One of the first things God promised His children was a land flowing with milk and honey. Of course this was a blessing, but God also had a long term plan for his children to prosper.  He knew land owners would think in a different way than wandering nomads.

Land is important to God’s plan for His children. One of the first things God did in establishing a covenant with Abraham was give him land. Previous to this Abraham did not have a homeland. Abraham’s father and his family were pastoral nomads, wandering from place to place for varying periods of time. His father worshiped idols in a city dedicated to wickedness. Abraham was told by God to go out into a place in which he would receive his inheritance. It was later referred to at the Promised “land.” It was land! In Genesis 12:1 it refers to the “land” God had for Abraham.

The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.”

God gave this nomad a land to call his own and to build in with his descendants. He gave Abraham and his family the Land of Israel as a unique homeland where his descendants were supposed to create the nation that was the model for the world. Physical land was central to God’s plan to prosper Abraham.

It is important to note that this in stark contrast to the economic systems of socialism and communism. In socialism the means of production and distribution are owned, managed and controlled by the government. Karl Marx, the founder of modern day communist philosophy, espoused abolishing all private property. We will continue to see in future blogs that socialism and communism are in contrast to the Biblical worldview where land is intended for private individuals for them to steward and to prosper with their families.