Remove Not The Ancient Landmarks

Solomon wrote, "Remove not the an­cient landmark which your fathers have set" (Prov. 22:28). Landmarks were just what the term sounds like; they served to designate the boundaries of one's prop­erty. In Israel, as today, they served to preserve integrity, honesty, equity and truthfulness (cf. property deeds and the like of our day). Moses wrote, "you shall not remove your neighbor's landmark, which men of old have set..." (Deut. 19:14). Among the practices of wicked men that Job complained of were those who would remove the landmarks of oth­ers. The seriousness of such a practice is seen in that the curse of God rested upon one who would be so presumptuous (Deut. 27:17).

What one effectively did when he moved the landmark of his neighbor was to steal a part of his property. And so removing such landmarks also branded one as a thief; a "land grabber" who had no regard nor respect for the property of others. This was but one law among many that God had that protected honest people from the unscrupulous of the day who had no regard for his neighbor.

Having viewed this matter from a very literal perspective, which was primarily the way the terminology is applied in the Old Testament, it seems to me that we might also make a spiritual application of the matter. God has many "landmarks" that he expects men to respect and honor. We wish to look at two things wherein the landmarks which God has set have been moved. What have men done with them?

First, there is the landmark of clear and distinctive gospel preaching. Paul ex­horted Timothy to "preach the word..." (2 Tim. 4:2-5). Such preaching must be clear, thoughtful, balanced and without compromise. It must be done so that men can understand it. In the days of Nehe­miah we are told that the Levites "read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God: and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading" (Neh. 8:8). God wants men to understand when his word is read or spoken!

Much of what passes for gospel preach­ing is a poor caricature of what was spo­ken by faithful preachers of God in the New Testament. Sometimes it is wa­tered down until the pointed content of it is dulled so it is not so hard to re­ceive! Such weak preaching will do man no good; besides it makes a trav­esty of truth! We need preaching that is filled with urgency and conviction. We need preaching that makes men see what they are - good or bad.

The diluted philosophical preaching that emanates from some pulpits is a removal of the ancient landmark of true gospel preaching. Are we tired of the old, old story of Jesus? Do we think we can sort of "sneak up" on the sinner and convert him without his knowing it? No - men must be taught the dangers of sin. They must be taught that sin % stroys, and that they need to repent of those sins. Unless sin and error is con­fronted with forceful gospel preaching, the sinner will remain in his sin. The "ancient landmark" of gospel preaching must never be removed, whether that preaching is doctrinal or practical.

Then there is the landmark of what naturally follows the preaching, and that is authoritative practice. Brethren, I fear that we are seeing a generation that in many cases does not know how to establish and apply Bible authority. Yet we hear, "we don't need Bible au­thority for what we do; after all, it is a good work." Or we have heard much lately about the "new hermeneutic" that has ignored the proper application of Bible truths in lieu of the modern day approach to scripture. More and more we are told, in effect, that a subjective approach to scripture is what is needed. All in the world that is saying is that "we may ignore the authority of the scripture and apply it any way that hap­pens to suit us. Such has led to things such as instrumental music among some of our brethren, putting women in posi­tions over the man, ignoring the example of weekly communion, and on and on we go.

God has set his "landmarks" concerning these, and it ill behooves us to change them! If one was cursed by removing a literal landmark in violation of God's law, why should he think he may move God's spiritual landmarks with impunity?

Yes, let us make sure that Christ is the heart and soul of our preaching, and that his authority is respected in all things. We have no business removing the land­marks of God! - Bill Moseley

 

 

 

"When I was a child..." - well, I acted like one (some folks think I still do). Like the time my parents left my brother and me in the car to drop in on relatives for "just a minute." Everybody knows you don't drop in on kinfolks who have the latest gossip about family members who are not there for "just a minute!" There was a small problem; shouldn't have been, but it was. You see, we had just been to the grocery store where Mom had bought (among other things) a large sack of bananas. You guessed it ­we ate' em; every last one of them.

We could have lived through that, but the Castor Oil that came later was quite another thing! Mom was a good Mom­ but she was a lousy doctor! Whoever would give a kid a dose of Castor Oil after eating a whole sack of bananas?

All of which reminds me of something we often overlook in our lives. We make gluttons out of ourselves when it comes to over-indulging in things that satisfy the man. We just "enjoy" those things so much, and never stop to think about the "medicine" that must come later! But we ought not complain - we asked for it (cf. Rom. 6:23).

Always feeding the fleshly man can be detrimental to the health of the spiritual man. Some things might be fine – until we become so obsessed with them that we can see nothing else. I imagine folks sure walked gingerly past my relative's house for a few days - lots of banana peels on the sidewalk! In my warped sense of things, the two situations sort of remind me of each other. Don't let your "bananas" keep you out of heaven! – Bill Moseley