Remove not the ancient landmarks.
The old landmarks
The wisdom of the Mosaic code is nowhere more manifest than in its provisions touching the tenure of land. Every man in Israel was a landowner, and he must remain so. It was customary to mark the boundaries of estates by corner-stones. To remove these landmarks, if an envious neighbour were so disposed, was an easy matter. But it was prohibited under a severe penalty. We deal with the spiritual inheritance handed down by our fathers as a rich bequest of truth and virtue. An attempt to remove the landmarks of this inheritance is noted as one of the dangerous tendencies of modern thought.
1. One landmark is belief in the supernatural. The hand reached forth to remove this boundary is Agnosticism.
2. Another is Revelation. By which is meant the Holy Scriptures. The enemy of Scripture to-day is Rationalism. To the present controversy as to the trustworthiness of Scripture is due loss of reverence and loss of faith.
3. Another is belief in Christ. The enemies are the various forms of humanitarianism.
4. Another is tradition. There is danger in clamouring against a thing because it bears the seal of antiquity. Progress in theological circles has come to mean a reckless abandonment of everything that age has sanctified. Dogma is objected to because it has “been handed down.” In fact, a dogma is nothing more nor less than a formulated truth bearing the marks of age, and of long trial, and the warrant of venerable authority. (D. J. Burrell, D.D.)
Old landmarks
I. Some of the landmarks threatened.
1. Those of doctrine. The deity of Christ. Salvation by atonement. The necessity for regeneration.
2. Those of Christian life. Laxity in doctrine results in laxity of life.
II. Reasons why these landmarks should be left. Loyalty to God as King forbids us from tampering with them, and affection to Him as a Father says, “Respect them.” They are the ramparts of the Church. They are the foundations of all true happiness, and the men who have most faithfully stood by them, and most humbly paid homage to them, have been the men who have been the glory of the Church. (Archibald G. Brown.)
Eastern land-divisions
Eastern fields were not divided by hedge, or wall, or ditch, so there was much danger of confusing the separate properties of individuals. In the East advantage was taken, wherever possible, of natural divisions, such as river-beds, tributary stream-lines, and edges of valleys. But in the open ground the separate properties were only marked by a deeper furrow, or large stones almost buried in the soil. The injunction not to remove a neighbour’s landmarks was, therefore, of the utmost importance, as stealthy encroachments might easily be made by shifting these stones. (Biblical Things not Generally Known.)