Land Corruption
Definition
Land corruption (or pollution or defilement | Hebrew: חָנֵף, ḥānep | LXX: μιαίνω, miainó) refers to the ontological effect on the land when egregious crimes are committed.
Explanation:
Fundamental to the way YHWH created mankind, is man's relationship to the ground/land from which he was formed: 7 YHWH God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7WEB
When crimes are committed that violate this relationship, like the shedding of innocent blood, the land acts as a witness testifying to God (Gen. 4:10-11, Deut. 4:26). Consider the Noahic flood: 12 God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 God said to Noah, “I will bring an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them and the earth. Genesis 6:12-13WEB
After judging the World, and reversing the curse[1], God then delegated this temporal judgement authority to mankind (Gen. 9:6) so as to prevent the necessity for His judgement: 33 “‘So you shall not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it. Numbers 35:33WEB
As these crimes continue, and man neglects his responsibility to punish evil, the land corruption increases to a point where YHWH is required to intervene, causing the land to "vomit out" (Lev. 18:24-30) the people (usually involving the death of many or most of them in the the process).
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