Leviticus 26-27

February 8

Leviticus 26-27

God made a covenant with Israel. Really it was similar to a contract a superior nation would make with a weaker nation. As long as the weaker nation did certain things, the stronger nation would protect and provide for the weaker nation. God makes an agreement with Israel, as long as they obeyed Him, He would bless them. He would give them bountiful yields from their crops. He would increase their numbers. He would protect them from their enemies. He would live among them. He has set them free from slavery in Egypt and will keep them free as long as they live as He has directed them to live.

God also told them what would happen if they disobeyed Him. They would live in fear. Disease would destroy their lives and their families. Their crops would fail. Famine would strike the land. Enemies would overtake them and destroy their cities and would carry them off into captivity. He would continue to bring disaster upon them until they accepted His correction and confessed their sin and turned back to Him in obedience.

God promised that He would not reject them forever, that He would remember His promises and that He would restore them when they turned back to Him. All these things took place in the nation of Israel. They prospered when they walked in obedience to God. They failed and were taken captive when they rejected God. They were restored when they turned back to God.

Those who accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior are adopted into the family of God. We too face discipline when we begin to walk away from God. He promises to take care of us, if we continue to walk in obedience to Him. Perhaps your struggles are God’s way of making you stronger in your relationship with Him.

"Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way. So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees." (Hebrews 12:3-12, NLT)