The basis for this chapter is God's promise to those that are obedient to His laws and commandments. If you do what I tell you to do in my law, then I will bless you for your obedience; and if you do not, then My curses will come upon you.

Leviticus 26:1 "Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up standing image, nether shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God."

This verse one is a carry over from the prior chapter, to those Israelites that are sold in bondage to a non-Israelite, heathen masters, who hence were in danger of being tempted into idolatry, while serving in this servitude. "Idols" as used here are "non-entities; "elilim" in the Hebrew text, those things made from clay or earthen forms to be worshipped. "Graven images" [Hebrew = "pesel"] on the other hand are images formed of wood or stone to be bowed down to. A "standing image" is a "Mazzebah" a standing pillar, whether in relation to worship of the zodiac, sun worship or any other standing image. The "images of stone" or "Maskith" in the Hebrew were images that were sculptured or painted on stone surfaces. The only reason that a person would bow down to one of these images would be to worship. God has warned His people that no matter where you are sold in bondage, you are not to worship any creation made at the hands of any man, or natural shaped image. Our Heavenly Father is the creator of all things, and only He is to receive honor, praise, and worship.

Revelation 4:11 "Thou are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created."

All of the people are God's creation, and we are to worship the creator and not the creation. So when you sell yourself to a heathen, if your master is of another religious preference, that still does not give you the right to partake of any of his religious heathen customs, idols and images.

Leviticus 26:2 "Ye shall keep My Sabbaths, and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord."

This book of Leviticus has covered all of God's instructions for His Sabbaths, and offerings within His sanctuary, and Father expects each of His people to keep them. There can be no excuses for not giving reverence to the Lord.

Leviticus 26:3 "If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them;"

So God is setting up a condition here for those that will walk in His statutes, and keep His commandments and do them.

Leviticus 26:4 "Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit."

So here is the promise for those that keep His commandments. If you keep those statutes and commandments, our Heavenly Father will give you the rain in due season for your crops and land, so that the land will yield an increase, and the trees give the fruit in its season. The "rain in due season" is former rain is the rain that brings the germination of the seed, while the latter rain matures the plant and makes it ready to be harvested.

In a spiritual sense, the former rain is salvation and those things of the milk of the Word that start young Christians in their Christian lives; while the latter rain is the meat of the Word, that brings a Christian to maturity, and prepares him to make a stand.

Leviticus 26:5 "And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely."

Our Heavenly Father is promising those that keep His commandments and instructions prosperity and peace.

Leviticus 26:6 "And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land."

The expression; "ye shall lie down" is in reference to sheep in the field lying down and resting in peace with plenty of pasture and the shepherd stand guard over them. Evil beast would be animals of prey that could attack the feeding sheep. Keeping the sword from going through the land, was a promise of peace.

Leviticus 26:7 "And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword."

Leviticus 26:8 "And five of you shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword."

"Five" in biblical numerics is grace. In the Hebrew text it reads, I will cause your enemies to fall into your sword.

Leviticus 26:9 "For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish My covenant with you."

The covenant that God made with Israel was an everlasting covenant, made to Abraham, Isaac, and passed on to Jacob. That same eternal covenant Jacob placed on the head of Ephraim, and Manasseh had his part in the covenant also. Within that covenant was a blessing of land, a seed that would be to many to count, and a blessing to bless the peoples of the earth.

Leviticus 26:10 "And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new."

This is saying that He will bless you so much that you will have a problem cleaning out the old crops to make room for the new crops just harvested.

Leviticus 26:11 "And I will set My tabernacle among you: and My soul shall not abhor you."

I will dwell among you, and you will not be bored by Me.

Leviticus 26:12 "And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people."

"To walk among you" means that God will establish a even closer relationship with those the revere Him and keep His commandments.

Leviticus 26:13 "I am the Lord your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of their yoke, and I made you go upright."

We have witnessed what would happen to all those that would keep His commandments, and walk in His statutes, from the rest of the Scriptures. God is reminding the children of Israel of His faithfulness in keeping His Word to Abraham in Genesis 15:13 "And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;[13] "And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance." [14]

God is reminding the Israelites through Moses that He has kept His Word. They were in bondage for hundreds of years, and God broke the bands and spirit of Pharaoh, and the Israelites left Egypt far richer in substance than when their forefathers went down to Egypt during that famine of Joseph's time. So now God is going to give the Israelites the conditions of what will happen if they do not listen to and follow His Commandments, and law.

Leviticus 26:14 "But if ye will not hearken unto Me, and will not do all these commandments;"

"Hearken" in the Hebrew text means to hear intelligently, with understanding.

Leviticus 26:15 "And if ye shall despise My statutes, or if your soul abhor My judgments, so that ye will not do all My commandments, but that ye break My covenant:"

In other words, in by understand my commandments and break those commandment, and turn against and despise My statutes then this is what will come against you. We will see four phases of the punishment that God will bring down on the Israelites, if they stop paying attention to God's commandments and break His Covenant.

Leviticus 26:16 "I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it."

These four things are; (1) To bring terror down on you; (2) He will bring a fever down on you [consumption and the burning ague]; (3) People's eyes will fail them, through sickness and the pollution that will cause the eyes to go bad; (4) and you will sow the seeds for your crops, and your enemies will take and consume your harvest.

We know that this actual happened to them after they entered the land of Canaan, as recorded in Judges 6:3, 4. "And so it was, when Israel had sown, that the Midianites came up, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east, even they came up against them;" [3] "And they encamped against them, and destroyed the increase of the earth, till thou come unto Gaza, and left no sustenance for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass." [4]

Leviticus 26:17 "And I will set My face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you."

God is telling Israel that if you don't keep My commandments, He will not defend them, and He will allow our enemies to kill our forces and rule over us, and we will run in terror when there is no one chasing after us. Our people will be scared of their own shadows, hiding in fear.

Leviticus 26:18 "And if ye will not for all this hearken unto Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins."

This is a promise that you can count on; if you take pleasure in your wickedness, that God will bring down on your head seven times more wickedness than you have done to others. Next time you think you are getting away with something, stop and think, take account of those things that will follow, as God allows seven times more wickedness to come down on you.

Leviticus 26:19 "And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass;"

The power is the source of the pride that Israel has, and that power is what will be broken. "The excellence of your strength" is where the pride came from, and the arrogance of that excellence will falter. God will bring down the arrogance that came from the power and strength that Israel had, if they turn their back on God's laws and commandments. These people are a proud people because of their own means, and God will take away that strength that gave them that false sense of security.

Leviticus 26:20 "And your strength shall be spent in vain: for your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the land yield their fruits."

God will take away those things, like the former and latter rains, and the things that cause the land to yield her increase. This is one of the curses when they turn their back to His Commandments.

Leviticus 26:21 "And if ye walk contrary unto Me, and will not hearken unto Me; I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins."

If you make a hostile rebellion against YHVH, our Heavenly Father and His commandments; this will be increased seven time more of the plagues or punishment according to your sins.

Leviticus 26:22 "I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate."

The nation of Israel will become small amongst the nations. Isaiah 33:7, 8 refers to this warning in the end times, so stop and consider what is going on today, with the warning that God has given our nation; "Behold, their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly." [7] "The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man." [8]

Leviticus 26:23 "And if ye will not be reformed by Me by these things, but will walk contrary unto Me;"

Leviticus 26:24 "Then will I also walk contrary unto you, and will punish you yet seven times for your sins."

So now God is promising that if you allow this wickedness to continue, He will increase this punishment seven times what they would have received in the first place. That becomes forty nine times the punishment.

Leviticus 26:25 "And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of My covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy."

The reason for this sword that will come upon you, is because you have caused a breach in my Covenant, and have allowed it to be broken. Do you still think that you can take God's commandments lightly? Do you think that you can make light of the laws of God, and turn your back to them? Think again, for God is promising that when you turn your back to Him, He will turn His back on you and allow these wicked things to come on you, your family, and your nation.

When you are resting at home in your fortified cities, God will send pestilence among you and your people, and your enemies will have an upper hand with you. Of course the enemy that will be facing us very shortly is Satan, when he comes in the role of the Antichrist.

Leviticus 26:26 "And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied."

God is telling us that in this time, the bread will be so scarce that it will be weighed and portioned out to each individual. There will be ten women rather than one woman baking the bread by each oven. "Ten" in biblical numerics, signifies the measure of responsibility, judgment, or reward that should be received. So in this case the judgment is for not taking the responsibility of following God's holy commandments. Though this is talking about bread, and the preparation of food, in Amos 8:11 we are reminded what that famine is for.

Amos 8:11 "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread , nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:"

Churches find it more profitable to preach the thoughts, imaginations and traditions of men, then to teach the word of God, chapter by chapter and verse by verse. The famine in our day is truly for the hearing of the words of the Lord.

Amos 8:12 "And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."

What spiritual bread is given out is surely rationed to the point of being weighed before spoken from the pulpits of our land.

Leviticus 26:27 "And if ye will not for all this hearken unto Me, but walk contrary unto Me;"

Leviticus 26:28 "Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I will chastise you seven times for your sins."

So on this fourth warning, we have seven times seven times seven; so we have three hundred and forty three [343] times the punishment if you continue to turn your back on the Lord's laws and commandments. God promises you that He Himself will be the one to make sure it will come your way.

Jeremiah 21:5 "And I Myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath."

Friend we are in these end times, and all of the wrath and anger of God has been told us through His Word. There are no secrets for these end times, and by turning your back on God's laws and commandments and His Word, these are the things that shall come your way.

Leviticus 26:29 "And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat."

This is the worse case of famine that could hit a people, when the feed of the dead of their own families. Yet God is saying that this will happen when you continue in wickedness, and against His instructions from His Word. At this point the people will cease to be a nation, but a mob of wild animals, for even animals will not eat their own flesh.

Leviticus 26:30 "And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you."

The "high places" are the altars that are on the high places, the "images" are the "sun pillars", the things carved of stone and wood that early Canaanite people worshipped to other gods; but they are not to YHVH our Heavenly Father. Stop for a moment and look at some of the things that have crept into our Christian churches, and claimed to be of God, when those things go against the Word of God. It's called "man's traditions".

Leviticus 26:31 "And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savour of your sweet odours."

God is say that He will find no pleasure in your sacrifices and things offered to Him in your sanctuaries.

Leviticus 26:32 "And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it."

God is telling us that if we continue in our wickedness, He will cause our lands to become a wilderness, to where even our enemies will not desire to have them. "Astonished" as used here is "terrorized" by what they see. When God says "I will", you know that it will come to pass exactly as God intends it to be. Remember that the reason for this wickedness coming on the people, nation and the land is their turning their backs to God's laws and commandments. In verse 15 we read, "And if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhor My judgments, so that ye will not do all My commandments, but that ye break My covenant:"

These things only come by people allowing their pride to swell up and refusing to respect and follow the commandments of the Living God. We see it happening all around us today, and yet our people seek to have God and his Word removed from the schools, the government, the land and our homes. So don't be surprised as terror comes to our land, and our freedoms continue to erode away by those that just don't give one care about God and His Ways. We are in the last days, and the famine is at our doorsteps. The bread of life [Word of God] is not being preached from the pulpits of our land, and our schools are more concerned with the global society than the instructions from God's holy word.

Leviticus 26:33 "And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste."

Our cities are being outnumbered with foreigners, the jobs are fleeing over seas, and the cities are decaying away and laying to waste. It's here now. Ezekiel 5:12 warned us of this time coming.

Ezekiel 5:12 "A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them."

So the nation would fall apart by three methods, by pestilence and famine; a third taken in by the sword of the enemy; and all those that are left are scattered amongst the four winds of the earth, all the nations of the earth. This happened in 745 - 722 B.C. when the Assyrians came in and killed and scattered the house of Israel to the point that they don't even know who they are today.

Leviticus 26:34 "Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths, and long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her Sabbaths."

In that the Israelites would not be in or on the promise land, it would rest for many years until the time of the end, when a fig tree would be planted, and the basket of good and bad figs of the house of Judah would return to establish their tiny nation of Israel of the end times. This marks the count down to the end. That time when the seals and trumpets are counted off in that final generation. Jesus told us in Matthew 24:32 - 34:

Matthew 24:32 "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh:" [32] "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." [33]

Matthew 24:34 "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."

This generation is living today that saw Israel reestablish as a nation in Jerusalem and Palestine. This generation living on earth today will not die off until this age of flesh man comes to a close, as recorded in I Corinthians 15:50 - 54; at the sounding of the seventh and last trumpet.

Leviticus 26:35 "As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your Sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it."

God is saying, you didn't follow My instructions, or my Sabbaths.

Leviticus 26:36 "And upon them that are left alive of you I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them; and they shall flee, as fleeing from a sword; and they shall fall when none purseth."

God is promising that if a person or nation continues in their wickedness, He will send a faintness on the people, they will become very paranoid, so that they will be scared when there is no need to fear, and even the sound of a rustling leaf will bring terror to their minds. However those that have peace of mind will be those that are will founded in the Word of God.

Ezekiel 21:7 "And it shall be, when they say unto thee, `Wherefore sighest thou?' that thou shalt answer, `For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord God.' "

God is the one that shall cause this to happen.

Leviticus 26:37 "And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies."

Only those with the seal of God in their minds [foreheads] will have the power to stand against the threats of Satan when he arrives to this earth, for he is the enemy in these end times.

Leviticus 26:38 "And ye shall perish among the heathen, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up."

Leviticus 26:39 "And they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity in your enemies' lands; and also in the iniquities of their fathers shall they pine away with them."

To "pine away" means to rot away, Their forefathers had set the standards by their traditions and in those traditions and iniquities that they brought in to replace God's Word, they will fall.

Leviticus 26:40 "If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;"

There is a condition here, that if they shall confess their iniquity, and that of their father, and all that they have done contrary to God laws and commandments, so if they realize where their punishment is coming from, then they have a chance to repent and turn from those wicked ways. They must admit that they deserved all that came their way. Will they?

Leviticus 26:41 "And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:"

A humble heart in confession and repentance is the sign that true repentance did come from that heart or mind.

Leviticus 26:42 "Then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land."

God is saying that only after the confession and repentance with the repentive heart will He remember His covenant with Jacob, Isaac and Abraham. There must be a humbling of the people first.

Leviticus 26:43 "The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her Sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised My judgments, and because their soul abhorred My statutes."

Leviticus 26:44 "And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God."

Sure there will be a time that we fall away, but when we do, that is the time to confess those sins, and come back to our Heavenly Father, for in our day, we do that in Repentance in Jesus Name. When we repent, God will keep His promises to us. You can count on it, for He is faithful and true.

Leviticus 26:45 "But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord."

For the sake of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will God remember all the eternal promises that He has given to our forefathers.

Leviticus 26:46 "These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made between Him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.' "

These are the sinatic laws that God gave to Moses at the start of the children of Israel's journey through the wilderness. God gave his instructions, and gave them His promises for prosperity and protection of the people and their lands. The point to these conditions is whether the people will learn and respect these laws, statutes and commandments or turn their back to them. If the respect and follow them, they can expect the blessings of God, and if not, they will receive the cursing of our Heavenly Father. These are eternal, and apply as much to you and I today, as they did to the children of Israel as they camped at the foot of mount Sinai, as Moses brought them down off the mountain. It is up to you whether you want the blessings or cursings of YHVH, our heavenly Father.