Lev 26
The final verse of this chapter says, “These are the decrees, regulations, and instructions that the Lord gave through Moses on Mount Sinai as evidence of the relationship between Himself and the Israelites”. This entire chapter explains God’s punishment for disobedience. It is a harsh chapter. God uses strong explanations and very descriptive words to tell the Israelites what will happen to them if they choose to disobey Him. He says, “ If you do not listen to me or obey all these commands, and if you break my covenant by rejecting my decrees, treating my regulations with contempt, and refusing to obey my commands, I will punish you.” Then the bulk of the chapter tells exactly what He plans to do if the people continue to turn away from Him. If you read through the list you know how heavy the consequences get for their choices. These are rough, life altering and sometimes life ending punishments…”those who hate you will rule over you”, I will punish you seven times over for your sins”, “your land will yield no crop”, I will send wild animals that will rob you of your children”, “your numbers will dwindle”, “I will send armies against you”, “I will leave your lifeless corpses piled on top of your lifeless idols”, this list is not close to exhaustive but I think you get the picture.
All this harshness and punishment might make us question how our loving Father is capable of these decrees. I think we need to ask why. What is motivating Him to be so strong in His instructions? We have to be willing to see that for God there is so much more at stake here than just this group of Israelites obeying Him or not obeying Him. We need to realize that God is already at work completing his long-term plan. God knew His Savior of the world was coming through the Israelite people so they had to be preserved for Him to fulfill His promises. His lens for this chapter is so much bigger than what we see when we just read these verses. He was doing everything in His power, besides choosing for people, to preserve this group of people so not only the Israelites but all people through all of time could have a way to have relationship with Him. He was pursuing them (and us) with everything He had. He needed, at least a portion of these people to commit to His covenant to send Jesus to earth to pay the price for their and our sins. So it was of ultimate importance that these people choose God. He wasn’t just being harsh or trying to get back at disobedient people. He was accomplishing His plan through people that He loved so deeply He was willing to give His Son’s life to save, and maybe grow and develop the Israelites along the way.
As I sit with this chapter today, I hear God say, this is how much I love you. This is how valuable you are to me. You are worth fighting to the death to keep, protect, and to preserve. I want relationship with you more than anything and I will go to extraordinary lengths to help you keep your covenant with me so we can maintain relationship.