“Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand! All your enemies will fall beneath your sword" - Leviticus 26:8 (NIV).
In our leading verse today we see one of the blessings entitled to believers. The background here were a set of laws spelt out for the Israelis in the new land God had led them to and the blessings to be enjoyed for observing the laws laid out for personal and community relations conduct. "If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit" (Leviticus 26: 3).
By walking obediently with the Lord, God promised a reward, "I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid" (vv 6). Even more so: ‘I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you. You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people" (vv 9- 13).
Equally important though is to take note of the consequences of being disobedient: "But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring on you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and sap your strength. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it" (vv 14-16).
The Israelis were forewarned disobedience would spell doom for nations: "I will turn your cities into ruins and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will take no delight in the pleasing aroma of your offerings. I myself will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who live there will be appalled. I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out my sword and pursue you. Your land will be laid waste, and your cities will lie in ruins" (vv 31- 33).
Looking at the fate of some nations one wonders where it all started. As believers we have been enjoined to become children of God in the new land of our Christian faith. Let us walk faithfully with Him and experience His fresh blessings, "For you bless the godly, O Lord you surround them with your shield of love" (Psalm 5:12).
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of heaven and earth, today I thank you for the blessings you have promised for those who obey your commandments and of which I gladly receive!
