If ever you spend any time with me in Bible study, if we talk about the Old Testament, inevitably you'll hear me talk about the Blessings and the Cursings in Deuteronomy 28-29. Practically, the whole of the Old Testament hinges upon those passages. I almost smacked my forehead when I read this Leviticus passage this morning. I had never occurred to me that those same promises might be elsewhere in the Bible, but it should have. After all, Deuteronomy, meaning "second law", is the second giving of the law. Which means, it had to be somewhere in the first giving, like in Exodus or Leviticus or Number. Duh. And here it is.
While the terms in this passage might seem harsh, they were certainly given with a purpose: to let Israel know that their decisions and their actions had consequences. God warned them ahead of time that if they chose to obey Him, He would bless your socks off. If you've ever been like me and had to clean out a fridge full of tupperware holding moldy or soured food, then the idea that the surplus of a harvest would last until the next one, having to cleared out for the next harvest, is mind-boggling. Or, if you've ever struggled with a grocery budget or how to put food on the table, doesn't the idea of never being in want, the harvests so abundant you won't be able to eat all of it, blow your mind? And yet this is what God promises. On the other side of the coin, the unspeakable is going to happen (not likely, not bound to, but will indeed happen) if Israel refuses to obey the Lord's statutes and honor their covenant with Him. Not as punishment, not to grind them under His almighty thumb, but to discipline them to bring them back to Him. If you were Israel, which do you think you would choose?
Looking at the contrast of these promises, it seems so easy that they should choose to obey. Love, honor, and obey the Almighty God. But we know from history that they didn't. Not even most of the time. And we'll see how these decisions and consequences play out over and over and over again, how God makes good on His promises. Really, Judges alone will tell you that. Everything that happens in Isreal, and later Judah, is a direct result of this action-consequence relationship the Lord establishes in Deuteronomy 28-29, but first here in Leviticus. I'm actually pretty excited to see it unfold over the next several months as we read through the Old Testament. Yes: this passage is likely to come up in the blog again. You are forewarned.
Tomorrow's Reading: Leviticus 27:1-34
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