Leviticus 26:14-4314But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; 15And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant: 16I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 17And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. 18And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. 19And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass: 20And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits. 21And if ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken unto me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. 22I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate. 23And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me; 24Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. 25And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. 26And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied. 27And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me; 28Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. 29And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. 30And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. 31And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors. 32And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. 33And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. 34Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. 35As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it. 36And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth. 37And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them. 40If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; 41And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: 42Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land. 43The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes. (Leviticus 26:14‑43)
IN THE first part of this chapter we have God’s promised blessings to Israel if they walked in obedience to His Word, but the next verses pronounce the solemn consequences if they refused to obey. God would punish them for their disobedience even as they deserved it, and the more rebellious they would become as time went on the more severe His judgments.
He would appoint over them terror, the dread of a guilty conscience, and disease so that they would waste away; their enemies would eat up their harvests and put their armies to flight; they would flee when no one pursued after them. If this did not humble them before Him their punishment would be seven times more severe, to break their pride and arrogance. Heaven would become as iron and the earth as brass so that the land would not yield its increase.
Then if these measures failed to bring them to their senses sevenfold more plagues would overtake them. Wild beasts would rob them of their children and their cattle, and reduce their numbers. If this failed to recall them to Himself, then the pestilence would ravage them, and their enemies would slay them in their cities.
Israel were more guilty than the nations that knew not God and God would deal with them accordingly.
The strokes of judgment thus far were indeed heavy, but worse were yet to come as Israel hardened their necks in their stubbornness and rebellion against the Lord. Scarcity of bread and terrible famine would come upon guilty Israel. The flesh of their own children would be their food, so reduced and degraded would they become; their dead bodies would be heaped upon their idols, and so great would be the devastation that even their enemies would be astonished at it. They would be carried away into their enemies’ land, and their own land, which flowed with milk and honey, should be desolate and have rest.
We know that all this happened to Israel, just as God so faithfully foretold. Today they are scattered over the face of the earth, and though a few have returned to Palestine, yet they have gone back in unbelief, and they will not enter into the promised blessings until they own their guilt and turn to the Lord. This will be when He returns as their gracious Deliverer.
Israel’s fall ought to be a lesson to all the nations, but they will not learn this until Israel restored and forgiven, shows them the way.
It is well for us to ponder this sketch of Israel’s history, for it is but the lesson of the human heart wherever man is found. God is a God of grace, yet is He “of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.” Hab. 1:1313Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he? (Habakkuk 1:13). We read in Hebrews 10:30,3130For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:30‑31): “The Lord shall judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
The law could not show grace; it could only condemn Israel’s every sin and failure. But “grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John 1:1717For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17). In seeking to gain the promised blessing through their own obedience, Israel lost all, and their future blessing will only come to them through Christ, their Kinsman-Redeemer. So now the blessing of God comes to ruined sinners only through Christ crucified and lifted up upon the cross, through Him once dead but risen and now in the glory of God.
ML-12/24/1972