God Speaks
Rewards for Obedience, Punishment for Disobedience and Redemption
Verse of the Day: “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands . . . But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, . . . But nothing that a person owns and devotes to the LORD–whether a human being or an animal or family land–may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.” (Leviticus 26: 3, 14 and 27:28 NIV 2011)
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We Respond
Reflection: Consider the following questions regarding Leviticus 26-27:
1. What does this chapter tell me about God?
2. What does this chapter tell me about the human beings He created?
Here is one possible answer to each of these questions. Ask the Holy Spirit if there are any others for you personally to ponder.
Leviticus 26
1. God will both reward and punish His people’s actions in regard to their obeying His covenant, but He will never break His part of it.
2. God’s special people (Jews and Christians) are responsible to keep their covenant with the LORD God or suffer the consequences. True believers have the indwelling Holy Spirit to help them.
Leviticus 27
1. God has made a way for people, animals, objects, and the land to be redeemed. True believers are redeemed by faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.
2. Priests are the ones to set the value of the animal, object, or land to be redeemed. God is the One who sets the value of people–the life and death of His Son.
Prayer:
3. How might I pray regarding Leviticus 26-27?
Dearest LORD God, what a good Father You are to Your wayward children. You were very patient as You laid out the commands and instructions on how to worship and serve You. You even promised to richly reward those who followed them in demonstration of their love for You. Their (and my) motivation was not to earn Your love but to express gratitude for Your many gifts and blessings. May my nation, state, community, family, and I return to faithful obedience to Your laws, commands, and precepts so that You are free to bless us with abundant crops, peaceful sleep, and freedom from violence and war. Please lead us to the point where the only thing we fear is displeasing You, our loving Father. Help us, Holy Spirit, to refrain from refusing to listen and remaining hostile to the LORD. You have every right to punish us severely, even seven times over, for our sins. In Your great mercy and grace, accept Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross as punishment for our multitude of sins. Please refrain from sending death from famine, natural disasters, pestilence, deadly disease, violence, and war. Instead draw us to deep contrition and humility. Humble our stubborn hearts and cause us to remember You and Your covenant. Thank You that You promise to remember Your ancient covenant to always sustain a remnant of Your people. You know that we humans are prone to break our vows, so You laid out directions for us to be restored to You and to each other. Thank You, also, that You made a way for people to redeem or buy back animals, people, houses, and land. Thank You so much for redeeming me from slavery to sin, self, and Satan. May other believers and I live in such a way that we bring glory to You, LORD. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
4. What action does the LORD want me to take in response to Leviticus 26-27? With the help of God’s Holy Spirit:
- I will look for the ways God is rewarding me for my obedience and thank Him for it.
- I will tell someone how they can be redeemed and become one of God’s special people.
- I will declare, even among unbelievers, that the LORD God is my God, and I am His person.
- I will keep my covenant (solemn promise) since God keeps His.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with _________.