Reading: Micah 2
Covetousness (a.k.a.
greed) is responsible for no small share of poverty in the world. It
may be that the 10 commandments end with covetousness because that is
the heart issue behind so many of the other commandments.
Covetousness drove the wicked in Israel to move the ancient boundary
stones (on a nice day), gradually encroaching on the helpless (Prov
23:10-11), or just outright seizing the when it is in their power to
do so.
Woe
to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At
morning's light they carry it out because it is in their
power to do it. 2They covet
fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They
defraud people of their homes, they rob them of their
inheritance.... 9You
drive the women of my people from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing from their children
forever. (Micah 2:1-2, 9)
One's inheritance
in Israel was central to their ability to sustain themselves. Here
the inheritance is not merely referring to an estate received
by a child from its parents, but also to
the land received by the children of Israel as a gift from Yahweh
(ISBE). Through God's rich inheritance given to His
people, they would have land and sustaining provision through life.
They had to work the land, but land they had.
However, orphan's and
widows were easy targets for those who would confiscate their
properties. The powerful have connections with other powerful people.
The weak have no connections because people have nothing to gain by
helping them. By the time Jesus came the rejection of God's law
had become so deep that the Jewish teachers of the law were devouring
the widows houses (Mark 12:40).
Jesus came announcing
the year of the Lord's favor—“the year of jubilee” (Luke
4:17-21). In fact, the preaching of the Gospel is described as
announcing this good news to the poor. This year of the Lord's
favor was the year, every fiftieth year, when everyone in Israel was
returned to their inheritance. If they had sold the land to pay
their debts or survive, it would be returned. It was a year that
meant loss for the powerful and gain for the weak. It was indeed
“good news for the poor”.
Jesus proclaims the
return of everyone to God's rich inheritance for them. How does He
bring this about? The Gospel certainly hasn't brought every
Israelite back to their land of original inheritance as distributed
in the book of Joshua. In fact most of the tribes can't even be
located today. So how does Jesus bring this about?
Christ's kingdom is a
spiritual kingdom and we often have difficulty seeing things as they
really are. Paul prayed that the church would see “the
riches of God's glorious inheritance” ...and then he
tells us where to look, where it is... “in his holy people”
(Ephesians 1:18). Psalm 68:6 says, “God sets the lonely
in families...” (Psalm 68:6
NIV). One translation says, “God provides homes for those
who are deserted...” (Psalm 68:6
HCSB). Which is it? Both. God provides homes for those who
are deserted by setting the lonely, the solitary, in families—the
church of the Living God.
This
family, this provision, this, God's inheritance for us in His holy
people, is what Jesus was speaking of when He answered Peter's,
“What's in it for us?” question.
28Peter
said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!" 29"I
tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left
home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields
for me and the gospel 30will
fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes,
brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them,
persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. (Mark
10:28-30)
The
church is to be a community, a family, in which we recognize that
God's provision for us is not just for us personally, but for us as
the community of God's people. This is why being part of a church
family in particular is so important. Particular
families in Israel received an inheritance, not disconnected loan
individuals.
So God knits us into His family (Ephesians 2:19) and as members in a
particular family where we know other and can be known by others.
Where we meet the needs of other and have our needs met by others.
In
order for this to happen, we must put greed (covetousness) to death
(Colossians 3:5), so
that it is never heard of in our midst (Ephesians 5:3). Sadly, all too often is it not only heard of, it is modeled by
leaders and even preached on from pulpits... not against it, but how
to effectively covet and get whatever you want!
This
is a kingdom of righteousness and justice and peace.
In order to be a part of this justice we have to live our lives free
from the love of money (Hebrews 13:5). As we do, justice will unfold as
we restore inheritance into each others' lives by loving our neighbor
as ourselves.
Love the Gospel, Live
the Gospel, Advance the Gospel,
Jerry
