No Hebrew ever “owned” land the way we think about land ownership today in the West.
Let me share with you a common legal term in the Western world concerning land ownership.
It is “Fee Simple”.
This real estate term describes a landowner’s complete and total ownership of a piece of land and all properties on it.
The “fee simple” owner may do anything he wishes on the land, as long as it falls within established zoning laws.
He can grow crops and raise animals on it.
And of course, he can sell the land to whomever he wants.
However, this was not the case with the Israelites.
The Israelite did NOT really own the land he dwelled on.
He only owned the USE of it.
There’s a big difference there folks.
Like an owner of land in the West, a Hebrew could grow crops and raise livestock on his assigned property.
But the one thing he could NEVER do was sell the land to an outsider.
Why?
Because he wasn’t the Fee Simple Owner of the land.
God was.
Got it?
Every Israelite understood this.
They understood they didn’t possess “fee simple” ownership of the property they dwelled on.
This was also spelled out in the Law of Moses.
I know a lot western believers like to go around saying “My house and everything I own belongs to the Lord”.
Well, as spiritual and lofty as that may sound, technically speaking that’s just not true.
Because if you were to take a look at the name written on the deed to your home or car, would you find God’s Name there?
Would it say “This house is owned by YHVH, the God of Israel” and then have the Lord’s signature on there?
Absolutely not, right?
However, that wasn’t the case for Israel.
There’s only one legal owner of that piece of divine real estate known as Eretz Yisrael in the Middle East.
And that is YEHOVAH or יהוה.
So today’s takeaway comes courtesy of Steven R. Bruck, author of the awesome Messianic Moment blog.
He said…
“just as the tenants thought they could keep the property for themselves, throwing out the servants sent to them, so, too, has Israel over the centurires thrown out the prophets.
God often said that he ejected the Emori before giving the land to the Israelites, and warned them they would suffer the same fate if they also polluted the land with sin.
And we all know how that turned out.
God also said he would regather his people to the land, and turn the desert into a garden, and now we see that being fulfilled.”
If you want get more inspiring insights from a REAL Messianic Jew, check out his blog at www.messianicmoment.com.
Be blessed!
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“At harvest time he sent a servant
to the tenants to collect from them
some of the fruit of the vineyard.
But they seized him, beat him
and sent him away empty-handed.
Then he sent another servant to them;
they struck this man on the head
and treated him shamefully.
He sent still another,
and that one they killed.
He sent many others;
some of them they beat,
others they killed.”
-Mark 12:2-5
You have often posted a New Covenant reference, and if I may do that for this post, I would use Mark 12:2-5, the parable about the vineyard owner and the tenants.
Just as the tenants thought they could keep the property for themselves, throwing out the servants sent to them, so, too, has Israel over the centurires thrown out the prophets.
God often said that he ejected the Emori before giving the land to the Israelites, and warned them they would suffer the same fate if they also polluted the land with sin.
And we all know how that turned out.
God also said he would regather his people to the land, and turn the desert into a garden, and now we see that being fulfilled.
Hey buddy, I just added your comment and the NT reference to the article. Thanks for sharing. Be blessed!