Leviticus 26:1-13

Alright, well, good morning, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This is where every day, you and I, we get together. We have a little bit of coffee. Tea. We get into God's Word. Tea. Milk. We get into God's Word. Or nothing. Or nothing, because people didn't get their stuff. And we get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together.
And this year, 2023, Lord willing, we'll make it from Genesis through Leviticus. Leviticus, guess what? We're almost done with Leviticus. That's right. It's the end of the year and we are almost done with Leviticus. So we have two more chapters. We're going to have some coffee. We'll pray. Excuse me. Stop guys. We'll have some coffee. We'll pray. And we'll get into God's Word. Okay, let's go ahead and pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your Word. And we pray now, Lord, that you would please help us to understand your word. Father, please apply it to our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.
That's the book of Judges, but we're going to go to Leviticus chapter 26. Good job. Numbers, one more. Leviticus 25, 26. Right down here. Okay, we're going to do the first 13 verses. Leviticus 20, one more. 5, Leviticus 26. The first from here to here.
Okay? The what? 1 through 13. The? Oh, there is a the. But hey, listen now, okay? Yes, Daddy? Okay. The? Ellie, Ellie. Listen now, okay? I know you're excited to read, but you need to wait, okay? Now is it time to listen? Hey, look at me. Let's listen now, okay?
You shall not make idols for yourselves. Neither a carved image nor a sacred pillar shall you rear up for yourselves, nor shall you set up an engraved stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am Jehovah your God. You shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. I am the Lord.
So, what did that say? That's right. That's right. That's right. We're doing first commandment in the catechism. You shall have no other gods before me. And the second, which is similar to this, is you shouldn't make for yourselves any what? Any idols, right? Or images, right? And why not?
Because God's the Lord. Okay, well here in verse 3, If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and perform them, then I will give you rain in its season. The land shall yield its produce, and the trees of the field will yield their fruit. Alright, so verse 3, what did he say? Walk in my statutes. Not work. Walk. Walk in my statutes. Walk. Walk in my statutes and keep my commandments.
Now he's going to make a bunch of promises to them, okay? So this is what you call a covenant, right? So he's got, he's going to make, he's saying who the sovereign is, he's the Lord. And now he's going to give them different promises and then in verse 14 he'll give them different consequences if they don't keep his commandments. So here's the promises that God makes. I'll give you rain in a season. That's a promise.
If they keep his commandments, he'll give them rain. The land will yield its produce and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. The threshing shall last till the time of vintage, and the vintage shall last till the time of sowing. You shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely."
So what's he making promises to them? Basically, if you walk in my statues, I'll make sure you'll be okay. Yeah, right, it's an agricultural community. And so he promises them that they're going to have rain and they're going to have good harvests. Right, yeah, food. All right, and then verse six, he makes more promises. This is all contingent on walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments.
I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none will make you afraid. I will rid the land of evil beasts, and the sword will not go through your land. You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you. 5 shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight. Your enemies shall fall by the sword before you." Okay, so in verses 6 through 8, what type of promises is he making, if they keep his commandments? You can chase off your enemies even if they're bigger than you. Yeah, even if you're outnumbered, you'll be able to chase off your enemies, that's right.
That reminds me of Gideon. And when the man that didn't have any sword, he got a rock and put it on his finger, and then the big giant died. Oh, David, yeah. Yeah, David, when he killed Goliath, that's exactly what this type of thing is talking about. So if we want them, they'll fight. So it's 20 to 1, even if they're outnumbered, they'll fight.
OK. Well, in verses 9 through 13, there's more promises. You ready? Nathan, can you read verse 9? I will look on you favorably, and make you fruitful. Multiply you and fulfill my covenant with you. Okay, so what promise does he make there? And make sure they have babies. Yeah, he'll make sure they have babies, right? To have a society, you need to have what? Can you just have mom and dads? Yeah, you have to have children, right? So he's promising them that even their families are going to be blessed. And he says, you shall eat the old harvest and clear out the old because of the new. I will set my tabernacle among you and my soul shall not abhor you. What does that mean when he says, I will set my tabernacle among you? Do you know what a tabernacle is?
It's like a tent. Right, but what was God's tent before the temple? Do you remember we went through all the different articles? Some of the things that were in the tabernacle. The lampstand, the table of showbread, Do you remember the altars? Right, the altar of incense and the altar for sacrifice, the basin. Yeah, that's right. And then the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy of Holies.
Right, and so he says he's going to have his tabernacle in the midst of them. So God's going to have his tent in the middle, all their tents are going to be around the outside. What does that show? What do you think it shows if he's got the biggest tent right in the middle and all their tents are camped all around the outside of his tabernacle?
He's the leader. He's the leader. Good. What else do you think it would show? He's the big one. He's the big one. He's the king, right? Yeah, and so all the people around him. Is he the type of king that hates his people? Yeah, he doesn't rule them with rigor, right? But he's given them certain commandments to follow. And he says, I will walk among you and be your God and you shall be my people. In what way do you think God walked among his people?
Do you guys remember the fire that came down from heaven? What? And lit the altar? Yeah, and then his presence was with them, right? And then in verse, oh, what's up? My teacher was talking about this. Your teacher was talking about this? This, um, she comes up the mountain, and then he comes down, and they beat off, and they beat, um, and they beat, um, let's see, Yeah, so you learned about when they had worshipped the golden cat? Yeah, guess what? That happened right before this.
And yet God is still promising them. It's almost like he's giving them a second chance. He says, okay, I've shown it to you now. If you walk in my commandment, if you keep my statutes, I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. That's right. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. I have broken the bands of your yoke and made you walk upright. Alright, so God makes a... What type of agreement is this with, though? What's that called? It starts with a C. Disagreement between Him and the people. What do you guys think? Do you remember that word? What's an agreement between a king and a group of people?
A covenant. Yeah, God is making a covenant with the people here. And if they walk according to His commandment to keep His statutes, what's He gonna do? He's gonna bless them. That's right. He's gonna bless them. Now, do you think that this is all just law, law, law? So God is even gracious here, even in the Mosaic Covenant. Do you know who's writing down these words? Moses.
That's why we call this the Mosaic Covenant. It's one of the different administrations of the Covenant of Grace. But we don't live under this administration anymore. We live under the New Covenant of Jesus Christ, which is a better covenant. But here even we see points of grace. Do you guys think the people are going to keep it? No. We're going to find out that they don't. And you guys know that from some of this Bible that we've already read, haven't you? Yeah. Okay.
Well, since we don't live under the law, this covenant anymore, how do you think this applies to your life? What are we called to do? Keep the new covenant. Keep the new covenant? What does that look like? Trying to be like Jesus, good. Good, yeah, so because he's given us new hearts, we walk in obedience, right? What about you Debra, what does this call you to do? Good, follow the Lord and keep His commandments because it will go well with you.
So does God promise us now that you're going to have a perfect life? So how will it go well with you? If you listen to your parents? Do you think it will go generally well with you? Do you think it will go generally well with you in your life if you follow God's commandments?
Yeah, so can I promise you that you're always going to have all the money in the world or all the best fields? No, you can't make that promise, right? But can I promise you that you'll be able to find contentment in whatever circumstances? and that the Lord will make sure he provides for you?
Let's go ahead and pray. Father, we pray that we would be those who would walk according to your commandments. Lord, we pray that we would follow after you. We thank you that you have made wonderful promises to us, and that most of those promises we know are yet to come, because this life is only a foretaste of eternity. So Father, we pray that you would please bless us and pray that you would fill us with your spirit, that we would walk according to the covenant of Jesus Christ, that we would be filled with grace and walking grace. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. May God bless you. May you know that your covenant King loves you and cares for you. We'll talk to you next time. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith and your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.