Psalms 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein.”
Psalms: 115:16: “The heaven, even the heavens are the Lords, but the earth He giveth to the sons of men.”
Motle: Rabbi, is there a blessing for a sewing machine?
Rabbi: There is a blessing for everything.
-Fiddler on the Roof-
A caller to a radio talk show gave his pet Bible contradiction by pointing out that at one point David says the earth is the Lord’s then later he says the Lord gave it to the sons of men. Since he gave the earth to the sons of men, how can it still belong to the Lord?
Listening to this I could not help but think that there must be better things to risk your eternal state on than this. A simple knowledge of Hebrew will show you that the word give is nathan which is a circular word. It is sort of like a loan, or giving permission. The word nathan does not necessarily imply the giving up of ownership. For instance when you give a tithe or offering in the Hebraic sense, you are not giving up ownership of that tithe or offering because it was never yours to begin with. It was and does belong to God. You are merely putting it back into His vault for safe keeping. If you should happen to need it later on, he will pull it out of the vault and give it to you to perform it’s necessary task. When the Lord gives (nathan) to you, finances, job, family, health etc. He does not give up ownership, in a sense you accept the care custody and control of it.
I remember my brother telling me that one of the first lessons he learned when he went to the Amanah village in New Guinea as a Wycliffe Bible Translator. He quickly learned that in the village everyone became joint owners of all he possessed. It was no long his computer, but our computer. In ancient Semitic culture where you depended upon you neighbor to survive it was not uncommon for someone to just walk into your home and borrow something of yours without even asking. It our culture it is very hard for us to understand this. Our culture is a culture of possession. What we have is ours and no one else’s. Even in marriage the law says 50-50. Yet, in God’s eyes it is 100 -100. Every penny a man makes belongs just as much to his wife as it belongs to him. For the believer every penny a man makes belongs 100% to him, 100% to his wife and 100% to God, with God as the executive owner. When we drop that dollar bill in the offering plate we are only depositing it in the Corporate Heavenly treasury.
So too, this world belongs to God, but he has given (nathan) it to us in the sense that he has placed it in our care, custody and control. He has not given up ownership, but just hired us in as a managing partner.
For over 3,500 years the Jews have understood this. The Talmud addresses these two verses and seem to have no problem with them. In Berakhot 35 of the Talmud we learn that Psalms 24:1, the earth is the Lords; applies before a blessing is given and Psalms 115:16 the earth is given to the sons of men, applies after a blessing is given.
Ever wonder why rabbis are always blessing everything? It is not to offer good luck or seek God’s special favor. It is merely to acknowledge God’s ownership and our humble acceptance of these blessing to share in God’s property or wealth. As Motle in Fiddler on Roof sought the rabbis blessing for his new sewing machine, he was not seeking God’s favor for the sewing machine, but was seeking to acknowledge that this was God’s sewing machine and he was being blessed to have it in his care, custody and control.
Next time you land a job, a financial blessing or whatever, perhaps you should take a look at the teachings of the sages and I believe the Word of God and before you thank God for the gift and start shouting “Mine, mine, all mine!” you give a blessing acknowledging God’s continued ownership of that gift and thank him that you have been made the custodian of that gift and commit yourself to using it to the fullest benefit of the Executive Officer. Then of course thank Him for the gift Nathan.
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