By Margaret Byfield
(5th in Seven-part series)
The fourth article in the Stewarding Creation series addressed how the conservationists position to restrict resources is contrary to what God requires. Instead, we are specifically directed to subdue and tame nature, making it flourish by using the resources. The Biblical principle by which we are to do this is “stewardship.” In this article we will explore the system God established to ensure proper stewardship of His creation would occur – private property ownership.
If you want to dig deeper into this topic, you can download the full Stewarding Creation guide here.
When Joshua led the Israelite tribes across the Jordan River to conquer the land given to them by God, he divided the territory and gave each tribe a portion of the land, as commanded by God. Within each tribe, land was owned by the heads of each household.
“55 The land is to be divided by lot; they will receive an inheritance according to the names of their ancestral tribes. 56 Each inheritance will be divided by lot among the larger and smaller tribes.” (Numbers 26:55-56)
God’s system has land privately owned and divided evenly among the people. Each tribe had their territory, and within this, each head of a household had enough land to support their family. This created two positive outcomes in relation to good stewardship of the land.
The first is that the owner of that land had to work the land and watch over it so that he would have resources to feed and support his family’s immediate needs, as well as those in the future. Individual ownership of the land requires that you take good care of the land, or your family will eventually be in poverty.
It also means that one family will live out their days on that land. They know every acre of that property intimately—how the land responds to different management practices, what species and wildlife live on the land, and how to keep these populations in balance. They also know the weather patterns in all their extremes.
This knowledge is passed down and grows with each generation. God’s system raises up the best steward for each parcel of His land. This cannot be replaced by communal or government-managed property.
The second benefit is that it prevents monopolies, where one individual would own an abundant store of natural wealth and use it to wield power over others. God’s system creates a multitude of small landowners, giving every family enough land they can steward well, and with it, the opportunity to prosper.
God ensured this small landownership system by also commanding that in the year of Jubilee, every 50 years, all land that had been sold to another tribe or family must be available to be redeemed by the original inherited owner’s descendants, therefore keeping the division of property relatively equal among the tribes and households.
In the Book of Nehemiah, we have the authorities being admonished for taking advantage of the poor and unjustly holding their lands as collateral for the taxes and interest they had been assessing. Nehemiah calls on them to act justly and return their lands to them. This reestablished a system where every family could provide for themselves and give towards the rebuilding of the wall.
“11 Return their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses to them immediately, along with the percentage of the money, grain, new wine, and fresh oil that you have been assessing them.” 12 They responded, “We will return these things and require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.” (Nehemiah 5:11–12)
The only modern government that models, in part, this land ownership system is the United States of America. Our Founding Fathers were raised on Biblical principles, and they incorporated God’s private property system into our Constitutional Republic.
Private property ownership was essential to ensure the land flourished and American citizens retained the power to limit government. This is why if you look at a map of government land ownership today, you will see that most of the land east of the Mississippi River is privately owned.
When Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase from France, it added 530 million acres to our nation, doubling it in size at that time. Citizens were encouraged to claim ownership of these lands, but they were limited by how much they could acquire.
In some states, it was 120 acres; in others, it was 640. The size was determined by the productivity of the land. In areas with abundant water, you could provide for a family on 120 acres. In dryer areas, you would need 640 acres to make a prosperous homestead.
Every acre was sold to the citizens. In fact, the greatest fear of our Founders in allowing the federal government to hold land for sale was that they would instead retain this and become more powerful than the states.
God’s system was replaced when the West was settled, and today over 50 percent of the Western United States is owned by the federal government. There are some counties in the western states that have 97 percent of their lands in federal ownership. The State of Nevada is 83 percent federally owned.
We can see the results and decide which system is better: God’s or man’s? Ask yourself where our nation routinely has massive forest fires. Are these in the East, where there are abundant privately owned forests? Or are the fires in the West on the government-owned and managed forests?
The federally managed forests, grasslands, and protected areas in the West have been burning at an alarming rate in recent years because they are simply mismanaged. Communal ownership of land always leads to this outcome.
Here is another way to view this question. If 100,000 acres are owned by ten different landowners, and one mismanages the land, it impacts 10 percent of that area. But when one entity, whether this be government, a corporation, or conservation group, controls all of that land and mismanages it, you damage all of it.
A good steward of God’s creation begins by first recognizing that we don’t own the land—God does. But He has designated us His trustees and given us earthly ownership, and therefore direct accountability, of the land and animals. He then commands us to work and watch over it, fully utilizing the resources so they may flourish and we may prosper. When we abandon God’s way and follow the knowledge of man instead, we should not be surprised to see the resources decline.
“21 For the upright will inhabit the land, and those of integrity will remain in it; 22 but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the treacherous ripped out of it.” (Proverbs 2:21–22)
Even when Israel (Jacob) had to settle in the land of Egypt to avoid the famine, “They acquired property in it and became fruitful and very numerous.” (Genesis 47:27) Owning property was the civil structure from which they could fulfill God’s two other commands: be fruitful and multiply.
When Christ returns and God’s final kingdom is established, He will restore His system of private property ownership. In Micah we are assured that on that day believers will securely live under their own grapevine and fig tree.
“1 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established at the top of the mountains and will be raised above the hills. … 3 He will settle disputes among many peoples and provide arbitration for strong nations that are far away. They will beat their swords into plows and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will never again train for war. 4 But each person will sit under his grapevine and under his fig tree with no one to frighten him. For the mouth of the Lord of Armies has spoken.” (Micah 4:1-4)
Next week we will address how we are called to care for creation according to God’s commands, and contrary to the world’s view.
If you want to dig deeper into this topic, you can download the full Stewarding Creation guide here.
Note: All scripture references are from the Christian Standard Bible (CBS) translation.
