Learnin’ the Ropes
By Jay Wegter
The story behind the painting
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens
And the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths
of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name
in all the earth! (Ps 8:3-9)
Psalm 8 has a theme known as the dominion mandate. In other words, God Almighty has put mankind over the works of His hands to steward the creation. But this privileged assignment is not to be assumed passively as a mere spectator would. For ruling over the works of God’s hands is a mandate, or an imperative for us, the creatures made in God’s image. In every generation fulfilling this mandate will take energy, grit, creativity, resourcefulness, hard work, and planning.
In spite of the resistance faced while laboring in a cursed creation (Gen 3:17-19; Rom 8:18-23), man must continue to fulfill this original creation mandate of ruling over the works of God’s hands (Gen 1:28-30; 2:15-20). Since the fall in the Garden of Eden, obedience to the dominion mandate requires sweat, exhaustion, setbacks, courage, and at times toil.
In the painting ‘Learnin’ the Ropes’ the artist communicates the reality of the dominion mandate by depicting a number of recognizable symbols of the exercise of dominion. The unidentified cowboy is riding a horse he has tamed and has a cattle dog he has trained. These two animals now serve him. That is the exercise of dominion over God’s creation—for the Scriptural mandate was to rule over every kind of creature (Gen 1-2).
Additional symbols of dominion are seen in the leather saddle, leather holster, leather chaps, and the leather gloves. For even the hide of cows now serves mankind as a kind of armor, for leather protects man’s sensitive skin, and the saddle makes horseback riding far more comfortable, controllable, and secure.
The rope and the pistol also speak of man’s dominion over the creation. For in this fallen world there are varmints which destroy farmland and crops, and predators that prey upon livestock. As God’s entrusted stewards over the creation, mankind can be selective in choosing which animals will serve his purposes, and which animals are destructive to dominion and need to be eliminated from his farms and ranches.
The artist’s own experience when producing this painting is worthy of mention. A silent joy began to rise up in the artist as the painting came to life. As the shapes and symbols began to look three-dimensional and real, the artist felt great satisfaction knowing that elements he was depicting would be recognized by the viewer.
Art is a powerful communicator. The only truth needed that would strengthen the dominion message of the painting is the explanation above of the dominion mandate. For all of the symbols in the painting (a cowboy’s equipment) are immediately recognizable to any American citizen. These symbols are associated with the taming of the Western Frontier. Consider that countless pioneers braved the elements and established homes, ranches, and farms—most of them not knowing that they were fulfilling the dominion mandate ordained by their Creator.
Someday dominion will again be without sweat and toil, for God has synchronized the revealing of the sons of God (our glorification) with the lifting of the curse on creation:
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it (Rom 8:20-25).
Jay Wegter, Artist