“Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.” (Gen. 2:19)
Genesis 2:19 tells us that God did not name the wild animals and the birds of the sky. God did not even start the process of naming them and then left it for the man to continue. No we’re told that God brought them all to the man “to see what he would name them”. It means, God created the man with the ability to name all living creatures. Obviously, naming each living creature is Man’s prerogative, hence God didn’t interfere with.
It is important at this point to understand that the man (mankind) has God-given prerogatives that God will not interfere with which define the partnership of God and humankind on earth. We use the word prerogative here to mean “a right or privilege exclusive to a particular individual or class”.
Romans 7:7 comes to mind: “What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”
Apostle Paul is arguing that the law is not sin but gives us (mankind) the knowledge of sin by naming it or calling it as it is…. Of course, the law being given by God is God himself naming sin. Interestingly, Paul reveals that he, as human being, would not have known sin except through the law. It means that mankind cannot know what sin is apart from God (the creator). Think of a poison killing quietly but no one can tell what it is and many people like it because of the taste and appearance….
Paul knew the name of each living creature through the knowledge passed down the generations from the man (Adam), but he did not have the knowledge of sin until the law of God was introduced to him. Here we learn that naming sin must be God’s prerogative and beyond mankind’s ability to do most likely because sin is spiritual -the first time sin is evoked in the Bible is in Genesis 4:7 where God said to Cain, “sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Sin is a spiritual (invisible) entity….
It is fair to say, using the language of Genesis 2:19, that whatever God called each sin that was, or has to be, its name because naming sin is God’s prerogative that no human being should interfere with, otherwise it would no longer be a prerogative. Failure to understand the foregoing accounts for the bad shape the world is in today and explains why despite the UN world’s peace seems far from reality.
Isaiah 5:20 comes to mind: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”
Some of you could be thinking Isaiah wrote to this generation but let me remind you that he lived in the eight century before Christ. The situation Isaiah describes is inevitable and indicative of anywhere (church as well as the world)human beings take on God’s prerogative of naming sin: Destruction and ruin (death) become inevitable.
It is a terrible mistake to think that evil and good could be decided by consensus in parlement, church council or ecumenical group. Hence, apostle Paul writes, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please the flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7,8). Isn’t the story of our lives?
Human beings have taken on God’s prerogative to our own detriment. Only repentance could turn the situation around for better.
May God help us.
