Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

Leviticus 26 Study Notes

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General

What does God say He will do if the exiles admit their sins and humble their hearts (26:40-42)?

Answer: Remember His covenant with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, and remember the land

Even after the worst judgments, God leaves a door open. If the exiles admit their own sins and their ancestors' unfaithfulness, humble their stubborn hearts, and make up for their guilt, God will remember His covenant with Jacob, with Isaac, and with Abraham, and He will also keep the land in mind (26:40-42). This is the same covenant God remembered when Israel cried out in Egypt (Exodus 2:24). Daniel, living in exile, prayed exactly this kind of confession (Daniel 9:4-5), and God still promises to forgive those who confess their sins (1 John 1:9).

  • Leviticus 26:40-42 (BSB)
    “But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me— and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.”
    If the exiles confess and humble their hearts, God will remember His covenant with the patriarchs and the land.
  • Exodus 2:24 (BSB)
    “So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
    God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when Israel groaned in Egypt, the same covenant named here.
  • Daniel 9:4-5 (BSB)
    “And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.”
    Daniel, in exile, confesses the sins of the people just as 26:40 describes.
  • 1 John 1:9 (BSB)
    “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
    God is faithful to forgive those who confess their sins.

Theological

What does the LORD promise in Leviticus 26:40-42 upon Israel's confession in exile?

Answer: Remembrance of His covenant with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, and of the land

The curses are not the last word. Should the exiles acknowledge their iniquity together with their fathers' treachery, have their uncircumcised hearts humbled, and make up for their guilt, the LORD will remember His covenant with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, and remember the land (26:40-42). This is the same patriarchal covenant He remembered in Egypt (Exodus 2:24). Daniel's exilic prayer is precisely such a confession (Daniel 9:4-5), and the promise of forgiveness upon confession stands for the church (1 John 1:9).

  • Leviticus 26:40-42 (BSB)
    “But if they will confess their iniquity and that of their fathers in the unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, by which they have also walked in hostility toward Me— and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.”
    If the exiles confess and humble their hearts, God will remember His covenant with the patriarchs and the land.
  • Exodus 2:24 (BSB)
    “So God heard their groaning, and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
    God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when Israel groaned in Egypt, the same covenant named here.
  • Daniel 9:4-5 (BSB)
    “And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments, we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.”
    Daniel, in exile, confesses the sins of the people just as 26:40 describes.
  • 1 John 1:9 (BSB)
    “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
    God is faithful to forgive those who confess their sins.

General

True or False: The blessings and warnings of Leviticus 26 were given as terms of the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai.

Answer: True

This is true. The chapter closes by saying these laws and ordinances were established by the LORD with Israel, given through Moses at Sinai (26:46). The blessings depend on Israel keeping God's commands (26:3), and the warnings apply when the people reject His laws and so break His covenant (26:14-15), a pattern Moses repeats later (Deuteronomy 28:1-2). These promises describe how God would deal with Israel as a nation living in the land He gave them. For believers today, God's blessing is found in Christ, who gives every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3) and who took the law's curse on Himself so that God's promise to Abraham comes to His people by faith (Galatians 3:13-14).

  • Leviticus 26:46 (BSB)
    “These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws that the LORD established between Himself and the Israelites through Moses on Mount Sinai.”
    The closing summary identifies these laws as the covenant terms given at Sinai through Moses.
  • Leviticus 26:14-15 (BSB)
    “If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments, and if you reject My statutes, despise My ordinances, and neglect to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant,”
    The warnings apply when Israel rejects God's statutes and so breaks His covenant.
  • Deuteronomy 28:1-2 (BSB)
    ““Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God:”
    Moses restates the same covenant structure, with blessings tied to the nation's obedience.
  • Ephesians 1:3 (BSB)
    “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.”
    In Christ, believers have been given every spiritual blessing, the fullness to which the covenant pointed.
  • Galatians 3:13-14 (BSB)
    “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”
    Christ bore the curse of the law so that Abraham's blessing would come to His people by faith.

Theological

True or False: Leviticus 26 presents its blessings and curses as the sanctions of the Sinai covenant between the LORD and Israel.

Answer: True

This is true. The closing colophon identifies these as the decrees and laws the LORD set in place with Israel through Moses at Sinai (26:46). The blessings attach to national covenant fidelity (26:3) and the curses to breach of covenant (26:14-15), the same structure Deuteronomy repeats (Deuteronomy 28:1-2). They are covenant sanctions for Israel as a nation in the land. The believer's inheritance is every spiritual blessing, given in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), who redeemed His people from the law's curse by bearing that curse in their place, so that the Abrahamic blessing is received by faith (Galatians 3:13-14).

  • Leviticus 26:46 (BSB)
    “These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws that the LORD established between Himself and the Israelites through Moses on Mount Sinai.”
    The closing summary identifies these laws as the covenant terms given at Sinai through Moses.
  • Leviticus 26:14-15 (BSB)
    “If, however, you fail to obey Me and to carry out all these commandments, and if you reject My statutes, despise My ordinances, and neglect to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant,”
    The warnings apply when Israel rejects God's statutes and so breaks His covenant.
  • Deuteronomy 28:1-2 (BSB)
    ““Now if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God and are careful to follow all His commandments I am giving you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God:”
    Moses restates the same covenant structure, with blessings tied to the nation's obedience.
  • Ephesians 1:3 (BSB)
    “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms.”
    In Christ, believers have been given every spiritual blessing, the fullness to which the covenant pointed.
  • Galatians 3:13-14 (BSB)
    “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”
    Christ bore the curse of the law so that Abraham's blessing would come to His people by faith.

General

Which of these belongs to the first set of warnings, before any mention of sevenfold punishment (26:16-17)?

Answer: Sudden terror, disease and fever, and enemies eating the crops Israel planted

The first round of judgment brings sudden terror, a wasting illness, and fever that ruins the eyes and drains life; Israel would plant seed only for enemies to eat the crop (26:16). God would turn His face against them, they would lose battles, their enemies would rule them, and they would run away even when no one was chasing them (26:17). Deuteronomy lists the same kinds of judgments (Deuteronomy 28:22, 25), and Proverbs describes the guilty fleeing with no pursuer (Proverbs 28:1). The iron sky, the wild animals, and the shared oven come in later rounds (26:19, 22, 26).

  • Leviticus 26:16-17 (BSB)
    “then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.”
    The first set of judgments: terror, disease, lost crops, defeat, and panic.
  • Deuteronomy 28:22 (BSB)
    “The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.”
    The later covenant warnings list the same wasting disease and fever as judgments from the LORD.
  • Deuteronomy 28:25 (BSB)
    “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.”
    Confirms that defeat before enemies is one of the covenant curses.
  • Proverbs 28:1 (BSB)
    “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”
    Describes the guilty fleeing with no pursuer, the same panic 26:17 threatens.

Theological

Which judgment belongs to the first tier of covenant curses in Leviticus 26:16-17, before the sevenfold escalations?

Answer: Sudden terror, wasting illness and fever, and enemies consuming Israel's crops

The initial tier of curses comprises sudden panic, wasting illness, and fever that ruins the sight and saps strength, together with futile sowing whose yield feeds the enemy (26:16), and the LORD setting His face against Israel, bringing defeat, subjugation, and flight with no pursuer (26:17). Deuteronomy restates these sanctions (Deuteronomy 28:22, 25), and Proverbs 28:1 describes the same guilty panic. The iron sky, the wild beasts, and the famine of the shared oven belong to the later escalations (26:19, 22, 26).

  • Leviticus 26:16-17 (BSB)
    “then this is what I will do to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting disease, and fever that will destroy your sight and drain your life. You will sow your seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. And I will set My face against you, so that you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.”
    The first set of judgments: terror, disease, lost crops, defeat, and panic.
  • Deuteronomy 28:22 (BSB)
    “The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew; these will pursue you until you perish.”
    The later covenant warnings list the same wasting disease and fever as judgments from the LORD.
  • Deuteronomy 28:25 (BSB)
    “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.”
    Confirms that defeat before enemies is one of the covenant curses.
  • Proverbs 28:1 (BSB)
    “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”
    Describes the guilty fleeing with no pursuer, the same panic 26:17 threatens.

General

According to 26:8, how would an obedient Israel fare against its enemies?

Answer: Five Israelites would chase a hundred enemies, and a hundred Israelites would chase ten thousand

Along with peace in the land and freedom from dangerous animals (26:6), God promised that Israel would defeat its enemies: a band of five would put a hundred to flight, and a hundred would rout ten thousand (26:7-8). Such odds make sense only because the victory comes from God, as Joshua later told the people (Joshua 23:10). The same logic works in reverse when Israel is unfaithful: then a handful of enemies could scatter many Israelites (Deuteronomy 32:30), and Israel itself would be the one fleeing (Deuteronomy 28:25).

  • Leviticus 26:6-8 (BSB)
    “And I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to fear. I will rid the land of dangerous animals, and no sword will pass through your land. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.”
    God promises peace, the removal of dangerous animals, and victory in which a few Israelites rout many enemies.
  • Joshua 23:10 (BSB)
    “One of you can put a thousand to flight, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as He promised.”
    Joshua explains that one Israelite could rout a thousand because the LORD Himself fought for them.
  • Deuteronomy 32:30 (BSB)
    “How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?”
    Shows the reverse: when the LORD gave Israel up, a few enemies could rout many Israelites.
  • Deuteronomy 28:25 (BSB)
    “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.”
    The covenant warnings reverse this blessing, with Israel defeated and fleeing before its enemies.

Theological

What military ratio does Leviticus 26:8 promise to an obedient Israel?

Answer: Five routing a hundred foes, and a hundred Israelites routing ten thousand

Alongside peace and the removal of dangerous beasts (26:6), the covenant promises that five Israelites will rout a hundred foes, and a hundred Israelites will rout ten thousand (26:7-8). The disproportion underscores that victory is the LORD's doing, not Israel's strength (Joshua 23:10). The same principle is inverted under covenant judgment, when the LORD hands Israel over and a few enemies put many to flight (Deuteronomy 32:30; 28:25).

  • Leviticus 26:6-8 (BSB)
    “And I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to fear. I will rid the land of dangerous animals, and no sword will pass through your land. You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.”
    God promises peace, the removal of dangerous animals, and victory in which a few Israelites rout many enemies.
  • Joshua 23:10 (BSB)
    “One of you can put a thousand to flight, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as He promised.”
    Joshua explains that one Israelite could rout a thousand because the LORD Himself fought for them.
  • Deuteronomy 32:30 (BSB)
    “How could one man pursue a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?”
    Shows the reverse: when the LORD gave Israel up, a few enemies could rout many Israelites.
  • Deuteronomy 28:25 (BSB)
    “The LORD will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will march out against them in one direction but flee from them in seven. You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.”
    The covenant warnings reverse this blessing, with Israel defeated and fleeing before its enemies.

General

What image in 26:36 shows how fearful the survivors in exile would become?

Answer: The rustle of a leaf in the wind would send them running

God says He would put such weakness into the hearts of the survivors in enemy lands that even the rustle of a leaf blown by the wind would make them run (26:36). They would flee as if from a sword and trip over each other with no one chasing them, unable to stand before their enemies (26:36-37). This is the reverse of the earlier promise that a few Israelites would rout many (26:8). The guilty flee with no pursuer (Proverbs 28:1), Moses warns of trembling hearts among the nations (Deuteronomy 28:65), and Isaiah pictures a thousand fleeing from one (Isaiah 30:17).

  • Leviticus 26:36-37 (BSB)
    “As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them. They will stumble over one another as before the sword, though no one is behind them. So you will not be able to stand against your enemies.”
    The survivors in exile are so fearful that the smallest sound sends them running.
  • Proverbs 28:1 (BSB)
    “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”
    The guilty flee when no one pursues, the same groundless panic described here.
  • Deuteronomy 28:65 (BSB)
    “Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.”
    Moses warns of a trembling heart and no rest among the nations.
  • Isaiah 30:17 (BSB)
    “A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.”
    Isaiah pictures a thousand fleeing from one, the reverse of the victory promised in 26:8.

Theological

What image does Leviticus 26:36 use for the terror of the exiled survivors?

Answer: Flight at the rustle of a wind-driven leaf

The LORD will make the survivors' hearts so faint in enemy lands that the mere rustle of a leaf stirred by the wind puts them to flight; they flee as from the sword and trip over each other with no pursuer, powerless before their enemies (26:36-37). This inverts the promised victory of 26:8. It embodies the proverb that the guilty run with no pursuer (Proverbs 28:1), the trembling heart threatened in Deuteronomy 28:65, and Isaiah's image of a thousand fleeing from one (Isaiah 30:17).

  • Leviticus 26:36-37 (BSB)
    “As for those of you who survive, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that even the sound of a windblown leaf will put them to flight. And they will flee as one flees the sword, and fall when no one pursues them. They will stumble over one another as before the sword, though no one is behind them. So you will not be able to stand against your enemies.”
    The survivors in exile are so fearful that the smallest sound sends them running.
  • Proverbs 28:1 (BSB)
    “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”
    The guilty flee when no one pursues, the same groundless panic described here.
  • Deuteronomy 28:65 (BSB)
    “Among those nations you will find no repose, not even a resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despairing soul.”
    Moses warns of a trembling heart and no rest among the nations.
  • Isaiah 30:17 (BSB)
    “A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.”
    Isaiah pictures a thousand fleeing from one, the reverse of the victory promised in 26:8.

General

Which promise in 26:11-12 goes beyond food, safety, and victory?

Answer: He would set His dwelling among them, walk with them, and be God to them

After promising rain, harvests, peace, and victory, God names the greatest blessing of all: Himself. He would place His dwelling among them, would not despise them, would move about among them, and would be God to them while they were His people (26:11-12). This is the heart of the covenant, first pictured in the tabernacle (Exodus 29:45). The New Testament shows the promise reaching further: Paul applies it to the church as God's temple (2 Corinthians 6:16), and Revelation shows its full completion when God lives with His people (Revelation 21:3).

  • Leviticus 26:11-12 (BSB)
    “And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.”
    The high point of the covenant blessings: God's own presence among His people.
  • Exodus 29:45 (BSB)
    “Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.”
    God had already promised to dwell among the Israelites and be their God through the tabernacle.
  • 2 Corinthians 6:16 (BSB)
    “What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.””
    Paul applies this very promise to the church as the temple of the living God.
  • Revelation 21:3 (BSB)
    “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.”
    The promise reaches its final fulfillment when God dwells with His people in the new creation.

Theological

What blessing in Leviticus 26:11-12 stands at the climax of the covenant promises?

Answer: The LORD's dwelling and walking among His people as their God

The material blessings culminate in the covenant formula itself: the LORD will make His dwelling place among Israel, His soul will not loathe them, and He will walk among them, being their God, while they are His people (26:11-12). This presence was mediated by the tabernacle (Exodus 29:45), is applied by Paul to the church as God's temple (2 Corinthians 6:16), and is consummated in the new creation, where God dwells with His people (Revelation 21:3).

  • Leviticus 26:11-12 (BSB)
    “And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.”
    The high point of the covenant blessings: God's own presence among His people.
  • Exodus 29:45 (BSB)
    “Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.”
    God had already promised to dwell among the Israelites and be their God through the tabernacle.
  • 2 Corinthians 6:16 (BSB)
    “What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.””
    Paul applies this very promise to the church as the temple of the living God.
  • Revelation 21:3 (BSB)
    “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.”
    The promise reaches its final fulfillment when God dwells with His people in the new creation.

General

True or False: God says that once Israel is sent into exile, He will reject them completely and cancel His covenant with them.

Answer: False

This is false. God says that even while they live in their enemies' lands, He will neither cast them off nor loathe them to the point of wiping them out and breaking His covenant, because He remains their God (26:44). For their sake He will keep in mind the covenant He made with their ancestors, whom He brought out of Egypt in full view of the nations to be their God (26:45). His faithfulness does not finally depend on Israel's faithfulness. Moses makes the same promise (Deuteronomy 4:29-31), Paul says God remains faithful even when His people are faithless (2 Timothy 2:13), and he affirms that God has not rejected the people He foreknew (Romans 11:1-2).

  • Leviticus 26:44-45 (BSB)
    “Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or despise them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their fathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the LORD.””
    Even in exile, God will not reject His people so as to destroy them; He will remember His covenant.
  • Deuteronomy 4:29-31 (BSB)
    “But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath.”
    Moses promises that God will not abandon or destroy His people or forget His covenant with their fathers.
  • 2 Timothy 2:13 (BSB)
    “if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”
    Even when His people are faithless, God remains faithful because He cannot deny Himself.
  • Romans 11:1-2 (BSB)
    “I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel:”
    Paul affirms that God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.

Theological

True or False: Leviticus 26:44-45 teaches that exile would mean the LORD's final rejection of Israel and the annulment of His covenant.

Answer: False

This is false. Even in exile among their enemies, the LORD will neither cast them off nor despise them to the point of wiping them out or breaking His covenant, for He remains their God (26:44); on their behalf He will call to mind the covenant made with the ancestors whom He brought out of Egypt before the nations (26:45). The covenant rests finally on God's own faithfulness rather than Israel's. Deuteronomy 4:29-31 gives the same assurance, Paul grounds it in God's unchanging character (2 Timothy 2:13), and he affirms that God has not cast away the people He foreknew (Romans 11:1-2).

  • Leviticus 26:44-45 (BSB)
    “Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject or despise them so as to destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their fathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God. I am the LORD.””
    Even in exile, God will not reject His people so as to destroy them; He will remember His covenant.
  • Deuteronomy 4:29-31 (BSB)
    “But if from there you will seek the LORD your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and listen to His voice. For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath.”
    Moses promises that God will not abandon or destroy His people or forget His covenant with their fathers.
  • 2 Timothy 2:13 (BSB)
    “if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”
    Even when His people are faithless, God remains faithful because He cannot deny Himself.
  • Romans 11:1-2 (BSB)
    “I ask then, did God reject His people? Certainly not! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject His people, whom He foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he appealed to God against Israel:”
    Paul affirms that God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.

General

True or False: According to 26:23, the earlier judgments were meant as discipline to correct Israel and turn them back to God.

Answer: True

This is true. God speaks of the earlier rounds as His discipline and warns what will follow if Israel refuses to accept it and keeps resisting Him (26:23-24). The second round was aimed at breaking their stubborn pride (26:18-19). The judgments were not random anger; they were corrections meant to bring Israel back. Jeremiah later mourns that God struck Israel but they would not accept correction (Jeremiah 2:30). Scripture teaches that the LORD disciplines those He loves (Proverbs 3:11-12) and does so for their good, so that they share His holiness (Hebrews 12:10-11).

  • Leviticus 26:23-24 (BSB)
    “And if in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but continue to walk in hostility toward Me, then I will act with hostility toward you, and I will strike you sevenfold for your sins.”
    God describes the previous judgments as discipline Israel refused to receive.
  • Leviticus 26:18-19 (BSB)
    “And if after all this you will not obey Me, I will proceed to punish you sevenfold for your sins. I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze,”
    The stated aim of the second round is to break Israel's stubborn pride.
  • Jeremiah 2:30 (BSB)
    ““I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.””
    Jeremiah laments that God struck Israel in vain because they would not accept discipline.
  • Proverbs 3:11-12 (BSB)
    “My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke; for the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights.”
    Teaches that the LORD's discipline flows from a father's love and is not to be rejected.
  • Hebrews 12:10-11 (BSB)
    “Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.”
    God disciplines His children for their good, so that it yields righteousness in those trained by it.

Theological

True or False: Leviticus 26:23 characterizes the preceding judgments as corrective discipline intended to bring Israel to repentance.

Answer: True

This is true. The LORD describes the prior curses as discipline Israel might refuse, and threatens further hostility if they persist in their hostility against Him (26:23-24); the second tier is expressly aimed at breaking their stubborn pride (26:18-19). The curses are therefore remedial in purpose, not merely punitive. Jeremiah laments that Israel was struck in vain because it would not receive correction (Jeremiah 2:30), and Scripture grounds the LORD's discipline in fatherly love (Proverbs 3:11-12) directed toward the sanctification of His children (Hebrews 12:10-11).

  • Leviticus 26:23-24 (BSB)
    “And if in spite of these things you do not accept My discipline, but continue to walk in hostility toward Me, then I will act with hostility toward you, and I will strike you sevenfold for your sins.”
    God describes the previous judgments as discipline Israel refused to receive.
  • Leviticus 26:18-19 (BSB)
    “And if after all this you will not obey Me, I will proceed to punish you sevenfold for your sins. I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze,”
    The stated aim of the second round is to break Israel's stubborn pride.
  • Jeremiah 2:30 (BSB)
    ““I have struck your sons in vain; they accepted no discipline. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a voracious lion.””
    Jeremiah laments that God struck Israel in vain because they would not accept discipline.
  • Proverbs 3:11-12 (BSB)
    “My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke; for the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights.”
    Teaches that the LORD's discipline flows from a father's love and is not to be rejected.
  • Hebrews 12:10-11 (BSB)
    “Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.”
    God disciplines His children for their good, so that it yields righteousness in those trained by it.

General

While the land lies empty during the exile, what does 26:34-35 say will happen to it?

Answer: It would receive the Sabbath rests it was denied while Israel lived there

God had commanded that every seventh year the land be left unplanted as a Sabbath to Him (Leviticus 25:4), because the land was His (Leviticus 25:23). Here He says that while Israel is away in enemy lands, the empty land will finally have its Sabbath rest, receiving the rest it never got while they lived on it (26:34-35; also 26:43). Second Chronicles later records that the land did enjoy its Sabbath rest during the years of desolation (2 Chronicles 36:21).

  • Leviticus 26:34-35 (BSB)
    “Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not receive during the Sabbaths when you lived in it.”
    While Israel is in exile, the land receives the Sabbath rests it was denied.
  • Leviticus 25:4 (BSB)
    “But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath to the LORD. You are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard.”
    God had commanded that the land rest every seventh year, a rest Israel failed to give it.
  • Leviticus 25:23 (BSB)
    “The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.”
    The land belongs to God, so He determines how it is to be used and rested.
  • 2 Chronicles 36:21 (BSB)
    “So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah.”
    Scripture records the land enjoying its Sabbath rest during the desolation of the exile.

Theological

According to Leviticus 26:34-35, what will the land experience while Israel is in exile?

Answer: The Sabbath rests withheld from it during Israel's occupation

The sabbatical year required the land to lie fallow every seventh year (Leviticus 25:4), since the land belongs to the LORD (Leviticus 25:23). The exile is presented as the land's overdue rest: throughout its desolation it receives the Sabbath rest Israel withheld from it while they dwelt there (26:34-35; cf. 26:43). The Chronicler records the land keeping its Sabbath rest throughout the desolation (2 Chronicles 36:21).

  • Leviticus 26:34-35 (BSB)
    “Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths all the days it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time the land will rest and enjoy its Sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not receive during the Sabbaths when you lived in it.”
    While Israel is in exile, the land receives the Sabbath rests it was denied.
  • Leviticus 25:4 (BSB)
    “But in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of complete rest for the land—a Sabbath to the LORD. You are not to sow your field or prune your vineyard.”
    God had commanded that the land rest every seventh year, a rest Israel failed to give it.
  • Leviticus 25:23 (BSB)
    “The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.”
    The land belongs to God, so He determines how it is to be used and rested.
  • 2 Chronicles 36:21 (BSB)
    “So the land enjoyed its Sabbath rest all the days of the desolation, until seventy years were completed, in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah.”
    Scripture records the land enjoying its Sabbath rest during the desolation of the exile.

General

Just before the blessings begin, which commands does God restate in 26:1-2?

Answer: Make no idols or carved stones to worship, keep His Sabbaths, and honor His sanctuary

Before God announces the blessings and warnings of this chapter, He repeats two foundations of Israel's life with Him: they were forbidden to make idols or set up carved images, sacred pillars, or shaped stones to worship, and they must keep His Sabbaths and treat His sanctuary with reverence (26:1-2). These echo the Ten Commandments, which forbid idols and command Sabbath-keeping (Exodus 20:4, 8), and the command about Sabbaths and the sanctuary repeats 19:30 word for word. The reason given is simple: the LORD alone is their God. Worship belonging to Him alone remains the call for believers today (1 John 5:21).

  • Leviticus 26:1-2 (BSB)
    ““You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God. You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.”
    Before the blessings and warnings, God restates the ban on idols and the call to keep His Sabbaths and honor His sanctuary.
  • Exodus 20:4 (BSB)
    “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.”
    The second commandment forbids making idols, the same prohibition Leviticus 26:1 repeats.
  • Exodus 20:8 (BSB)
    “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”
    The fourth commandment requires keeping the Sabbath holy, which 26:2 restates.
  • Leviticus 19:30 (BSB)
    “You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.”
    The identical command about Sabbaths and the sanctuary appears earlier in Leviticus, showing it is a recurring covenant foundation.
  • 1 John 5:21 (BSB)
    “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
    The New Testament still calls believers to guard themselves from idols, since worship belongs to God alone.

Theological

Which covenant obligations does Leviticus 26:1-2 restate as the preface to the blessings and curses?

Answer: The prohibition of idols and cultic stones, Sabbath observance, and reverence for the sanctuary

The blessings and curses are prefaced by a restatement of the covenant's core worship obligations: no idols, carved images, sacred pillars, or carved stones for prostration, and faithful observance of the LORD's Sabbaths with reverence for His sanctuary (26:1-2). This recapitulates the second and fourth commandments (Exodus 20:4, 8) while its Sabbath-and-sanctuary clause repeats 19:30 word for word. The ground is the LORD's exclusive claim as Israel's covenant God, a claim that still governs the worship of the church (1 John 5:21).

  • Leviticus 26:1-2 (BSB)
    ““You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God. You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.”
    Before the blessings and warnings, God restates the ban on idols and the call to keep His Sabbaths and honor His sanctuary.
  • Exodus 20:4 (BSB)
    “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.”
    The second commandment forbids making idols, the same prohibition Leviticus 26:1 repeats.
  • Exodus 20:8 (BSB)
    “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”
    The fourth commandment requires keeping the Sabbath holy, which 26:2 restates.
  • Leviticus 19:30 (BSB)
    “You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.”
    The identical command about Sabbaths and the sanctuary appears earlier in Leviticus, showing it is a recurring covenant foundation.
  • 1 John 5:21 (BSB)
    “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
    The New Testament still calls believers to guard themselves from idols, since worship belongs to God alone.

General

In the final round of judgment (26:30-31), how does God's response reverse His earlier promise in 26:11?

Answer: His soul would despise them, and He would refuse to take pleasure in the smell of their offerings

Earlier God promised to live among His people and never despise them (26:11). In the final round, the reverse happens: God would destroy their hilltop shrines and incense altars, pile their corpses on their dead idols, and His soul would despise them (26:30). He would ruin their cities and holy places and refuse to delight in the aroma of their sacrifices (26:31). Offerings brought without faithfulness to God did not please Him, as Samuel (1 Samuel 15:22) and Amos (Amos 5:21-22) both said. What God does not reject is a broken and repentant heart (Psalm 51:17).

  • Leviticus 26:30-31 (BSB)
    “I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you. I will reduce your cities to rubble and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will refuse to smell the pleasing aroma of your sacrifices.”
    In the final round, God destroys the places of false worship, rejects His people, and refuses their sacrifices.
  • Leviticus 26:11 (BSB)
    “And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you.”
    The earlier blessing promised that God's soul would not despise His people.
  • 1 Samuel 15:22 (BSB)
    “But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.”
    Samuel teaches that the LORD values obedience more than sacrifice.
  • Amos 5:21-22 (BSB)
    ““I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.”
    God refuses the offerings of a people who worship Him outwardly while living in rebellion.
  • Psalm 51:17 (BSB)
    “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
    The sacrifice God does not despise is a broken and repentant heart.

Theological

How does the final tier of curses (Leviticus 26:30-31) invert the promise of 26:11?

Answer: The LORD's soul despises Israel, and He refuses to delight in the aroma of their sacrifices

The promise that the LORD's soul would not despise Israel (26:11) is inverted in the final tier: He destroys their high places and incense altars, heaps their corpses on their lifeless idols, and His soul despises them (26:30); He lays waste cities and sanctuaries and refuses to delight in the aroma of their offerings (26:31). Sacrifice severed from covenant fidelity is unacceptable to God (1 Samuel 15:22; Amos 5:21-22), whereas a broken and contrite heart He will not despise (Psalm 51:17).

  • Leviticus 26:30-31 (BSB)
    “I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you. I will reduce your cities to rubble and lay waste your sanctuaries, and I will refuse to smell the pleasing aroma of your sacrifices.”
    In the final round, God destroys the places of false worship, rejects His people, and refuses their sacrifices.
  • Leviticus 26:11 (BSB)
    “And I will make My dwelling place among you, and My soul will not despise you.”
    The earlier blessing promised that God's soul would not despise His people.
  • 1 Samuel 15:22 (BSB)
    “But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.”
    Samuel teaches that the LORD values obedience more than sacrifice.
  • Amos 5:21-22 (BSB)
    ““I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard.”
    God refuses the offerings of a people who worship Him outwardly while living in rebellion.
  • Psalm 51:17 (BSB)
    “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”
    The sacrifice God does not despise is a broken and repentant heart.

General

In 26:3-5, how does God describe the abundance that would follow Israel's obedience?

Answer: Rain would come at the right times, and one harvest would run right into the next

If Israel kept God's statutes, He promised rain at the proper times, fields full of crops, and trees heavy with fruit (26:3-4). The crops would be so large that threshing grain would last until the grapes were ripe, and gathering grapes would last until it was time to plant again, so the people would eat their fill and live safely (26:5). Rain was God's gift, not something Israel could control, as Moses later repeated (Deuteronomy 11:13-14; 28:12). The prophets later used this same picture of overlapping harvests to describe the plenty of God's restoration (Amos 9:13).

  • Leviticus 26:3-5 (BSB)
    “If you follow My statutes and carefully keep My commandments, I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. Your threshing will continue until the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have your fill of food to eat and will dwell securely in your land.”
    God promises seasonal rain and harvests so plentiful that one season of work runs into the next.
  • Deuteronomy 11:13-14 (BSB)
    “So if you carefully obey the commandments I am giving you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will provide rain for your land in season, the autumn and spring rains, that you may gather your grain, new wine, and oil.”
    Moses repeats that rain in its season is God's gift tied to Israel's covenant faithfulness.
  • Deuteronomy 28:12 (BSB)
    “The LORD will open the heavens, His abundant storehouse, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but borrow from none.”
    Describes the heavens as God's storehouse, opened to water the land of an obedient Israel.
  • Amos 9:13 (BSB)
    ““Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow.”
    The prophet uses the same picture of one harvest overtaking the next to describe God's future restoration.

Theological

How does Leviticus 26:3-5 portray the agricultural blessing promised for covenant obedience?

Answer: Seasonal rains and harvests so abundant that threshing, vintage, and sowing overlap

Covenant obedience would be met with rain in its season, produce from the land, and fruit from the trees (26:3-4), yielding harvests so large that threshing would stretch into the vintage and the vintage into sowing, with food in plenty and security in the land (26:5). Rain is framed as the LORD's sovereign provision tied to the covenant (Deuteronomy 11:13-14; 28:12). Amos takes up the same image of overlapping seasons to describe the plenty of the LORD's promised restoration (Amos 9:13).

  • Leviticus 26:3-5 (BSB)
    “If you follow My statutes and carefully keep My commandments, I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit. Your threshing will continue until the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will continue until sowing time; you will have your fill of food to eat and will dwell securely in your land.”
    God promises seasonal rain and harvests so plentiful that one season of work runs into the next.
  • Deuteronomy 11:13-14 (BSB)
    “So if you carefully obey the commandments I am giving you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will provide rain for your land in season, the autumn and spring rains, that you may gather your grain, new wine, and oil.”
    Moses repeats that rain in its season is God's gift tied to Israel's covenant faithfulness.
  • Deuteronomy 28:12 (BSB)
    “The LORD will open the heavens, His abundant storehouse, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but borrow from none.”
    Describes the heavens as God's storehouse, opened to water the land of an obedient Israel.
  • Amos 9:13 (BSB)
    ““Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow.”
    The prophet uses the same picture of one harvest overtaking the next to describe God's future restoration.

General

After the land is laid waste, what does God warn in 26:33 will happen to the people themselves?

Answer: He would scatter them among the nations, pursuing them with a drawn sword

God warns that He would ruin the land until even the enemies living there were horrified (26:32), and He would scatter Israel among the nations, chasing them with a drawn sword while their land lay empty and their cities in ruins (26:33). Moses repeats this warning of scattering (Deuteronomy 4:27; 28:64). Centuries later, while in exile, Nehemiah prayed this very warning back to God, together with God's promise to gather those who return to Him (Nehemiah 1:8-9).

  • Leviticus 26:32-33 (BSB)
    “And I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who dwell in it will be appalled. But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.”
    The land is laid waste and the people are scattered among the nations.
  • Deuteronomy 4:27 (BSB)
    “Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.”
    Moses warns that the LORD will scatter the people among the nations with only a few surviving.
  • Deuteronomy 28:64 (BSB)
    “Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.”
    Repeats the warning of scattering to the ends of the earth.
  • Nehemiah 1:8-9 (BSB)
    “Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses when You said, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to Me and keep and practice My commandments, then even if your exiles have been banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for My Name.’”
    In exile, Nehemiah prays back this very warning, along with God's promise to gather the repentant.

Theological

What judgment on the people themselves does Leviticus 26:33 threaten?

Answer: Dispersion among the nations, pursued by the sword

The land is to be made desolate, astonishing even the enemies who occupy it (26:32), and Israel is to be dispersed among the nations, a sword pursuing them while land and cities lie waste (26:33). Deuteronomy repeats the threat of dispersion (Deuteronomy 4:27; 28:64), and Nehemiah, praying in exile, pleads this very word back to God together with its promise of regathering upon repentance (Nehemiah 1:8-9).

  • Leviticus 26:32-33 (BSB)
    “And I will lay waste the land, so that your enemies who dwell in it will be appalled. But I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out a sword after you as your land becomes desolate and your cities are laid waste.”
    The land is laid waste and the people are scattered among the nations.
  • Deuteronomy 4:27 (BSB)
    “Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.”
    Moses warns that the LORD will scatter the people among the nations with only a few surviving.
  • Deuteronomy 28:64 (BSB)
    “Then the LORD will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, gods of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.”
    Repeats the warning of scattering to the ends of the earth.
  • Nehemiah 1:8-9 (BSB)
    “Remember, I pray, the word that You commanded Your servant Moses when You said, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to Me and keep and practice My commandments, then even if your exiles have been banished to the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for My Name.’”
    In exile, Nehemiah prays back this very warning, along with God's promise to gather the repentant.

General

What happens each time Israel keeps refusing to listen after a round of judgment (26:18, 21, 24, 28)?

Answer: God raises the punishment, saying He will strike them seven times over for their sins

After the first round of judgment, the chapter repeats a pattern four times: if Israel still will not listen and keeps walking against God, He will punish them seven times over for their sins (26:18, 21, 24, 28). Each round is heavier than the last, and the repeated number seven stresses how complete and severe the discipline would become. The prophets saw this pattern play out, as God sent one hardship after another and Israel still did not return (Amos 4:6, 10) and refused to accept correction (Jeremiah 5:3).

  • Leviticus 26:18 (BSB)
    “And if after all this you will not obey Me, I will proceed to punish you sevenfold for your sins.”
    After the first round, continued refusal brings punishment seven times over.
  • Leviticus 26:21 (BSB)
    “If you walk in hostility toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times, according to your sins.”
    Walking in hostility brings plagues multiplied seven times.
  • Leviticus 26:24 (BSB)
    “then I will act with hostility toward you, and I will strike you sevenfold for your sins.”
    Continued hostility is met by God's hostility and a sevenfold strike.
  • Leviticus 26:28 (BSB)
    “then I will walk in fury against you, and I, even I, will punish you sevenfold for your sins.”
    The final escalation: God walks in fury and punishes sevenfold.
  • Amos 4:6 (BSB)
    ““I afflicted all your cities with cleanness of teeth and all your towns with lack of bread, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.”
    Amos records judgments sent one after another, each followed by the refrain that Israel still did not return.
  • Amos 4:10 (BSB)
    ““I sent plagues among you like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.”
    Continues the same pattern of repeated judgments that failed to bring Israel back.
  • Jeremiah 5:3 (BSB)
    “O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.”
    Jeremiah describes a people who were struck yet refused correction, the stubbornness that triggers each escalation.

Theological

What formula marks each escalation of the curses in Leviticus 26:18, 21, 24, and 28?

Answer: A sevenfold intensification of punishment for continued rebellion

Beyond the first tier, the curses advance in four stages, each introduced by Israel's continued refusal and answered by sevenfold punishment for their sins (26:18, 21, 24, 28). The repeated seven conveys completeness and intensity, and each stage is graver than the one before. The prophets trace the same pattern in Israel's history, with successive judgments met by the refrain that Israel did not return (Amos 4:6, 10) and by a refusal to receive correction (Jeremiah 5:3).

  • Leviticus 26:18 (BSB)
    “And if after all this you will not obey Me, I will proceed to punish you sevenfold for your sins.”
    After the first round, continued refusal brings punishment seven times over.
  • Leviticus 26:21 (BSB)
    “If you walk in hostility toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times, according to your sins.”
    Walking in hostility brings plagues multiplied seven times.
  • Leviticus 26:24 (BSB)
    “then I will act with hostility toward you, and I will strike you sevenfold for your sins.”
    Continued hostility is met by God's hostility and a sevenfold strike.
  • Leviticus 26:28 (BSB)
    “then I will walk in fury against you, and I, even I, will punish you sevenfold for your sins.”
    The final escalation: God walks in fury and punishes sevenfold.
  • Amos 4:6 (BSB)
    ““I afflicted all your cities with cleanness of teeth and all your towns with lack of bread, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.”
    Amos records judgments sent one after another, each followed by the refrain that Israel still did not return.
  • Amos 4:10 (BSB)
    ““I sent plagues among you like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you did not return to Me,” declares the LORD.”
    Continues the same pattern of repeated judgments that failed to bring Israel back.
  • Jeremiah 5:3 (BSB)
    “O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.”
    Jeremiah describes a people who were struck yet refused correction, the stubbornness that triggers each escalation.

General

In the second round of judgment, what does it mean that God would turn the sky to iron and the land to bronze (26:19-20)?

Answer: No rain would fall, the hard ground would give no crops, and their work would be wasted

In the second round, God would break Israel's proud stubbornness by making the sky above them like iron, giving no rain, and the ground beneath like bronze, too hard to produce anything (26:19). All their effort would come to nothing, because neither fields nor trees would yield (26:20). This undoes the earlier blessing of rain in season and fruitful trees (26:4). Moses uses the same metal images for drought (Deuteronomy 28:23-24), and Haggai later explains a drought as God holding back dew and crops because the people neglected His house (Haggai 1:10-11).

  • Leviticus 26:19-20 (BSB)
    “I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze, and your strength will be spent in vain. For your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.”
    The second round: pride broken, a sky like iron and land like bronze, and wasted labor.
  • Leviticus 26:4 (BSB)
    “I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.”
    The earlier blessing of rain and produce that this judgment reverses.
  • Deuteronomy 28:23-24 (BSB)
    “The sky over your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron. The LORD will turn the rain of your land into dust and powder; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed.”
    Moses uses the same metal images for a sky that gives no rain and ground that gives no crops.
  • Haggai 1:10-11 (BSB)
    “Therefore, on account of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth has withheld its crops. I have summoned a drought on the fields and on the mountains, on the grain, new wine, and oil, and on whatever the ground yields, on man and beast, and on all the labor of your hands.””
    After the exile, the prophet explains drought and failed crops as God withholding dew and harvest because of the people's neglect.

Theological

What does the iron sky and bronze earth of Leviticus 26:19-20 signify?

Answer: Drought and barren ground that render Israel's labor futile

The second tier aims at breaking Israel's pride: the sky becomes like iron, withholding rain, and the ground like bronze, unyielding to cultivation (26:19), so that labor is spent for nothing as land and trees fail (26:20). It is a direct reversal of the blessing of 26:4. Deuteronomy employs the same metallurgical imagery for drought (Deuteronomy 28:23-24), and Haggai interprets drought as the LORD's withholding of dew and crops in response to covenant neglect (Haggai 1:10-11).

  • Leviticus 26:19-20 (BSB)
    “I will break down your stubborn pride and make your sky like iron and your land like bronze, and your strength will be spent in vain. For your land will not yield its produce, and the trees of the land will not bear their fruit.”
    The second round: pride broken, a sky like iron and land like bronze, and wasted labor.
  • Leviticus 26:4 (BSB)
    “I will give you rains in their season, and the land will yield its produce, and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.”
    The earlier blessing of rain and produce that this judgment reverses.
  • Deuteronomy 28:23-24 (BSB)
    “The sky over your head will be bronze, and the earth beneath you iron. The LORD will turn the rain of your land into dust and powder; it will descend on you from the sky until you are destroyed.”
    Moses uses the same metal images for a sky that gives no rain and ground that gives no crops.
  • Haggai 1:10-11 (BSB)
    “Therefore, on account of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth has withheld its crops. I have summoned a drought on the fields and on the mountains, on the grain, new wine, and oil, and on whatever the ground yields, on man and beast, and on all the labor of your hands.””
    After the exile, the prophet explains drought and failed crops as God withholding dew and harvest because of the people's neglect.

General

In the fourth round (26:25-26), how severe does God say the food shortage will become?

Answer: Ten women would share one oven, bread would be handed out by weight, and people would eat without being filled

In the fourth round, God would bring a sword to carry out the punishment His covenant warned of; when the people crowded into their cities for safety, He would send a plague and hand them to their enemies (26:25). He would cut off their bread so completely that ten women could bake in one oven, the bread would be weighed out in small rations, and people would eat without being full (26:26). Ezekiel later announced this very kind of rationing for Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:16-17), and Haggai described people who eat and are still hungry (Haggai 1:6). These judgments fall because the covenant was broken (Deuteronomy 28:15).

  • Leviticus 26:25-26 (BSB)
    “And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy. When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and dole out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied.”
    The fourth round: sword, plague in the cities, and famine so severe that bread is rationed.
  • Ezekiel 4:16-17 (BSB)
    “Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure. So they will lack food and water; they will be appalled at the sight of one another wasting away in their iniquity.”
    Ezekiel announces the same judgment on Jerusalem, with food cut off and bread rationed by weight.
  • Haggai 1:6 (BSB)
    “You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.””
    Haggai describes people who eat but are never filled, the same frustration 26:26 threatens.
  • Deuteronomy 28:15 (BSB)
    “If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”
    The later covenant warnings likewise come upon Israel for failing to obey God's commands.

Theological

How does Leviticus 26:25-26 describe the famine of the fourth tier of curses?

Answer: Ten women baking in one oven, bread weighed out in small rations, and eating without satisfaction

The fourth tier brings the sword as the covenant's avenger, plague upon those who withdraw into their cities, and deliverance into enemy hands (26:25). The cutting off of the bread supply is so severe that ten women share one oven, bread is weighed out in small rations, and eating brings no satisfaction (26:26). Ezekiel pronounces the same rationing upon Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:16-17), and Haggai describes the same futility of eating without being filled (Haggai 1:6). These are sanctions for covenant disobedience (Deuteronomy 28:15).

  • Leviticus 26:25-26 (BSB)
    “And I will bring a sword against you to execute the vengeance of the covenant. Though you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy. When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven and dole out your bread by weight, so that you will eat but not be satisfied.”
    The fourth round: sword, plague in the cities, and famine so severe that bread is rationed.
  • Ezekiel 4:16-17 (BSB)
    “Then He told me, “Son of man, I am going to cut off the supply of food in Jerusalem. They will anxiously eat bread rationed by weight, and in despair they will drink water by measure. So they will lack food and water; they will be appalled at the sight of one another wasting away in their iniquity.”
    Ezekiel announces the same judgment on Jerusalem, with food cut off and bread rationed by weight.
  • Haggai 1:6 (BSB)
    “You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough. You drink but never have your fill. You put on clothes but never get warm. You earn wages to put into a bag pierced through.””
    Haggai describes people who eat but are never filled, the same frustration 26:26 threatens.
  • Deuteronomy 28:15 (BSB)
    “If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”
    The later covenant warnings likewise come upon Israel for failing to obey God's commands.

General

What problem does God describe with the phrase uncircumcised hearts (26:41)?

Answer: Hearts that were stubborn and closed toward God

Circumcision was the outward sign of belonging to God's covenant, but here God points to hearts that were uncircumcised, meaning stubborn and closed toward Him, which needed to be humbled (26:41). Moses used the same picture when he told Israel to circumcise their hearts and stop being stiff-necked (Deuteronomy 10:16). The lasting cure would come from God Himself: He promised that He would circumcise His people's hearts so that they would love Him (Deuteronomy 30:6) and give them a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). Paul teaches that this inner change is the work of the Holy Spirit (Romans 2:29). This shows grace at work: God Himself changes the hearts of His people.

  • Leviticus 26:41 (BSB)
    “and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity,”
    The exiles' deepest problem is named: hearts that are uncircumcised and must be humbled.
  • Deuteronomy 10:16 (BSB)
    “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.”
    Moses commands Israel to circumcise their hearts and stop being stubborn, showing the phrase describes inner resistance to God.
  • Deuteronomy 30:6 (BSB)
    “The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.”
    God promises that He Himself will circumcise His people's hearts so that they love Him.
  • Ezekiel 36:26 (BSB)
    “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
    God promises to replace a heart of stone with a heart of flesh.
  • Romans 2:29 (BSB)
    “No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.”
    Paul teaches that true circumcision is of the heart, worked by the Spirit.

Theological

What does the phrase uncircumcised hearts in Leviticus 26:41 denote?

Answer: Inward stubbornness and resistance toward God

The uncircumcised heart of 26:41 is inner obstinacy toward God: the reality the outward covenant sign was meant to answer to, now requiring humbling. Moses commands heart-circumcision as the end of stiff-necked rebellion (Deuteronomy 10:16), yet the remedy is ultimately monergistic: the LORD Himself promises to circumcise the hearts of His people so that they love Him (Deuteronomy 30:6), replacing the heart of stone with a tender one (Ezekiel 36:26). Paul identifies this circumcision of the heart as the Spirit's work (Romans 2:29), an expression of effectual, regenerating grace.

  • Leviticus 26:41 (BSB)
    “and I acted with hostility toward them and brought them into the land of their enemies—and if their uncircumcised hearts will be humbled and they will make amends for their iniquity,”
    The exiles' deepest problem is named: hearts that are uncircumcised and must be humbled.
  • Deuteronomy 10:16 (BSB)
    “Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more.”
    Moses commands Israel to circumcise their hearts and stop being stubborn, showing the phrase describes inner resistance to God.
  • Deuteronomy 30:6 (BSB)
    “The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.”
    God promises that He Himself will circumcise His people's hearts so that they love Him.
  • Ezekiel 36:26 (BSB)
    “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
    God promises to replace a heart of stone with a heart of flesh.
  • Romans 2:29 (BSB)
    “No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.”
    Paul teaches that true circumcision is of the heart, worked by the Spirit.

General

In the third round of judgment (26:21-22), God sends wild animals. Which earlier blessing does this directly reverse?

Answer: His promise to remove dangerous animals from the land (26:6)

In the third round, God warns that He would unleash wild animals that take their children, destroy their livestock, and shrink their numbers until the roads are empty (26:21-22). This directly undoes the earlier promise that He would clear dangerous animals from the land so they could lie down without fear (26:6). The rain is withdrawn in the second round (26:19), and defeat in battle first appears in the first round (26:17). Elsewhere Scripture also names wild beasts as a judgment from God (Deuteronomy 32:24; Ezekiel 14:15), and 2 Kings records God sending lions among settlers who did not worship Him (2 Kings 17:25).

  • Leviticus 26:21-22 (BSB)
    “If you walk in hostility toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times, according to your sins. I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate.”
    The third round: wild animals kill children and livestock and empty the roads.
  • Leviticus 26:6 (BSB)
    “And I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to fear. I will rid the land of dangerous animals, and no sword will pass through your land.”
    The earlier blessing promised to rid the land of dangerous animals.
  • Deuteronomy 32:24 (BSB)
    “They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.”
    The Song of Moses includes wild beasts among the judgments God sends on His unfaithful people.
  • Ezekiel 14:15 (BSB)
    “Or if I send wild beasts through the land to leave it childless and desolate, with no man passing through it for fear of the beasts,”
    Ezekiel names wild beasts that leave a land childless and desolate as one of God's judgments.
  • 2 Kings 17:25 (BSB)
    “Now when the settlers first lived there, they did not worship the LORD, so He sent lions among them, which killed some of them.”
    Records God sending lions among those who settled the land without worshiping Him.

Theological

Which blessing does the third tier of curses in Leviticus 26:21-22 explicitly reverse?

Answer: The clearing of predatory beasts from the countryside (26:6)

The third tier sends wild beasts to take Israel's children, destroy livestock, and diminish the population until the roads lie empty (26:21-22), inverting the promise to clear predatory beasts from the countryside (26:6). The withholding of rain belongs to the second tier (26:19) and military defeat first appears in the first tier (26:17). Wild beasts appear elsewhere as instruments of covenant judgment (Deuteronomy 32:24; Ezekiel 14:15), and 2 Kings 17:25 records the LORD sending lions against settlers who did not worship Him.

  • Leviticus 26:21-22 (BSB)
    “If you walk in hostility toward Me and refuse to obey Me, I will multiply your plagues seven times, according to your sins. I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate.”
    The third round: wild animals kill children and livestock and empty the roads.
  • Leviticus 26:6 (BSB)
    “And I will give peace to the land, and you will lie down with nothing to fear. I will rid the land of dangerous animals, and no sword will pass through your land.”
    The earlier blessing promised to rid the land of dangerous animals.
  • Deuteronomy 32:24 (BSB)
    “They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.”
    The Song of Moses includes wild beasts among the judgments God sends on His unfaithful people.
  • Ezekiel 14:15 (BSB)
    “Or if I send wild beasts through the land to leave it childless and desolate, with no man passing through it for fear of the beasts,”
    Ezekiel names wild beasts that leave a land childless and desolate as one of God's judgments.
  • 2 Kings 17:25 (BSB)
    “Now when the settlers first lived there, they did not worship the LORD, so He sent lions among them, which killed some of them.”
    Records God sending lions among those who settled the land without worshiping Him.

General

What picture does God use in 26:13 for rescuing Israel from Egypt?

Answer: He shattered the yoke that bent them down so they could stand tall

God reminds Israel that He is the LORD who brought them out of Egypt to end their slavery, and pictures that rescue as breaking the wooden bars of an ox's yoke so they could walk with heads held high (26:13). God grounds His covenant in the rescue He has already carried out: His saving grace comes first, just as the Ten Commandments begin with the rescue from Egypt (Exodus 20:2). Ezekiel uses the same image for God's future rescue of His people (Ezekiel 34:27), and Paul describes the freedom Christ gives as release from slavery's yoke (Galatians 5:1).

  • Leviticus 26:13 (BSB)
    “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk in uprightness.”
    God grounds the covenant in His past act of redemption from slavery in Egypt.
  • Exodus 20:2 (BSB)
    ““I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
    The Ten Commandments open the same way, with redemption from Egypt preceding the commands.
  • Ezekiel 34:27 (BSB)
    “The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and delivered them from the hands that enslaved them.”
    Ezekiel uses the same image of broken yoke bars for God's future deliverance of His flock.
  • Galatians 5:1 (BSB)
    “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.”
    Paul applies the image of a yoke of slavery to the freedom Christ has won for His people.

Theological

What image does Leviticus 26:13 use for the exodus deliverance?

Answer: The breaking of a yoke's crossbars so that Israel could stand upright

The LORD identifies Himself by the exodus: He brought Israel out of Egypt to end their slavery, snapping the crossbars of the yoke on their necks so they could walk upright (26:13). Redemption precedes and grounds the covenant stipulations, exactly as in the Decalogue's prologue (Exodus 20:2). Ezekiel reuses the image for the LORD's future deliverance (Ezekiel 34:27), and Paul applies the yoke of slavery imagery to the freedom Christ has secured (Galatians 5:1).

  • Leviticus 26:13 (BSB)
    “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians. I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk in uprightness.”
    God grounds the covenant in His past act of redemption from slavery in Egypt.
  • Exodus 20:2 (BSB)
    ““I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”
    The Ten Commandments open the same way, with redemption from Egypt preceding the commands.
  • Ezekiel 34:27 (BSB)
    “The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and delivered them from the hands that enslaved them.”
    Ezekiel uses the same image of broken yoke bars for God's future deliverance of His flock.
  • Galatians 5:1 (BSB)
    “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.”
    Paul applies the image of a yoke of slavery to the freedom Christ has won for His people.