Leviticus 26

Today’s reading can be summarized in two succinct thoughts: 1) blessings for obedience, and 2) curses for disobedience. First, God promised the nation of Israel that, if they “walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them,” He would grant them His suitable provisions, protection, peace, promised victory, and presence. How could the Israelites be sure that God would make good on His promises? He reminds them of His faithfulness in verse 13, when He tells them, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.” As we have discussed before, it’s helpful to lean on God’s previous actions to inform your opinions on His current and future fidelity. 

The news was not all rosy for God’s people, though. Granted, obedience would be met with God’s favor. But if the people did not listen to and do all that God had commanded or if they rejected His covenant, then God would send fear, pestilence, and famine their way, leaving them exposed to attacks from their enemies and without His presence among them (vv. 14-33). However, if a disobedient people were to repent of their sins, God would mercifully and graciously remember His covenant with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham and restore the Israelites (vv. 40-45). G. Campbell Morgan notes:

It is most instructive in the giving of the law, to observe how the declension and wandering of the people was evidently known to the King, and that notwithstanding this fact, these promises of final restoration were made. Thus, while human responsibility is most solemnly enforced, it is done in such a way as to create the conviction that the love of God will prove itself finally victorious over all human failure.[i]

Some 1,500 years after God expressed His grace, mercy, and love to the Israelites—as documented here in Leviticus 26—He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to display the greatest love anyone could ever bestow upon another (John 15:13). And He did it with the foreknowledge that you and I would not perfectly keep His commands (Romans 5:8). To be sure, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:13-14). 

In saying that, even though we are no longer under the Law, it has been our experience that our actions today very much determine whether we are living under God’s hand of favor or His hand of discipline. Because we are in Christ Jesus, when we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to empower us to live according to God’s design as outlined in the Scriptures, we experience His presence, peace, and promise of abundant life. On the other hand, if we find ourselves living at odds with what God says through His Word, we have found that restlessness and tension abound as we make ourselves more susceptible to the enemy’s attacks. Please hear me, we do not obey so that we may receive God’s blessings, but His favor is a wonderful byproduct of a life lived in and for Him. 

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Journal responses to the following prompts:

·       How has the love of God triumphed over your failures? 

·       Would you prefer to live under God’s hand of favor or discipline? Does your daily behavior line up with your answer? 

[i] Morgan, G. C. (1926). Searchlights from the Word. Fleming H. Revell Company. p. 45.