Promises - Pt. 6

 

[The Lord says] “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land. You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm my covenant with you. You shall eat old store long kept, and you shall clear out the old to make way for the new. I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.” (Leviticus 26:3-13 ESV).

 

Leviticus is not an easy book to read. It is full of rules that apply to the Israelites in the Old Testament. God set up those rules to make for himself a new people that would bless all other peoples, through a Savior. God had brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt, but they had not yet entered the Promised Land. God promised to bless them. God promised to make their life fruitful, to live among them, and to walk with them; he would be their God, and they would be his people.

 

Throughout Israel’s long history the people often wandered from God, and the Lord had to keep shepherding them back onto safe pathways. Sometimes he had to punish them for their wickedness and rebellion, but he always maintained a remnant of faithful followers. And eventually from those people God provided the Savior, Jesus. He fulfilled the Old Testament law for the sake of God’s people and then paid the price for the punishment of sin.

 

God promises to be with us today. He is our God, and we are his people. And today, through Jesus Christ, we have the Holy Spirit to help us walk faithfully with God. The Apostle Paul says it this way: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39 ESV). However, rough your path is, He is with you and will never leave you!