Leviticus 26-27 Bible Study (Blessings for Obedience/Laws About Vows) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Leviticus chapter 26 beginning in verse one. You shall not make idols for yourselves or erect an image or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the Lord your God. You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

Let's pray together. Father, thank you for the book of Leviticus. As you have faithfully led us through this book and as we come to a conclusion in it, we pray for your grace and mercy. That is the same way you have so skillfully ended the commands found in this book to challenge the people of Israel. Would we take heed to the same challenge?

And Lord, as we enter into the book of Numbers, give us the strength and the focus to receive what you have for us in this overview. We give you praise and glory in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. You may be seated. If you've been with us for the past few weeks, we have been journeying through the book of Leviticus.

And for many believers, that seems intimidating. But my prayer, and it's been our prayer really, is that the Lord would have spoken to us through this book. That there's so much in there. And if you were with us last week, we explored the the seven feasts that the Lord has instituted and how those feasts speak prophetically of Christ. The first four already being fulfilled through his first ministry and his first coming, and the last three speaking of what is yet to be fulfilled in his ministry and his second coming.

And really, this is just a challenge for all of us to to ask the Lord what the psalmist prayed in Psalms 119. Lord, open my eyes that I may behold the wondrous things out of your law. Law, he said. He didn't have the epistles. He says, let me see what you want me to see in the law.

And you pray that prayer every time you open this book no matter what book it is, including Leviticus, and you can be sure that the Holy Spirit will assist you. He will. And now we've come here to Leviticus chapter 26 where the Lord skillfully lays out a simple challenge to the people after all the things that He has commanded and the nitty gritty details and the big things like the feast. He's come down to lay before His people life and death. And really it's something that you and I have to ask ourselves when we come to this book, or if you're in here and you have never given your life to Jesus, you have to make the same decision, or if you've given your life to Jesus but you feel like you're still Lord of your life to some degree, you still have to make a decision based on what we're gonna read here.

And so what is what is the Lord doing here in the book of Leviticus as it ends and closes here? Well, he's really just telling them, hey. Listen. You can either obey and hear the blessings for obeying, or you can disobey and hear the punishments for disobeying. And what we see here in verse three of Leviticus Leviticus 23 26 rather is the blessings for obedience.

And what we can get out of this short chapter here is two things. One, we're gonna understand the heart of God. We've been saying this since we started Bible study, but we'll just say it again, that if you really want to receive revelation from any text in the Bible, ask this question, what is God's heart behind this? What does this say about the God that I serve? If you ask that question continually, you can come to a book like this and you can receive revelation.

And secondly, we're gonna see how the neglect of texts such as this can really rob us of revelation in other texts, that there are tucked in truths in this very chapter, in this book, that can literally rob us because of our lack of duty of being faithful to the whole word of God. What did Paul say to Timothy? Not some scripture, all scripture is God breathed. Verse three. If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, verse four, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

Your threshing shall last the time of the grape harvest and the grape harvest shall last the time for sowing and you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. Well, four and five, what does he promise here? He promised process prosperity. He promises provision in the physical sense. He says, you obey, and I'll take care of the crops.

I'll take care of everything concerning what you need to eat, and everything concerning your necessities will be met. That should be motivating enough. No? But he goes on. He has more to say.

He says here in verse six, I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall go not go rather through your land. Second thing is peace. First thing was prosperity. The second thing is peace.

Nothing will come against you. Nothing will make you afraid. You will dwell in your land with security, with assurance, with with confidence, and you would think there should be enough. He has more to say. Verse seven.

You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. Five of you shall chase a 100, and a 100 of you shall chase 10,000, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. The third thing here is power. Power. Prosperity, peace, power.

He's saying here, listen. I'm gonna give you some supernatural fear in the light of your enemies that when you pursue them, even if there's a handful of you, it will chase away hundreds. You think that's enough? But no. The Lord has more to say.

I will turn to you, make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will confirm my covenant with you. You shall eat old old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. Here's the last thing, verse 11. I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect. Prosperity or provision, peace, power, and the climax of his blessings is my presence. That I would walk among you, that you would know something of my nearness, that we will do this journey thing together and you will know it well. Now out of all those things, which do you think is the most motivating?

In light of the new covenant, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, when the Apostle Paul, the same way the Lord here in this context is trying to motivate the church of Jesus Christ to live a holy and set apart life, a lifestyle of obedience, Which do you think out of all the things that we just read here that the apostle Paul pull out of in order to motivate his saints? We find it in second Corinthians six, in that famous passage about not being unequally yoked. In second Corinthians six sixteen, look what Paul says, what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them.

And I will be their God and they shall be my people. Out of all the things that we read, he actually takes part of the Leviticus chapter that we just read here. And out of all those things, the Holy Spirit says, what will be the greatest motivation for the New Testament church to live holy? Prosperity? So much emphasis of that today.

Power? Peace from enemies? Everything going well in the physical sense? Remember, the emphasis of blessing in the Old Testament is always physical blessing. And the emphasis in the New Testament, Ephesians tells us a spiritual blessing.

And today, we have so many that have switched that. Today, we have switched that in many of our messages, unfortunately. We have a lot of people who claim to be in the new covenant when they're really old testament saints, and they're preaching old covenant stuff. My presence, that if you choose to live that life completely consecrated unto me, what will you have as a reward? He pulls Leviticus 26 out, and he says, I will walk amongst you.

What is your motivation for holiness? What is your motivation to live a pure life before God? Is it, Lord, I want your nearness? Is it, Lord, I want to know what it's like to walk humbly with you? Is it Lord I want to know your whisper?

Is it Lord I want to do this life day by day with you? Many Christians don't want that. They want the prosperity, they want the peace in the sense of just things going well. They want power. They want recognition.

They want status. Very few want presence. Very few want to know the nearness of God's heart. Let it be known tonight that it doesn't matter what you have in this life. If you go through this life unknown by men, if you go through this life with pennies in your bank account, there's one thing greater than anything else, and that is knowing that Jesus Christ is walking with you.

You could be living in an igloo or in a bachelor pad. If you know that Christ is living with you and in you and through you, there's no greater reward in this life. You wanna fight sin, fight it with this motivation. Lord, I don't wanna do anything that would harm or grieve or hinder the maximum knowledge of you and your person in my life. Wonderful blessings.

But we shall we have to understand that we have to realize the kindness and the severity of God according to Romans 11. Verse 14 tells us the punishments for disobedience. And though it's true that it is in the context of the Israelites and these are very foreign to us concerning consequences, there is still a principle here. But if you, verse 14, will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, if you spurn my statutes and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments but break my covenant, then I will do this to you. Now we're not gonna read all of this, but if you read this chapter carefully, what you will see is a cycle.

Look at verse 18. And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins. Now look at verse 21. Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you sevenfold for your sins. Look at verse 23.

And if by this discipline you will not turn to me, but walk contrary to me, then I will also walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. Then look at verse 27. But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, then I will continue walk contrary to you. What is he trying to say if you read this carefully is that if you continue to walk away from the Lord, it is just a downward cycle and spiral from there. That's what he's trying to say here, that these punishments to some degree intensify by the longevity and the persistence of one's rebellion of turning wholeheartedly to the Lord.

He's speaking to his people. He's not speaking to the world. And And if you're gonna take any principle though, these punishments are so specific concerning land and not having rain, that that's irrelevant to us, but the principle is still true. That the longer you walk in disobedience, if you've truly even been changed by the gospel destruction in your life. It's so true.

There's this one verse, personally I'm going through the book of Hosea, and after coming to the end of Hosea, I'm like, I just need to read this again. And going through Hosea, just realizing the love of God and pursuing a backslidden people. In that same book, he says, the backslidings of my people are many. It's such a grieving it's such a wonderful book and it's such a heartbreaking book at the same time. But there's one verse that so popped out to me that I just had to keep reading it and keep writing it down and keep writing it down over until it just just embedded in my mind, embedded in my mind.

Hosea two seven. He's speaking about this backslidden people, and he's speaking about how at one point, they will come to this realization concerning their decisions. Then she shall pursue her lovers and not overtake them. Then she shall seek them, but not find them. Then she shall say, I will return and go back to my first husband because it was better for me then than now.

There are many people in this room tonight. Guess what? I have no idea where your heart is with God. Only God knows. And yes, your fruit can show it.

But turning away from the Lord does not just happen all for a sudden. It starts in the heart. It starts with your meditations. It starts with your lack of discipline, and there's no knowing of where you can go from there. But if you in this place, through the book of Leviticus and this Bible study, because we're not just looking for information here, we want God to speak, do we not?

Take it from Hosea, take it from Leviticus, that if you are you are just entertaining a lifestyle or entertaining a decision that you know is contrary to the will of God, know this, you will be greatly disappointed. Greatly disappointed. Oh, it seems good. It's packaged nicely. You might think that you can get away with the consequence, but know this, and I know some Christians that are right now in a backslidden state, you know what?

All you need to do is look at them and you can see the misery on their face. Don't make decisions in your life. Don't have to go through this cycle until you realize that it's so much better to be with him. It's so much better to have all of him than some of him. What do you need to do to realize that?

Don't go and make decisions, only having to realize that after you taste the bitterness of sin, that it's so much better to be in his presence. Some of you are here in college, some of you in here in high school going to college. Take it from somebody who's been through college, young ones. It's so much better to be married to him than to this world. Oh, yes.

I remember being in high school and all those college guys came back when they were older and telling us about the campus life, bro. Oh, yeah. Oh, you're gonna live on campus. Oh, and frost week and frost week and yeah. You have a week of it, then you have a whole life of regretting it.

Oh, they don't tell you. They don't oh, they'll tell you about the parties. Oh, they'll tell you about the drinking. Oh, they'll tell you about all the things that you can do. They won't tell you about the date rapes.

They won't tell you about the drugs that have been planted in people's drinks. They won't tell you about the sleepless nights. They won't tell you about the people that are vomiting their guts out. They won't tell you about the people who have overdosed. They won't tell you about those who have so given themselves and their bodies to sin that they are forever scarred unless the Lord Jesus Christ comes in and heals them from the inside out.

They won't tell you. The people in Hosea have come to a place where they realize, you know, all these idols and all the things that we've given ourselves to, it was so much better to be with the Lord. And I can tell you, it's so much better to be in the house of God on a Friday night than lining up to go into a place filled with debauchery and filth and confusion. So we see this cycle, and they go down and they go down and they go down. But in a very practical sense, many of the things that the people of Israel experience is found in the overview of Leviticus chapter 26.

So here's an example. Maybe you've you've read this. When you've seen Judges and you start to see how after the Joshua generation, there's just this this generation that does not know the works of the Lord and just goes down. And you have these reforms here and there, and then you go into first Kings and second Kings, and then Jeremiah has these details. A lot of those punishments, a lot of those consequences that we see are found here in the the layout of God's promise and warnings.

And and this is the practical this is so important to read these things because you get answers in this book for things that you read later on in the scripture. So here's an example. You don't have to turn there. You've probably read this if you read second Kings, and you probably have a big question mark on this story. Second Kings two twenty three.

This is Elisha. He went from there to Bethel, and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out to the city and jeered at him saying, go up, you bald head. Have you read this story before? The bears and the boys, they don't preach this one in Sunday school. Go up, you bald head.

Go up, you bald head. And he turned around, and when he saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord, and two she bears came out of the woods and tore 42 of the boys. From there, he went to it's just it passed from there, he went to Mount Carmel. And from there, he returned to Samaria. For the longest time, I read this text and it says, what is going on?

So you have this group of kids and you probably think they're like Sunday school age. They come out and they see this prophet clearly Elisha has no hair. And they're saying, go up you bald head. Go up you bald head. And what's his response?

He turns around and says, he curses them and these beards come out of nowhere and mauls 42 of them, meaning there's way more. So I guess some of them got away. Look at that and go, what is going on? And there's so much in this and there's a there's a time last year where there was weeks really dedicated to this study. Many things are going on here.

One, this is just not part of the study, but just a thought so you don't think there were little boys. The word boy is used for a various age range. Joseph at 17 was referenced to as a boy in Genesis, so they could have been late in their teenage years as well. This reference, go up you bald head too. Remember the context earlier on what happened with Elijah?

He went up to heaven. The chariot of fire took him up. And so what were they saying here coming out of Bethel? Get out of here. We want nothing to do with the prophet of God.

Also, remember where these kids are coming from. Where are they coming from? Bethel. They came out of Bethel. Bethel is a specific place in the scriptures, especially in light of that second Kings context.

First Kings 12 tells us that Bethel and Dan were central locations where Jeroboam put golden calves. Remember the division of the northern and the southern? Remember? Israel was split up into two kingdoms. When Jeroboam was in the the Northern Kingdom, the the, you know, the tribes of Israel and Judah was the southern, he set up idols in Bethel and Dan.

So Bethel was a key place of idolatry where people would come and worship, so they came out of that location. But what about the curse? When he says he curses them and these bears come out of nowhere, it's just like, what has that's so specific. The answer is found in Leviticus 26. Look at verse 22.

This is part of the curses for disobedience. What does he say here? And I will let loose the wild beast against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and maybe and make you a few numbers so that your roads shall be deserted. There it is right there. So this was part of the covenant that they had made, that if they were to walk in disobedience, one of the curses would be that these wild beasts would let loose and they would maul your children.

So there's the answer right there. Elisha did not come with a spontaneous curse idea and let these bearers come and destroy these children. No. This was something that was written in the word and was fulfilled because of their continuous turning their backs on him. Second question.

This is just another incident just to show how these texts answer. How long was Judah, not Israel, because Assyria captive, they took Israel's captives. Judah, who were they captivated by? Babylon, for how long? Seventy years.

Seventy years. Now does anybody know why seventy that's a random number. Why seventy years? It could have been a hundred years. It could have been a hundred and fifty years.

Why seventy? Prophecy of Jeremiah who said that they would be in captivity for seven years, but where did Jeremiah get seventy years? Yes. Yeah. It is in Leviticus.

Oh, you found the verse? Yes. In twenty six eighteen. What does it say? Twenty six eighteen.

Can you read it out for us? Alright. After all this, I will punch you. You know, later than I will punch you seven times more for your sins. Okay.

So I see what you're saying. This is a sevenfold idea, but it's even more specific than that. Seventy years, seventy years, seventy years. Now go to Leviticus 25 verse three. These are the laws concerning something called the Sabbath year.

We know the Sabbath week. We know that there's a day taken out of the week where you would rest, but there is something called the Sabbath year. What was the Sabbath year about? For six years, you shall sow your field, and for six years, you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits. But in the seventh year, there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord.

You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. For six years, work. Work. Work. Work.

On the seventh year, every seven years, you don't work, which is interesting because I know some people that keep the Sabbath and they condemn Christians who don't keep the Sabbath. And my question is, if you keep the Sabbath day every week, do you keep the Sabbath year? Do you keep the Sabbath year? Do you work six years and then one year off? Do you do you not work for a whole year?

That's my question to those who condemn Christians who don't keep the Sabbath. Second thought, just what's the idea here? Here's the here's back in Leviticus twenty six thirty four. Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemy's land. Then the land shall rest and enjoy its Sabbath.

Now you don't have to turn there, but let me read this. The connection between seventy years and the captivity of the nation of Israel was that they did not honor this commandment. They did not keep the Sabbath year and so for every year they did not keep, God had placed them in captivity. How do we know that? Listen to this verse.

Don't have to turn there. You can write it down though. Second Chronicles thirty six twenty one, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate, it kept Sabbath to fulfill seventy years. What do we take out of these lessons just from this?

God is very specific with His Word. God is not forgetful of His Word. You and I can share things and we can tell things and we can forget it a week later. God can write something down, and hundreds of years later, he will fulfill it to the t. God is very detailed.

He's very specific. He will not forget, which is very exciting and very terrifying just depending on how you respond to it. It is an awesome thing to know that God will not forget his word, that he will keep every promise, that we will see not just mere coincidences when we call upon the name of the Lord or walk in a certain direction or honor him in every aspect of life. He will very much specifically answer. That's what we take out of this.

I just think it's fascinating that after this was written and commanded hundreds of years later, the people forgot, but God did not forget. God did not forget his word. That's a holy thing. That's a glorious thing. That's a that should make us tremble.

Even as you read those texts, you go, what's all that about? And we could have read through Leviticus, and God is so specific. And you know why he doesn't tell us the answer there? You know why the writer doesn't say, and this was to fulfill Leviticus 26, so and so that if they didn't do this, that because he wants us to know the word. So then when we come to those texts, we go, I've read that somewhere.

And we make the connection. Isn't it so much more enjoyable when you make the connection? And you go, And so it's a challenge for us to continually scale and dig and and go through these things in the scriptures to find these truths. So then we come to the last verse of the book of Leviticus. What will the people do?

Will they obey? Will they disobey? Verse 34. These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai. That's the location.

All these laws were given at Mount Sinai. And now we come into the book of Numbers.