And if ye will not be disciplined by me through these, but walk contrary unto me,
This verse sits in a chapter that climbs step by step. God has already warned of sickness, drought and wild animals. Now He asks what happens if none of it works. The question is not whether God punishes, but what He wants His punishment to achieve.
Everything from verse 14 on describes stages. One writer asks why exile should ever fall on a people whose God was the Lord:
Why should they experience the bitterness and shame of exile? Why waste away in the land of their enemies? The Lord was their God. Exile could never come from His inability to shield them from the invader, but it might come from His unwillingness to do it. The lawgiver next goes on to say when that might be the case. He describes the different steps in God's dealings in chastisement with the people. Those steps would end in captivity, and they could only hope to return from it after real confession of their sins.
The discipline in this verse has a goal. If one stage brought the people back, God would go no further:
These steps, as detailed here, are five in number. How they tell of the longing of the Lord's heart over His rebellious people! He chastised them only as much as was needed to lead them to repentance. The first step is sickness, with slaughter by their enemies. Their crops, the fruit of their labours, are left at the mercy of the invader (verses 16-17)... If that had succeeded in bringing them to repentance, God's dealing in government would have stopped. When it failed, He would send drought and the famine that follows (verses 18-20). In the days of Ahab, Israel felt this in full. They also proved the Lord's willingness to relax His hand in punishment when they confessed that He was God (1 Kings 18).
The same phrase describes both sides. Their walk against God came from self-will; His answer comes as displeasure:
And if this failed to discipline their stubborn spirit, He would walk as contrary to them in displeasure as they walked to Him in self-will. He must strike them Himself, sevenfold for their sins. He would bring a sword on them to carry out the vengeance of the covenant. As they gathered into their cities out of the good land, He would send the plague on them and hand them over to the enemy. Their efforts to unite for strength would only and surely bring on them death and disgrace as a people.
It is easy to mix up two things that Scripture keeps apart:
We are very prone to confuse two things which the word clearly distinguishes — God's government and God's grace. The evils that result from this confusion are many. It is sure to weaken our sense of the dignity and seriousness of government, and of the purity, fullness and height of grace. It is quite true that God in government keeps for Himself the sovereign right to act in patience, long-suffering and mercy. But He exercises these attributes from His throne of government. We must never confuse that with the unconditional acting of pure and absolute grace. In this chapter God in government meets the earliest and faintest stirrings of a broken and repentant spirit with long-suffering mercy.
The "if" of this verse did not stay an "if." Israel's later history proved it, and the lesson reaches past Israel:
But Israel failed completely. A solemn and terrible picture stood before their eyes in verses 14-33 of this chapter. Even so, they abandoned the Lord and served other gods. They brought on themselves the severe judgements threatened here, and the bare record of them is enough to make the ears tingle... To all the nations of the earth they read aloud a deeply impressive lesson on the moral government of God. Those nations would profit by studying that lesson closely, and it would be good for our own hearts to ponder it too.
The rising blows are not the chapter's last word. Even here, God has mercy in view:
God does not close this searching word without remembering, as it says, His covenant with Jacob, His covenant with Isaac, and His covenant with Abraham. He speaks here with unusual emphasis of His covenant with every one of them. So even from His own mouth — the One they had sinned against so long and so deeply — there would be a threefold witness for His mercy in that day.
- Step. This verse is one of five steps of chastisement, not God's final sentence on His people.
- Measured. God sent only as much as was needed to bring repentance. Had an earlier step worked, His dealing would have stopped there.
- Mirrored. To "walk contrary" is God meeting their self-will with His displeasure.
- Distinguished. God's government is not the same as His grace, and blurring them weakens our grasp of both.
- Mercy. The chapter ends with God remembering His covenant with Jacob, Isaac and Abraham. That is a threefold witness for mercy from the very One they had wronged.
then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will smite you, even I, sevenfold for your sins.
Leviticus 26 sets out blessings for obedience and a rising line of warnings for refusal. This verse is the point where God says He will answer His people Himself.
Each warning in the chapter begins only when the one before it fails. One writer counts five of them, and hears the heart of God in the whole series.
These steps, as detailed here, are five in number. How they tell of the longing of Jehovah's heart over His rebellious people! He chastises them only as much as it takes to lead them to repentance. (1) The first step threatens sickness, with slaughter by their enemies. The produce of the soil, the fruit of their labours, would lie at the mercy of the invader (verses 16-17)... If that had succeeded in bringing them to repentance, God's dealing in government would have stopped. That failing, He would send drought and the famine that follows (18-20).
The words mirror each other: their walk toward God sets the shape of His walk toward them. One writer follows the escalation to this point, where God strikes in person.
And if this failed to discipline their stubborn spirit, He would walk as contrary to them in displeasure as they had walked to Him in self-will. He must strike them Himself, in person, sevenfold for their sins, and bring a sword on them to carry out the vengeance of the covenant. And as they gathered into their cities out of the good land, He would send the plague on them and hand them over to the enemy.
Seven is never a random figure in Scripture.
SEVEN. Spiritual completeness, generally in good but occasionally in evil. It is the compound of three and four, and the highest single indivisible number. There are seven days in a week. Every seventh day was a day of rest. Every seventh year was a year of rest for the land. Every seven times seven years brought the jubilee.
So the sevenfold blow is not limitless rage. It is a full measure, matched to their sin.
Everything threatened here actually happened.
But Israel failed completely. A solemn and appalling picture stood before their eyes in verses 14-33 of this chapter. Even so, they abandoned the Lord and served other gods. They brought on themselves the severe judgements threatened in this section, and the bare record of them is enough to make the ears tingle. Under the heavy weight of these judgements they are suffering at this very hour. Scattered and stripped, wasted and outcast, they are the monuments of Jehovah's unbending truth and justice. They read aloud, to all the nations of the earth, a deeply impressive lesson on the subject of the moral government of God.
The chapter does not end at the bottom of the descent. Once the strokes have run their course, God goes back behind the conditions to promises that never had any.
It goes on assuming they would break the terms. It runs on until the cities lie in ruins, the land and its sanctuaries are desolate, and the nation is scattered among the nations, in their enemies' land. And then, even while they are in their enemies' land, God speaks. He says, "I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God."... After they have destroyed themselves, the Lord turns back to His own unconditional promises to their forefathers. While they are in their enemies' land, He does not forget them or cast them off completely.
These blows belong to Israel under a conditional covenant. But God also governs His own children, and forgiveness is not what is at stake.
It is very important to remember that there is a government of God with respect to His children. It is not a question of whether they are justified and forgiven. This government assumes that they are righteous in His sight, as to salvation; Job 36. But the Lord always keeps His eye on them, blesses them, and makes them conscious of His favour when they are walking rightly in the enjoyment of God. If we do not walk rightly, He warns us. If we do not listen to the voice of God, He chastens us, to rouse the soul that is falling asleep and has begun to forget God. And His goodness, His amazing patience, His love for us, are never worn out!
- Refusal. Each earlier stage of discipline would have stopped the moment it worked. This stroke falls because none of them did.
- Reflection. They walked against God, so God walks against them — and this time He strikes in person.
- Measure. "Seven times" means completeness — a full amount, matched to their sins, not limitless rage.
- Record. God carried out the threats, and Israel's scattered history still stands as public evidence that He governs the world morally.
- Remedy. The chapter aims at repentance. Past the last stroke, God falls back on promises to the fathers that were never conditional.
And I will bring a sword upon you that avengeth with the vengeance of the covenant, and ye shall be gathered together into your cities, and I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy.
Leviticus 26 sets two futures before Israel: blessing if they obey, and ever-heavier strokes if they refuse. Verse 25 is the fourth of those strokes, and it raises a hard question: why does God Himself send a sword to avenge a covenant?
The judgments in this chapter are not one blow. They come in stages. Each stage is heavier because the one before it failed to bring the people back. One writer counts five stages, and hears God's reluctance in them, not rage:
These steps, as detailed here, are five in number. How they tell of the yearnings of Jehovah's heart over His rebellious people, disciplining them only as much as it would take to lead them to repentance. (1) First comes the threat of sickness, along with slaughter by their enemies. The invader would be free to take their crops, the fruit of their work (verses 16-17)... If that had succeeded in bringing them to repentance, God's dealing in government would have stopped.
By verse 25 the people have refused every earlier stroke. Now God says He will strike them Himself.
And if this failed to discipline their stubborn spirit, He would oppose them in displeasure just as they opposed Him in self-will. He must strike them Himself seven times over for their sins, and bring a sword on them to carry out the vengeance of the covenant. As they gathered into their cities out of the good land, He would send the plague on them, and deliver them into the hand of the enemy. Their efforts at union for strength would only and surely bring them death and degradation as a people.
The sword is not random violence. It enforces an agreement Israel had accepted. One writer points to the angel of that covenant, who carried out both its promises and its penalties:
This was the angel of that conditional covenant which was now established. So on the one hand he would make good all God's promises to the people. On the other hand he would punish the people's sins against God. Later we see him appear at Bochim, to avenge on them the wrong done to this covenant (Judges 2:1).
The covenant was law, and law works in only one way:
The law as such knows no grace; its function must be to condemn every breach. Grace and truth came through our Lord Jesus.
The verse traces a movement: people run from the sword in the open country into their walled towns, and find the plague waiting for them there. Crowding together for safety becomes the very thing that destroys them.
He would send the sword of their enemies against them, and when they took cover in their cities they would be attacked by pestilence and become easy prey to the cruelty of their enemies (v. 25). Their supply of bread would be cut off, and family conditions so reduced that only one woman out of ten would have an oven, which she would have to share with others (v. 26), so that the little they had to eat would not satisfy them.
Centuries later, a prophet named the same cluster of calamities as God's standing judgments — and one commentator notices the order here is deliberately different:
In the days of Ezekiel, Israel's long history of law-breaking was reaching a climax. Through him the Lord spoke of "my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence" (Ezek. 14:21). In our chapter those same four judgments appear, only the sword comes fourth instead of first.
Verses like this one are often felt to contradict the kindness of God. Commentators answer by separating two distinct ways God acts:
We easily confuse two things the word clearly separates: God's government and God's grace. This confusion does various kinds of damage. It is sure to weaken our sense of the dignity and seriousness of government, and of the purity, fullness, and height of grace.
Being close to God raises the standard, not lowers it:
He punished the vile practices of the doomed nations who had intruded into His land. He disciplines His own people even more strictly. "You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities" (Amos 3:2).
The escalation runs on to exile, but the last word of the chapter is not the sword.
Then, when they confess and humble themselves before God, He will remember His covenant with their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He will remember the land too. They will never be wiped out, for their God is that Jehovah who brought them out of the land of Egypt to be their God.
- Covenant — the sword avenges a broken agreement. It enforces terms Israel accepted, and law cannot excuse a breach.
- Graduated — this is stage four of five, and each stroke grew heavier because the people refused the one before.
- Cornered — sword outside, plague inside; the shelter they run to becomes the trap.
- Government — God's government is not His grace. Being close to Him means stricter dealing, not lighter.
- Purpose — the strokes aim at repentance. The chapter ends with God remembering His covenant, not destroying His people.
When I break the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and shall deliver you the bread again by weight; and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
This verse sits inside a long warning God gave Israel before they entered the land. If they turned away from Him, He would strike the one thing every home depends on. Why would God, who had promised plenty, bring hunger on His own people?
Leviticus 26 opens with promises of plenty. Every one of them rests on a single word.
Then follow the details of the prosperity that would follow. But it was all strictly provisional. It is, "If you walk … then I will give." Everything depended on their obedience, and that "If" proved fatal. The blessings promised were earthly and material. They can be summed up as fruitfulness, peace, victory and the realised presence of God among them. … There is no mention of heaven or of the life to come. How great the contrast with the Christian's portion — blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3), and that without any "if" at all.
Verse 26 is not the first blow. It comes after a series of warnings, and each one grows heavier as Israel ignores the last.
If this failed to discipline their stubborn spirit, He would walk as contrary to them in displeasure as they walked contrary to Him in self-will. He must strike them Himself sevenfold for their sins. He would bring a sword on them to carry out the vengeance of the covenant. And as they gathered into their cities out of the good land, He would send the pestilence on them, and they would be handed over to the enemy. Scarcity of bread would do its withering work in their crushed condition.
Where the ESV says "your supply of bread," older translations read "the staff of your bread." A staff is a walking stick. Bread holds natural life upright in the same way.
Bread is often spoken of in Leviticus as the staff of natural life (Lev. 26:26; Psalm 105). In the same way, Jesus alone is the manna that came down from heaven. He is the spiritual food, the "Bread" for His people today, and the Giver of life to those who do not have it.
A family normally baked its own bread at home. Ten women crowding round one oven signals a collapse of ordinary life.
In cities there were people who worked as bakers, with built-up ovens. Everywhere else, every household normally had its own simple oven.
The shortage reaches right down into what each family owns.
Their supply of bread would be cut off. Family conditions would be so reduced that only one woman out of ten would have an oven, and she would have to share it with others (v. 26). So the little they had to eat would not satisfy them.
When God's people go short, the shortage carries a message.
We know well that God does not want His people to suffer. He is not stingy, and if the rain is withheld, the fault lies with His people and not with Him. He had made this clear to them, so that they understood well that when heaven was "shut up" it was discipline.
Centuries later an enemy army surrounded the city of Samaria, and the words came true.
Now, in the government of God the enemy is allowed to besiege Samaria, leading to "a great famine" in the city. The famine drives the people to terrible straits, and the solemn prophecy spoken more than five hundred years earlier comes true.
The chapter does not end with empty ovens. God set two outcomes before Israel: blessing if they obeyed, ruin if they did not. One writer follows the second outcome to its end.
It goes on assuming the second case would happen. The cities are ruined. The land and its holy places are left desolate. The nation is scattered among the nations, into their enemies' land. And then, even while they are in the enemies' land, God says, "I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God." … The Lord then turns back to His own unconditional promises to their forefathers, after they have destroyed themselves.
- Bread promised. Plenty was real, but conditional: "If you walk … then I will give." That one word "if" decided Israel's whole history in the land.
- Bread broken. Bread holds natural life upright. When God takes it away, that is discipline, not stinginess. The fault lies with the people, not with Him.
- Bread weighed. Every household once had its own oven. Ten women sharing one, and bread given out by weight, show family life collapsing into rationing.
- Bread unsatisfying. The weighed-out portion still leaves them hungry. Judgment reaches the appetite, not just the harvest.
- Bread remembered. After the sword, the siege and the scattering, God turns back to His unconditional promises to their forefathers. He will not break His covenant.