Sermon Manuscript

Leviticus 26:40-46 ~ 20170507 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

05/07 Leviticus 26:40-46; Repentance and Restoration ;Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20170507_leviticus-26_40-46.mp3

We are looking at the covenant document of ancient Israel, the covenant between God and his people. This document is the necessary background for understanding the history of Israel in the Old Testament, and for understanding the message of the prophets, who called Israel to turn from their false gods back to the one true God.

Leviticus 26 verses 1-2 are a reminder of the central demand of the covenant, that by entering into this covenant, Israel is promising to have no other gods but the one LORD. Verses 3-13 list the blessings that accompany this relationship; verses 14-39 list the curses that will fall on the nation when they reject the LORD and fail to honor their agreement. This last section, verses 40-46, holds out an amazingly gracious promise that God will respond to genuine broken-hearted turning of his people back to himself.

The blessings were conditional;

Leviticus 26:3 “If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, 4 then I will give you

And he lists a series of four blessings, blessings of abundant produce and protection and progeny and most importantly the presence of God with his people.

The curses were a series of five disciplines escalating in intensity; the first stage in verse 14:

Leviticus 26:14 “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, 15 if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, 16 then I will do this to you:

The second stage in verse 18:

Leviticus 26:18 And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins,

The third stage of discipline in verse 21

Leviticus 26:21 “Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins.

The fourth stage, aimed at turning the people back to God, verse 23:

Leviticus 26:23 “And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, 24 then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins.

The final stage, verse 27:

Leviticus 26:27 “But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, 28 then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins.

The discipline is severe, indicating that the consequences of continuing in rebellion and refusing to heed the discipline are even more painful. Here at the end of this series of discipline, God holds out the promise of hope; if his rebellious people will …

Leviticus 26:40 “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, 41 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, 42 then I will remember...

Notice this is taking full responsibility. This is not making excuses for sin. This is not blaming it on a failed upbringing or painful circumstances that have shaped responses. There is no blame for genetic predisposition. They confess.

Defining Confession

What does it mean to confess? It means to own up to your sin. It means to admit that you are guilty of a punishable deed or offense. Psalm 32 spells this out. David understands the consequences of refusing to confess, and the amazing relief of confession and forgiveness. He begins by rejoicing in the benefits of forgiveness.

Psalm 32:1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Then he shows us the opposite of confession.

Psalm 32:3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. — Selah

This is deceit. It is refusing to admit what is true, and it is a painful experience. Then in verse 5 he confesses.

Psalm 32:5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. — Selah

Confession is refusing to hide or lie about or cover iniquity. It is acknowledging sin to God. It is not trying to fix it or be better or change. It is simply owning up to the facts. We see this same contrast between concealing and confessing in Proverbs.

Proverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Notice what it is they are to confess.

Leviticus 26:40 “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,

They are admitting their iniquity in their treachery against God. Their failure to listen to God, their disregard for God is considered treasonous. It is a sin against God himself. By not listening to God, by not following him, they are walking contrary to him. They are against him. Jesus said:

Matthew 12:30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

This divides the world in two. There are those who walk contrary to God, and there are those who confess. God says of those who conceal rather than confess, whose pattern of life is contrary to God,

Leviticus 26:41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies...

The Lord reminds his people of the consequence of opposing God. He will walk contrary to you. Exile, captivity, bondage. A life opposed by the creator of all things. Yet his warnings are meant to turn our hearts toward him.

Leviticus 26: ...—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will remember...

If their uncircumcised heart is humbled. Back in verse 19, God threatens to 'break the pride of your power.' Humility is the appropriate response to a God whom we have ignored. James says:

James 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ... 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

God opposes the proud. But he gives grace to the humble. Note well, the proud get what they deserve. They refuse to confess, they refuse to humble themselves, and God sets himself against them. But the humble do not get what they deserve. They get better than they deserve. He gives grace to the humble.

Uncircumcised Hearts

God refers to his people as having uncircumcised hearts. In Genesis 17, God gave Abraham circumcision as a sign of his covenant with him. Uncircumcision becomes a picture of thick skinned callousness to the Lord. Jeremiah calls for repentance:

Jeremiah 4:4 Circumcise yourselves to the LORD; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem; lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of the evil of your deeds.”

The Lord laments:

Jeremiah 6:10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ears are uncircumcised, they cannot listen; behold, the word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn; they take no pleasure in it.

It is as if there is a flap of skin blocking their ears so they cannot hear. It is a heart-attitude that is the problem. The problem is with what they take pleasure in; what they desire. Stephen in Acts 7 said:

Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

In Deuteronomy, Moses charged the people before he turned over the leadership to Joshua:

Deuteronomy 10:12 “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD, which I am commanding you today for your good? 14 Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. 15 Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. 17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. 19 Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 20 You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. 21 He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. 22 Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul; this is for your good. The Lord has set his heart in love on you above all peoples. Be no longer stubborn. Fear him, serve him, hold fast to him.

Leviticus 26:41...—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity,

What does it mean to 'make amends'? This word means 'to be pleased' and is used frequently in Leviticus of a sacrifice being accepted by the Lord. The King James translates this phrase 'if they accept the punishment of their iniquity.' We cannot fix the damage we have done by our hard hearts. But in humility we can accept our guilt before the Lord.

I Will Remember

God says if my people will confess, will accept their guilt, will humble themselves,

Leviticus 26:42 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.

God promises to remember. When the Bible says that God remembered, it does not imply that God is forgetful. To remember an agreement is to honor the terms of that agreement. God's people made a covenant with him at Mount Sinai under Moses; this was a conditional covenant, conditioned on their obedience to all the things written in the law, a covenant that they broke. God here is promising that if they will own their guilt and humble themselves, that he will honor the terms of a prior covenant that he made, a covenant that was conditioned only on one thing; circumcision. If they will circumcise their hearts, he will honor all his promises.

Paul tells Timothy:

2 Timothy 2:11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

There are consequences for sin; but God cannot deny himself. We may be faithless, but he will make good on the promises he has made.

Sabbath for The Land

Leviticus 26:43 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.

The land will be abandoned. They forsook the land God gave them by their disobedience. The land will enjoy rest. Earlier in this chapter,

as a consequence for their sin, God promised to make the roads desolate (v.22); their sanctuaries desolate (v.31); and the land desolate (v.32, 34, 35). Here the land will enjoy its rest while it is desolate without them. They spurned his rules and their soul abhorred his statutes. This not an issue of merely outward actions. This is a heart issue.

Future for Israel

Leviticus 26:44 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. 45 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.”

They spurned his rules and abhorred his statutes, but the Lord will not spurn or abhor them to utterly destroy them. His discipline will accomplish its purpose. He will not make an end of them and break his covenant. Why? They had broken his covenant. The reason God will not break his covenant with them is 'I am the LORD their God.' He will not go back on his word, because he is who he is. He will not change. Even if they abhor and spurn the Lord, the Lord will not spurn or abhor them. Even if they abandon the land, the Lord will not abandon or forsake them.

In Romans chapters 9-11, Paul wrestles with the question of Israel and God's promises. He has 'great sorrow and unceasing anguish' in his heart (9:2-3) for his 'brothers, ...kinsmen according to the flesh'. He is confident that 'a remnant of them will be saved' (9:27). His 'hearts desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved' (10:1). He asks in chapter 11 if God has rejected his people, and his answer is 'by no means!' (11:1-2). He recognizes that the majority of Israel is now hardened toward the Lord, but he asks 'did they stumble in order that they might fall?' (11:11) and his answer again is 'by no means!' He sees that through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, but he looks forward to 'their full inclusion' (11:12), 'their acceptance' (11:15). He is confident that 'even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again' (11:23). He looks forward to the day when 'all Israel will be saved' (11:26). He longs for the day that 'by the mercy shown to your they also may now receive mercy' (11:31). God said:

What a treasure that our God is a covenant keeping God. That even:

2 Timothy 2:13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

God will be true to his own character.

Isaiah 54:7 For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. 8 In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer.

In Romans 10, Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 30, a passage where Moses reminds the people of the blessing and the curse, and after they are scattered, if they will 'return to the LORD your God, ...and obey his voice... , with all your heart and with all your soul,

Deuteronomy 30:3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

In Leviticus 26, God said

Leviticus 26:41...—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity,

The only way that an uncircumcised heart is humbled is if God humbles it. In Deuteronomy 30 God promises 'the LORD your God will circumcise your heart ...so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul' The only way that we can love God like this is if God does this work in our hearts to change our desires. This is a work of the Holy Spirit.

Praise God 'Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes' (Rom.10:4)

Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org