Resources include land, labor, and capital.
Land is also called natural resource, and labor human resource. Why do we need
land? We sow seeds and harvest farm products, or build a factory and produce
goods, or build a house to reside. We buy or sell land. Land is considered an
item for investment.
The Garden of Eden
The garden of Eden was the first land that
God placed the first human beings, Adam and Eve. Genesis 2:8 says: “And the
LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom
he had formed”; and Genesis 2:15 states: “The LORD GOD took the man and put him
in the garden of Eden to till (work) it and keep it.” The garden of Eden, the
original paradise, was already a beautiful and fertile land that contained
various animals, vegetables, plants, and trees that bear much fruit. The garden
of Eden was unlimited in its products and there was no scarcity problem of
natural resource when God planted and blessed the land and let the first human
beings reside there.
God in Genesis 2:16b-17 says
to Adam before he made Eve: “16bYou may freely eat of every tree of
the garden; 17but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you
shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” Although the
garden belonged to God, the first human beings were not short in their eating
in God’s land other than the prohibition of eating of the tree of knowledge of
good and evil.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed
God and ate the fruit of the tree tempted by the serpent, they lost their place
in the garden of Eden. Genesis 3:24 states: “He(=God) drove out the man; and at
the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword
which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” Adam and Eve
probably went to east after they were expelled from the garden as God placed
the cherubim at the east of the garden to prevent their return. But God still
was connected with the life of Adam and Eve and their children. Cain and Abel
brought their products as an offering to the LORD in Genesis 4. After Cain
killed his brother Abel, Cain went away from God’s presence and in the land of
Nod, east of Eden – this probably was further away to east from the garden
(Genesis 4:16).
The Land of Ur of the Chaldeans
After the great flood, Noah’s three sons
multiplied and their descendants filled the earth. They formed the nations and
spread the earth (Genesis 10). After the incidence of the tower of Babel, God
scattered them further over the face of the whole earth (Genesis 11:9). Terah,
Shem’s descendant and Abraham’s father lived in Ur of the Chaldeans when God
called Abraham to make him the father of many nations (Genesis 11).
God called Abraham while he
was in Ur of the Chaldeans (the land of Iraq today) (Genesis 11:31). However,
Abraham and his family’s journey to Canaan was slow as his father Terah was
old. They came to Haran (the land of Turkey today) on their way to Canaan and
settled there (Genesis 11:31). Terah died in Haran at the age of 205 (Genesis
11:32).
The Land of Canaan
Then, God called Abraham (again) in Genesis
12:1, saying: “Leave your country and your kindred and your father’ house to
the land that I will show you.” Abraham departed from Haran when he was 75
years old (Genesis 12:4). Abraham arrived at Canaan, but the land was not given
to him (Genesis 12:5-7). Genesis 12:7 states: “Then the LORD appeared to Abram,
and said, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’” God repeated his
promise of the land to Abraham whenever he appeared to him (Genesis 12:7,
13:15, 15:7, 15:18, 17:8, 24:7).
The only portion of land in
Canaan that Abraham could possess was the land that he purchased from Ephron a
Hittite for his wife Sarah’s burial in Genesis 23. Genesis 23:19-20 states: “19After
this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Mach-pelah east
of Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20The field and
the cave that is in it were made over to Abraham as a possession for a burying
place by the Hittites.” This allowance seems to be God’s deposit or down payment
for his promise of the land to Abraham. God put his Spirit in our hearts as a
deposit (NIV) or a down payment (CEB) or the first installment (NLT),
guaranteeing everything that God has promised us, including the inheritance of
the kingdom of God (2 Cor. 1:22; Ephesians 1:14). A deposit or a down payment
is frequently used by a buyer to show his/her will of purchasing a house or
land for sure. Abraham’s son, Isaac, and his son Jacob and their families
resided in Canaan as sojourners until they moved to Egypt, where Joseph,
Jacob’s son already became a prime minister.
The Land of Egypt
Land was very important as it would connect
God with his people. Jacob was worried about moving to Egypt when the land of
Canaan suffered from famine and he became to know that Joseph was prime
minister in Egypt. Then, God appeared to Jacob in a vision and told him:
“Jacob, Jacob. I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to
Egypt; for I will there make you a great nation. I will go down with you to
Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s hand will close your
eyes.” (Genesis 46:2-4, RSV) God already had told Abraham that his descendants
would stay there as strangers, would be enslaved and mistreated four hundred
years before they would obtain the land of Canaan (Genesis 15:13-14). Yet, God
promised Jacob that he would be with Jacob and his family.
The number of Jacob’s
family, including Joseph, who moved to Egypt was 70 (Genesis 46:27; 75 people
in Acts 7:14). While Joseph was alive, the Egyptians did not look down upon
Jacob and his family. However, after Joseph died and his name was forgotten,
the Israelites/Hebrews became slaves, doing hard labor in brick and mortar and
other mundane work. The Israelites had spent in Egypt for 430 years without
hope. People forgot their ancestors’ God. But God never forgot his people and
his promise with Abraham to give the land of Canaan to his descendants in
Genesis 12:7.
The Land of Canaan, Again
God told Moses in Exodus 3:17: “I promise
that I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt, to the land of the
Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the
Jebusites, a land of flowing milk and honey.” The Israelites wandered around
for forty years in the wilderness because of their unbelief before they entered
the land of Canaan. Moses could not enter the land of Canaan, but Joshua led
the Israelites after Moses. Joshua and the Israelites could cross the river
Jordan and continued to conquer cities.
Division of the Land
The distribution of the land was already
ordered through Moses by God even before the Israelites entered the land. God
in Numbers 26:53-56 told Moses: “53To these the land shall be
divided for inheritance according to the number of names. 54To a
large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall
give a small inheritance; every tribe shall be given its inheritance according
to its numbers. 55But the land shall be divided by lot; according to
the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. 56Their
inheritance shall be divided according to a lot between the larger and the
smaller.”
God’s instruction for the
division of the land was according to the size of the tribes and by lot. The
Israelites would accept lot as God’s will. God tried to be fair among all
tribes and reduce their complaints. After Joshua and the Israelites mostly
conquered the land of Canaan, he divided the land according to God’s instruction
(Joshua 13:8-19:51). After Joshua and the Israelites had finished dividing the
land into its allotted portions, the Israelites gave Joshua an inheritance
among them as God had commanded (Joshua 20:49). Then, the Levites (the
descendants of Kohath, Gershon, and Merari) who were omitted from the division
of the land were given 48 towns for their basic pasturelands (42) and refuge
(6) as God had commanded through Moses (Numbers 35:1-8; Joshua 21).
Cultivation of the Land
God in Leviticus 25:2 says to the Israelites
through Moses: “When you come into the land which I give you, the land shall
keep a sabbath to the LORD.” The Israelites would plant their fields, prune
their vineyard, and harvest their crops for six years. But in the seventh year,
the land was supposed to have a sabbath of rest. The Israelites were not
supposed to sow their field and prune their vineyard.
God told the Israelites not
to reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of their untended vine as
the land is to have a rest (Leviticus 25:5). However, whatever the land yielded
during the sabbath year would be for God’s people, their household, and for
their livestock and wild animals in their land (Leviticus 25:6).
Ownership of the Land
The primary ownership of all land belonged to
God in the Old Testament. It seems to be obvious as God had created the heavens
and earth. Moses in Exodus 9:29 says to Pharaoh: “… that you may know that the
earth is the LORD’s.” Moses in Deuteronomy 10:14 says to the Israelites:
“Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the
earth with all that is in it.”
The secondary ownership of
land was given to God’s people, but they were not allowed to sell their land
“permanently” as all land belonged to God. Although they sold land out of
poverty, they were supposed to purchase their land back. If they could not
repurchase their land, the nearest relative purchased the land on behalf of
them. If they could not repurchase the land, the land would remain in the
possession of the buyer until the Year of Jubilee. In the Year of Jubilee, the
land will be returned and the person could go back to his property (Leviticus
25:23-28). God in Leviticus 25:23-24 says: “The land shall not be sold in
perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with me.
And in all the country you possess, you shall grant a redemption of the
land.”
Redemption of the Land
God in Leviticus 25:25 says: “If one of your
fellow Israelites becomes poor and sells some of their property, their nearest
relative is to come and redeem what they have sold.” The nearest relative of
the poor who would redeem (=buy) the land was called a “redeemer” (גֹּאֶל, goel
in Hebrew).
Elimelech and Naomi with his
two sons and their wives in the Book of Ruth lost their land in Bethlehem when
there was a famine and went to Moab. Elimelech and his two sons died in Moab.
Later, Naomi and her daughter-in-law returned to Bethlehem. When the nearest
kinsman refused to redeem the land (on the condition of marrying Ruth), Boaz,
the second nearest kinsman, accepted to redeem the land of Elimelech (Ruth 4).
So, Boaz became the redeemer for Naomi and Ruth and took Ruth as his wife. Boaz
as the redeemer is a type for Jesus Christ who had come to us as the nearest
kinsman, wearing human flesh, to redeem the land that Adam and Eve had lost
when they fell.
Jesus calls Satan “the ruler
of this world” (John 12:31, 16:11) as he obtained the power of this earth for
the time being since Adam and Eve fell. Paul calls Satan “the prince of the
power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says: “19Do
you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which
you have from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought
(=redeemed) with a price. So, glorify God in your body.”; and in Titus 2:14:
“who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for
himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.” Jesus Christ
redeemed (=purchased) us – our life and land that we had lost when Adam and Eve
fell at the cost of his blood that was shed on the cross. Jesus became the
Redeemer for us.
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