Today’s Scripture Reading (February
10, 2014): 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 land. 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 a
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 out of the land.
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 a 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 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 till 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
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