Reflections on Leviticus 26

Leviticus 26 (Contemporary English Version)

1. I am the LORD your God! So don't make or worship any sort of idols or images.
   
2. Respect the Sabbath and honor the place where I am worshiped, because I am the LORD.
   
3. Faithfully obey my laws,
   
4. and I will send rain to make your crops grow and your trees produce fruit.
   
5. Your harvest of grain and grapes will be so abundant, that you won't know what to do with it all. You will eat and be satisfied, and you will live in safety.
   
6. I will bless your country with peace, and you will rest without fear. I will wipe out the dangerous animals and protect you from enemy attacks.
   
7. You will chase and destroy your enemies,
   
8. even if there are only five of you and a hundred of them, or only a hundred of you and ten thousand of them.
   
9. I will treat you with such kindness that your nation will grow strong, and I will also keep my promises to you.
   
10. Your barns will overflow with grain each year.
    
11. I will live among you and never again look on you with disgust.
    
12. I will walk with you--I will be your God, and you will be my people.
    
13. I am the LORD your God, and I rescued you from Egypt, so that you would never again be slaves. I have set you free, now walk with your heads held high.
    
14. If you disobey me and my laws, and if you break our agreement,
    
15. (SEE 26:14)
    
16. I will punish you terribly, and you will be ruined. You will be struck with incurable diseases and with fever that leads to blindness and depression. Your enemies will eat the crops you plant,
    
17. and I will turn from you and let you be destroyed by your attackers. You will even run at the very rumor of attack.
    
18. Then, if you still refuse to obey me, I will punish you seven times for each of your sins,
    
19. until your pride is completely crushed. I will hold back the rain, so the sky above you will be like iron, and the ground beneath your feet will be like copper.
    
20. All of your hard work will be for nothing--and there will be no harvest of grain or fruit.
    
21. If you keep rebelling against me, I'll punish you seven times worse, just as your sins deserve!
    
22. I'll send wild animals to attack you, and they will gobble down your children and livestock. So few of you will be left that your roads will be deserted.
    
23. If you remain my enemies after this,
    
24. I'll remain your enemy and punish you even worse.
    
25. War will break out because you broke our agreement, and if you escape to your walled cities, I'll punish you with horrible diseases, and you will be captured by your enemies.
    
26. You will have such a shortage of bread, that ten women will be able to bake their bread in the same oven. Each of you will get only a few crumbs, and you will go hungry.
    
27. Then if you don't stop rebelling,
    
28. I'll really get furious and punish you terribly for your sins!
    
29. In fact, you will be so desperate for food that you will eat your own children.
    
30. I'll destroy your shrines and tear down your incense altars, leaving your dead bodies piled on top of your idols. And you will be disgusting to me.
    
31. I'll wipe out your towns and your places of worship and will no longer be pleased with the smell of your sacrifices.
    
32. Your land will become so desolate that even your enemies who settle there will be shocked when they see it.
    
33. After I destroy your towns and ruin your land with war, I'll scatter you among the nations.
    
34. While you are prisoners in foreign lands, your own land will enjoy years of rest and refreshment, as it should have done each seventh year when you lived there.
    
35. (SEE 26:34)
    
36. In the land of your enemies, you will tremble at the rustle of a leaf, as though it were a sword. And you will become so weak that you will stumble and fall over each other, even when no one is chasing you.
    
37. (SEE 26:36)
    
38. Many of you will die in foreign lands,
    
39. and others of you will waste away in sorrow as the result of your sins and the sins of your ancestors.
    
40. Then suppose you realize that I turned against you and brought you to the land of your enemies because both you and your ancestors had stubbornly sinned against me. If you humbly confess what you have done and start living right,
    
41. (SEE 26:40)
    
42. I'll keep the promise I made to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will bless your land
    
43. and let it rest during the time that you are in a foreign country, paying for your rebellion against me and my laws.
    
44. No matter what you have done, I am still the LORD your God, and I will never completely reject you or become absolutely disgusted with you there in the land of your enemies.
    
45. While nations watched, I rescued your ancestors from Egypt so that I would be their God. Yes, I am your LORD, and I will never forget our agreement.
    
46. Moses was on Mount Sinai when the LORD gave him these laws and teachings for the people of Israel.
    
    

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    Chapter 26 describes the blessings and curses that will attend Israel's obedience or disobedience to this covenant between her and God.  It reads as a prophecy of what was to come for Israel. As the bulk of this chapter is given to the curses compared to the blessings so did Israel live more years in disobedience to the covenant and receive the curses described here as compared to the years lived in obedience receiving the blessings.
    
    The life promised to Israel if she lived in obedience to the covenant was one of unbelievable prosperity and peace, while living in the presence of the Lord. On the other hand, if Israel lived in disobedience to the covenant she was promised a life of terror, disease, conquest by enemies, drought, barrenness, wild beasts, pestilence, invasion, and captivity. As if the Lord anticipated Israel's disobedience to the sabbath years for the land as outlined in chapter 25, He pointed out that "the land will make up for its Sabbath years during the time it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies." (26:34)
    
    Given the blessings compared to curses described here, one wonders why Israel, or anyone else for that matter, would ever be disobedient to God. But disobedience to God is never logical. It only makes sense to the one who is disobedient because Satan has blinded them to the benefits of obeying God. This does not mean the person is helpless, though. Satan cannot coerce us to disobey God against our will any more than God coerces us to obey Him against our will. We must be a willing participant either way.