Leviticus 26:34

"Then shall the land enjoy its sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye are in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy its sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall have rest, even the rest which it had not in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it. And as for them that are left of you, I will send a faintness into their heart in the lands of their enemies: and the sound of a driven leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as one fleeth from the sword; and they shall fail when none pursueth. And they shall stumble one upon another, as it were before the sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies. And ye shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 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."

Certainly, there was never anything like this written of any other nation in the history of the world, the astounding fact being that God Himself is the Author of these terrible sentences of judgment. Any person with the slightest knowledge of Jewish history is aware of just how exactly and circumstantially all of these terrible things befell Israel REPEATEDLY throughout their long history, right down to and including the present times! It brings mist to the eyes and a catch in the throat even to consider the terrible consequences of rebellion against God as enacted in the history of Israel.

From the time of the entry of Israel into Canaan unto the Babylonian captivity was a period of 863 years, during which time 123Sabbatical Years should have been observed.[28] The fact that God sent Israel into captivity for only seventy years (instead of 123 years) is supposed by some to indicate that Israel had indeed observed the Sabbatical Years some fifty-three times, but this can hardly be accurate. Rather it would seem that the round number of years (ten times seven) was considered as the fullness of judgment. Also, perhaps the mercy of God reduced the penalty to spare Israel a period of captivity that might well have destroyed the whole nation forever.

"They shall flee ... when none pursueth ..." (Leviticus 26:36-37). These verses are a powerful description of the way it always is in those who suffer "the inherent weakness of wrongdoing, and the cowardice which is the result of an evil conscience."[29]

"If ye will not hearken ..." (Leviticus 26:14,18,21,27). Despite the fact of this word in English having the meaning of "hear," or "listen," the meaning of it in these passages is "Obey,"[30] a truth which this whole chapter makes it impossible to miss. All the greater reproach, therefore, belongs to the translators of our version (ASV) who perverted the meaning of Romans 10:16 by rendering it, "They did not all hearken to the glad tidings," which most certainly should have been left to read (as in the KJV), "They have not all OBEYED THE GOSPEL!" Only theological reasons could lie behind such a mistranslation. If one wishes to know what "hearken" in the Biblical sense actually means, let him read this chapter.

"The land of your enemies shall eat you up ..." (Leviticus 26:38). This is not a reference to cannibalism, but to the fact that the Jews scattered among many nations would tend to be amalgamated with the native populations and lose their identity. An example of this was cited by Jamieson: "On the removal of the ten tribes into captivity, they never returned; and all traces of them were lost."[31] This, in a general sense, is true, although there were examples of individuals from the "lost tribes" finding their way back to the homeland. Anna (Luke 2:36) was a descendant of Asher, one of the "lost tribes."