Leviticus 26 is, in many ways, the climax of the book. Indeed, it is the covenantal climax. Leviticus, of course, is a book of laws. Hopefully, throughout this study, we have seen how much depth and significance there is in these laws. For instance, God gave these laws to shape Israel as they draw near to Him for communion in His presence.

In many ancient Near Eastern covenants, the conclusion often took the form that we find in this text: blessings for those who uphold the covenant and curses for those who forsake it. Deuteronomy 28 is another well-known example, within the Scriptures. Thus, this chapter is one of the most crucial in the whole book, perhaps even on par with the Day of Atonement.

Thankfully, this chapter is quite straightforward. It presents a central theme of Scripture: the choice between life and death. Indeed, it is framed in many ways. The Psalms speak of the way of righteousness and the way of the wicked. Proverbs gives us the path of wisdom versus the path of folly. Jesus tells us that there are only two roads: one is hard, narrow, and ends in life; the other is easy, broad, and leads to destruction. Leviticus 26 is one of the clearest expressions of that two-way choice. Will we choice obedience and blessing or disobedience and curses?

The chapter divides into four clear sections. Verses 1-2 give the summary command of the entire covenant. Verses 3-13 list the blessings for obedience, while verses 14-39 cite the curses for disobedience. Finally, verses 40-46 conclude with the hope of repentance and God’s covenant faithfulness.

SUMMARY OF THE COVENANTAL COMMAND // VERSES 1-2

Verses 1-2 summarize the entirety of the laws of Leviticus and even the whole Pentateuch. Verse 1 summons Israel to worship God alone. They were not to make, bow down, or trust in anything but Yahweh. That is the foundational command of the covenant because God always demands exclusive loyalty. No one can truly worship God while also worshiping other gods. In Israel’s context, this was exactly the issue. Most of the surrounding cultures, even the Canaanites, would not have objected to worshiping Yahweh, as long as they could worship Him like and alongside their gods. They rejected the exclusive worship of Yahweh.

You see, paganism and religious pluralism always go together, which we still see today. Certainly, there are not many explicit carved idols in homes and in public places, but our age is still thoroughly pluralistic. The dominant belief today is that all religions lead to God, and that Christianity is only acceptable if it surrenders its claim of exclusivity. But Scripture does not allow that. In the Old Testament, God called His people to worship Him alone, and in the New Testament, Jesus says that no one can come to the Father except through Him.

Verse 2 then gives us two commands that summarize all of Leviticus: You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. The Sabbath embodies the entire concept of sacred time. Much of the second half of Leviticus has revolved around that sacred time, especially the last three chapters. The Sabbath is the essence of worship in time. God calls His people to rest because rest is an act of trust. Rest acknowledges that God is our Provider and Shepherd, and that we are His sheep. Every feast, festival, sabbatical year, and the year of jubilee all reflect upon, expand upon, or grow out of the Sabbath principle. All Israel’s worship in time was grounded in the Sabbath.

The sanctuary, which in Leviticus was the tabernacle, was the place of God’s holy presence. This command takes us back to the first half of Leviticus, which taught Israel how to enter sacred space. The word ‘reverence’ here means ‘to stand in fear.’ God calls His people to respond to His presence in the opposite manner of Nadab and Abihu, that is, with awe and holy fear. Again, Ecclesiastes 5 captures the posture perfectly: “God is in heaven and you are on earth; therefore let your words be few.” Entering God’s presence is a wonderful privilege, but also a fearful one because God is holy, and we are not.

How then do these commands apply to us today? We have already seen at various points in this study that although Christians do not keep the Sabbath or the sanctuary in the same way that Israel did, these commands have not vanished entirely. They are fulfilled in Christ.

The Sabbath is fulfilled as we rest in the finished work of Christ. A weekly day of physical rest remains a wise and biblical pattern for us to follow. Christ, as the Lord of the Sabbath, is the perfect Giver of rest. We remember the Sabbath and keep it holy now by resting in the complete work of Christ. We trust Him and submit to His accomplished righteousness, not in our own measly attempts at being righteous. We rest in confidence that Christ alone has secured our fellowship with God again.

The sanctuary is fulfilled in Christ as well. He is the true tabernacle, God with us. And now that He has ascended to the right hand of God the Father almighty, we have become His temple. We are the sanctuary in which the Holy Spirit dwells. As we have noted, the Greek word ναος refers to the inner holy place.

How then do we live out these commands? We honor Christ as our Sabbath rest, continually turning from the pride of self-reliance and self-righteousness. Salvation by faith alone is both good news, but it is also humbling news, for it strips us of boasting and calls to trust entirely in Christ.

And we honor Christ’s people as His sanctuary. We revere the brothers and sisters around us because they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Paul urges us in Romans 12 to “outdo one another in showing honor.” Is that how we view one another? If Israel had to reverence the tabernacle made of linen, leather, gold, and silver, how much more should we reverence the living tabernacle around us: one another, God’s image-bearers filled with His Spirit?

These, therefore, are the summary commands of the covenant. Before God lays out blessings and curses, He graciously gives them this snapshot. Worship me alone. Guard sacred time. Reverence sacred space. Keep both holy. This is obedience in a nutshell.

THE BLESSING OF OBEDIENCE // VERSES 3-13

In verse 3, we are immediately met with a triple call to obedience: If you walk in my statutes, observe my commandments, and do them… All three phrases communicate the same essential idea in different words. Together, they highlight the comprehensive nature of covenant faithfulness. From the outset, God is summoning His people to total devotion, walking in His ways, obeying His Word, and doing all things for His glory. After all, God is not simply looking for compliant people; He is looking for communion with His people. Obedience, even in the Old Testament, was ultimately about walking in fellowship with God. That was Israel’s call then, and it remains His call for His people today.

Verses 4-12 then outline the blessings that flow from that obedience, increasing as they unfold. First comes provision. God promises abundant harvests and food security, which directly addresses the chief concern of nearly every person who has ever lived: having enough food.

Next God promises peace. One of the most beautiful lines in the chapter is: No one shall make you afraid. Statistically, we know something about being anxious and afraid. Fear dominates our culture because it dominates our feeds. And fear is a leech that drains the life and vitality of all it latches onto. But God pledges to drive away every fear from them. In God is the perfect love, which casts away all other fears.

Third is victory. Five shall chase a hundred, and a hundred shall chase ten thousand. That may sound like hyperbole, but if we read the rest of the Old Testament, we see God actually doing just this. Gideon’s three hundred men, armed only with trumpets and torches, scattered an army ‘like locusts for multitude’ (Judges 7). When God fights for His people, the math of warfare changes entirely. David’s mighty men perform similar feats. Therefore, this was no exaggeration. Israel did not need to fear even though they were a small people in the midst of mighty nations. Yahweh is a man of war. He would defend them.

After victory comes fruitfulness. God promises children to them, so that they would multiply through the land. Notice the echoes of Eden here. In the garden, God commanded Adam and Eve be fruitful and fill the land with more of God’s image. Now, God is deliberately speaking of fruitfulness and multiplication because Canaan was meant to be a kind of Eden restored. It would be a place where God’s people could flourish under His blessing as they walked with Him.

The fifth blessing is the pinnacle: God will dwell among them. That, of course, is the goal of all Leviticus. And the goal of all Scripture. God will not abhor them; He will not turn His face from them. He will be in their midst. Here we find the essence of the covenant that runs throughout Scripture: I will be your God, and you will be my people. This is the very heart of the blessings.

Sadly, we know that Israel never fully obeyed God’s commandments. Yet in the seasons when the nation, especially its leaders, walked faithfully, God proved true to His Word. We see this particularly in the reigns of David and Solomon, when God granted them peace from their enemies and blessings for their kingdom. But even in times of general unfaithfulness, God often showed mercy upon the whole nation for the sake of His faithful few.

All of these blessings that God promises are outward expressions of God’s favor upon them. Indeed, that is the core idea behind being blessed, living in the presence of the God who is goodness and life. The Greek word for blessed, μακαριος, doesn’t just mean temporary happiness or good feelings. It means the deep, abiding flourishing that comes from dwelling with God Himself, the kind of joy that transcends circumstances. Blessings, then, the particular expressions of God’s favor.

In the New Testament, physical blessings can still accompany obedience. God has not changed. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us not worry about our clothing or food because our heavenly Father knows our needs. But He tells us to seek first His kingdom and righteousness and “all these things will be added to you.”

But we also know that the New Testament repeatedly promised suffering, trials, and afflictions to Christ’s disciples. Our physical circumstances, therefore, are not a foolproof indicator of how obedient we have been to the Lord. In fact, we can all freely admit that we do not keep verse 3 perfectly. None of us walks consistently in His statutes, observes all of His commandments, and does them every minute of every day. All of us fail daily.

But the good news is that Christ obeyed perfectly in our place. And through His obedience, not our own, we have been blessed “with every spiritual blessing in Christ” as Ephesians 1:3 says. Because of Christ, nothing has been withheld from us. Indeed, the Father has already given us the supreme blessing: Christ Himself, the One through whom and for whom and to whom all things exist.

THE CURSES OF DISOBEDIENCE // VERSES 14-39

After promising blessings for obedience, verses 14-39 shift to pronouncing curses for disobedience. This section is noticeably longer than previous because the curses are more detailed and extensive than the blessings. This is because they anticipate the future rebellion of Israel. Allen Ross notes that these verses almost read like a foretelling of Israel’s history. The detail here is so specific that it reads almost like prophecy, and, indeed, that’s exactly what it is. God is telling His people what will happen if they forsake the covenant. He knows the end from the beginning.

As with the blessings, there is a clear progression of judgment. First comes sickness and disease. Then failed harvests. Instead of happiness and abundance, their bodies would break down, and the land would withhold its fruit from them. After that come military defeats. Instead, of triumphing over their enemies, their enemies would lord over them. Fear, terror, and panic would grip the people.

Notice too that every curse does not fall upon them all at once. God warns them repeatedly, giving them opportunity after opportunity for repentance.

Then the land itself would be devastated. Remember that the land was almost personified in last week’s text when it spoke of the sabbatical years. God told them to honor His giving them the land by giving the land rest. But we noted that there is no record of Israel actually practicing the sabbatical years. This chapter seems to confirm that thought, for God says that while Israel is in exile the land of Canaan will finally rest.

Indeed, exile is the ultimate curse here. If Canaan was intended to be something of a restored Eden, then being driven out of the land is meant to be read as a kind of second fall. Exile is a replay of Genesis 3: humanity cast out of the place where God dwells.

Those are the curses listed, but what is a curse exactly? The short answer is that it is the opposite of a blessing. If a blessing is living under God’s favor, a curse is living under God’s wrath and judgment. Leviticus 24 vividly illustrated this dynamic. The chapter first presented a picture of God’s blessing: the lampstand continually lit, shining on the twelve loaves of bread that represented the twelve tribes. Every day the light was replenished. Every Sabbath the bread was renewed. It was an almost sacramental picture of life under God’s shining favor, His living in His presence and being refreshed week by week.

Then the chapter gave the contrasting image: the man who blasphemed the divine name who was cursed by the people and stoned. The blasphemer portrays the curse of God. He stands in Scripture as a case study and a warning of what happens when someone rejects God’s authority.

But how should Christians read these curses today? This requires discernment because believers cannot be cursed by God. Scripture is explicit on this point. Galatians 3:13 says that Christ became a curse for us. Indeed, that is the core of the gospel. Christ bore the curse that our sin deserved, and because He took our curse, we cannot come under it again. The judgment has already fallen upon Christ.

However, believers can and do experience consequences for our sin, but that is discipline not punishment. This is a crucial point that we must recognize. Nonbelievers may be punished for their sin now and will be on the Day of Judgment. Believers, however, cannot be punished because Christ took all of our punishment. The New Testament term for the believer’s discipline is paideia, which can also mean training, education, or enculturation. It comes from the Greek for child (paideon) and refers to the process of forming an immature child into a mature and noble citizen.

That is what God is doing for His people. We are never punished in wrath; we are disciplined in love. The discipline is not pleasant. Hebrews tells that all paideia is painful rather than pleasant in the moment, yet it is for our ultimate good. When suffering comes upon us, either general suffering or suffering caused directly by our sin, we should receive it as discipline rather than punishment, asking God to use it to shape us ever more into the likeness of His Son. And that is the highest gift that He can give to us.

Unbelievers, on the other hand, remain under the curse until they repent. For anyone who has not turned to Christ, the curse is already upon them. But there is hope, which we turn to with the final verses.

REPENTANCE AND REMEMBRANCE // VERSES 40-46

Thankfully, the chapter does not end with curses. Verses 40-46 turn our eyes toward repentance and God’s faithful remembrance. Grace has the final word in our text.

The first movement in these verses is the call to confession in verses 40-41. God says that if His people confess their iniquity He will act. Repentance always begins with confession, with an acknowledgment of what was done wrong. This, of course, requires humility. But there is no repentance without actually identifying the sin. Of course, we can and should confess sins that we are not aware of, but that should still flow from confessing known sins.

For Israel to return from life under the covenant curses, they must own up to their rebellion. Like a child coming to a father, the path forward is honesty and humility.

But how does God respond?  Verses 42-45 declare that He will remember His covenant. Indeed, the language of remembrance dominates these verses.

Whenever Scripture says that God remembered something, it does not mean that He previously forgot it. The Omniscient One forgets nothing. “Remembering” in Scripture means that He brings something to mind in order to act. In Genesis 8:1, God remembered Noah; then He caused the floodwaters to recede. At the end of Exodus 2, God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; then He resolved to come down to deliver Israel from slavery. Divine remembrance always signals divine action.

That too is the promise here. If they confess their sin, He will remember His covenant and restore them. They will not be annihilated but restored. He remains their God even after judgment.

This theme is carried through Scripture. Solomon’s prayer at the temple dedication in 1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 6 echoes this passage, as well as Deuteronomy 28. Daniel, who was taken to Babylon in the exile, is shown praying in chapter 9, facing Jerusalem and confessing the sins of the people, pleading for God to remember His covenant with them. And God does, in fact, restore them.

Again, for unbelievers, the curses describe their present spiritual condition. Those who do not belong to Christ remain under the weight of their sin, and all of their sin will surely be paid for on the Day of Judgment, unless you trust in Christ to take your sin upon Himself. That is the gospel, the good news. Today is still the day of God’s favor. If you are alive, the window for repentance is still open.

But this is also a call for believers to repent as well. Although God uses all suffering to discipline us, not all suffering is the consequence of our sin. Even so, we should continuously ask the Lord to search our hearts just as David did. And when He makes our sin known to us, we should confess it to Him, remembering that Christians do not fight sin alone. We cannot fight sin alone. But we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us and empowering us to mortify our sin, supplying us the strength to obey His command.

Leviticus 26 does not end with despair because the Bible does not end in despair. Rather, both end with an open door to repentance. Again, blessings and curses, obedience or disobedience, are the only two paths that have ever existed. Let us choose the path of life. Even when we fail, let us give thanks that God is gracious and always summons us to return to Him. Indeed, Bonar notes:

He seeth the end from the beginning. He knew the kind of people whom He had chosen. For see, at the foot of Sinai, He speaks in this prophetic strain, warning them of what He sees coming on. He knew their hearts; He did not choose them for their worthiness; He manifested grace in them. From Sinai He looks down the stream of ages, and sees their sin, and yet goes forward to manifest His love and make them the objects of it. “There is none like the God of Jeshurun.” (492)

And as we come to the Table before us this morning, we should marvel at the same love. Here we see, in tangible signs, the broken body and shed blood of Christ, as He became a curse in our place.

Who then is welcome to this Table? First, if you are not a Christian, then instead of coming to this Table go directly to Christ in prayer. Take this time to acknowledge your sin, repent, and confess Jesus as Lord. And afterward speak to someone about what following Christ looks like.

Second, if you are a Christian but have not yet been baptized, then be baptized first. Baptism is one of the first steps of discipleship. It is the public sign of repentance, faith, and allegiance to Christ.

But if you are a baptized believer, then come. The standard for approaching the Table is not sinlessness but repentance. After all, Christ knew all your sin as He hung upon the cross for you. Nothing that you have done this week came as a surprise to Him. Ask yourself these questions: Are you coming as someone who knows your need of grace? Are you coming with the understanding that apart from Christ you would remain under the curse of sin? If so, then come.

May we, therefore, come to this bread and cup and see both the curse borne by Christ and the blessing secured in Him for us. May we marvel that the who hung on the tree became a curse for us, so that we might receive the unhindered and everlasting blessing of God.