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Middle-earth
looks surprisingly familiar
By Josh Shepherd
(A note from the author: To those more "serious" Tolkien fans, I
admit to simplifying some of the great Oxford writer's work: it
is the only way a non-academic like myself can understand it.)
The history of man-all stories and personalities-was birthed in
one thought by God, stated in Genesis 1:26: "Then God said, 'Let
Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have
dominion…"
 Man
was destined to rebel, and only through grace can he live out the
Word of "Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven
and earth must receive until the times of restoration of all things,
which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets" (Acts
3:20-21).
Middle-earth has much the same history, only twisted a bit. Eru
The One (the saga's eternal deity) reigned supreme in Over-heaven
and desired to create for His own joy. He first made guardians for
His future world: Valar, half-divine beings to aid in His creative
acts. Eru appointed for them a realm in the Uttermost West, called
the Undying Lands, for it was between Heaven and Middle-earth.
To be fashioned by the One, yet revealed to the Valar, were the
forms of Dwarves, Men and Elves. The latter were firstborn among
the races, immortal and sharing the One's nobility and purity in
spirit. Indeed, Elves were given their own corner of the Undying
Lands after a number were called to make the journey from Forestland
to the Uttermost West. Willing mentors they had in the Valar, who
taught them many joys including speech, sight and song. Music holds
a special place in the angelic world, for it was in symphony that
each being's "thoughts and devices" were made known in acknowledgement
of their Creator. Harmonies and beauty flowed freely.
These concepts take some getting used to; some theologians may be
downright offended. Yet through such a tale we again see what life
is: the greatest story ever told, that of worship and salvation
by divine grace. Of course, there must first be something to be
saved from. As the Valar's song rose to Over-heaven, "it seemed
good to [Eru], for in the music there was no flaws. But as the theme
progressed, it came into the heart of the evil Melkor to interweave
matters of his own imagination that were not in accord with the
theme of the One; for he sought therein to increase the power and
glory of the part assigned to himself."
Sounds like the fall of satan, and it makes one think. The great
deceiver was a worshipper, wasn't he? I wonder, does my praise,
like Melkor's, have elements of pride in it?
Taking with him three silmarilli-dazzling treasures of the eternal
Elves and symbolic of Eden's Tree of Life-Melkor fled the Undying
Lands and apportioned himself a fortress in the formerly unblemished
soil of Middle-earth. Holy though they were, the Elves were never
pacifists in regards to justice (a blond-haired, arrow-shooting
Elf comes to mind). War ensued with little gained by the descendants
of Eru; many, in fact, were wooed to the enemy's side. Among those
betrayers was a powerful immortal in his own right, Sauron, known
in the Third Age as the Lord of the Rings of Power. The moral? If
one must be had, and only one, it must take into account the greatest
danger known to man-self. The greater a creature's abilities and
potential, the greater chance it will fall into "his own imagination."
Matthew 23:28 records Jesus saying, "Even so you also outwardly
appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy of
lawlessness."
That is not our story's ending. Christ the Messiah, "Lord of angels,
and of men-and of Elves" to quote Tolkien, came to save as Luke
1:52 makes clear: "He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted the lowly." Which brings to mind another Middle-earth
race, the simple hobbits. To be continued…
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