May the mumbling commence!
There are some things that God cannot do. God cannot break His covenant with His people. I give thanks this day for the extremely patient love that God has for His people. It lasts even today, and God’s patient love will extend to many tomorrows.
This patient love is seen in Leviticus 26. At the beginning of the chapter, two of the Lord’s commands are repeated, one negative and the other positive. Both commands center around choosing the Lord. Do not make idols, and observe the Sabbath. Both these specific commands will come into play later in the chapter.
In verses three to thirteen, the Lord told Israel the manifold benefits of following all His commands and decrees. The pinnacle of the benefits is seen in verses nine to thirteen:
"I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. You will still be eating last year's harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.”
There are many economic benefits of following the Lord, but these tangible benefits do not compare to being in covenanted relationship with God. When Israel kept covenant with God, the Lord dwelled among them (literally tabernacled or tented with them). The Lord walked among them. Dwelling and walking alongside simply continued Yahweh’s patient love affair with Israel. For this is the same Lord who brought them out of Egypt and slavery. The bars of the yoke were broken, and Israel left with heads held up high. Israel was to remember this continuing relationship.
But, as we have already seen, Israel lapsed into forgetfulness from time to time. Israel repeatedly broke their end of the covenant agreement not obeying the commands, decrees, and laws of God. When Israel kept in covenant relationship with the Lord, the rewards were immediate. Would the punishment be as immediate?
At first glance, it may seem that the punishment was immediate. Israel would simply reap what they had sewn. Then, we look a little deeper, and we see the first of the pattern for the rest of the chapter in the beginning of verse 18, “If after all of this you will not listen to me…” God is always ready to welcome back the repentant. In fact, through these punishments, the Lord was speaking loud and clear a wake-up call to return to covenant fellowship.
The pattern can be seen in verse 21, verse 23, and verse 27. Each time the affliction placed on the Lord’s people increased seven times over. If you do the math, you will find that by the end sins are paid for twenty-eight times over. Sin, left unchecked, will fester and grow worse. All sins lead to death – the ultimate break of covenant fellowship with the Lord. The sins touched upon in Leviticus 26 break the commands given at the beginning of the chapter. In verse 30 the Lord says, “I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars and pile your lifeless bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols.” Do not make idols. In verse 35, the Lord says, “All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the Sabbaths that you lived in it.” Observe my Sabbaths.
But the Lord is always waiting for the repentant, uncircumcised hearts to return to Him. Israel would come humbled by the payment of their sins. They would confess their sins and the sins of their fathers, so the Lord remembered his covenant with the people and the land.
Even greater than this patient love, the Lord will remember the covenant while His people continue in their sinful ways. God will not totally destroy His people. God will not forget His covenant with His people. In fact, God cannot forget His covenant with His people. God always remembers and keep his end of the covenant relationship with His people (verses 44-5). What patient love! For this reason, God’s people respond with the tithe, with vows, with dedications, and with devotions recorded in chapter 27. May I totally devote myself to service in the Lord – no turning back.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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