When the Land Vomits

Leviticus 18:28

“If you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.”

The Bible is graphic. Here is an example. This confronting verse makes me stop and think. Is this Hebrew poetic image saying something we need to hear today?

Israel was given a new land following her exodus experience. It was a great land – flowing with milk and honey, alive with grace and promise. But the title deed had conditions attached. It was more like a lease than a deed of ownership really.

The same can be said for the whole earth. There are conditions if we want to live here.

What conditions are in the earth-deed?

1. God retains ownership. Land is “leased” at best, never “owned” absolutely. We didn’t make the land, we just “found” it. When we discovered we were alive, there it was! Perhaps our ancestors cleared it and cultivated it, and we may be tending it or developing it, but no ancestor can claim to have created it. We have a lease-like arrangement on the land. Best we get to know the land-LORD.

The earth is the Lord’s! Everything in it belongs to him. (Psalm 24:1)

2. Occupancy is contingent upon obedience. It is a strange and powerful idea that righteousness and security are linked. The “land” can actually disown its occupants. That is not very Hellenistic, but it is sound Hebrew thinking. And, it is biblical.

I won’t pretend to understand this fully, but we see it in Leviticus 20:22. “Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out.”

Land is spiritual. Land is created by God and it can declare his glory, clap hands in praise of him, cry out to him and apparently it can even punish its occupants. If you know Tolkien’s “Lord of the Ring”, think of his marvellous creatures called “Ents”. (Ps. 19:1, Isa. 55:12, Rom. 8:22)

3. The land requires love. This is the challenge of Gen 2:15. Care for the earth-garden is core to our calling. If we think of the earth primarily as “inputs” for the industrial machine we get into real trouble. But if you think of it as a “partner” in the call to please God it is a vastly different posture.

Are people the problem? 6 billion people is not a problem. But, 6 billion “fallen people” is! A pillow fight between sisters might break a lamp, but a drunken brawl with 100 angry guests is likely to trash the whole house. Is that where our earth is headed? Demanding our individual pleasures, our nationalistic privileges and our “rights” over others only fuels the earth-brawl. The earth needs love and we all need a saviour.

I Wonder...

Has our lifestyle of over consumption and greed upset Earth’s stomach? Is God’s planet heaving? Is this verse still a truth that we must heed? Does the land still vomit out its people?

Let me be very careful and clear here. I am not asking this question about any one group of people or any tract of land in particular. I don’t subscribe to simplistic judgement theories! I know the verses speak of Israel's exile, but I am wondering about the whole earth and all of us put here by God. I think we have some repenting to do.

What can we do then?

• Live more simply.
• Reduce, reuse and recycle.
• Plant trees.
• Lobby against pollution and polluters.
• Get informed, tell others.
• Live for God – righteousness and security are linked.
• Pray for the earth and her people to be delivered.
• Tell God you are sorry for the wrong you have done.
• Don’t join the doomsday crowd. God still heals!
• Don’t put your head in the sand. God still judges.
• Don’t worry. Go to church this Sunday and celebrate RESURRECTION! Now there’s hope.

Questions

• How do you care for the earth?
• What new facts about the earth's health have you learned that are worth sharing with others?