You Are But Tenants in the Land
The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. Leviticus 25:23
A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
(This is an update of an article I originally published in December of 2000. As you know, I rarely recycle articles. But with all the fuss generated over the Gaza abandonment, I thought it would be useful to review the Biblical perspective on just who owns the Land of Israel.)
The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants. (Leviticus 25:23)
In the beginning everything in the Universe belonged to the One who had created it. Some speculate that long before Adam came along, God had permitted Satan to place his throne here on Earth. (Read “The Adversary” and “I Will Make Myself Like The Most High” linked below.) After all, Satan was an important dignitary among the principalities and powers in the heavenly realms (Ezek. 28:14 and Jude 8-10).
But Satan didn’t want to be a mere tenant, he wanted to own the place outright. Since he didn’t create it and couldn’t buy it, Satan rebelled and set about to steal it. And in fact after God had given Adam dominion over Earth, Satan did steal it (1 John 5:19).
Later on God had a similar problem with the Israelites, but in their case they simply began to act as if they really did own the place. For instance one of the factors in the Babylonian exile was their refusal to treat His land properly. He had explained that they were but tenants, forbidden from selling or giving the land away (Lev 25:23), and had established provisions for redeeming the land should they happen to lose it. These were largely ignored.
He had also commanded them to let the land rest for one year out of every seven (Lev 25:4), the so-called Sabbath for the Land. But for 490 years they had ignored that, too. So while the root cause of the 70-year exile to Babylon was their fall into idolatry (Jere. 25:7-11), its duration was determined by the number of times they had ignored the mandatory year-long Sabbath for the Land (2 Chron 36:21). 490 divided by 7 equals 70, so they “owed” His land 70 years of rest. True to His word, when the 70 years were ended He sent the Persians to defeat Babylon and release the Jews to return to the land.
An Everlasting Possession
The world would do well to remember that episode. In giving the land to Abraham’s descendants, God had made it their “everlasting possession”(Gen 17:18). But at Mt. Sinai He explained that in order to live there and enjoy its benefits they had to obey the covenant He was making with Moses.
Several times they’ve either lost their independence or been evicted for violations of this covenant, but only temporarily. He always restored them, and that’s the part of their deal with God the rest of the world seems to forget. The only reason they’re in the land now is because He remembered His promise to Abraham and put them there.
Evangelical Christians and Orthodox Jews bemoan the fact that Israel is again trading land for the promise of peace … land the Bible says they have no right to trade. But if unbelievers, whether Jew, Arab or Westerner agree on anything, it’s that the provisions outlined in “some ancient book” are not going to govern their actions today. We’ll see.
Land For War?
A strong contingent among the Palestinian people has always opposed the Mid-East peace plan and tries do anything they can to stop it. They don’t want to share the land with Israel, they want it all. (In fact the Hamas platform in the coming election promises no more negotiations with Israel for anything. It’s an idea so popular that it looks like the only way to keep Hamas out of the government will be to prevent them from running for office.) Every time this contingent of Palestinians has seen Israel trade land for the promise of peace they’ve reacted with violent protest. The more land involved the more violent the protests.
In his first term as Prime Minister, Binyamim Netanyahu slowed down the transfer of land begun under Yitzhak Rabin and continued with Shimon Peres, and the violence subsided. Under intense pressure from Bill Clinton, Netanyahu’s successor Ehud Barak agreed to give Arafat 97% of the land he wanted, including East Jerusalem, in return for peace. Arafat turned it down and then went home to start the 2000 Intifada. After Ariel Sharon was elected, Israel got tough again and the violence subsided once more.
Predictably, the result of Sharon’s abrupt abandonment of the Gaza Strip last summer has been an immediate escalation of violence. Moreover, with the frightening array of war materiel now being smuggled into Gaza it’s hard to see how anything but total disaster can come of it.
But the contrast between levels of terrorism during conservative and liberal administrations is apparently lost on both Jewish and Gentile observers, because they again seem surprised by the fact that agreeing to yield more land has brought increased violence from the Palestinians.
God Is The Same, Yesterday, Today, And Forever
God has often used His enemies to accomplish His purpose (Jer. 25:9) and promises to do so again (Rev 17:15-18). So, are we missing something here? Is God using militant factions among the Palestinians to show His displeasure with Israel’s land for peace plan?
I don’t pretend to be a political analyst or commentator. But I am a student of prophecy and delight in overlaying the proven strategies of our Lord upon current events. And in the current affairs of Israel, I see a definite pattern.
If His past performance is any indicator, God is opposed to trading land for peace and is using Israel’s enemies to say so. I believe He’s trying to dissuade Israel from giving away land that isn’t theirs to give, and to convince them that in their own strength, however formidable it may be, they are not equal to the task of defeating their enemies. Then maybe they’ll give up trying and turn to Him.
After all it was He Who said, “If My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My Face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14). You can almost hear Him repeating those words as He gives His people sign after sign that it’s time to come back to Him.
Will He Ever Quit Trying To Convince Them?
Let’s ask Him.
This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD Almighty is his name:
“Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,” declares the LORD, “will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me.”
This is what the LORD says: “Only if the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done,” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 31:35-37)
If those who subscribe to replacement theology (the heresy contending that after the cross the Church replaced Israel in God’s plan, and therefore there’s no place for the Nation of Israel in the world today) are correct, then the Lord has broken this promise to Israel. Because the Sun shines every day, and the moon and stars every night. And anyone near a seacoast can hear the constant roaring of the waves.
So What’s It Gonna Take?
One day soon a coalition of Moslem forces will attack an unsuspecting Israel with overpowering force, and when that happens the King of the Universe will come roaring out of the Heavens with warfare on His mind and vengeance in his Heart, for whoever touches Israel touches the apple of His eye. When the dust has settled the invading forces that had covered the land like a cloud will lie slain in their tracks, food for the vultures. “I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them. From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God. (Ezek. 39:21-22) After that there won’t be any more talk of land for peace. 01-15-06
