Leviticus 26:14

THREATENINGS AGAINST DISOBEDIENCE, Leviticus 26:14-39.

Law is necessary to government. But we can no more have law without penalty than we can have a coin without a reverse side. Accountability implies free agents, with intelligence sufficient to apprehend the consequences of actions in the form of rewards and punishments distinctly announced beforehand. The seasonableness and the clearness of this announcement enhance the guiltiness of transgression and intensify the punishment. This graphic portrayal of the issues of disobedience leaves rebellious Israel without excuse. “This graduated advance of the judgments of God is so depicted in the following passage that four times in succession new and multiplied punishments are announced: 1) Utter barrenness in their land, that is to say, one heavier punishment, Leviticus 26:18-20; Leviticus 2:0) the extermination of their cattle by beasts of prey, and childlessness two punishments, Leviticus 26:21-22; Leviticus 3:0) war, plague, and famine three punishments, Leviticus 26:23-26; Leviticus 4:0) the destruction of all idolatrous abominations, the overthrow of their towns and holy places, the devastation of the land, and the dispersion of the people among the heathen four punishments which would bring the Israelites to the verge of destruction, Leviticus 26:27-33. These divine threats embrace the whole of Israel’s future.” Keil and Delitzsch.

14. Not hearken… not do A refusal to give undivided attention and earnest heed to the law of God by the proper use of our perceptive and reflective powers is as culpable as wilful disobedience, inasmuch as it implies a disregard of the divine authority. The most solemn and frequent injunction of Christ was this, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” It is worthy of remark that the process of apostasy begins with sins of omission, and in the next verse ends with sins of commission.