R3-2: Satan Requiring Permission From God Before Causing Harm Is Proof Of The Lord’s Sovereignty

So yesterday, I made the point that God NEVER transferred ownership of the land of Canaan from the Canaanites to Israel because the Canaanites were never owners of the land.

What really happened is the Lord transferred the right to use the land from the Canaanites to the Hebrews.

Throughout the whole transferring over process God has always been the owner of the land.

And He’s still the Owner today.

Before the actual invasion of Canaan began, under the supervision of Joshua and Moses, the land was divided up among the tribes and the clans.

However, most maps of Israel will only show how the land was divvied up among the 12 tribes of Israel.

Yet it’s important to understand that inside each tribal territory a further subdivision occurred in which each of the clans were also assigned their own individual territories.

Remember, a clan is just a subdivision of a tribe…

And a family was just a subdivision of a clan.

Now here’s what goes against our modern way of doing things.

Whoever possessed a certain piece of real estate was NOT allowed to sell his property no matter what!

His land was to stay in the family, clan, tribe and nation FOREVER!

Again, NOT as an owner of that property…

But only as an authorized renter who lived on God’s land.

Everything I just described is how everything was supposed to be in a perfect world.

Unfortunately, as we all know, in a fallen world things don’t always go according to God’s plan.

Sometimes some brown stuff hits the fan and an Israelite “owner” of a piece of real estate inside the Holy Land found himself in a tight situation where he was forced to sell his land to avoid financial disaster. 

It was during just such a situation that the nearest family relative was expected to step in and buy that land back in order to make sure it stayed in the family.

This process was called “redeeming the land”.

Now what happened if the Hebrew possessor of a piece of land was forced to sell it to an outsider and no near relative stepped in to redeem it?

Well, according to the Laws of Jubilee that land was eventually returned to the original clan and family who “owned” that land.

In that case, the land was returned with no money required to be paid to the outside purchaser of the land.

Again, this was only in the case that the family waited until the Jubilee year came around on its 50 year cycle.

Basically, the land was only lost temporarily.

Or to put it more accurately in a Biblical sense, the use of the land had only been transferred to a new owner for a period of time.

If you were diligent in your studies of Leviticus with me, none of this should be a surprise to you.

The fact that the Israelites never really owned the land (because God is the Owner) was also reflected in how the price to buy the land was calculated…

Whether it was the price a new owner would pay…

Or the price that a redeemer of the land would pay if he stepped in to buy the land in order to keep it in the clan…

Because the price was NOT based on the value of the land.

Instead the price was based on the profits made from selling the yearly crops that were produced on the land.

Do you see what I’m getting at here?

Since the price of the land was calculated based on the yearly produce instead of market real estate value, NO SALE OF LAND EVER OCCURRED!!!

Again, this makes sense because God NEVER transferred ownership of the land to anyone.

Are you feeling me homies?

There’s a HUGE takeaway here.

God is actually the OWNER of everything on the planet!

Not just that tiny piece of real estate in the Middle East.

Look at this exchange between Satan and the Lord in the Book of Job.

‘Does Job fear God for nothing?’
Satan replied.
‘Have you not put a hedge
around him and his household
and everything he has?
You have blessed the work
of his hands, so that his flocks
and herds are spread
throughout the land.
But now stretch out your hand and
strike everything he has,
and he will surely curse
you to your face.’
The Lord said to Satan,
‘Very well, then, everything
he has is in your power,
but on the man himself
do not lay a finger.’”

See that?

Even the chief devil, the one whom the Apostle Paul called the god of this world, had to get permission from the Almighty before touching him and his property.

Why?

Because the Lord owns everything.

The Lord Himself has also established divine beings who rule over the gentile nations.

That’s right.

The Book of Daniel tells us that there are other divine beings (sons of God or ELOHIM in Scripture) that God has assigned to rule over the nations.

So knowing that God is sovereign and the real owner of everything not only in our planet but the entire universe, what do we have to worry about if we place ourselves in His loving hands?

The answer is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

“From one man he made all the nations,
that they should inhabit the whole earth;
and he marked out their appointed times
in history and the boundaries of their lands.”
-Acts 17:26