We might not be able to tend the world but we can tend our own little corner of it and do what we can where we live.
This is a double proverb in the sense that the one who tends or takes care of the fig tree will probably tend after other things and by doing so, he is guarding his master’s possessions. Proverbs 27:18 “ Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored.” We have destroyed many areas of the planet to suit our own needs and this earth must groan under the weight of the ravaging and pillaging of the planet. God gave mankind dominion over the earth but not in order to use or misuse it at any cost for any reason. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Genesis 1:26 “ Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.
Years ago our neighbor used to pour his used motor oil on the fence line so that he wouldn’t have to weed eat where the mower wouldn’t reach but his trees started to die and he ended up having to cut down two huge one hundred year old tress in his back yard. God will not leave those unpunished who destroy the earth because those who do so are only interested in using and abusing the earth to make a profit but at what cost? We all are responsible for how we live our lives and if we throw trash out of the car, how we leave trash in campsites or pour out toxic wastes in the ground. Revelation 11:18 “ The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” What cruelty there is among the animal kingdom and the blood is on the hands of many. Laws such as “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain” (Duet 25:4) and as Jesus asked “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out” (Matt 12:11)? God’s compassion and love for His creatures is evident throughout the Bible like in Exodus 23:4 where even “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him” and “If you see your fellow Israelite’s ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but be sure to take it back to its owner” (Duet 22:1) yet we find mother cats abandoned in the middle of winter, pregnant dogs dumped in the middle of scorching Kansas summers of 100 degrees left alone. Proverbs 12:10 “ Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.” So far, it’s not been good stewardship to say the least.
The Hebrew word means “to guard” or “to watch and protect.” The other Hebrew word in this verse that’s very important is the word “work” or as some translations more accurately say “to cultivate” and is from the Hebrew word “`abad” meaning “to serve” so Genesis 2:15 would better read as: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to serve it and to guard and protect it.” That means that we are stewards of the earth and the Master will require of us an account on how we’ve been stewards of what He has given us. The Hebrew word for “tend” or some translations say “keep” it is “shamar” and it means more than just keep it neat and tidy. God gave mankind a command and told him that he must tend or keep the garden. Genesis 2:15 “ The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” God commands us to keep and care for the earth but God’s edict to have dominion over the earth doesn’t mean to have complete domination and exploitation of it.
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