Message 61
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Scripture Reading: Lev. 26:21-46
According to the word of warning in Leviticus 26, the obeying ones will be blessed (vv. 3-13), but the disobeying ones will be chastised that they may repent (vv. 14-39). This chastisement is on five levels. As we have seen, the first level is the appointing of sudden terror (vv. 14-17). This terror comprises both a consuming disease and a fever and also being defeated by the enemies. The chastisement on the second level is a matter of being disciplined sevenfold, with the heavens being made like iron, giving no rain, and the earth being made like brass, yielding no produce (vv. 18-20). In this message we shall go on to see the chastisement on the other three levels (vv. 21-39) and then the repentance of the people and the remembrance of God (vv. 40-45).
The chastisement on the third level brings in plagues sevenfold (vv. 21-22).
“Then if you walk contrary to Me and are not willing to listen to Me, I will bring even more plagues upon you, sevenfold according to your sins” (v. 21). These plagues signify troubles among the believers in the church (1 Cor. 1:11; 2 Cor. 12:20).
“And I will send against you the beasts of the field, and they shall bereave you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number, so that your roads become desolate” (v. 22). This signifies that in the church fierce people (Acts 20:29) will rise up to bereave the believers of their life produce, to destroy their spiritual possessions, to reduce their number, and to desolate their communications.
The chastisement on the fourth level is a matter of striking sevenfold.
“I will bring a sword upon you that will execute vengeance for the covenant” (v. 25a). This signifies that in the church there will be fightings among the brothers. Fightings among the brothers is a sign of God’s chastisement.
“If you are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you” (v. 25b). This signifies that in the church there will be some kind of contagious disease. The “germs” of this disease are spread mainly through gossip and vain talk.
“You shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy” (v. 25c). This signifies that the believers in the church will be taken over by the enemy. During my history in the church life, I have seen such a thing happen a few times.
“When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they will deliver again your bread by weight; and you will eat and not be satisfied” (v. 26). This signifies that in the church the spiritual supply will be cut off to a greatly reduced amount, so that there will be no satisfaction for the believers. We also have seen this happen in the church life. In a certain church there was a long period of time when there was no distribution of the spiritual food supply. As a result, in that church there was starvation.
In the chastisement on the fifth level the people are disciplined sevenfold again (vv. 27-39).
“And you will eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters you will eat” (v. 29). This signifies that the church becomes so poor that it is unable to satisfy its members but bereaves them of their food supply. In such a situation the shortage of the food supply reaches the extent of there being nothing to eat except the “children,” that is, what the church members produced in the past.
“I will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you” (v. 30). This signifies that the fleshly churches place themselves as carcasses upon the goals other than God that were sought by them as idols and destroyed by God. Here we see that in such a church God comes in to destroy both the idols and those who worship them. In such a church there is nothing but a heap of carcasses.
“I will lay waste your cities, and desolate your sanctuaries; and I will not smell your satisfying fragrance” (v. 31). This signifies that the churches are laid waste and their worship is desolated, and there is no satisfaction as a fragrance to God.
“I will desolate the land, so that your enemies who dwell in it will be appalled over it” (v. 32). This signifies that the church’s enjoyment of Christ as the rich land is desolated and stolen by the enemies. In such a church there is no longer the enjoyment of Christ, for this enjoyment has been stolen by the enemy. A church in which this happens is a church which has lost the enjoyment of Christ to the uttermost.
“And I will scatter you among the nations and unsheathe the sword after you; your land shall be a desolation and your cities a waste” (v. 33). The unsheathed sword signifies God’s death-judgment. The people being scattered among the nations and chased by the unsheathed sword signifies that the church is scattered among the Gentiles and driven by the death-judgment of God.
“Then the land will enjoy its sabbaths all the days that it lies desolate, while you are in the land of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. All the days that it lies desolate it will keep a sabbath, a sabbath which it did not keep in your sabbaths, when you lived upon it” (vv. 34-35). The land enjoying its sabbath during their captivity signifies that the church’s enjoyment of Christ as the rich land lies waste after the believers are scattered among the Gentiles. Thus far in my church life, I have not seen this kind of situation.
“And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the land of their enemies, so that the sound of a driven leaf will chase them, and they will flee as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall when no one pursues. They will stumble over one another as if before the sword, though no one pursues, and you will not be able to stand before your enemies. You will perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies will consume you. Those of you who are left will rot away in their iniquity in the lands of your enemies; and also because of the iniquities of their fathers, they will rot away like them” (vv. 36-39). This signifies that the church in its captivity is under suffering and is eventually consumed by the enemies. This is the conclusion of the divine chastisement, a chastisement which in four of its levels is sevenfold. For chastisement to be sevenfold means that it is intensified.
Now we come to a matter that is quite encouraging — the repentance of the people in captivity and the remembrance of God (vv. 40-45).
Verses 40 and 41 speak of God’s people confessing their iniquity, humbling their uncircumcised heart, and accepting the punishment of their iniquity. This signifies that the church in its captivity under the enemies repents, confesses its sins, and accepts God’s punishments for its sins.
“Then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, My covenant also with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham as well I will remember; and I will remember the land” (v. 42). This signifies that for the church in captivity God remembers His new covenant and Christ as the rich land. Often when we repent and confess, we have the experience of God remembering the new covenant and also remembering Christ, who has been given to us as our rich land.
“And yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them so as to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am Jehovah their God” (v. 44). This signifies that God, having chastised the church severely, will not reject it, nor will He destroy it utterly or break His covenant with it. No matter what the situation may be, we are still under God’s New Testament covenant, and we still have our portion.
At this point we should note that chapter twenty-five of Leviticus concerns the grace of God, signified by the jubilee, whereas chapter twenty-six concerns the administration of God (chastisement, government, kingdom). In the New Testament, the grace of God is covered by the ministry of Paul, and God’s administration is covered by the ministry of Peter. Keeping this in mind will be helpful to us as we read the New Testament.
The fulfillment of God’s promise to His people can be seen in the history of Israel. In the 1920s we studied books on prophecy and came to know the promises concerning Israel in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. I believed God and I believed all the prophecies recorded in the Bible, yet I wondered how the Jews could be formed into a nation, since they had lost their land and it was occupied by the Moslems. I was waiting for the time when the Jews would be formed into a nation in their fatherland, the Holy Land, Palestine. Suddenly, in 1948, the Jews returned to their fathers’ land and formed a government and a nation there.
Let me tell you the story very briefly according to what I recall from my reading of newspapers and books.
During World War I, the British had a shortage of a certain chemical which was crucial for manufacturing ammunition. A Jewish scholar who was living in Great Britain knew how to produce this chemical. An agreement was made between the British government and this scholar that if he would help the British to produce the needed chemical, they would return Palestine to the Jews after the war. (At that time Palestine was under the Ottoman Empire, which had joined with Germany in the war.) When the war was over, the British government did not keep its word. The League of Nations, which was dominated by Great Britain and France, gave Lebanon to France and the land on either side of the Jordan River to England as protectorates.
The Jews were deeply disappointed by the failure of Great Britain to keep its promise. I believe that this failure was an offense to God. From that time onward, God’s blessing was turned away from Great Britain to another direction.
During World War II, Hitler killed six million Jews. This stirred the hearts of the Jewish people, and they realized that as long as they did not have their own land and government, they had no protection. I believe that many prayers were offered to God by the devoted, Orthodox Jews. I also believe that God heard their prayers.
At the end of the war, the United States proposed that the Jews return to their fathers’ land. Great Britain agreed, and preparations were made. In 1948 the British forces went ahead of the Jews to drive the Palestinians from their homes, and the Jews moved in. It was in this way that the Jews returned to their fatherland and formed a government.
When I got to know this in the newspaper in Shanghai, I was greatly surprised. I was alive to see the fulfillment of part of a great biblical prophecy. My belief in the prophecies of the Bible was confirmed.
In 1948 the Jews did not take possession of the old section of Jerusalem, which was still controlled by Jordan. However, in 1967, during what is called the Six Day War, Israel took over the remainder of Jerusalem and the West Bank of the Jordan River.
Although the Jews have regained the Holy Land, they have not yet fully and wholly repented to God. The majority of the Jews remain in their unbelief. The government of Israel may care for religion, but it does not care for God. I do not know of one statesman among the Jews who has been godly. However, the devoted Jews care for God, and some of them pray day and night. I believe that they know Leviticus 26 and, at least to some extent, keep this word. God surely is in the process of answering their prayers according to His promise. One indication of this is Israel’s being able to stand against so many Moslem and Arab nations. Israel stands because God is behind them.
This brief review of history testifies that the prophetic word in God’s holy Word is true. I have seen the fulfillment of this word, and it is still being fulfilled today. God is God, and His word concerning Israel will be fulfilled in full. He will preserve Israel until the Lord’s coming back.
Today we need to follow the spiritual principles in Leviticus 26. If we are wrong, we should repent. Then we shall receive back the blessing for our enjoyment.
