a lifespan of Moses corresponding to 1391–1271 BCE;2

Jerome suggested 1592 BCE,3 and James Ussher suggested 1571 BCE as his birth year.

According to the Book of Exodus, Moses was born in a time when his people, the Israelites,
an enslaved minority, were increasing in population and, as a result, the Egyptian Pharaoh
worried that they might ally themselves with Egypt‘s enemies.4 Moses‘ Hebrew mother,
Jochebed, secretly hid him when the Pharaoh ordered all new-born Hebrew boys to be killed
in order to reduce the population of the Israelites. Through the Pharaoh‘s daughter (identified
as Queen Bithia in the Midrash), the child was adopted as a foundling from the Nile river and
grew up with the Egyptian royal family. After killing an Egyptian slave-master who was
beating a Hebrew, Moses fled across the Red Sea to Midian, where he encountered the Angel
of the Lord, 5 speaking to him from within a burning bush on Mount Horeb, which he
regarded as the Mountain of God.

1. "Moses." Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.

2. Seder Olam Rabbah[full citation needed]
3. Jerome's Chronicon (4th century) gives 1592 for the birth of Moses
4. Exodus 1:10
5. Douglas K. Stuart (2006). Exodus: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of
Holy Scripture. B&H Publishing Group. pp. 110–13.

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Moses Speech - Ecological care & the entry into Canaan

Under the widely accepted late date for the exodus (thirteenth century), Israel was entering
Canaan during the late Bronze Age collapse, not only a time of political and social instability,
but also of widespread ecological damage resulting from climate change and environmental
exploitation by human activity.

Corroborating evidence for this is found in Moses‘ speech to Israel, in which he warns
them specifically that the ecology of Canaan is not like that of Egypt. Deuteronomy 11: 10
for the land where you are headed is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land
where you planted seed and which you irrigated by hand [Hebrew ―with your foot‖] 1 like a
vegetable garden. Instead, the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy is one of hills and
valleys, a land that drinks in water from the rains, a land the LORD your God looks after. He
is constantly attentive to it from the beginning to the end of the year. Egypt was irrigated
reliably every year by the flooding of the Nile, and although the canals and fields still
required human intervention to receive water, the Egyptians were able to control their
irrigation system through their own efforts. In contrast, the land into which Israel is entering
is said to be fully dependent on rainfall, which the land itself ―drinks up‖.
This background provides an obvious rationale for the ecological care legislation in the
Law of Moses; Israel would be entering an environmentally impoverished land which had
previously suffered from unchecked human exploitation of the ecology. The Law of Moses
appears to be not only aware of this damage, but also aware of the need to preserve the land
from further exploitation. In turn, this corroborates the historicity of the Bible‘s record of the
exodus.

1. The rendering ―by hand‖ given here by the New English Translation is intended to
capture the sense using the English idiom of doing things ―by hand‖; the translators see
here an emphasis on human effort and manual labor.

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The Crossing of the Red Sea

The Crossing of the Red Sea (Hebrew: ‫ סוף ים ק יעת‬Kriat Yam Suph –

Crossing of the Red Sea or Sea of Reeds) 1 forms an episode in the biblical

narrative of the Exodus. It tells of the escape of the Israelites, led by Moses,

from the pursuing Egyptians, as recounted in the Book of Exodus. 2 Moses

holds out his staff and God parts the waters of the Red Sea. The Israelites walk

through on the dry ground and cross the sea, followed by the Egyptian army.

Once the Israelites have safely crossed Moses lifts his arms again, the sea

closes, and the Egyptians are drowned. YHWH told Moses to write down the

words of a song and teach it to the community, so that it would be a "witness for

me against the children of Israel"‘ (Deuteronomy 31:19). .. In verses 4–6

The theme is defined: it is the rectitude and faithfulness of YHWH toward His

corrupt and faithless people. From this incident Moses teaches the people that

our God can do anything for his children.

1. Exodus 17:1-7
2. Exodus 17:8-16

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The Waters of Meribah

Rephidim (Hebrew: ‫ ) פי ים‬is one of the places visited by the Israelites in the biblical
account of the Exodus from Egypt.
This episode is described in the Book of Exodus. The Israelites under Moses have come
from the wilderness of Sin. At Rephidim, they can find no water to drink, and angrily demand
that Moses give them water. Moses, fearing they will stone him, calls on Jehovah for help
and is told to strike a certain "rock in Horeb," in God's name which causes a stream to flow
from it, providing ample water for the people. He names the place Massah (meaning 'testing')
and Meribah (meaning 'quarreling').1 In the Book of Numbers a similar event is described as
taking place near Kadesh.2 In this version, Jehovah tells Moses to speak to the rock. Moses
strikes it twice with his staff and water pours out. Jehovah then reproaches Moses and Aaron
for their lack of trust in him and tells them that for this reason they will not see the Promised
Land.3

Leading the Israelites on an Exodus from Egypt, Moses made a small mistake in striking a
rock, just as he had done previously, to draw water from it, whereas God had instructed him
to speak to the rock on this occasion. This made God angry, and he told Moses that he would
not lead the Israelites into the Promised Land (Numbers 20:11–12).The second episode (Num
20:1-13) is easier to understand if we consider it to be a second, revised version of the same
event and not another similar event. If it were a different event, occurring after the first and
told by the same author, it would be impossible to understand why no one knows how to
solve the problem of the water. The people, Moses, Aaron, and even YHWH have no
memory of the preceding episode.

1. Frank Moore Cross (2009). Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History
of the Religion of Israel. Harvard University Press. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-674-03008-4.
2. Frank Moore Cross (2009). Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic: Essays in the History
of the Religion of Israel. Harvard University Press. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-674-03008-4.
3. Numbers 20:1-7

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Bitter Water Made Sweet

Marah (Hebrew: meaning 'bitter') is one of the locations which the Torah identifies as
having been travelled through by the Israelites, during the Exodus. 1,2
The liberated Israelites set out on their journey in the desert, somewhere in the Sinai
Peninsula. It becomes clear that they are not spiritually free. Reaching Marah, the place of a
well of bitter water, bitterness and murmuring, Israel receives a first set of divine ordinances
and the foundation of the Shabbat. The shortage of water there is followed by a shortness of
food. Moses throws a log into the bitter water, making it sweet. Later God sends manna and
quail. The desert is the ground where God acquires his people. The 'murmuring motifi' is a
recurring perspective of the wandering Jewish people.

Marah - bitterness - a fountain at the sixth station of the Israelites (Ex. 15:23, 24; Num.
33:8) whose waters were so bitter that they could not drink them. On this account they
murmured against Moses, who, under divine direction, cast into the fountain "a certain tree"
which took away its bitterness, so that the people drank of it. This was probably the 'Ain
Hawarah, where there are still several springs of water that are very "bitter," distant some 47
miles from 'Ayun Mousa. This teaching shows that God can change any situation for his
people. The Israelites experienced miracles every day in their life in different ways. Moses
teaches the people that the God can change the bitterness into sweet.

1. — Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary Exodus 15:23

2. ^ Jump up to:a b Numbers 33:8

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Destruction of Korah

At the time of Korah's engulfment, the earth became like a funnel, and
everything that belonged to him, even linen that was at the launderer's and
needles that had been borrowed by persons living at a distance from Korah,
rolled till it fell into the chasm.1 According to the Rabbis, Korah himself
underwent the double punishment of being burned and buried alive. 2 He and his
followers continued to sink until Hannah prayed for them; 3 and through her
prayer, the Rabbis declare, Korah will ascend to paradise. 4 Rabbah bar bar
Hana narrates that while he was traveling in the desert, an Arab showed him the
place of Korah's engulfment. There was at the spot a slit in the ground into
which he introduced some wool soaked in water. The wool became parched. On
placing his ear to the slit, he heard voices cry: "Moses and his Torah are true;
and we are liars".5

1. Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 10 1; Numbers Rabbah l.c.

2. Numbers Rabbah l.c. 14; Tanhuma, Ḳoraḥ, 23
3. Genesis Rabbah 98:3
4. Avot of Rabbi Natan 36; Numbers Rabbah 18:11; compare Sanhedrin 109b
5. Bava Batra 74a; compare Tanhuma, ed. Buber, Ḳoraḥ, Supplement

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Moses Teachings

First of all, Moses teaches us to see miracles every day. There‘s a Yiddish word that has no
meaning, but when it precedes a word it indicates that the word after it is, indeed, a miracle.
The word is ta-keh. I like to explain how this word works by talking about how it can be used
to replace the English word ―just.‖ For example, if Moses had seen that burning bush and
said, ―It‘s just a burning bush,‖ then it would have been just a burning bush. But if moses had
said, ―That is, ta-keh, a burning bush!‖ he would have been saying, ―Look at that miracle – a
burning bush!‖ (Of course, Moses didn‘t know Yiddish, because it is a language that wasn‘t
spoken in Biblical times.)

Moses also can teach us about how to have a personal connection with God. When God
spoke to Moses out of that burning bush, he didn‘t question whether or not it was God
speaking, he just entered into conversation with the voice that emanated from the bush. He
accepted that the voice he heard was God‘s voice, and he entered answered God.

He didn‘t just accept what he was told, however. He argued with God. He had a
conversation. He said, ―Why me? I lisp.‖ But when God, said, ―It must be you,‖ he followed
God‘s command. Which brings us to the next lesson: We need to learn from Moses to listen
to the voice of God when it speaks to us. And it doesn‘t always speak from a burning bush.
Sometimes the voice is not loud…and sometimes it doesn‘t sound a lot different than our
own voice, our own thoughts. And when we hear the voice, we need to respond by talking to
God, with God, questioning God, and wrestling with God. And then we need to listen hard
and long to the response that follows, and then do what we know we must do…and what we
are urged and prodded and told to do.

From Moses we also learn that everyone has a destiny. Moses had a destiny just like
Joseph had a destiny. We are in the right place at the right time even if it looks wrong. Joseph
surely though that what his brothers did to him – selling him off and telling his father he was
dead – wasn‘t right, but he ended up in a high position in Egypt, which helped him save his
family and his people. Yes, his people became slaves, but because Moses was raised in the

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Pharaoh‘s palace and killed a man and went to Midian, he became the man that freed those
slaves and took them into the desert where, he went to the top of Mt. Sinai to get the
commandments so the Israelites could enter into a covenant with God.

We can learn from Moses to be assertive and ask for what we want. This reminds me of
Jack Canfield‘s book The Aladdin Factor, which is all about asking for what we want. God
keeps telling Moses over and over again to go back to the Pharoah and to say, ―Let my people
go.‖ And he did, and eventually he got what he asked for. You have to ask for what you want.

Lastly, Moses teaches us to have faith. He must have had a lot of faith in God to go to the
Pharaoh 10 times, to take the Israelites through the desert for 40 years, to simply do what
God commanded… Moses‘ faith teaches us to act when God whispers in our ear or talks to us
from a burning bush.

The consequences of ecological neglect

Although Mesopotamian societies must have been aware of the dangers of over-using the
land, and must have experienced the negative effects of environmental damage,1 they
nevertheless show no concern for the ecology in their legislation, and there are no
environmental protection laws. This lack of attention to ecological concerns contributed
significantly to the Early Bronze Age crisis, when rapidly increasing population density and
wealth distribution inequity, compounded with environmental exploitation, resulted in an
increasingly desperate conflict for diminishing resources.

―It appears that the causes of the crisis of the second urbansation were mostly internal
processes. For instance, there was the excessive exploitation of the land, the concentration of
wealth in the cities and palace, and the accumulation of this wealth for prestige, which with
time led to the ultimate collapse of the system.‖2
―This period of decreasing resources naturally caused the rise of competition and rivalry
between groups.‖3
These centuries of exploitation left an indelible mark on the local environment, forcing
economic changes.

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―At the beginning of the Bronze Age the declining importance of pig breeding seems to show
that for the first time man‘s activity caused such irreversible changes in the ecology that man
had to adapt his economy.‖4
The ecological damage caused by this earlier exploitation was so severe and long lasting, that
societies in the Middle to Late Bronze age were forced to change their hunting patterns.

―In the Middle and Late Bronze Age the exploitation of the natural resources became very
intensive and reached a high point in which also animals that

1. ―It would appear that while early dry-farming and irrigation were pushing population
densities up at a rapid rate, the relative amount of land which could be considered
―prime‖, or ―highly productive‖ was decreasing with equal rapidity‖, Kent V. Flanner,
―Origins and Early Effects of Domestication in Iran and the Near East,‖ in The
Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals, ed. G. W. Dimbleby and Peter J.
Ucko (Routledge, 2017).
2. Mario Liverani, The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy (Routledge,
2013), 184.
3. Ibid.
4. Hijlke Buitenhuis, ―Archaeozoological Aspects of Late Holocene Economy and
Environment in the Near East,‖ in Man’s Role in the Shaping of the Eastern
Mediterranean Landscape: Proceedings of the Symposium on the Impact of Ancient Man
on the Landscape of the E Med Region & the Near East: Groningen, March 1989, ed. S.
Bottema, G. Entjes-Nieborg, and W. van Zeist (CRC Press, 1990), 195.

Conclusion

From this teachings of Moses on Ecology, we came to know that ecology takes places in
each and every miracles and the people of Israel have learnt from that miracles.

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