Thursday, February 18, 2010
Leviticus 26:42
Thursday, February 18, 2010 |
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.
As we come to our devotional reading today we come to the end of our study in the book of Leviticus as it relates to the “land”, conditions of blessing and warnings of chastisement. There is an interesting connection in this passage to the message of Moses to the Jewish people found in Deuteronomy 28.
Verse 3 is the standard the Lord sets for the Jews, “If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them”. This statement, along with those in verses 1 to 13, is the prerequisite to God’s “blessings” on the Jewish people.
Verses 14 to 31 reveal to the Jews the “warnings” of chastisement if they don’t honor His directives for their daily life. In fact there are five chastisements mentioned in this passage, with the final punishment for disobedience the dispersion of the Jews out of the land He has given them.
The “dispersion” of the Jews out of their land will take place as the Lord makes their land, that He has given them, a “desolation”, verse 32 and He will scatter them among the “heathen”, the Gentiles around the world, verse 33. That happened in AD 70 at the hands of the Roman Army.
In the land of their enemies, the Lord will send the Jewish people, “a faintness into their hearts in the land of their enemies”, verse 36. These conditions have been how the Jews have lived for the last almost 2,000 years. It seems to allude to the “Holocaust” in verse 38, as the Lord warns that the Jews will “perish” in the dispersion.
We’ve discussed the negative portion of this message to the Jews so far, but the last seven verses of Leviticus 26 bring the promise to the Jews that will indeed fulfill the promises made in the Abrahamic Covenant and confirmed to Isaac and Jacob, verse 45.
The two conditions for the blessings to come to the Jews and for them to return to their land are “confession”, verse 40 and “humility”, verse 41. By the way, those are great principles for us to live by ourselves in our world today.
These verses for our devotional today are “prophetic” and to some extent have been fulfilled over the years since the fall of Jerusalem when General Titus led his Roman Army into the “holy city”.
The additional prophecies in this passage are also nearing fulfillment as the Jews are returning to their “land”, as He promised. They have not yet “confessed” their sins and “humbled” themselves to the extent that the Lord wants, but we see the “setting of the stage” for these prophecies to be fulfilled in our day.
PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for the “principles” that you gave your chosen people, the Jews, to live by in the “last days”. Help me to live by these principles as well as I watch you setting the stage for the fulfillment of the prophecies in our devotional reading for today.
For further study – Leviticus 26:1-46
As we come to our devotional reading today we come to the end of our study in the book of Leviticus as it relates to the “land”, conditions of blessing and warnings of chastisement. There is an interesting connection in this passage to the message of Moses to the Jewish people found in Deuteronomy 28.
Verse 3 is the standard the Lord sets for the Jews, “If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them”. This statement, along with those in verses 1 to 13, is the prerequisite to God’s “blessings” on the Jewish people.
Verses 14 to 31 reveal to the Jews the “warnings” of chastisement if they don’t honor His directives for their daily life. In fact there are five chastisements mentioned in this passage, with the final punishment for disobedience the dispersion of the Jews out of the land He has given them.
The “dispersion” of the Jews out of their land will take place as the Lord makes their land, that He has given them, a “desolation”, verse 32 and He will scatter them among the “heathen”, the Gentiles around the world, verse 33. That happened in AD 70 at the hands of the Roman Army.
In the land of their enemies, the Lord will send the Jewish people, “a faintness into their hearts in the land of their enemies”, verse 36. These conditions have been how the Jews have lived for the last almost 2,000 years. It seems to allude to the “Holocaust” in verse 38, as the Lord warns that the Jews will “perish” in the dispersion.
We’ve discussed the negative portion of this message to the Jews so far, but the last seven verses of Leviticus 26 bring the promise to the Jews that will indeed fulfill the promises made in the Abrahamic Covenant and confirmed to Isaac and Jacob, verse 45.
The two conditions for the blessings to come to the Jews and for them to return to their land are “confession”, verse 40 and “humility”, verse 41. By the way, those are great principles for us to live by ourselves in our world today.
These verses for our devotional today are “prophetic” and to some extent have been fulfilled over the years since the fall of Jerusalem when General Titus led his Roman Army into the “holy city”.
The additional prophecies in this passage are also nearing fulfillment as the Jews are returning to their “land”, as He promised. They have not yet “confessed” their sins and “humbled” themselves to the extent that the Lord wants, but we see the “setting of the stage” for these prophecies to be fulfilled in our day.
PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for the “principles” that you gave your chosen people, the Jews, to live by in the “last days”. Help me to live by these principles as well as I watch you setting the stage for the fulfillment of the prophecies in our devotional reading for today.