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. (Deuteronomy 19:14)

From the very beginning of Creation, we see that boundaries are important to the Almighty. From Day One, boundaries and lines of division define the purpose of each component of the Creation as well as determining what should not be mixed with other things. For instance, the seas were gathered into one place so that dry land could emerge and, therefore, vegetation could be called forth. If the seas were to ignore those boundaries, life for every land creature, including man, would not be possible. In short, boundaries bring order to chaos and order fosters peace, harmony and prosperity.

So then, if the Creator desires that we respect His boundaries, and for the reasons we have laid out, it only makes sense that He would require that we respect one another’s boundaries. Therefore, we are warned not to remove a landmark that defines someone’s property lest we incur a curse (Deuteronomy 27:17). To do something such as this is to deliberately blur or erase an established boundary, an act that is equivalent to theft. If this act is equivalent to theft, then in a manner of speaking, moving our neighbor’s boundary is to unfairly encroach upon his honor and, potentially, his livelihood.

Bringing this back around to the Creator and His boundaries: when we ignore or blur the lines between right and wrong, clean and unclean — as the congregation of Laodicea did — we have taken it upon ourselves to decide what is right and what is wrong. In effect, we have either added to or taken away from His Word — or both. In any case, we have tampered with the boundaries He has established and, consequently, robbed from “His field” while adding to our own. This should not be. If we truly believe that He is the Creator of all things and the Only Supreme Judge, then we must respect the boundaries He has established and abide by the decisions He has ordained. If we do this, we shall live a blessed and prosperous life because it is written, “The statutes of the Lord are right; the commandment of the Lord is pure … the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether” (Psalm 19:8-9).

Blessings and Shalom,  

Bill 

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