THEOLOGY OF THE LAND

The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness; the world and those who dwell therein.  Psalm 24:1 

Several scriptures in the Bible show us God’s extraordinary love for His land.  Among these we find Joel 2:18 (which refers to God being jealous for His land), 2 Chron. 7:14 (which refers to God wanting to heal His land), and Psalm 24:1 (which declares that the earth belongs to the Lord).  Further study reveals an extraordinary relationship between God and His land which includes people, cities, and nations, all those who occupy His land. 

Genesis refers to God scattering people, while Deut. 32 and Ps. 78 refer to His establishing boundaries and borders for His people and settling them accordingly.  Job 12 reminds us that God enlarges or disperses nations, while Acts 17 teaches us that He has determined the times and exact places where people live.  Ps. 16 refers to God making our “lot” secure and the securing of our “boundary lines”—His measured portion of authority in our lives wherever we live.  God’s sovereignty over His land and His people means that He can enlarge a nation and increase its joy (extend its borders) as Isaiah states, but that if His people sin, our territory, our influence, our stewardship is reduced (cf. Ez. 16).  As Luke 1:51 indicates, if His people are full of pride, He scatters them thus reducing their influence, such as we see at the beginning of Gen. 11. 

What does all this mean?  Simply put, it means that God is intimately involved with all that happens upon His land.  In the parables of Jesus, we are given deep insight into the Kingdom of God and how God would choose to see us at work in relationship with Him and with each other.  Approximately a third of Christ’s teaching in the Gospels was given in the form of parables.  Interestingly, more than half of those parables center around the theme of “fallen stewardship,” and His concern for redeeming all that has been lost, hidden, or stolen through the misuse of the blessing entrusted to His people. 

We learn from Scripture that a steward is given responsibility over the property of another.  In our case, we have been given stewardship of God’s property!  This stewardship may be lost, hidden, or stolen from God’s original purpose by decisions made concerning the sphere of influence God has entrusted to us.  These enacted decisions, even from those given stewardship in previous generations, can cause our land to be defiled, or subject to a cycle of desolation. 

Foremost among them is idolatry, such as we find referred to in Jer. 3:6-10 and 16:18.  This simply means worshipping anyone or anything other than God.  It is reflected on a person or a nation that places faith and trust in anyone else other than God, including the worship of the creation, rather than the Creator. 

The second category is immorality and fornication (Lev. 18:1-25, 19:29, Col. 3:5-8, Gal. 5:16-21).  This is both the misuse of God’s gift of sexuality to His people as well as the lust for power and authority, which leads to a myriad of perversions at both personal and corporate levels. 

The next category is untimely bloodshed.  Again, many examples of this are cited in the Bible, such as what is referred to in Numbers 35:33-34 and Isaiah 59:1-3.  This includes the obvious, the taking of innocent life and the untimely slaughter of suppressed people groups, as well as any sacrifice done for idolatrous reasons.  However, when not addressed, this category of fallen stewardship also leads into criticism, anger, jealousy, bitterness and rage toward others. 

The final category is broken covenants (Isaiah 24:5-6; 33:8).  A covenant-making God purchased us; but when promises, treaties and agreements are broken by His people, then the land upon which these people live is adversely affected.  Whether at the level of the individual, family, church, community, city or nation, we find the results of any or all of these categories of sin and defilement affecting us in at least four ways. 

These judgments, often in the form of “prophetic words,” are the “cause and effect” of fallen stewardship, designed to arrest our attention when we have strayed from His way.  Four main areas of warning can be found in Ezekiel 14:13-20 and are seen throughout the entire Bible. 

The first of these is famine (Ez. 14:13).  Throughout the world, we can find vivid examples of famine inhabiting a land whose people have entered disobedience before God.  This includes both the physical hunger that occupies a territory, as well as the famine of God’s Word (Amos 8:11), His presence, His relationship with His people, as well as His harvest in the lives of His people.  God desires His character to be reflected in our areas, but when this occurs, the land is void of anything that reflects God’s nature and love. 

The second is ecological devastation (Ez. 14 & 15).  This refers to the actual death of any productivity that can come forth from that land (Jer. 23:10).  There is little sowing and little harvesting on the land and in the lives of people.  God is reminding His people that He alone controls the rain required for harvest (Amos 4:7; Jer. 3:2-3) and the full productivity that comes from the labor of our hands (Haggai 1:9-11). 

The third warning is classified as war (Ez. 14:17), which includes the assault of one nation against another, including issues of anger, jealousy, resentment, competitiveness and divisiveness, seen at all levels of humanity.  These reflect the opposite relationship Jesus yearns for us to experience as reflected in John 17.  

The fourth warning is disease (Ez. 14:19-20), which reveals itself in all forms of illness (physical, emotional, mental and spiritual) as well as anxieties and sorrow (dis-ease).  When a community, city or nation continually is ravaged by disease, it is almost always possible to race where the defilement of that area lies which continues to give the enemy the right of access to that area, which results in God’s warning and judgment upon that area. 

God promises to heal the land (2 Chron. 7:14) when the issues of defilement are dealt with by His people.  When we enter the confession and renouncing of sins (both past and present), and choose to deal with the bondages that have separated us from God and from each other, and deal with any spiritual contamination that has had the right of entrance due to the foothold of sin, then God hears our prayers and positions His Name (His character, integrity and healing) in our midst. 

If these actions are taken to repair the breach between God and His land, staggering results can be expected.  Many have shared concerning transformed communities, villages and towns throughout the globe that have experienced a renewal of God’s blessings. 

The Lord created the earth to reflect His character and love.  As we partner with Him in “redeemed stewardship,” we find seven promises of blessing listed in Leviticus 26:4-10:  ecological health, economic health, personal security, civil security, international security, honor and growth, innovation and creativity.

When sin is dealt with and the land is healed, not only do we experience these seven areas of “redeemed stewardship” upon the land, but we release communities, cities and nations for evangelism.  After removing desolation from the land, God told Ezekiel, “I will increase their men like a flock,” Ezekiel 36:37-38.  This is the extraordinary promise of God: coinciding with the restoration of God’s favor is the removal of whatever has blinded the inhabitants from Christ’s glory.  What a promise – the eyes of the people of the land being corporately opened to the Gospel!  “The earth IS the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1).

Reprinted from GI News, “Theology of the Land” by Rev. Alistair P. Petrie.