Kingdom Building
:November 5, 2019
Scripture Reading:
Haggai 1:15b-2:9
For thus says the Lord of hosts: Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake all the nations, so that the treasure of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with splendor, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of hosts. The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts. — Haggai 2:6-9
I am struck by how American Indian this sounds to me. One of the major cultural differences between the white settlers who came to what became to be called the Americas is the concept that people could own land. Many of the indigenous people held a markedly different view of land. Yes, they may have had territories on which they primarily resided and other territories on which they hunted but they did not “own” the land, the earth as we call it, and all that is within it is the province of its Creator, sacred territory made available by its Creator for the use of the people and animals that inhabited it. This way of thinking bears a striking resemblance to the Genesis story of creation which Haggai continue to agree with in his time. I wonder from where the need to own land arose.
Indigenous people fought among themselves on who could use what resources as did the Israelites. I think we sometimes forget that those wandering escapees from Egypt claimed land being used by other peoples as their God given right much as the European explorers claimed the Americas. From 1776 to 1870 only white men age 21 and older who own land could vote in the USA*. Owning land equaled power. Two quotes seem to fit here:
Satan doesn’t need to destroy you, he just needs to distract you. — Bob Goff
Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. – John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton
Prayer: Lord, protect from the distractions that plague or world causes us to fall victim to their enticements. Amen
*https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/history-of-voting-in-america-timeline.pdf
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.