“Ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls” (Jer 6:16).
After discussing the difference between murder and manslaughter, and taking a life, it hardly seem important to talk about taking land, but that’s the next subject. “You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess” (Deut 19:14). The Bible warns about moving landmarks twice in Deuteronomy, in Job, twice in Proverbs, in Jeremiah and Hosea. But the Hebrew word translated landmark occurs almost 200 times throughout the Old Testament, often translated “border” or “coast,” or sometimes as “bound” or “limit.” A friend who is a surveyor spends much of his time tramping through the wilds looking for such landmarks. Sometimes a creek or ancient tree is recorded in the deed as a measuring point; at other times a stake or a pile of stones. Dishonest men could easily move a landmark to enlarge their property while diminishing their neighbor’s. But, said the Lord, I want you to cry, “‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’” (Deut 27:17). Obviously maintaining physical boundaries was important for the ongoing integrity of ownership rights, but it illustrates a much larger principle. “The princes of Judah are like those who remove a landmark;…Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked by human precept” (Hosea 5:10-11). The boundaries of the tribes were set by God, as was their moral code. So with the teachings regarding the Church. There is no tolerance for adjusting God’s instructions by “human precept.” Let’s make sure we’re not guilty of pushing our ideas and robbing others of their God-given blessings.