The land is mine

^{Reading: Leviticus 25:23-24
23} “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. ²⁴ Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land." (Emphasis mine)


God commands the Israelites not to sell land permanently because it belongs to Him. This command forces them to live in a constant sense of being a tenant, a "foreigner" or "stranger" in their land. When something doesn't belong to us most of us feel a sense of responsibility to the owner to look after their belongings. When we rent a house we have to remain mindful that we can't make any major changes without asking the owner's permission and if we hurt or break something then the owner will have to pay for it to be fixed, and they might not give us our deposit back. We have to have a constant sense that we do not own the house in the back of our mind. 


This is even more evident when we borrow something from a friend or family member. If we borrow someone's shiny new car we feel compelled to drive even more carefully than usual to avoid damaging it, and we feel awful if we break something in a friend's house while we are visiting. Again, we are conscious of not owning these things. Our ownership of items gives us a sense of entitlement, the idea that if we damage the item that is ok, because it is only ourselves that we are hurting. 


I think we need to regain a sense of being strangers and foreigners in the land. God doesn't even think the renting metaphor is strong enough, no, He wants us to feel utterly un-entitled to the land that belongs to him. We are to remember that the damage we do to the earth is a failure in our responsibility and agreement with Him and might damage our relationship like hurting the belongings of a dear friend or family member. I think too many people have become comfortable enough with the world to feel like it is their home, they own it and they have the right to treat it however they want. God calls us to rethink this attitude to His planet. 


Next time you feel yourself forgetting that this is God's earth, try finding yourself some pictures in a table-book or movie (something like BBC's Planet Earth) that show the vast and spectacular nature of the world's wilderness, and indeed all of God's creation. It might help you remember that we are but strangers, grasses upon this earth that will soon wither and pass away. It is my hope that we might do something positive for God's creation while we visit.

Verses of interest

“All tithes from the land, whether the seed from the ground or the fruit from the tree are the Lord’s; they are holy to the Lord.” Leviticus 27:30

“as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord” Numbers 14: 21 (God speaking, making a promise)

Blessings and curses

Blessing: Leviticus 26:3-6, 9

Curse: Leviticus 26: 14-21, 32-35

In Leviticus 26: 32-35 we see that the Lord thinks that allowing the land its Sabbath rest is so important that if the Israelites do not obey this command He will allow Israel’s enemies to lay waste to the country so that it will lie desolate so “it shall have the rest it did not have on your sabbaths when you were living on it”. 

Then the land will yield its fruit

Reading: Leviticus 25:18-22

 “‘Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. ¹⁹ Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. ²⁰ You may ask, “What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?” ²¹ I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. ²² While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in."

When God's people obey His laws He will bless the land and cause it to yield in abundance for them. This is made possible not only by God's power, but by the sustainability built into the laws God gave His people (as previously discussed). Thus by obeying God's laws the people were acting sustainably and ensuring their own prosperity.

Passages about topics we have already covered

Leviticus 20:22-25 See "Lest the Land Vomit you out" 25/2/10
Leviticus 22: 5-8 See "Clean and Unclean Animals" 10/11/09
Leviticus 23:3 See "Sabbath Laws" 6/3/09
Leviticus 23:10 See "Festivals" 9/2/09
Leviticus 23:22 See "Leaving something for the poor and the animals" 26/2/10 and "Sabbath Laws" 6/3/09
Leviticus 25:1-12 See "Sabbath Laws" 6/3/09

Command against crossing animals, plants and materials

Reading: Leviticus 18:19

This verse intrigues me. This Israelites are told not to let their animals breed with different kinds, not to sow their fields with two different kinds of seed and not to wear garments made of two different materials. I am not sure what God intended by these laws, but it is clear our modern society does not follow them.

If we followed the first there would be no such thing as the mule or the liger/tigon (a cross between a tiger and a lion). Our impacts on the environment have also lead to the creation of more hybrid individuals in the wild, as species who previously never would have come into contact with each other become able to breed. For example, there have been examples of crosses between Polar Bears and Brown Bears because these two species are closely related but until recently geographically isolated enough that they did not cross. Recent changes in temperature and range have made this possible. This does not mean the two species will become one because the offspring of a cross are infertile, but hybrids can experience 'hybrid vigour' ie. they might be stronger or larger than the parents.

These days in the first world we almost do follow the second rule, planting large areas of monocultures for agricultural production. Perhaps this rule was intended to prevent hybridisation of two species as might occur if fields were planted with species. It is interesting however as there is a host of scientific evidence about the fallbacks of monoculture systems and the value of instead mixing species in a polyculture or mixed agriculture system for biodiversity, productivity and disease and pest control. Monocultures are still favoured in large scale operations however as they are simpler to manage and harvest.

As for the final rule - I challenge you to find the single fibre clothing in your wardrobe. Unless this is something you look for, or you spend a lot of money on your clothes, almost everything you own is likely to be a blend of a couple of different fibres. Some people do endeavour to find pure cotton or pure wool clothing, but I think this is more from a dislike for some of the newer fibres and their properties than any belief that single fibre clothing is best.

Does anyone have any clues why God might have made these laws? I would be interested in hearing your opinion.

Finally, I have to mention that these laws have interesting implications for the use of Genetic Engineering/Genetic Modification. I imagine when these laws were written the idea of putting the genes of an Antartic fish into a tomato to protect it from frost were far away, but surely this would not have been counted as kosher?

Lest the land vomit you out

Reading: Leviticus 18:24-28

It's an interesting concept isn't it? The Bible says that if we commit sins against the Lord and defile ourselves by sexual immorality or sacrificing our children to other Gods, we defile the land, which will vomit us up. This is a continuation of the idea from the fall where the sins of humanity cause the earth also to suffer, but this time the earth can fight back by vomiting us up. One can only imagine what is meant by this - perhaps a volcano, a flood, a cyclone maybe even salinity or desertification. There is a link here being made between the sins of the people and natural disasters and barreness in the land. This link can be taken too far - I would not suggest for a moment that the people of New Orleans were more sinful than other cities who were not visited with a cyclone, but there can be a link between sin and natural disasters. The most obvious contemporary example is the fact that our sins of greed, selfishness and consumerism are causing the earth to 'vomit us up' through climate change and its increase of natural disasters, and through declining fertility in the land.

Blood and Life

Reading: Leviticus 17

While the practice of animal sacrifice seems, to us, a cruel and brutal thing to do; it is important to remember the context in which God made these commands. The fall has set creation apart from God, and only blood can cover our sins. Until the sacrifice of the Messiah, animal sacrifices are necessary. We might find that hard to accept, but perhaps we forget that we have a great and amazing God - a God worthy of sacrifice. But God did not design this as bloodthirsty slaughter; it is an intricate, ceremonial ritual. Respect for the animals being sacrificed is demanded. God says that anyone who slaughters an ox, lamb or goat and does not bring it to be presented to the Lord as a sacrifice"he shall be held guilty of bloodshed; he has shed blood, and he shall be cut off from the people". As I said, the animal must be respected as a sacrifice to God, or there are harsh penalties. Also, I am not sure I am interpreting this right, but I wonder if this passage means that all animals killed for meat, must also be made a sacrifice to the Lord? This would mean that all killing is in need of sanctification, and would fit in with the fact humans were to be vegetarian before the fall.

The second half of this chapter is also interesting. God proclaims that the blood of a creature is its life, and therefore the Israelites are never to eat blood or "I will set my face against that person". All blood is to be poured out on the ground and covered with dust. In so doing, the Israelites were to respect the life within the blood.

The Green Bible Challenge: Clean and Unclean Animals

Reading: Leviticus 11

In this chapter, God outlines for the Israelites which species they can and cannot eat. No explanation is given for why but modern science suggests that this was a way of God protecting the Israelites from meats that could harm them. Most of the animals designated 'unclean' were species that eat carrion, decaying flesh or are bottom dwellers who eat decaying organic matter from the sea floor.

As nutritionist David Meinz observes: "Could it be that God, in His wisdom, created certain creatures whose sole purpose is to clean up after the others? Their entire 'calling' may be to act exclusively as the sanitation workers of our ecology. God may simply be telling us that it's better for us believers not to consume the meat of these trash collectors" (Eating by the Book, 1999, p. 225). http://www.ucgstp.org/lit/booklets/clean/animals.html

As we now know, the pig (the most famous 'unclean' animal) is prone to having a disease where cysts in the meat (trchinia worm larvae) can make people very sick. Pigs also have flesh that is very similar to human flesh, meaning that disease transferral is easier from this species than most.

Although the text mentions several times that certain species are detestable or defiling, I don't think this is an indietment on the species itself, but only on their value as food.

Bruce Marcot has another interesting interpretation: "I've been stumped as to why one would be "defiled" by "any manner of creeping thing" (Leviticus 11:44), especially by eating the particular non-domesticated beasts listed here. At first, I thought it was purely a practical manner, in that some animals listed such as the vulture eat carrion, which can be unhealthily full of parasites and disease; or that other animal foods, particularly those being carrion themselves, would likewise be unhealthy. Or that the term "creeping thing" referred to reptiles and amphibians and maybe small terrestrial mammals such as rodents.
But then why deny the consumption of pigs and rabbits, as well as the purely carnivorous diurnal raptors and the owls, the insectivorous bat, the insects (except for locuts, beetles, and grasshoppers!), cursorial species, and so on, which can be healthy and nutritious parts of one's diet, as they are in so many parts of the world? Snakes, guinae pigs, ants, termites, and other "creeping things" are also eaten in many parts of the world.
The answer came to me when I researched the meaning of the word "defile." According to my dictionaries, defile means, in part, to "desecrate," which in turn means "to profane (the name of)," "to violate the chastity of," and, most importantly, to "abuse the sacredness of."
So, to be "defiled" by consuming "any manner of creeping things" may mean to become profaned, unchaste, and unholy. But why, then, would one become profaned, unchaste, and unholy by consuming "creeping things" and other listed animals? It may be because these animals are, in some sense, to be honored and respected, that is, they themselves are sacred and chaste, and to consume them profanes oneself.
That is, for people to consume something that is sacred (these wildlife) is become unchaste and unholy.
To further explain this, Leviticus 11:44 refers to eating these animals as "unclean;" and "unclean" is defined, in part, as "morally impure (ceremonially impure)." This is a far different definition than simply foul or dirty or unhealthy " http://www.aracnet.com/~brucem/wildbib.htm (emphasis mine).

I quite like this idea. It is worth noting that many of the species labelled 'impure' are, as mentioned earlier, flesh eaters. Predatory species such as eagles, vultures, ospreys, buzzards, kites and hawks naturally occur in very low numbers, and are thus very vulnerable to overexploitation. Perhaps God named these animals as sacred to protect them from extinction. Another group of species classed as unclean, the shark, is currently showing what can happen to these vulnerable species when they are hunted thoughtlessly. Three sharks are currently dying per second. Half are killed for their fins to make shark fin soup, an Asian delicacy. The other half are collateral damage in fishing operations targeting other species. Numbers have declined by 90% already. If sharks become extinct, the joke may be on us, as they play a vital part in many ecosystems and control the numbers of the herbivorous fish that eat phytoplankton. Oh yeah, and phytoplankton are the reason the ocean is the biggest carbon sink on earth. So without sharks we may end up with runaway global warming even faster. Not to mention sharks have intrinsic value as beloved creations of God - sacred creatures.

Maybe it's a bit of both - food value and sacredness. Certainly God wanted us to think about obedience, health and compassion on his creatures.

If you have another interpretation of this topic, feel free to comment!

Further reading:
http://www.ucgstp.org/lit/booklets/clean/animals.html
http://www.biblestudy.org/basicart/six-reasons-why-i-do-not-eat-pork-or-shrimp.html
http://www.messianichebrews.com/fish.html

Animal Sacrifices

Reading: Leviticus 1

It is hard to know what to say about Leviticus 1. As an environmentalist and believer in Animal Rights, it is hard to stomach. Yet we must note that our God, unlike most of the other God's in the area and the God's of peoples like the Aztecs and Incas, is not satisfied with human sacrifice, but rather with that of animals. That the Lord asks for the sacrifice of perfect animals (perhaps because before original sin this is how they would all have been) clearly indicates that God deems animals worthy to do Him honour - as we have earlier seen that the altar of natural stone is the desire of the Lord. Also, we note that God does not condone the random or vicious killing of animals - the sacrifices are steeped in tradition and God dictates very specific proceedures on how it is to be done. The ceremony is based on respect for God and for His creatures.