Leviticus 26:1-13 Basic Requirements, Conditions, and Results of Obedience
Day 28. Celebrating (not sure that’s the right word) 4 weeks of self-isolation, the first two of which were mandatory self-quarantine. Today I had the privilege of teaching the first day of a three-day on-line class to Human Resources personnel in Canada and the U.S. So, my socializing was via Zoom. It was a welcomed relief. My study in Leviticus continues even if later in the day. The stress of family and friends beyond our immediate household continues due to the isolation, the loss of work, etc. But God is still there and He upholds us. Thanks for joining me today and read on.
I do not often quote leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but I thought this quote of James E. Faust, a famous Mormon religious leader, lawyer, and politician, well reflected the contents of our passage today:
"Obedience leads to true freedom. The more we obey revealed truth,
the more we become liberated."
The Passage
26 ‘You shall not make for yourselves [a]idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down [b]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 so as to carry them out, 4 then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. 5 Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time. You will thus eat your [c]food to the full and live securely in your land. 6 I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble. I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. 7 But you will chase your enemies and they will fall before you by the sword; 8 five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword. 9 So I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you. 10 You will eat the old supply and clear out the old because of the new. 11 Moreover, I will make My [d]dwelling among you, and My soul will not [e]reject you. 12 I will also 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 so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.
Footnotes:
- Leviticus 26:1 Or graven images
- Leviticus 26:1 Lit over
- Leviticus 26:5 Lit bread
- Leviticus 26:11 Or tabernacle
- Leviticus 26:11 Lit abhor
Thoughts on the Passage
David Guzik says that as a literary form, “this chapter is similar to ancient treaties between a king and his people; this is God the King, making a covenant with His people, Israel.
Idols or inanimate objects (pillars, stone, etc.) are out. Robert Jamieson says this about these pillars of stone:
[A pillar of stone] is, an obelisk, inscribed with hieroglyphical and superstitious characters; the former denoting the common and smaller pillars of the Syrians or Canaanites; the latter, pointing to the large and elaborate obelisks which the Egyptians worshipped as guardian divinities, or used as stones of adoration to stimulate religious worship. The Israelites were [urged and warned] to beware of them.
You don’t bow down to anything. You keep the Sabbath and reverence the Sanctuary of God. You walk in His statutes and keep His commandments. That’s the input.
Here’s the outputs: In verse 4, God promises enough rain to yield corps and fruits. And these will be so good that your whole year will be taken up with the associated activities (verse 5). He also promises that we will have sufficient food and live securely in our land.
In verse 6, God promises peace – the kind of peace that allows us to sleep at night. [Unlike the sleep people had during WWI and WWII – being awakened by sirens when the bombing was about to start.] But not only peace from human enemies, but also peace from wild beasts.
In fact, God says (in verses 7 and 8) that the Israelites, His people, will be able to chase our enemies and conquer them, even if they outnumber us twenty to one, or 100 to one.
But better still, God says (verse 9), He will turn towards the Israelites and make them fruitful with offspring and confirm His covenant with them.
Verse 10 is an interesting verse which states that the Israelites will “eat the old supply and clear it out” because He will keep giving them a new supply. Jamieson puts it another way when he says the Israelites will have so much grain that they won’t be able to exhaust it before the next year’s crop is ready to store – so they’ll have to throw some out. That’s bountiful supply.
And then it gets better in verse 11. God will dwell among them and I love, His “soul will reject” them. Wow. Can you imagine that kind of assurance? That kind of promise? A promise that He will walk with them and be their God and they His people. What more could anyone with any amount of smarts would want?
And why would He do all this if they keep His commandments? Simple: Because He is the Lord their God Who brought them out of slavery, freed them, and broke their chains so they would never be slaves again, but instead they could walk “erect” like free men. You have to love that kind of God. Guzik says this about the verse:
This final blessing speaks of freedom and dignity. This passage almost feels like the New Testament, God proclaims the liberty of His people and then invites them to walk in it.
Chuck Smith points out the things that God promised the Israelites here are the very things men are looking for today – security and peace and growth. Jesus says we can have all these things but not if we seek them, but only if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).
Matthew Henry points out that in His promises, God covers all of man’s basic needs in one or another. This is amazing. God knows the man He has created and knows our needs. And His promises take care of all we need. From physical protection, to food, to family growth, and to respect or dignity.
And amazingly, even though this chapter is in the Old Testament, the same promises have been applied to God’s children today – through His Son, Jesus Christ. What a passage this is. Do the five things God wants us to do, and God will the myriad of things He promises. In business we would call this a “no-brainer”. But yet so many miss out of the deal of eternity.
So just remember as you wait out this Covid-19 storm, as a Child of His, you are well taken care of. Throw the worry away. Throw the fear away. Today I saw this image on social media and I think it fits well here.
Fear survives at the expense of Faith in God. Increase your Faith in God as your Provider of all your needs and reclaim your lost peace that your fear has stolen.
It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.
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