Leviticus 26:34

_THEN 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._ Then shall the land ... A long arrear of Sabbatic years had accumulated through the avarice and apostasy of the Israelites, who had deprived their land of its appointed season of rest. The number of those Sabbatic years seems to have been seventy, as determined by the duration of the captivity. This early prediction is very remarkable, considering that the usual policy of the Assyrian conquerors was to send colonies to cultivate and inhabit their newly acquired provinces....

34._Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths_. In order that the observance of the Sabbath should be the more honored, God in a manner associated the land in it together with man; for whereas the land had rest every seventh year from sowing, and harvest, and all cultivation, He thus desired to stir up men more effectually to a greater reverence for the Sabbath. God now bitterly reproves the Israelites because they not only profane the Sabbath themselves, but do not even allow the land to enjoy its prescribed rest; for this repose of the seventh year did not hinder the land from continually groaning under a heavy burden as long as it nourished such ungodly inhabitants. He says, therefore, that the land was disturbed by ceaseless inquietude, and thus was deprived of its lawful Sabbaths, since it bore on its shoulders, as it were, and not without great distress, such impious despisers of God....

14-39 After God has set the blessing before them which would make them a happy people if they would be obedient, he here sets the curse before them, the evils which would make them miserable, if they were disobedient. Two things would bring ruin. 1. A contempt of God's commandments. They that reject the precept, will come at last to renounce the covenant. 2. A contempt of his corrections. If they will not learn obedience by the things they suffer, God himself would be against them; and this is the root and cause of all their misery. And also, The whole creation would be at war with them. All God's sore judgments would be sent against them. The threatenings here are very particular, they were prophecies, and He that foresaw all their rebellions, knew they would prove so. TEMPORAL judgments are threatened. Those who will not be parted from their sins by the commands of God, shall be parte...

Verse Leviticus 26:34. _THEN SHALL THE LAND ENJOY HER SABBATHS_] This Houbigant observes to be a historical truth. - "From Saul to the Babylonish captivity are numbered about _four hundred and ninety_ _years_, during which period there were _seventy Sabbaths_ of years; for 7, multiplied by 70, make 490. Now the Babylonish captivity lasted _seventy years_, and during that time the land of Israel _rested_. Therefore the land rested just _as many years_ in the Babylonish captivity, as it _should have rested Sabbaths_ if the Jews had observed the laws relative to the Sabbaths of the land." This is a most remarkable fact, and deserves to be particularly noticed, as a most literal fulfilment of the prophetic declaration in this verse: _Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths_ _as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land_....

As “the book of the covenant” Exodus 20:22 concludes with promises and warnings Exodus 23:20, so does this collection of laws contained in the Book of Leviticus. But the former passage relates to the conquest of the land of promise, this one to the subsequent history of the nation. The longer similar passage in Deuteronomy Deut. 27–30 is marked by broader and deeper promises and denunciations having immediate reference not only to outward consequences, but to the spiritual death incurred by transgressing the divine will. Leviticus 26:4 RAIN IN DUE SEASON - The periodical rains, on which the fertility of the holy land so much depends, are here s

PART V. CONCLUDING EXHORTATION. EXPOSITION THE first two verses of this chapter contain a prohibition of idolatry, and a command to observe the sabbath and to reverence God's sanctuary; that is, they repeat in summary the substance of the Israelites, religious duty, negative and positive, as comprised in the first table of the Decalogue. They form, therefore, a prologue to the remainder of the chapter, which solemnly announces: 1. The blessings. which should result from obedience (Leviticus 26:3). 2. The curses which should follow disobedience (Leviticus 26:14-3). 3. The gracious treatment which would ensue on repentance ...

THEN SHALL THE LAND ENJOY HER SABBATHS,.... The sabbatical years, or seventh year sabbaths, when, according to the law in the preceding chapter, it was to rest from tillage, Leviticus 25:2: AS LONG AS IT LIETH DESOLATE, AND YE [BE] IN YOUR ENEMIES' LAND; so long it should lie uncultivated, at least in part, there not being a sufficient number left to till it in general, or as it should be; this was the case during the seventy years' captivity in Babylon; [EVEN] THEN SHALL THE LAND REST, AND ENJOY HER SABBATHS; or complete them, as Aben Ezra, which is a bitter sarcasm upon them for their neglect of observance of the law concerning the sabbatical years; but now the land should have its sabbaths of rest whether they would or not; and it seems as if it was on account of this sin, as well as others, that they were carried captive; and it is remarkable, if

5. THE BLESSING, THE CURSE AND ISRAEL'S HISTORY CHAPTER 26 _ 1. Obedience and the blessings (Leviticus 26:1)_ 2. Disobedience and the curse (Leviticus 26:14) 3. The restoration (Leviticus 26:40) This great chapter is very fitting for the close of this book. We have no types here, but direct utterances of Jehovah. Israel's history and their future restoration is here predicted. He reminds them that He brought them out of the land of Egypt; they are His people. Therefore He wants obedience. If this is yielded blessings would be the results. These promised blessings consisted in abundance of rain, great fruitfulness of their land, peace in the land, deliverance from wi

The results of neglect of the third warning: the extremities of famine and captivity; siege; desolation of the country, destruction of the cities, uselessness of all religious observances; dispersion of the nation; desertion of Palestine and abject misery of the survivors. Such experiences of famine and siege as are described in 2 Kings 6:25 f. would be familiar in the last years of Jerusalem, and the reference to exile (more definite than in Deuteronomy 28; _cf._ to Egypt, 68) suggests the years after, and immediately before, 586 B.C. The mention of the local sanctuaries (Leviticus 26:31) shows that they cannot all have been destroyed in the reformation of 621 B.C. The reference to the Sabbaths of the land breaks the sense and appears to be an insertion....

ENJOY. Figure of speech _Prosopopatheia._ App-6. Compare Leviticus 18:25....