At this point in our study of how property ownership operated under the Law of Moses, it should now be clear that the maximum amount of time somebody who acquired a piece of land from its original owner could hold on to it is 49 years.
Once the Jubilee year swung around, that land had to be returned to its original owner.
Can you see how this is so radically different than the American system of property rights?
In the USA, property ownership along with the right to bear arms is considered to be a sacred right.
In America, property is not just something you “hold”.
It’s yours forever unless you decide to sell it.
Now I know there may be some difference in opinion here, but I don’t consider somebody who owns land that has a debt (a mortgage) on it to really be owning that property.
The reason is if the owner doesn’t make good on his payments, the debt holder (the REAL owner in my opinion) can foreclose on that property, and the “owner” will lose his property.
Anyway, getting back to my original point, in the USA, if the ownership of a piece of land is transferred to another party whether by a sale or by failing to make good on the mortgage payments, the new owner can keep the land for as long as he wants.
The new owner can also will this land to the next generation and then it becomes theirs to own (not just to use) forever and ever.
And of course, if he so chooses, the new land owner can sell his property for a tidy profit.
Can you see how America’s system of land ownership is radically different than the Biblical model?
In America, the former owner retains ZERO RIGHTS to the property he once possessed.
There ain’t gonna be some Jubilee year coming around to save him.
The land he had formally owned and that he may have raised his family on is gone out of his life forever.
Understand that that I’m not in anyway condemning the system we have in the USA.
I actually think it’s kinda nice to be able to purchase some property and then keep it forever (but I still gotta pay those darn land taxes and the upkeep can be a serious pain in the neck).
I’m just comparing the Biblical model to our modern day real estate system, so that the system in ancient Israel will be very clear to you.
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