The Blessings (Leviticus 26:3-13).
Here follow all the blessings that would be theirs if only they would walk in His statutes and keep His commandments in their hearts and do them.
“If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them, then I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time; and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.”
The first promise in response to their loving obedience is that He would send the rain at the right times, when they were due, and would make the land and the trees fruitful. Their agricultural way of life would prosper. They would be continually busy because they would have so much grain to thresh that by the time they had completed the task the vintage harvest would be ready. Then there would be so much vintage that by the time that they had gathered in the vintage it would be time for sowing. They would be full of all manner of food. And they would dwell securely.
“And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.”
Furthermore the land would know peace. They would be able to rest content with a total sense of security. They would not be troubled either by plagues of evil beasts or by the swords of evil men. Yahweh would keep their land free of both.
“And you shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword, and five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.”
Indeed when faced with an enemy they would always be victorious. When they chased them they would fall before them. To deal with a hundred (a larger unit) they would only require five men (their smallest fighting unit). And their own medium unit of ‘a hundred' would be sufficient to deal with ten large units of ‘a thousand' each (ten thousand). For their enemy would be unable to resist them.
“And I will have respect to you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish my covenant with you.”
And Yahweh would watch over them, and take notice of them and watch out for them, and cause their numbers to multiply. He would make His covenant with them firm and strong, fulfilling its potential.
“And you shall eat old store long kept, and you shall bring forth the old because of the new.”
Such would be their harvests that they would find that they always had good stocks of wheat and barley continually dating back a long time. They would never find themselves without. And because they would have such abundance they would have to bring the old out in order to make way for the new.
“And I will set my tabernacle among you, and I myself (my soul) shall not abhor you.”
And His tabernacle would be set among them. He would be there with them. And there would be nothing about them that He could hate, because their hearts were truly set towards Him. They would be able to be confident that His love was set on them and that there was no barrier between Him and them. See Exodus 29:45.
“And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.”
And He Himself would walk among them and be their God, and they would be His people (compare Deuteronomy 23:14). It would be like the Garden of Eden restored (compare Genesis 3:8).
“And will be your God, and you shall be my people.” As promised in Exodus 6:7. This was a theme of Jeremiah. See Jeremiah 7:23; Jeremiah 11:4; Jeremiah 24:7; Jeremiah 30:22; Jeremiah 32:38. In His mercy He is ever ready to respond to His people. See also Ezekiel 11:20; Ezekiel 36:28; Ezekiel 37:23; Ezekiel 37:27; Zechariah 8:8. It was God's purpose that He might be their God, recognised, acknowledged, worshipped and obeyed. Then would they in turn be His people, watched over, protected, honoured, prosperous and secure.
“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright.”
For it was for this that He in His mighty power and presence as Yahweh had brought them forth safely from the land of Egypt so that they would not be bondmen but free. That was why He had broken the bar of their yoke so that they could go upright. The bar of the yoke went across the neck of the beast of burden bowing them down with the yoke of what they bore. But it would not be so for His people. They would be able to stand upright with no yoke to bow them down.
All this then would be so if only they were responsive and obedient to His will as revealed in His covenant.
The same equally applies to Christians. If we would enjoy overflowing spiritual blessing it can only result from obedience. But without responsive obedience there will be no genuine blessing. It is those who hear the Master's voice and walk in the Master's way (John 10:27-28), and only they, who will enjoy the fullness of what He wants to give. Only fullness of obedience will bring fullness of blessing.
Jesus constantly stressed that there were only two ways, one was the narrow way of obedience, the afflicted way, the hemmed in way, the way that leads to life, where men do not do their own will but His will. The other was the broad and easy road and it leads to destruction for all. There is no middle way (Matthew 7:13-14). The one way was to build on the solid foundation, the rock, of hearing His words and doing them, the other way was to build on sand, hearing His words but not doing them (Matthew 7:24-27). Note that both hear His words. It is the way that they then take that reveals them for what they are. Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord' will enter under the Kingly Rule of Heaven, only those who do the will of His Father Who is in Heaven (Matthew 7:21). We dilute His words at our peril.