Promises of Discipline for Disobedience
March 31, 2022
Commentary
God is holy and just, and those who disobey His laws face His judgment. This section about curses is much longer than the section about blessings. Because of Israel’s disobedience and unfaithfulness, the people would not only lose the promised blessings for obedience but also suffer disease (vv. 16, 25), famine (v. 19), attacks by wild animals (v. 22), and destruction through war and desolation (vv. 25-39).
　　
a. Distress from illness, famine, and defeat (vv. 14-17). Because of their disobedience and unfaithfulness, they will experience physical and mental suffering, lose their crops, and be defeated by enemies.
　　
b. Drought and poor harvests (vv. 18-20). The picture of the sky becoming like iron and the ground like bronze describes a severe drought. Without rain, the land would become hard to plant.
　　
c. Fear of dangerous animals (vv. 21-22). Imagine living in a land where hungry wild animals roam freely. They would attack people, destroy their livestock, and fill families with fear.
　　
d. Disease after destruction by enemies (vv. 23-26). War, famine, and disease often occur together. They will be surrounded by enemies within their fortified cities, and their food supplies will run out.
　　
e. Devastation and death (vv. 27-31). Their cities would be destroyed, and famine would become so severe that people would face terrible suffering, even resorting to eating their own children.
　　
f. Exile from the land (vv. 32-39). The final stage of God’s discipline would be the scattering and deportation of the Israelites from their land. Those who survived would live in fear among foreign nations, while the land itself would lie desolate. These warnings remind us that persistent disobedience has serious consequences.
Application
This passage reminds me to take God’s warnings seriously and remain faithful to Him. Am I obeying His Word in my life? Have I allowed any sin to draw me away from God? Do I take His patience and goodness for granted? What changes do I need to make today? Do I examine my heart and trust God to guide my choices?
Leviticus 26:14–39 (NET)
14 “‘If, however, you do not obey me and keep all these commandments— 15 if you reject my statutes and abhor my regulations so that you do not keep all my commandments and you break my covenant— 16 I for my part will do this to you: I will inflict horror on you, consumption and fever, which diminish eyesight and drain away the vitality of life. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it. 17 I will set my face against you. You will be struck down before your enemies, those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when there is no one pursuing you.
18 “‘If, in spite of all these things, you do not obey me, I will discipline you seven times more on account of your sins. 19 I will break your strong pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze. 20 Your strength will be used up in vain, your land will not give its yield, and the trees of the land will not produce their fruit.
21 “‘If you walk in hostility against me and are not willing to obey me, I will increase your affliction seven times according to your sins. 22 I will send the wild animals against you and they will bereave you of your children, annihilate your cattle, and diminish your population so that your roads will become deserted.
23 “‘If in spite of these things you do not allow yourselves to be disciplined and you walk in hostility against me, 24 then I myself will also walk in hostility against you and strike you seven times on account of your sins. 25 I will bring on you an avenging sword, a covenant vengeance. Although you will gather together into your cities, I will send pestilence among you and you will be given into enemy hands. 26 When I break off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in one oven; they will ration your bread by weight, and you will eat and not be satisfied.
27 “‘If in spite of this you do not obey me but walk in hostility against me, 28 I will walk in hostile rage against you and I myself will also discipline you seven times on account of your sins. 29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. 30 I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars, and I will stack your dead bodies on top of the lifeless bodies of your idols. I will abhor you. 31 I will lay your cities waste and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will refuse to smell your soothing aromas. 32 I myself will make the land desolate and your enemies who live in it will be appalled. 33 I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword after you, so your land will become desolate and your cities will become a waste.
34 “‘Then the land will make up for its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land will rest and make up its Sabbaths. 35 All the days of the desolation it will have the rest it did not have on your Sabbaths when you lived on it.
36 “‘As for the ones who remain among you, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a blowing leaf will pursue them, and they will flee as one who flees the sword and will fall down even though there is no pursuer. 37 They will stumble over each other as those who flee before a sword, though there is no pursuer, and there will be no one to take a stand for you before your enemies. 38 You will perish among the nations; the land of your enemies will consume you.
39 “‘As for the ones who remain among you, they will rot away because of their iniquity in the lands of your enemies, and they will also rot away because of their ancestors’ iniquities which are with them.
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