Leviticus 26:14-39

3. THE CHASTISEMENTS FOR DISOBEDIENCE 26:14-39
TEXT 26:14-39

14

But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;

15

and if ye shall reject my statutes, and if your soul abhor mine ordinances, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant;

16

I also will do this unto you: I will appoint terror over you, even consumption and fever, that shall consume the eyes, and make the soul to pine away; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.

17

And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be smitten before your enemies: they that hate you shall rule over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.

18

And if ye will not yet for these things hearken unto me, then I will chastise you seven times more for your sins.

19

And I will break the pride of your power: and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass;

20

and your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruit.

21

And 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.

22

And I will send the beast of the field among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your ways shall become desolate.

23

And if by these things ye will not be reformed unto me, but will walk contrary unto me:

24

then will I also walk contrary unto you; and I will smite you, even I, seven times for your sins.

25

And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute the vengeance of the covenant; and ye shall be gathered together within your cities: and I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.

26

When I break your staff of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.

27

And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;

28

then I will walk contrary unto you in wrath; and I also will chastise you seven times for your sins.

29

And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.

30

And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your sun-images, and cast your dead bodies upon the bodies of your idols; and my soul shall abhor you.

31

And I will make your cities a waste, and will bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors.

32

And I will bring the land into desolation; and your enemies that dwell therein shall be astonished at it.

33

And you will I scatter among the nations, and I will draw out the sword after you: and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

34

Then shall the land enjoy its sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye are in your enemies-' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy its sabbaths.

35

As long as it lieth desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it had not in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.

36

And as for them that are left of you, I will send a faintness into their heart in the lands of their enemies: and the sound of a driven leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as one fleeth from the sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.

37

And they shall stumble one upon another, as it were before the sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

38

And ye shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.

39

And 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.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 26:14-39

642.

Please notice all the words used to describe Israel's response to God's will: (1) will not hearken; (2) will not do; (3) ye shall despise; (4) if your soul shall abhor; (5) ye shall break my covenant. Are they progressive? Define each one. Discuss.

643.

Mark the promises of destruction as they compare with the promises of prosperity: (1) sudden terror; (2) consumption and fever; (3) sow your seed in vain; (4) I will set my face against you; (5) flee when no one pursues.

644.

God seems to promise to deal with Israel in stages. Cf. Leviticus 26:18 ff. What is involved in the expression sevenfold?

645.

The heavens are to be iron and the earth is to be brass. What is meant?

646.

Explain Leviticus 26:20 in your own words.

647.

The plague will be according to the sins. How so?

648.

The wild beasts are to return or be released. Are we to understand from this that their actions are under the control of God? Cf. 2 Kings 17:25-26. Discuss.

649.

Why would anyone want to walk contrary to the ways of God?

650.

Leviticus 26:25 definitely attributes to God the responsibility of war and pestilence. Explain. Cf. Numbers 16:49; 2 Samuel 24:15.

651.

What is the meaning of the thought of ten women baking in one oven? Are we to understand that God is promising rationing? Cf. Haggai 1:6.

652.

Cannibalism is promised in Leviticus 26:29. Is this inevitable? Cf. II. Kings Leviticus 6:28-29.

653.

Dead bodies are to be thrown on bodies. What is meant as in Leviticus 26:30? Cf. 2 Kings 23:8; 2 Kings 23:20.

654.

Consider the fact that all these words were spoken (and written) at Sinai many, many years before they were literally fulfilled. What lesson does this teach us?

655.

Leviticus 26:30 seems to say that God has a soulwhat is meant?

656.

Read 2 Kings 25:4-10 and 2 Chronicles 36:19 for a fulfillment of Leviticus 26:31.

657.

The prophecy of scattering the nation of Israel among all nations and the drawing of their enemies-' sword out against them has surely been fulfilled again and again. Why? Cf. Psalms 44:11-14.

658.

The sabbath rest for the land will be enforced. How? Why? Cf. 2 Chronicles 36:21.

659.

Notice carefully the promises in Leviticus 26:36 through 39. Each of these tragedies are attributed to God: (1) dejection, or discouragement; (2) running scared; (3) no courage; (4) loss of national identity; (5) deep grief. Explain how such was (and is) true and yet God is not morally responsible.

PARAPHRASE 26:14-39

But if you will not listen to Me or obey Me, but reject My laws, this is what I will do to you: I will punish you with sudden terrors and panic, and with tuberculosis and burning fever; your eyes shall be consumed and your life shall ebb away; you will sow your crops in vain, for your enemies will eat them. I will set My face against you and you will flee before your attackers; those who hate you will rule you; you will even run when no one is chasing you! And if you still disobey Me, I will punish you seven times more severely for your sins. I will break your proud power and make your heavens as iron, and your earth as bronze. Your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its crops, now your trees their fruit. And if even then you will not obey Me and listen to Me, I will send you seven times more plagues because of your sins. I will send wild animals to kill your children and destroy your cattle and reduce your numbers so that your roads will be deserted. And if even this will not reform you, but you continue to walk against My wishes, then I will walk against your wishes, and I, even I, will personally smite you seven times for your sin. I will revenge the breaking of My covenant by bringing war against you. You will flee to your cities, and I will send a plague among you there; and you will be conquered by your enemies. I will destroy your food supply so that one oven will be large enough to bake all the bread available for ten entire families; and you will still be hungry after your pittance has been doled out to you. And if you still won-'t listen to Me or obey Me, then I will let loose My great anger and send you seven times greater punishment for your sins. You shall eat your own sons and daughters, and I will destroy the altars on the hills where you worship your idols, and I will cut down your incense altars, leaving your dead bodies to rot among your idols; and I will abhor you. I will make your cities desolate, and destroy your places of worship, and will not respond to your incense offerings. Yes, I will desolate your land; your enemies shall live in it, utterly amazed at what I have done to you. I will scatter you out among the nations, destroying you with war as you go. Your land shall be desolate and your cities destroyed. Then at last the land will rest and make up for the many years you refused to let it lie idle; for it will lie desolate all the years that you are captives in enemy lands. Yes, then the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths! It will make up for the rest you didn-'t give it every seventh year when you lived upon it. And for those who are left alive, I will cause them to be dragged away to distant lands as prisoners of war, and slaves. There they will live in constant fear. The sound of a leaf driven in the wind will send them fleeing as though chased by a man with a sword; they shall fall when no one is pursuing them. Yes, though none pursue they shall stumble over each other in flight, as though fleeing in battle, with no power to stand before their enemies. You shall perish among the nations and be destroyed among your enemies. Those left shall pine away in enemy lands because of their sins, the same sins as those of their fathers.

COMMENT 26:14-39

Leviticus 26:14-17 Notice the progressive nature of rejection: (1) will not hearken or indifference, somewhat passive; (2) will not do i.e. resistance is in it; (3) despise or contempt, to spurn, a volitional turning away; (4) a break with the covenant, the marriage has been dissolved, divorce is filed. We can surely trace the progress of spiritual adultery in this pattern. Cf. Genesis 17:14.

There is also a cumulative and progressive nature in God's response to man's rejection: (1) a sudden sickness called here consumption and fever. It will affect the eyes. Is such to suggest that the eyes of their heart had already been consumed? Cf. Deuteronomy 28:22; (2) a deep discouragement will set in and you will pine away; (3) sow your seed and your enemies will reap your crop; (4) slain before your enemies; (5) constant fear and dread of what will happen next. Cf. 1 Samuel 4:10; 1 Samuel 31:1.

Why would anyone want to bring upon themselves such terrible suffering? Perhaps the first generation was warned and did not walk in the way of destruction, but every generation must be educated. We are always only one generation from rejection.

Leviticus 26:18-20 Yet a further set of punishments are promised for persistent disobedience. The use of the expression sevenfold more refers to a continuing and indefinite number of punishments. The converse of this is found in Job 5:19: He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. Our Lord used this expression of seven to refer to an indefinite number of times in Luke 17:4.

It is very important that we see that God is not against pride per se, i.e. pride of itself, but the object of pride which in this case was self instead of God. If man could not be proud of God and had not the capacity to honor Him there could be no real worship. It is when man takes pride in himself as if he were the originator of what he enjoys that God sets His face against him. The heavens will be as unresponsive as metal to such a person. God wants man to know that He has sent the rain and He produced the fruit. If God withheld the rain in what could you take pride? All your plowing, digging and sowing will be perfectly useless. The ground could as well be brass instead of soil. Cf. Deuteronomy 11:17.

Leviticus 26:21-22 These verses contain the third warning to Israel. God threatens them with destruction by wild beasts. To continue in defiance of God and rebel against His authority is to court disaster. The frequency and intensity of trouble will continue. Wild animals were used before as a means of punishment for sin: Cf. Deuteronomy 32:24; 2 Kings 17:25; Isaiah 13:21-22; Ezekiel 14:15. Instead of his original lordship over the creatures, lo! the beasts of the field rise up against rebellious man. This strange foe advances to their dwellings; and the cattle grazing before their door, and their little children playing on the grass, are devoured before their eyes by this new assailant. the leopard watches his opportunity; the evening wolf ravages the flock; and the bear tears what he finds within his reach; the lion springs on his prey. (Bonar) What a sad strange commentary on the way of the transgressor.

Leviticus 26:23-26 If there is one obvious lesson from this chapter it is that God in heaven is affected by man's conduct on earth. We cannot set our hearts contrary to God and escape His response.

The sword goes through the land! Instead of peace and safety, the blood of Israel is shed by violent hands. The blood that ratified their covenant with God has been despised; therefore, lo! their own blood must be shed to avenge the broken covenant.
Pestilence and plague ravage their cities. Thinking to escape the sword of the invader, they betake themselves to fenced cities, and defy the enemy. But the Lord scales their walls and leads in His troops, i.e. the pestilence with all its horrors. The raging pestilence soon weakens the hands of the defenders of their cities, and opens the gates to the foe. -Know then that it is a bitter thing to depart from the Lord.-' Famine follows pestilence. So scarce is food now, that instead of each family having its own oven, one oven will suffice for ten families, and the quantity given to each is scrupulously weighed, and none receive enough to satisfy their hunger. When Judah felt these horrors of famine in the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, they might know assuredly that the Lord's arrows were coming fast from His quiver (Cf. Jeremiah 38:9). (Ibid)

Leviticus 26:27-33 This is the fifth and last warning of destruction. The land is to be totally destroyed. God had promised opposition before but in Leviticus 26:28 He adds fury to His opposition. The details of such fury are described in the ensuing verses.

Cannibalism was promised and practiced. Cf. Deuteronomy 28:53-57; 2 Kings 6:28-29. In the siege of Samaria by the Syrians and at the siege of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, parents ate their children. Cf. Lamentations 4:10; Jeremiah 19:9; Ezekiel 5:10; Zechariah 11:9. In the siege of Jerusalem by Titus it is reported that a woman named Mary killed her infant child and boiled it during the height of the famine, and after she had eaten part of it, the soldiers found the rest of it in her house.

The destruction of the high places is promised in a manner that indicates God's utter contempt for idolatry. The use of the expression high places must be read in its context to decide its use. At times Jehovah was worshipped in these high places. Cf. Judges 6:25-26; Judges 13:16-23; 1 Samuel 7:10; 1 Kings 3:2; 2 Kings 12:3; 1 Chronicles 21:26. The high places here as elsewhere (Cf. Numbers 22:41; Numbers 33:52; Deuteronomy 12:2; Joshua 13:17) were used for idolatry. The breaking down of such eminences should speak to Israel of their inability to save. How strange that they would prefer such gods to the One true God who had again and again demonstrated His power to save.

The idols to the sun-god, the pillars to the gods of the stars, will be hacked down and broken up. The dismembered bodies of such gods will be thrown together in a heap. On top of the pile will be thrown your own dead bodies! Your carcasses will be mingled with your gods in a manure pit! When apostate Israel have succumbed to the sword, famine and pestilence, they will not even have a decent burial! Cf. Isaiah 17:8; 2 Chronicles 14:5; 2 Chronicles 34:7. The words of Ezekiel are a graphic fulfillment of this promise: Your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken, and I will cast down your slain men before your idols, and I will lay down the dead carcasses of your children before their idols, and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. Cf. Ezekiel 6:4-5.

Not only will the elevated spots outside the cities with their idols be destroyed, and the carcasses of the deluded people be scattered among their remains, but the cities themselves will be converted into ruins and desolations. Cf. Jeremiah 4:7; Jeremiah 9:11; Ezekiel 6:6; Ezekiel 12:20; Nehemiah 2:17. Even the sanctuary (the tabernacle or Temple) with all its holy places, sacred edifices, and the synagogues will be leveled. Cf. Jeremiah 51:51; Ezekiel 21:7; Amos 7:9; Psa. 68:36; Psalms 74:7. God here reverses His promise that He made to dwell in the midst of His people. When this awful destruction of the sanctuary is to take place God will not regard the fact that the odor of sweet sacrifices is being offered up. The service which may then be performed to Him will not hinder Him from executing this judgment.

From the ruin of the cities and the sanctuaries the desolation extends to the whole country. While the devastations up till now were the results of God permitting hostile invasions and conquests, the desolation of the whole country and the dispersion of the Israelites described in Leviticus 26:32-33 are to be the work of God Himself. He who has promised to bless the land in so marvelous a manner (Cf. Leviticus 26:4-10) as a reward for their obedience, will Himself reduce it to the most astounding desolation as a punishment for their disobedience, so much so, that their very enemies will be amazed at it. (Cf. Jeremiah 9:11; Ezekiel 5:15; Ezekiel 33:28-29; Ezekiel 35:10; Ezekiel 36:5) (Ginsburg)

They will not even be permitted to tarry among the ruins of their favoured places, but God Himself, who brings about the desolation, will disperse the surviving inhabitants far and wide. To show how complete this dispersion is to be, God is represented with a drawn sword in His hand pursuing them and scattering them, so that both their land and every city in it should be denuded of them, and that there should be no possibility of any of them turning back. Thus the sword which God promised should not go through their land if they walk according to the Divine commandments, will now be wielded by Himself to bring about their utter dispersion from the land. A similar appalling scene is described by Jeremiah: -I will scatter them also among the heathen, who neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them.-' Cf. Jeremiah 9:16; Jeremiah 42:16-18; Ezekiel 12:14. (Ibid)

Leviticus 26:34-39 At long last the land can have its rest. The sabbath rest for the land had been ignored for several years. What the nation would not give voluntarily, God will now obtain by punishment. The land will lay fallow for several years while God's people are held in bondage. We wonder if anyone bothered to read what God gave Moses in the wilderness of Sinai? Such history written ahead of time would be the most impressive of all warnings.

The few inhabitants left in the promised land will be full of fear and timidity. Cf. Deuteronomy 28:65-67. Are we to conclude that this excessive apprehension is produced by God or the circumstances? We could easily say that God produced the circumstances and they produced the fear. Those who were formerly bold as lions are now running like rabbits. Israel will intermarry with the heathen. Many of them will lose their national identity, Cf. Deuteronomy 22:3; 1 Samuel 11:3, 20; Jeremiah 50:6; Ezekiel 34:4; Ezekiel 34:16. We take the expression the land of your enemies shall eat you up to refer to the sad mix-up and complete confusion to prevail in the land of their enemies. So utterly incorporated among them would they become as to disappear with no separate existence. Cf. Numbers 13:32; Ezekiel 36:13.

FACT QUESTIONS 26:14-39

648.

Show the four progressive steps of rejection and the five responses of God to man's rejection.

649.

How does the warning in these verses relate to us?

650.

How is the expression sevenfold used in this chapter?

651.

God is not against the capacity of pride. Why?

652.

What is the meaning of the phrase the heavens as iron and the earth as brass?

653.

There are five sets of warnings in these verses. Trace and mark them.

654.

Are we to understand God used the beasts of the field to punish man? Give examples. Discuss.

655.

When the sword is used in war there are two or three inevitable consequences. What are they?

656.

Describe the extreme conditions that follow in the wake of war. Could this happen in our land?

657.

God adds something to His promise of opposition as in Leviticus 26:28. What is it?

658.

The destruction of the high places indicates God's utter contempt for idol worship. How so?

659.

Even the sanctuaries of God will be destroyed. How? Why?

660.

God himself participates in the last stage of destruction. What is it?

661.

At long last the land can rest. What is meant by this thought?

662.

What will happen to the few remaining inhabitants of Canaan?