Big Idea: Obedience and disobedience have profound consequences.

Understanding the Text

Leviticus 26 is a continuation of Leviticus 25. The two chapters have a common introduction (25:1–2a) and conclusion (26:46), both emphasizing Mount Sinai. Leviticus 26 refers back to Leviticus 25’s instructions to give the land its Sabbath rests (26:34–35, 43). Its command to keep the Sabbath (26:2) naturally follows Leviticus 25’s Sabbath Year theme. But in a broader sense this chapter sums up the entire holiness code (Lev. 17–27) by spelling out the consequences of obeying its commands and the consequences of disobeying them. Four decades later, when Moses renews the covenant, the blessings/curses theme of Leviticus 26 is repeated for a new generation (Deut. 28). Yet despite disobedience, God will …