There is a Hebrew
word that most Christians are aware of: Shalom. It is generally
understood to mean “peace”, but this word contains a deeper and broader
meaning. Shalom more accurately means an absolutely unbroken and whole,
as well as peaceful, state of existence and reality. In such a state
there is no separation or enmity between anyone and anything in
existence. All relationships are whole and unbroken, perfectly
interconnected. In such an idyllic state the relationships between God
and humans, humans and humans, humans and nature, and nature and God are whole
and unbroken. Where and when did such a state of reality exist? It
was the blueprint with which God created the earth and everything in it.
If Shalom is the foundation for community that we are trying to discover then
we must first consider the source of Shalom and in doing so we shall see that
it is of immense value, for it is a very part of the nature of God.
Shalom originates
in the nature of the Creator, it emerges from his heart and is part of his
image. As Christians we believe in the triune God, in the trinity of the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The trinity exists in a perfect state of
whole and unbroken relationship. They are one and their relationship is
absolutely open and interconnected. Thus the essence of community is
rooted in who God is. As we seek a model or definition for community we
must ultimately look at God’s nature and in him we discover what true community
is. The triune communal nature of God is the highest and purest reality
of community. From the community of the trinity emanates the communal
nature of all creation, including humanity. Thus when God says that he
creates man in his image, part of that image is the natural spiritual design
for community, that truest form of community which is shown in Adam and Eve’s
pre-fall existence in the Garden of Eden.
God created the
natural world to fit his communal design and therefore the creation is meant to
function communally with humanity for whom it was created. So we see that
Shalom comes from the nature of God, it is a part of his image, and humans
being created in that image have within their own human nature the capacity and
the design to live in relationships that are marked by Shalom.
In Genesis 1-3 we
see the establishment of Shalom and also its shattering. When God created
the universe, the earth and humanity, it began as a reality that was rooted in
and permeated by Shalom. Adam and Eve had a relationship with one another
that is difficult for us to imagine for it was one in which there was no
separation, no tension or power struggle. Their relationship was whole
and unbroken, totally open and connected, as was their relationship with God
and with nature. It was a perfect state of communal existence on every
level. Can we imagine what it must have been like to live in the Garden
of Eden as they did? Adam and Eve truly knew each other, and they knew
God as we long to, without any degree of separation. God walked in the
garden where they lived! They lived at peace with the world of nature,
without fear of natural disasters, poisoned plants, or wild animals. We
see in their experience the picture of community, which God intended for
humanity and his creation: unbroken and whole relationship with God, one
another, and nature. Community was present in a fullness that is
difficult for us to comprehend for it was a much different reality from our
experience of community today.
There was a moment,
an instant in which a single action shattered the state of Shalom like a
sledgehammer smashing a pane of glass into a million shards. This
shattering was cosmic in scope. Reality rippled as pieces of what had
once been the very fabric of reality came unraveled and frayed leaving a new state
of reality behind in the aftermath. We are speaking here of the Fall
described in Genesis 3 when sin entered the picture and community as it had
once existed was totally altered. The relationships that had been
previously unbroken, whole, open and connected, had suffered a terrible
fate. In the Fall, Shalom was lost and replaced with fragmentation,
separation, and broken , disconnected relationships. Genesis 3 describes
for us the ramifications of this shattering and we see the loss of the idyll community
that had existed. After Adam and Eve eat of the fruit of the tree of
knowledge we see the effects begin: Then
the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so
they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Genesis
3:7. Why did they cover themselves if it was not out of some sense of
shame? For the first time these two humans, who had up until this point
been in a whole and unbroken relationship, take action to hide something of
themselves from one another. The separation has begun. In verse 8
we read that God was out walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
Adam and Eve heard him coming and they hid from him. For the first time
they hide from their friend and creator, and God calls out to them “Where are
you?” The community that had existed between the Divine and humanity is
now marked for the first time by separation as Adam and Eve attempt to avoid
God because of what they have done in eating of the fruit of the tree of
knowledge. When they finally emerge from their hiding spot they tell God
that they hid from him because they were naked. They were trying to hide
themselves from him because they now saw themselves in a different light.
Their acceptance of themselves as they are has been damaged, even lost.
For the first time their eyes have turned inward to the Self and they have
become deeply concerned with themselves as the center of their reality.
This self-centered perspective of reality is evidence of the loss of their ability
to engage in relationships that are whole and unbroken, open and outwardly
focused. Now they have become concerned with themselves first, then
others.
So we see the
beginnings of the separation that takes place within the human spirit where it
experiences an inner fragmentation that will be a stumbling block to community
and relationships from this time forward. The evidence of the separation
that the Fall has wrought continues in verse 12-13: The man said “The woman you put here with me, she gave me some fruit
from the tree, and I ate it. Then the LORD God said to the woman “What is
this you have done?” The woman said “The serpent deceived me and I
ate. God has asked them if they have eaten from the tree of
knowledge, the only tree that he expressly asked them not to eat from in the
whole garden, and in their responses we see how the shattering has taken
hold. Adam does not own up to what he has done but rather shifts the
blame to Eve. He is trying to hide from the Lord what he has done by putting
the focus onto another. Eve’s response is the same only she blames the
serpent for what she has done. Both try to hide their fault from God and
their responsibility by pointing the finger at someone else. Separation
has taken its firm hold on them and their world. God’s heart is broken
because the incredible relationships that had existed are now marred and
community as it was intended to be has collapsed.
In Genesis 3:14-19
the Lord now reveals the consequences of what has taken place. He says to
the serpent Cursed are you above all the
livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you
will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between
you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel. The serpent becomes cursed because of
its complicity in the shattering of the state of Shalom. The Lord
declares that from now on there will be serious separation between Eve and all
her offspring and the serpent. To Eve the Lord says I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will
give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will
rule over you. The consequences that Eve suffers are the loss of ease
in childbearing and a significant change in the way her relationship with Adam
will function. Adam, her husband, will now rule over her. For the
first time there is the emergence of a balance of power in the context of their
relationship with one another. That Adam will rule over her is not to be
seen as a positive change in their relationship, rather it is the negative
consequence of the shattering of their original communal relationship.
This is evidence of their relationship being broken and no longer marked by the
oneness that they enjoyed before eating of the tree of knowledge. There
is now a serious degree of separation
between them, one above the other. God then says to Adam Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I
commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it’, making it clear that his action is
the reason for what follows. God continues Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat
of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you
will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were
taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. Adam and Eve’s
action has shattered Shalom, and as a result not only have degrees of
separation entered into their relationship with each other and with God, but we
see now that their relationship with nature has also become broken. The
ground has been cursed because of what Adam has done and now his relationship with
nature is marked by hardship. In order to eat he will have to work very
hard to produce food from nature. Nature will itself oppose him by
producing elements that are negative like the thorn and the thistle.
Lastly we see that Adam’s destiny has also changed. He has become mortal
and will suffer a physical death upon the earth after which he will return to
the dust from which God made him. How do we know that he could have lived
an immortal existence? Consider Genesis 3:22: And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing
good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also
from the tree of life and eat, and live forever. Adam and Eve’s very
nature has been changed. Within them now is the fallen state that has
resulted from eating from the tree of knowledge. Where there was no sin
nature within the human spirit there now exists that fallen nature. Due
to this transformation God now removes the possibility of Adam and Eve eating
from the tree of life from which they would gain immortality. The
implication is that if they ate from this tree and became immortal then that
state of immortality would have been a part of the human condition just as the
fall became a part of the human condition (see Romans 5:12-6:14). Had
this happened the effects of the Fall might have been permanent. God’s
only option is to banish his beloved Adam and Eve from the garden, mercifully
sparing them and sparing humanity from being trapped forever in their fallen
state. The last sad separation takes place and Adam and Eve must leave
the place of Shalom where they had known what it was like to live in a world of
perfect community, and the tree of life is hidden away from them and
humanity. God does not give up on humanity, he does not end the story at
the end of Genesis chapter 3 for he loves Adam and Eve and he loves his
creation. He loves his vision of a world of communal relationships that are whole and
unbroken. He has a plan and he will set it in motion in Genesis chapter
12 through an old man named Abraham.
I would say we are called to live in community in a profound way on earth. The Church ought to be a fellowship of people marked by relationships that are remarkable in today's world. Relationships of love and caring for one another, relationships that exemplify what it means to carry one another's burdens, relationships that are non-abusive, and relationships that walk through conflict coming out the other end in forgiveness and renewed unity...to name a few aspects.
As far as being edenesque is concerned the answer would be in some ways no. We live in the tension of the already not yet, but we also have something unique to a post resurrection era: the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We are invited to walk with the very presence of God at any given moment. The 'cool of the garden' is ever present within us. We can never return to Eden and never will. The already of our present is far different and the future glory is something that has never been seen before in the history of humanity.
I think the Church would do well to focus less on the future and look to the present more. In John 17 Jesus expresses numerous times that the ultimate witness to the world about the reality of who He is will come from the love they see amidst those who are the 'church'. The concept of Shalom Community is, in my view, one of the most central parts of the story of the Bible from Genesis right through to Revelation.
Thanks for commenting Andy.
Posted by: Eric H Janzen | January 03, 2008 at 12:04 AM
Are we called then to live in community as best can be done on earth? Is it possible to create an edenesque community today (with obvious shortcomings)? Is this what the Church is called to; not just preaching the future glory but the "ALREADY, not yet"?
Posted by: Andy Janzen | January 02, 2008 at 12:42 PM