In this chapter the LORD gives instructions to the people regarding keeping sabbaths for the land and introduces the concept of the jubilee year.
Leviticus 25:1 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,
Leviticus 25:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD.
Leviticus 25:3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof;
Leviticus 25:4 But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
Leviticus 25:5 That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land.
Leviticus 25:6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,
Leviticus 25:7 And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat.
The LORD instructed the people through Moses to allow the land to have a sabbath every seventh year once they were in possession of the Promised Land. Six years they were to plant, prune and harvest. In the seventh year they were not to plant, prune, or even harvest what grew on its own.
Verses 6-7 seem to contradict what was just said about not harvesting. Maybe it is addressing the fact that their obedience would result in God providing a miracle every six years that would cause them to reap enough to sustain them for three years (6th, 7th sabbath year, & 8th until harvest) as described in verses 18-22 below.
Some additional insight is given in Exodus. It would seem that the poor and the beasts of the field were allowed to eat of anything that grew on its own.
Exodus 23:10–11 “And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy oliveyard.”
Leviticus 25:8 ¶ And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years.
Leviticus 25:9 Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land.
Leviticus 25:10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
Leviticus 25:11 A jubile shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed.
Leviticus 25:12 For it is the jubile; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field.
After every seventh sabbath year, 49 years, the fiftieth year was to be declared a jubilee. It was to be announced by the blowing of the trumpet throughout the land on the day of atonement. The jubilee was established as a day of liberty—a time when all debts were cancelled and every person could reclaim his ancestral land inheritance and make a new beginning. Again the instruction is given that one was not to plant or even reap that which grew on its on. Again verse 12 sounds like a contradiction. I can only reason that the same principles apply as stated in the previous section.
Leviticus 25:13 In the year of this jubile ye shall return every man unto his possession.
Leviticus 25:14 And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour’s hand, ye shall not oppress one another:
Leviticus 25:15 According to the number of years after the jubile thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee:
Leviticus 25:16 According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee.
Leviticus 25:17 Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God.
Obviously, all business deals were to be made taking into consideration the debt cancellation associated with the year of jubilee. The negotiated price for land or possessions bought or sold were to reflect that consideration. The longer you were going to benefit from the possession being marketed, the more you should expect to pay for it. The fewer years of benefit from the transaction made, the less you should expect to pay. In all transactions, one was expected to be fair and not seek to oppress or take undue advantage of one another. All transactions were to be made in light of a healthy fear of “the LORD your God.” He knows all and is sovereign in power and authority.
This is just as true today as then. The problem is that people act based on false assumptions. It often seems to us as though people often disregard God’s word without consequence. What we forget is that God’s thoughts and ways are far beyond what we can truly understand.
Isaiah 55:8–9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
What we perceive to be a lack on God’s part is actually often a display of his grace and mercy and/or His purpose in producing spiritual growth in His children.
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Romans 5:3–5 “…we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
The psalmist struggled with the same thoughts we have when he saw the wicked prosper; however, he finally realized that they would experience God’s righteous judgment. We need to learn from the words of the psalmist.
Psalms 73:3 & 17 “For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked…. Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end.”
Leviticus 25:18 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety.
Leviticus 25:19 And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
Leviticus 25:20 And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase:
Leviticus 25:21 Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years.
Leviticus 25:22 And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store.
With these verses we are given understanding as to how observing the land sabbath will continue to provide for the sustenance of the people. It’s a miracle of faith. Frankly, I think that we give God the most pleasure when He sees us respond to Him in faith in spite of what reason and logic seem to dictate. God says that their obedience to Him will result in their dwelling in the land in safety and prosperity. Reason and logic say that one cannot possibly have enough to eat without yearly sowing and reaping. God says that if you obey Him, He will provide your every need. Think about it—God is basically instituting a year’s vacation every seven years.
I’d like to share some comments from Ray Stedman that I ran across in my studies relevant to this section.
“The sad thing is that Israel never experienced this. Never once did they ever have a sabbatical year! In all their history they never trusted God enough to try it out and see what he would do. And so they never saw God's supply. They never learned that he would keep his word. And this is the reason why, after 490 years of living in the land, the nation had degenerated to become a moral cancer. So God allowed the Babylonians to sweep them off the land and remove them to captivity. Jeremiah was told that they would be captives in the land of Babylon for 70 years because that is the number of sabbatical years they had failed to observe. You see how this underscores the truth that God always gets his way, despite man's rebellion. You can never cheat God. He had been counting up all the years Israel had forgotten. The end of the sixth year came and Israel didn't have the faith to trust in God's promise and so they planted their crop in the seventh year. And God let them go ahead. He doesn't stop people if they insist on doing wrong. But he kept a record for 490 years, 70 of which were sabbatical years. At the end of that time he said, "Now we'll give the land its rest, while you're in captivity in Babylon." And it did rest. Nobody used it. Nobody farmed it for 70 years because God wanted to impress this great truth upon his people.”
Leviticus 25:23 ¶ The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
Leviticus 25:24 And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.
Leviticus 25:25 If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold.
Leviticus 25:26 And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it;
Leviticus 25:27 Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession.
Leviticus 25:28 But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubile: and in the jubile it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession.
Much to the consternation of the nations (to this day), God declares that the land of Israel belongs to Him. Even the Israelites are only allowed residence there in accordance with His will as His tenants.
God declares that any land transactions that are made are temporary at best. It is always subject to redemption. If a poor man sells off land to meet his needs, any of his kin can come and redeem what he has sold. If he has no kin but becomes able to redeem it himself, he is to be sure that the buyer is compensated equitably for the investment he made. If he cannot redeem the land, the buyer can continue to profit from his purchase until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee year, every man is allowed to return and take possession of the land of his inheritance.
Leviticus 25:29 And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it.
Leviticus 25:30 And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubile.
Leviticus 25:31 But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubile.
Sales of homes in walled cities were subject to different guidelines. One who sells a home within the confines of the walled city is only allowed a year to redeem his home. If he cannot redeem it within that time, the home becomes the permanent possession of the purchaser. It is not subject to return in the year of jubilee. Homes outside the confines of the city wall fall under the regular guidelines of redemption and are to be returned to the seller in the year of jubilee.
Leviticus 25:32 Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time.
Leviticus 25:33 And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubile: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel.
Leviticus 25:34 But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession.
The Levites, the tribe singled out as God’s possession to serve as His priests, were allowed special exemption. Any sale of home or lands without regard to location were eligible for redemption and were always to revert to the original owner in the year of jubilee. The Levites were not, however, allowed to sell any of the fields adjoining their cities; they were designated as belonging permanently to the Levites.
Leviticus 25:35 And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee.
Leviticus 25:36 Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.
Leviticus 25:37 Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase.
Leviticus 25:38 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God.
Any Israelite that became poor and fell onto hard times was to be given a helping hand. He was not to be charged interest nor were you to profit from any food given him. You were to remember that His God is your God, and he deserves the same treatment you have received from God.
Leviticus 25:39 ¶ And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant:
Leviticus 25:40 But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubile:
Leviticus 25:41 And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.
Leviticus 25:42 For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen.
Leviticus 25:43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God.
If a man became so poor that his only choice was to sell himself as a slave, you were to treat him as a hired servant or a tenant—not a slave. In the year of jubilee, he and his family were to be freed and allowed to return to the land of his inheritance. God considers all the people of Israel to be His servants, and they were not to be treated as slaves. Again, you should remember that His God is your God, and he deserves the same treatment you have received from God.
I think it is important to note that slaves were given the lowliest and least desired duties.
Leviticus 25:44 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids.
Leviticus 25:45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession.
Leviticus 25:46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.
The purchase of slaves as one’s permanent possession from foreign nations was permitted. These slaves were even considered part of the inheritance for one’s children.
Though this was permitted, it is clear from other scripture that they were to be treated with compassion and allowed to enjoy religious privileges with the rest of the household.
Exodus 20:10 “But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:”
In fact, provision was made for the servant to be freed if the owner struck his servant such as to cause blindness in an eye or the loss of a tooth.
Exodus 21:26 “And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye’s sake.”
Exodus 21:27 “And if he smite out his manservant’s tooth, or his maidservant’s tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth’s sake.”
I think the Psalmist expressed God’s expectation of the treatment of servants beautifully.
Psalms 123:2 “Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.”
Leviticus 25:47 And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger’s family:
Leviticus 25:48 After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him:
Leviticus 25:49 Either his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself.
Leviticus 25:50 And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubile: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him.
Leviticus 25:51 If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for.
Leviticus 25:52 And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubile, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption.
Leviticus 25:53 And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight.
Leviticus 25:54 And if he be not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubile, both he, and his children with him.
If the situation arose that an Israelite had to sell himself to a resident foreigner or a member of his family, that man could be redeemed by his uncle, his uncle’s son or any other person of close kinship. He could also redeem himself should he come into possession of enough money to do so. The price of redemption was to take into account the number of years remaining until the jubilee year. The more years there were until jubilee, the more the redeemed man was to be refunded. The fewer the years until jubilee, the less he was to be refunded. As long as he is in servitude, he is to be treated as a hired servant—not a slave. If he has not been redeemed by the year of jubilee, he and his family are to be freed to return to their home.
Leviticus 25:55 For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
God is very clear in stating that His people are only to serve as His slaves—not the slave of any man.
New Bible Commentary: “The moral principles of the jubilee are, therefore, meant to apply to all on the basis of the moral consistency of God. What he required of Israel reflects what, in principle, he desires for humanity—broadly equitable distribution of the resources of the earth (especially land) and a curb on the tendency to accumulation with its inevitable oppression and alienation. The jubilee thus stands as a critique not only of massive private accumulation of land and related wealth, but also of large–scale forms of collectivism or nationalization, which destroy any meaningful sense of personal or family ownership.”
And again: “The jubilee aimed to restore social dignity and participation to families through maintaining or restoring their economic viability. The economic collapse of a family in one generation was not to condemn all future generations to the bondage of perpetual indebtedness.”
Leviticus 26:1 ¶ Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.
As I read through this chapter, it began to read as a declaration of the covenant between God and the people of Israel. It opens by basically repeating the first two commandments.
Exodus 20:2–5 “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God….”
God was determined that His people worship Him in a way that identified Him as totally unique. He is not an impotent “god” like those represented by the idols of the heathen. He is Almighty God as declared by the miracles He wrought in delivering the people of Israel from servitude in Egypt. He is the LORD, YHWH, the self-existent eternal God.
Leviticus 26:2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD.
This verse restates the fourth commandment with a further admonition.
Exodus 20:8–11 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
Not only were the people to observe the Sabbath, they were to show reverence for God’s sanctuary. At the time this record was being recorded, that sanctuary was the tabernacle. Beginning in the days of Solomon it was to be the temple. Since the resurrection of Jesus, it would seem logical to apply this truth to the church; and I believe that is a valid application. More importantly, however, I believe is the application to be made to the body of each true believer.
1 Corinthians 3:16–17 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
Leviticus 26:3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
Leviticus 26:4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
Leviticus 26:5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.
Leviticus 26:6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
Leviticus 26:7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
Leviticus 26:8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
In this section of verses the LORD is basically saying that obedience to Him would result in blessing and prosperity for the people of Israel. I think it is truly amazing that the people would ultimately choose to reject God as their LORD and forfeit such blessing. He had certainly proven Himself willing and able.
Just think, just because they did not want to yield to God as LORD, they forfeited:
The guarantee of a bountiful harvest every year.
The guarantee of living in safety within their land.
The guarantee of freedom from fear.
The guarantee of being able to soundly defeat any enemy that chose to threaten them.
The guarantee that it would only require a small band of fighters to defend the nation.
Frankly, I think we too miss out on blessings that could be ours when choose to disobey Him as well. I think many of us have areas in which we struggle in yielding to the Savior as LORD and try to justify choices that in our heart we know are not pleasing to Him.
Leviticus 26:9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.
Leviticus 26:10 And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new.
Leviticus 26:11 And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you.
Leviticus 26:12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
Leviticus 26:13 I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.
This section goes on to elaborate on the blessings with which God wanted to bless His people. He promised to:
Make them fruitful and bless them with children.
Uphold His covenant with them, to be faithful to keep His promises to them.
Ensure that there would always be seed to perpetuate the harvest.
Establish His dwelling place on earth among them.
Never reject them as His people.
Make His presence known among them as their God.
Affirm Himself as the LORD their God who delivered them from bondage in Egypt.
Establish them as a people of honor among the nations.
Leviticus 26:14 ¶ But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments;
Leviticus 26:15 And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:
Leviticus 26:16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
Leviticus 26:17 And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.
In this section of verses the LORD begins to declare the consequences for refusing to submit to Him in obedience and disregard the covenant.
They will suffer disease and fever.
They will suffer depression.
They will suffer hunger when their enemies steal their crops.
They will experience the consequences of God’s anger against them.
They will suffer death at the hands of their enemies.
They will suffer under servitude of foreign rulers.
They will live in a constant state of fear.
Leviticus 26:18 And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
Leviticus 26:19 And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:
Leviticus 26:20 And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.
Leviticus 26:21 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.
Leviticus 26:22 I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your high ways shall be desolate.
This section seems to declare that if they did not respond in repentance to the above consequences of disobedience and breaking covenant, the consequences would become even more harsh. In fact, their punishment would be increased seven-fold.
God would humble them and refuse to hear their prayers.
They would not be able to produce a harvest.
They would suffer the attack of wild beasts that would kill their children, destroy their cattle and greatly reduce the population.
Their roads would be empty of travelers.
Leviticus 26:23 And if ye will not be reformed by me by these things, but will walk contrary unto me;
Leviticus 26:24 Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins.
Leviticus 26:25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
Leviticus 26:26 And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
This section seems to be building on the last section and promises yet further seven-fold judgment if they still refused to repent. They would continue to experience God’s anger and suffer pestilence or plague and servitude under heathen rulers. Lack of food would become so prominent that ten women would share an oven to bake bread, and the rationed bread would not be sufficient to satisfy the hunger of the people.
Leviticus 26:27 And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;
Leviticus 26:28 Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
Leviticus 26:29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat.
Leviticus 26:30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.
Leviticus 26:31 And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours.
Leviticus 26:32 And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it.
Leviticus 26:33 And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.
In this section, the LORD is declaring yet further seven-fold judgment for refusing to repent and turn back to Him in obedience. At this point, they will experience the consequences of His fury. They would get so hungry that they would turn to cannibalism and choose to eat their children just to survive. He would personally ensure that the high places where they worshipped their false gods were destroyed and the images honoring them destroyed. He would then destroy those who worshipped the idols as well. The cities of their nation would be destroyed and their idolatrous temples destroyed too. He would not acknowledge their offerings and would inflict them so harshly that even the heathen nations would be stunned at so great a fall from blessing. He would then cause them to be scattered among the heathen nations where they would live as a despised people. The land of Israel would become desolate and the cities fall into decay.
History records that the Northern Kingdom of Israel was the first to experience dispersion among the heathen followed by the Southern Kingdom of Israel being taken captive to Babylon. The next dispersion scattered the people even more widely throughout the heathen nations and has lasted almost 2,000 years.
Beyond my scope of comprehension, scripture also records that the people resorted to cannibalism of their children as recorded in 2Kings 6.
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.
Leviticus 26:35 As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.
It’s at this point that one can make a direct connection to the Babylonian captivity. According to the writer of Chronicles, Jeremiah specifically declared that the 70 years of captivity was directly connected to this section of scripture.
2 Chronicles 36:20–21 “And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.”
Leviticus 26:36 And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none pursueth.
Leviticus 26:37 And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.
Leviticus 26:38 And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up.
Leviticus 26:39 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.
The experiences of the Jewish people while living among the heathen would be characterized by fear and anxiety. They would end up turning on each other, and many would die at the hands of their enemies. The consequences of their sin would be great indeed.
History records the affirmation of God’s word. The Jews have ever been a despised people among the nations. The pogroms in Russia and the holocaust of the Germans resulted in the deaths of millions of Jews. Even as they have experienced times of prosperity, Jews have turned on one another—even to this day. I am always surprised at learning of those among the rich and powerful who are Jews yet seem to despise their own heritage—e.g., Karl Marx, George Soros, Noam Chomsky, Norman Finklestein, etc.
Leviticus 26:40 ¶ If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;
Leviticus 26:41 And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:
Leviticus 26:42 Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.
This is a very important section of scripture. It is one of many throughout scripture that declare that God’s covenant with Abraham is everlasting. Though the people of Israel may reject God as LORD, He will never reject them as His people. Although He has set them aside as He waits for them to turn back to Him in faith and repentance, the important truth is that He is waiting for them to repent. When they finally choose to humble themselves in repentance before Him, God will once again establish them before Him in a place of honor before the nations according to His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Both the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel speak of this time—a time when God will establish an even better covenant to replace the first.
Jeremiah 31:31–34 “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Ezekiel 36:24–28 “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
Leviticus 26:43 The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.
Leviticus 26:44 And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.
Leviticus 26:45 But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.
These verses declare that the dispersion of the people will once again have a direct connection to the sabbaths of the land. They emphasize yet again that God will not utterly destroy them as a people or break His covenant with Abraham.
Isn’t it interesting to note that before Israel became a nation again in 1948 the land of Israel was basically a wasteland. Only since the Jewish people have begun returning to the land has it begun once again to yield a bountiful harvest. I believe that scripture foretells that Israel will yet suffer much as a nation. The last seven years on earth before Jesus returns as King of kings is identified by Jeremiah as the time of Jacob’s trouble. The blessed promise is that it will be a time that will serve as a refining fire to bring forth a believing remnant through whom God will fulfill His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Jeremiah 30:3–11 “For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it….Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it….Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.”
I think we can all agree that this is yet future.
Leviticus 26:46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.