I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable. – Jeremiah 2:7

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 20, 2017): Jeremiah 2

From the ninth century until about the fifteenth century, the political climate in Europe was dominated by feudalism. The basic idea of feudalism is was that there was a group of people who owned the land. These were the lords – and they owned all of the lands. And there was another group of people who had something to offer the society, but they needed land. And so these people would enter into agreements with the Lords for the land. They would exchange what they had to offer (maybe it was food from working the land, or if they were fighters they would agree to stand in the military defense of all of the lands that were under the control of the lord. And in return they would get a piece of the land that belonged to the lord. They did not own the land – the lord did. But they would be allowed to use the land because of what they could give to the lord. Feudalism was a response to the centralized governments of the king, but a king couldn’t control all of the nation. And so in feudalism he enlisted the help of the lords who enlisted the help of those that had need of the land in order to live, and through this system the nation was controlled. But as much as feudalism represented the decentralization of the government, considering the land that was involved it is remarkable at how few lords there really were.

Jeremiah is essentially describing the feudal relationship that Israel had with God. As Jeremiah describes the word that God is communicating to him, he says that God has brought the people of Israel from Egypt into this land. And yes, we know that God had promised the land to the descendants of Abraham, but Jeremiah is clear that it is still God’s land. God brings Israel into his land. He requires a service of Israel as the price of being able to use this land that the Bible says was flowing with milk and honey. But he had not given the land to them, IT WAS STILL HIS LAND. God was the Lord who owned the land and as long as Israel fulfilled their commitments to the Lord of the land, they were welcome. But as soon as they started to defile the land, they were starting to follow a path that would eventually end with them being kicked off of God’s property.

This is the message that Jeremiah is trying to impress on the people. This land was not theirs. It belonged to the one that they called Lord. And the possession of the land came with responsibility. And it was a responsibility that was not being fulfilled. What was about to happen was their fault. They were given a chance to live in a fertile basin of land on the Shores of the Mediterranean Ocean, but they had not fulfilled their responsibilities, so that they could not stay. The Lord of the land was going to give the land to someone else use, someone who would respect the land and respect the lord of the land.

God is still giving to us the things that are his - and we are still a people with a choice. We can take care of the gift and the responsibility, or we can defile the gift, but either way the Lord of land will respond. He has to.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 3

Personal Note: Happy Birthday to my Grandsons, William and Henry, three years old today (and I know you are already reading Grandpa's blog.)