This was quite a prophetic chapter! God reveals all the ways He will reward those who follow His Commands. And He also reveals the ways He will punish the transgressors. It was the latter that really struck me. The descriptions of the nature of these punishments goes on for over twenty verses, and they seem to be all things that have since come to pass. Leviticus 26:17 says, "I will set my face against you, and you shall fall down before your enemies, and shall be made subject to them that hate you." This very thing has happened to the Jewish people numerous times, most notably in our own modern period. Leviticus 26:25 says, "I will bring in upon you the sword that shall avenge my covenant. And when you shall flee into the cities, I will send the pestilence in the midst of you, and you shall be delivered into the hands of your enemies." Many believe these prophecies were fulfilled during the Babylonian Captivity, but I don't see any reason why they couldn't have been broad prophecies pointing towards events beyond the captivity. In fact, what was the Diaspora but a great exodus by the Jewish people "into the hands of [their] enemies"? It is said further, "I will destroy your high places, and break your idols" (Leviticus 26:30). This prophecy was most definitely fulfilled when the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. This is followed by even more foreshadowing of the Jewish Diaspora and even the eventual natural transformation of the Holy land: "I will scatter you among the Gentiles, and I will draw out the sword after you, and your land shall be desert, and your cities destroyed" (Leviticus 26:33). It is well known that the Promised Land is described as a land "flowing with milk and honey" in the Old Testament. But, as we all know, it is now a land mostly stripped of its fertility. And just to strike the point home, God declares with finality, "You shall perish among the Gentiles, and an enemy's land shall consume you" (Leviticus 26:38). The Jews will be cast out of the Holy Land and the land will be given its Sabbath, the Sabbath the Jewish people didn't give it. It will lie fallow as it was meant to be every seventh year, a law the Jews did not faithfully follow.
Another thing that came to mind while reading this chapter is that the language isn't as harsh as it appears on the surface. The list of God's punishments is frightening to fathom for sure, but no punishment is set forth without a reason. In Leviticus 26:27-28, God says, "If you will not for all this hearken to me, but will walk against me: / I will also go against you with opposite fury, and I will chastise you with seven plagues for your sins." All that is being said here is that God will respond to us in the same manner we respond to Him. If we love and adore Him, we can be confidant He will do the likewise to us. If we walk against Him, He will walk against us. And thus I am always puzzled when people react to, for example, natural disasters with the attitude of "how could a loving God do this?!" Look at how we as a collective people treat God. We deny Him, we blaspheme Him, we persecute Him.... we walk against Him. And so He has gone against us with the same fury we have gone against Him!
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