Sometimes, it can be hard to rest completely in the promises of God. It’s a good thing the Bible offers great guidance for us, displaying one piece at a time of the gargantuan puzzle. God shows us the reality of the Israelites as they were becoming His nation, even foretelling of their stubborn nature and near extinction. As part of history, this helps point to the current reality that we are no different but all have the opportunity to be right with Him, Israelite or not. Never forget though, only a remnant will be saved.
Leviticus presents Moses as a teacher of sorts. He hears from the Lord and passes on the rules and regulations for the Israelite governance. Their daily life duties concentrated steadily on God and were to build a relationship of trust and faith.
Obedience
Sacrifices, priests, food, cleanliness–all taught them to think about God throughout their day to ensure they were acting in obedience.
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Arriving on the heels of further restrictions and rest for the land, the prior chapters lead us gently to this conclusion, the reward for obedience. God chose a people group, set up a nation, was preparing their land for them, would fight for them, and He daily provided for them. In return, He offers blessings for obedience. They needed to follow His decrees and obey His commands and rain would come, the land would produce in overabundance, they would have peace from enemies, the beasts would be removed from the land, their numbers would increase, and He would look on them with favor.
Disobedience
However, that’s not the end of the story; there’s also a punishment for disobedience and it carries hefty penalties:
- sudden terror,
- wasting diseases,
- fever that will destroy sight and drain life,
- enemies that will take their harvest and defeat them,
- abhorrent rulers,
- fearful living conditions,
- wild animals will return and take children and cattle,
- God will bring the sword against them,
- plagues will be sent,
- they will be given over to their enemies,
- food supplies will be destroyed and they will go hungry,
- cannibalism will occur,
- dead bodies will pile up on their useless idols,
- cities will be ruined,
- sacrifices will be rejected,
- the land will be laid waste, and
- they will be scattered.
This passage keeps offering the line “if you still disobey”, as though a tiered cascade of disobedient results occur. In those passages, there seems to exude a longing for broken pride and a humble heart to emerge from each level of punishment.
Only a Remnant Will be Saved…
A glimmer of hope is offered after the terrifying list of consequences. “If they will obey” becomes the light at the end of the tunnel to escape the potential tragedies.
But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.
Leviticus 26:40-45, emphasis added
Only a remnant will be saved. Coming up later in the Bible, we will see how only a remnant will be saved and how important it is to remember. Just like the tabernacle points to a future permanent structure which points to a future after death. Just as the sun points to light and to a future light where God is our light. So, too, the remnant points us to a future remnant.
Lest we forget, the remnant is not a massive group. Within the first remnant context, of the whole world, it wasn’t even one whole nation, it was only a small segment that had survived the punishments and was preserved because of a covenant promise.
A Future Remnant…
Similarly, the future remnant foretold of consists not of the entire world, not the entire church body, but individuals within the world preserved because of a covenant promise. It is not a massive group comparative to the amount of people in the world. That should awaken us to the reality of our own heart condition. Church attendance will not save you. Boasting a declaration that you are a Christian will not save you. Sharing Christian memes publicly will not save you.
Only a remnant will be saved. A question I will leave for you to focus on this week:
Am I truly a part of the remnant?
Last Week
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Thanks for your exploration of Leviticus. God wants us to know the penalty for disobedience and the cost of our salvation, but it seems that even in the darkest times of biblical history, he holds out a ray of hope for those willing to find it.