Leviticus 26:1-22 NKJV
26 ‘You shall not make idols for yourselves;
neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves;
nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land, to bow down to it;
for I am the Lord your God.
2 You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary:
I am the Lord.
3 ‘If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them,
4 then I will give you rain in its season, the land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5 Your threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing;
you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
6 I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid;
I will rid the land of evil beasts,
and the sword will not go through your land.
7 You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you.
8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight;
your enemies shall fall by the sword before you.
9 ‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.
10 You shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new.
11 I will set My tabernacle among you, and My soul shall not abhor you.
12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.
13 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves;
I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright.
14 ‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments,
15 and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant,
16 I also will do this to you:
I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart.
And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
17 I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies.
Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you.
18 ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
19 I will break the pride of your power;
I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.
20 And your strength shall be spent in vain;
for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.
21 ‘Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins.
22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number;
and your highways shall be desolate.
In the first 13 verses of today’s reading, we hear First and Third Commandment language. Having idols or graven images violates the First, and keeping God’s Sabbaths refers to the Third. God promised the Israelites wonderful blessings if they simply obeyed Him. The blessings were rain in the land (v. 5), peace in the land (v. 6), the growth of each Israelite family and clan (vv. 9-10), and God’s promise of dwelling with His people (vv. 11-12). He also promised His continual presences among them to walk with them and be their God. God established the Sabbaths and the sanctuary, so that through them He could dwell with His people and lavish His blessings on them in the promised land.
However, in vv. 14-22 terrible things were promised if the people did not obey: terror, disease, fever, fear, crop failure, defeat by their enemies, livestock destroyed, loss of children, plagues, and a general threat of seven times the punishments listed. Simply stated, by their disobedience the Israelites would annul the proper operation of God’s Covenant and so forfeit His rich blessings.
Like a parent warning his child not to do something lest a punishment would be inflicted, God told His people how He would deal with them; it’s not like they hadn’t been warned. By these punishments, however, He disciplined and corrected them. He disciplined them to bring them back to right worship of Him. As in Proverbs 13:24, “He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.” And Heb 12:6, “For whom the Lord loves He chastens.” That is always God’s motivation and goal, to love us and to bring us back to Him.
Repent, dear Christian, of every disobedience against God, then run to Holy Absolution and the Holy Supper where God deliver’s His forgiveness to you and strengthens you to continue to live in His grace.
Let us pray: Lord, thank You for Your loving discipline, and help me to learn from it and grow in Your grace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen.