Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 26:3
If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
3 13. The blessing that shall follow upon obedience. (Cp. Deu 28:1-11.)
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As the book of the covenant Exo. 20:2223:33 concludes with promises and warnings Exo 23:20-33, so does this collection of laws contained in the Book of Leviticus. But the former passage relates to the conquest of the land of promise, this one to the subsequent history of the nation. The longer similar passage in Deuteronomy Deut. 2730 is marked by broader and deeper promises and denunciations having immediate reference not only to outward consequences, but to the spiritual death incurred by transgressing the divine will.
Lev 26:4
Rain in due season – The periodical rains, on which the fertility of the holy land so much depends, are here spoken of. There are two wet seasons, called in Scripture the former and the latter rain Deu 11:14; Jer 5:24; Joe 2:23; Hos 6:3; Jam 5:7. The former or Autumn rain falls in heavy showers in November and December. In March the latter or Spring rain comes on, which is precarious in quantity and duration, and rarely lasts more than two days.
Lev 26:5
Compare the margin reference; Joe 2:19; Job 11:18.
Lev 26:8
Five of you shall chase – A proverbial mode of expression for superiority in warlike prowess Deu 32:30; Isa 30:17.
Lev 26:9
Establish my covenant – All material blessings were to be regarded in the light of seals of the everlasting covenant. Compare Gen 17:4-8; Neh 9:23.
Lev 26:10
Bring forth the old because of the new – Rather, clear away the old before the new; that is, in order to make room for the latter. Compare the margin reference.
Lev 26:16
The first warning for disobedience is disease. Terror (literally trembling) is rendered trouble in Psa 78:33; Isa 65:23. It seems here to denote that terrible affliction, an anxious temperament, the mental state ever at war with Faith and Hope. This might well be placed at the head of the visitations on a backslider who had broken the covenant with his God. Compare Deu 32:25; Jer 15:8; Pro 28:1; Job 24:17; Psa 23:4.
Consumption, and the burning ague – Compare the margin reference. The first of the words in the original comes from a root signifying to waste away; the latter (better, fever), from one signifying to kindle a fire. Consumption is common in Egypt and some parts of Asia Minor, but it is more rare in Syria. Fevers of different kinds are the commonest of all diseases in Syria and all the neighboring countries. The opposite promise to the threat is given in Exo 15:26; Exo 23:25.
Lev 26:18
For all this – i. e. for all the afflictions in Lev 26:16-17.
Seven times – The sabbatical number is here proverbially used to remind the people of the covenant. Compare Gen 4:15, Gen 4:24; Psa 119:164; Pro 24:16; Luk 17:4.
Lev 26:19, Lev 26:20
The second warning is utter sterility of the soil. Compare Deu 11:17; Deu 28:18; Eze 33:28; Eze 36:34-35.
Lev 26:21, Lev 26:22
The third warning is the multiplication of destructive animals, etc. Compare Deu 32:24; Eze 5:17; Eze 14:15; Jdg 5:6-7; Isa 33:8.
Lev 26:23-26
The fourth warning. Yahweh now places Himself as it were in a hostile position toward His people who will not be reformed (rather, brought unto God: Jer 2:30). He will avenge the outraged cause of His covenant, by the sword, pestilence, famine, and captivity.
Lev 26:26
Omit and. To break the staff of bread, was a proverbial expression for cutting off the supply of bread, the staff of life (Psa 105:16; Eze 4:16; Eze 5:16; Eze 14:13; compare Isa 3:1). The supply was to be so reduced that one oven would suffice for baking the bread maple by ten women for ten families, and when made it was to be dealt out in sparing rations by weight. See 2Ki 6:25; Jer 14:18; Lam 4:9; Eze 5:12; Hos 4:10; Mic 6:14; Hag 1:6.
Lev 26:27-33
The fifth warning. For Lev 26:29 see 2Ki 6:28-29; Jer 19:8-9; Lam 2:20; Lam 4:10; Eze 5:10, for Lev 26:30 see 2Ch 34:3; Eze 6:4; Jer 14:19, for Lev 26:31 see 2Ki 25:9; Psa 74:6-7 : for Lev 26:32-33 see Deu 28:37; Psa 44:11; Jer 9:16; Jer 18:16; Ezek. 5:1-17; Jer 4:7; Eze 9:6; Eze 12:15; Zec 7:14.
Lev 26:30
High places – There is no doubt that the word here denotes elevated spots dedicated to false worship (see Deu 12:2), and especially, it would seem, to that of Baal Num 22:41; Jos 13:17. Such spots were, however, employed and approved for the worship of Yahweh, not only before the building of the temple, but afterward (Jdg 6:25-26; Jdg 13:16-23; 1Sa 7:10; 1Sa 16:5; 1Ki 3:2; 1Ki 18:30; 2Ki 12:3; 1Ch 21:26, etc.). The three altars built by Abraham at Shechem, between Bethel and Ai, and at Mamre, appear to have been on heights, and so was the temple.
The high places in the holy land may thus have been divided into those dedicated to the worship of Yahweh, and those which had been dedicated to idols. And it would seem as if there was a constant struggle going on. The high places polluted by idol worship were of course to be wholly condemned. They were probably resorted to only to gratify a degraded superstition. See Lev 19:31; Lev 20:2-5. The others might have been innocently used for prayer and religious teaching. But the temptation appears to have been too great for the temper of the people. They offered sacrifice and burnt incense on them; and hence, thorough reformers of the national religion, such as Hezekiah and Josiah, removed the high places altogether 2Ki 18:4; 2Ki 23:5.
Your images – The original word is rendered in the margin of our Bible sun images (2Ch 14:5; Isa 17:8; Eze 6:4, etc.). Phoenician inscriptions prove that the word was commonly applied to images of Baal and Astarte, the god of the sun and the goddess of the moon. This exactly explains 2Ch 34:4 following.
Idols – The Hebrew word here literally means things which could be rolled about, such as a block of wood or a lump of dirt. It was no doubt a name given in derision. Compare Isa 40:20; Isa 44:19; 2Ki 1:2.
Lev 26:31
Sanctuaries – The holy places in the tabernacle and the temple (Psa 68:35. Compare Psa 74:7).
I will not smell the savor … – See Lev 1:9.
Lev 26:35
More literally: All the days of its desolation shall it rest that time which it rested not in your Sabbaths while ye dwelt upon it. That is, the periods of rest of which the land had been deprived would be made up to it. Compare 2Ch 36:20-21.
Lev 26:38
The land of your enemies shall eat you up – Compare Num 13:32; Eze 36:13.
Lev 26:39
Iniquity – The meaning here is, in the punishment of their iniquity, and, in the next clause, in the punishment of the iniquity (as in Lev 26:41, Lev 26:43) of their fathers. In the next verse the same Hebrew word is properly represented by iniquity. Our translators have in several places put one of the English words in the text and the other in the margin (Gen 4:13; Gen 19:15; 2Ki 7:9; Psa 69:27, etc.). The language of Scripture does not make that trenchant division between sin and punishment which we are accustomed to do. Sin is its own punishment, having in itself, from its very commencement, the germ of death. Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death Jam 1:15; Rom 2:5; Rom 5:12.
Lev 26:40
trespass – The Hebrew word signifies an injury inflicted on the rights of a person, as distinguished from a sin or iniquity regarded as an outrage of the divine law. Every wrong act is of course both a sin and a trespass against God. In this place Yahweh takes the breach of the covenant as a personal trespass.
Lev 26:41
Uncircumcised hearts – The outward sign of the covenant might be preserved, but the answering grace in the heart would be wanting (Act 7:51; Rom 2:28-29; Jer 6:10; Jer 9:26; compare Col 2:11).
Accept of the punishment of their iniquity – literally, enjoy their iniquity. The word here and in Lev 26:43 rendered accept in this phrase, is the same as is rendered enjoy in the expression the land shall enjoy her sabbaths Lev 26:34. The antithesis in Lev 26:43 is this: The land shall enjoy her sabbaths – and they shall enjoy the punishment of their iniquity. The meaning is, that the land being desolate shall have the blessing of rest, and they having repented shall have the blessing of chastisement. The feelings of a devout captive Israelite are beautifully expressed in Tobit 13:1-18.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Lev 26:3-13
If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them.
The advantages of religion in a nations life
I. Wherein a nations religious life consists. The recognised presence of God in the midst of the people (Lev 26:11-12) may be realised–
1. In sanctuaries consecrated to Divine worship throughout the land, and in assembled congregations gathering to adore Him (Lev 26:2).
2. In sacred literature diffusing religious knowledge among the people.
3. In benevolent and elevating institutions diffusing Christianity in its practical forms.
4. In educational agencies for the training of children early in moral and religious truth.
5. In homes and family life sweetened by the influence of piety.
6. In a legislature ruled by the fear of God and observant of Scripture precepts.
7. In wealth, gathered righteously, being expended for evangelical and Christian ends.
8. In the happy relationship of all social classes, based upon goodwill and respect.
9. In the stores of harvest and gains of commerce being acknowledged as Gods providential gifts and generous benefactions (Lev 26:4-5). All such public recognitions of the authority and the claims of religion, emphasise and declare that within this nations life God dwells–known, revered, and served.
II. Advantages which result to a nation from religion.
1. Religion impels to industry, intelligence, self-respect, and social improvement; and these will affect every branch of labour and enterprise, resulting in material prosperity (Lev 26:4-5).
2. Religion leads to avoidance of agitation and conflict, checks greed, ambition, and vainglory, and thus promotes a wise content among the people, and peaceful relationships with surrounding nations (Lev 26:6).
3. Religion fosters sobriety, energy, and courage, and these qualities will assert themselves on the fields of war when sad occasion arises, and will ensure the overthrow of tyranny and the defeat of invasion (Lev 26:8).
4. Religion nurtures the wise oversight of homes and families, the preservation of domestic purity, the development of healthful and intelligent children, and these will work out in a strong and increasing population (Lev 26:9).
5. Religion corrects the intrigues of self-destructive commerce, and teaches honesty, forethought, and justice in business arrangements; thus checking waste, extravagance, and insolence, and these issue in the enjoyment of plenty (Lev 26:10).
6. Religion enjoins Sabbath observance and sanctuary services (Lev 26:2) which nourish holiness in thought and life, sweeten character, purify the springs of action, incite to righteous and noble deeds, to social goodwill, to mutual regard, to sacred ministries, to reverence for Scripture, to recognition of the claims of the unseen world, and thus bring down upon all people the blessings of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Lev 26:11-12).
III. Within a religious nation god pledges himself to dwell. And where He makes His tabernacle (Lev 26:11) there–
1. Happiness will be realised, the joy of the Lord will be known, His lovingkindness, which is more than life, will be enjoyed.
2. Security will be assured. None make you afraid (Lev 26:6), for He will be as a defence to His people.
3. Sanctity will flourish. Intercourse with God (Lev 26:12) will elevate, refine, and grace a peoples character and life. (W. H. Jellie.)
Temporal blessings connected with obedience
These temporal blessings–peaces victory over all their enemies, the fruitfulness of the land, the enjoyment of Gods tabernacle in the midst of it–all are promised to obedience. This is still true of nations. Nations that are highest in Christian character will always be highest in every other national blessing. Just cast your eyes over the map of Europe; and if you had a thermometer, and could gauge the amount of living Christianity in each nation, you will find that the nation in which Christianity is purest, rises highest, spreads the farthest, descends the deepest, is the very nation that is highest in all that dignifies, ennobles, and blesses a nation. And so, in our own native land, the victory of our armies in the righteous warfare to which it is committed, the maintenance of our land in peace and prosperity against all foe and all invasion, will rest, not only upon the banners of our brave troops, not only upon the gallantry of our heroic sailors, but far more upon the living religion that saturates the masses of our country. It is righteousness that exalteth a nation, and sin is the ruin of a nation. If you will read the history of nations, you will find this universally true; no nation ever falls before a foreign foe–it always commits suicide. Nations die suicides; they are self-slain. Rome fell only because of its inner corruption; the beautiful sisterhood of Greek states fell by their universal depravity; and our nation will never fall before a foreign foe as long as it is–what it is now in a greater degree than any other–a nation that fears God, and works righteousness, and counts the sunshine of His favour more precious than gold and silver, and whatsoever things may be weighed or bought. (J. Cumming, D. D.)
The advantages of faithfully serving God
A Fingo, traveling through Hankey, where the L.M.S. have a station, sat down to rest at the door of the place of worship; and looking round on the houses, behind which the gardens were concealed, asked one of the deacons how the people got food in such a place, for he had formerly known it as a desert. The deacon told him to look at him and see if he was not in health and well clothed. He then called a fine child, and told the man to look at it and see if it was not well fed. The deacon then told him if he would attend service the next day he would see that it was so with them all. The Fingo rose to depart, and lifting up his eyes and his right hand to heaven, exclaimed, It is always so where that God is worshipped! (Andrew Thomson, D. D.)
The unbroken continuity of Gods gifts
There is in Lev 26:10 a promise as to the fulness of the Divine gifts, which has a far wider reach and nobler application than to the harvests and granaries of old Palestine. We may take the words in that aspect, first, as containing Gods pledge that these outward gifts shall come in unbroken continuity. And have they not so come to us all, for all these long years? Has there ever been a gap left yawning? has there ever been a break in the chain of mercies and supplies? has it not rather been that one post ran to meet another? that before one of the messengers had unladed all his budget, anothers arrival has antiquated and put aside his store? Things grown common lose their dear delight. If in His gifts and benefits He were more sparing and close-handed, said Luther, we should learn to be thankful. But let us learn it by the continuity of our joys, that we may not need to be taught by their interruption; and let us still all tremulous anticipation of possible failure or certain loss by the happy confidence which we have a right to cherish, that His mercies will meet our needs, continuous as they are, and be threaded so close together on the poor thread of our lives that no gap will be discernible in the jewelled circle. May we not apply that same thought of the unbroken continuity of Gods gifts to the higher region of our spiritual experience? His supplies of wisdom, love, joy, peace, power to our souls, are always enough, and more than enough, for our wants. If ever men complain of languishing vitality in their religious emotions, or of a stinted supply of food for their truest self, it is their own fault, not His. He means that there should be no parentheses of famine in our Christian life. It is not His doing if times of torpor alternate with seasons of quick energy and joyful fulness of life. So far as He is concerned the fiery is uninterrupted, and if it come to us in jets and spurts like some intermittent well, it is because our own evil has put some obstacles to choke the channel and dam out His Spirit from our spirits. The source is full to overflowing, and there are no limits to the supply. The only limit is our capacity, which again is largely determined by our desire. So after all His gifts there is more yet unreceived to possess. After all His self-revelation there is more yet unspoken to declare. Great as is the goodness which He has wrought before the sons of men for them that trust in Him, there are far greater treasures of goodness laid up in the deep mines of God for them that fear Him. Bars of uncoined treasure and ingots of massy gold lie in His storehouses, to be put into circulation as soon as we need, and can use them. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Ye shall make you no idols.
Idolatry interdicted
I. What the proneness of human nature to idolatry suggests. It shows both the dignity and depravity of man; that–
1. He is endowed with religious instincts. Capable of worship, of exercising faith, hope, love, reverence, fear, &c.
2. He is conscious of amenability to some supreme power. Seeks to propitiate, secure favour, and aid.
3. He is apprehensive of a future state of existence. Ideas vague, indefinite, absurd, yet the outcome of inward presentiment, &c.
4. He is unable by light of nature to discover God. His knowledge is so faded, light so dim. How low the soul must have fallen to substitute nothings for the Eternal One! Heathenism has never of itself emerged into the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, as seen in the voice that has spoken from heaven, and has been recorded by holy men moved by the Holy Ghost.
II. What indulgence in idolatry entails.
1. Degradation. Worship of heathen deities demoralising. In their temples, at their services, the rites observed are grovelling, and, in some instances, demoniacal.
2. Superstition. Devotees are duped by priests, enslaved by torturing ritualism, subject and victims of absurd delusions.
3. Misery. Fear the ruling passion, not love. Nothing ennobling, inspiring, quickening, comforting. Idol worship mocks the longings of the human soul, cannot appease its hunger, satisfy its thirst.
III. How idolatry may be abolished. Darkness can only be dispersed by the letting in of light. The folly of idolatry must be shown, its helplessness, misery, sin by the spread of the written revelation of heaven, the preaching of the glorious gospel. (F. W. Brown.)
The common worship of the sanctuary
There are many who make light of the common worship of the sanctuary, and who are in the habit of depreciating the interest and value of its influences. They tell us that Natures temple is far grander than any human shrine; that the voices of the birds are a sweeter minstrelsy than that of a mediocre choir; that they find sermons in stones whose eloquence is mightier and more penetrating than that of a poor preacher with his string of stale platitudes; and that, therefore, a pleasant country walk is more profitable and sanctifying than an hour spent in the stuffy atmosphere of church or chapel. Nay, even their own fireside has more powerful charms, for have they not Bibles at home, and cannot they read for themselves? and can they not obtain far better sermons for a few pence per volume than they are likely to hear? No doubt there is much truth in such reasoning, but it ignores the social needs of human nature. Man is a social being; social worship is therefore a necessity of his nature. And its necessity has been universally felt. Groves, mountains, grottoes, caves, streams, valleys, plains, lakes, as well as altars and temples, have been consecrated as the abodes of gods. Everywhere men have sought out some shrine at which to offer common and united worship. And in Christian ages the house of prayer has ever been held in honour, and its services regarded as hallowed privileges by the best and wisest men. They meet a deep-seated need of human hearts. As Dr. Geikie has said, There is a breadth of human experience, and of understanding of Divine things to be obtained in the great congregation, in the common confessions, the common prayers, the common praises, the common exhortation of the sanctuary, which would be sought in vain in solitudes. As long as human nature is unchanged, the place of public worship cannot be superseded. (Howard James.)
Commonness of the idolatrous spirit
Yes, the orthodox Greek Churchman is grievously scandalised at the image-worship of the Romanist; it is flat idolatry, and he denounces it vehemently. But what are those pictures, many of them made to stand out with solid plates of gold and silver? Why, these are pictures of the Virgin or of her Son, as the case may be, and your anti-idolatrous Greek bows before these with voluntary humility. He hates image-worship, you see, but stands up for picture-worship. Behold how sinners disagree in name and unite in spirit! Put Greek and Roman in a sack together and let the greatest idolater out first: the wisest solution would be to keep them both in, for Solomon himself would be puzzled to decide between them. Are there no such inconsistencies among ourselves? Do we not condemn in one form what we allow in another? Do we not censure in our neighbours what we allow in ourselves? This query need not be answered in a hurry; the reply will be the more extensive for a little waiting. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Then I will give you rain.—
The philosophy of rain
To understand the philosophy of this beautiful and often sublime phenomenon, so often witnessed since the creation of the world, and essential to the very existence of plants and animals, a few facts derived from observation and a long train of experiments must be remembered.
1. Were the atmosphere everywhere at all times at a uniform temperature, we should never have rain, or hail, or snow; the water absorbed by it in evaporation from the sea and the earths surface would descend in an imperceptible vapour, or cease to be absorbed by the air when it was once fully saturated.
2. The absorbing power of the atmosphere, and consequently its capability to retain humidity, is proportionably greater in warm than in cold air.
3. The air near the surface of the earth is warmer than it is in the region of the clouds. The higher we ascend from the earth the colder do we find the atmosphere. Hence the perpetual snow on very high mountains in the hottest climate. Now, when from continued evaporation the air is highly saturated with vapour, though, if it be invisible and the sky cloudless, if its temperature be suddenly reduced by cold currents descending from above, or rushing from a higher to a lower latitude, its capacity to retain moisture is diminished, clouds are formed, and the result is rain. Air condenses as it cools, and like a sponge filled with water and compressed, pours out the water which its diminished capacity cannot hold. How singular, yet how simple, the philosophy of rain! Who but Omniscience could have devised such an admirable arrangement for watering the earth? (Dr. Ure.)
Rain from God
St. Ambrose, speaking of great drought in his time, when the people talked much of rain, he sometimes comforted himself with this hope, Neomenia dabit pluvias (The new moon will bring us rain); yet saith he, Though all of us desired to see some showers, yet I wished such hopes might fail, and was glad that no rain fell, donec precibus ecclesia data esset, &c., until it came as a return upon the Churchs prayers, not upon the influence of the moon, but upon the provident mercy of the Creator. Such was the religious care of that good saint then, and the like were to be wished for now, that men would be exhorted not to be so much taken as they are with the vanity of astrological predictions, to read the stars less and the Scriptures more, to eye God in His providence, not the moon so much in its influence, still looking up unto Him as the primus motor, and upon all other creatures whatsoever as subordinate. (J. Spencer.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 3. If ye walk in my statutes] For the meaning of this and similar words used in the law, See Clarke on Le 26:15.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
3. If ye walk in my statutesInthat covenant into which God graciously entered with the people ofIsrael, He promised to bestow upon them a variety of blessings, solong as they continued obedient to Him as their Almighty Ruler; andin their subsequent history that people found every promise amplyfulfilled, in the enjoyment of plenty, peace, a populous country, andvictory over all enemies.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them. Both moral, ceremonial, and judicial, which had been delivered unto them, and now completely recorded in this and the preceding book; for what follow in the two next are chiefly repetitions of what are contained in these.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Blessing of Fidelity to the Law. – Lev 26:3-5. If the Israelites walked in the commandments of the Lord (for the expression see Lev 18:3.), the Lord would give fruitfulness to their land, that they should have bread to the full. “ I will give you rain-showers in season.” The allusion here is to the showers which fall at the two rainy seasons, and upon which the fruitfulness of Palestine depends, viz., the early and latter rain (Deu 11:14). The former of these occurs after the autumnal equinox, at the time of the winter-sowing of wheat and barley, in the latter half of October or beginning of November. It generally falls in heavy showers in November and December, and then after that only at long intervals, and not so heavily. The latter, or so-called latter rain, fall sin March before the beginning of the harvest of the winter crops, at the time of sowing the summer seed, and lasts only a few days, in some years only a few hours (see Robinson , Pal. ii. pp. 97ff.). – On Lev 26:5, Lev 26:6, see Lev 25:18-19.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Verses 3-13:
The text enumerates the blessings Jehovah would bestow upon Israel for their obedience. Compare De 28:1-14; Eze 34:20-31; Am 9:13; Jos 23:10. These blessings were to be upon both person and possession:
1. Favorable seasons, and bountiful harvests. So abundant would be the harvest that the previous year’s harvest would have to be removed from storage to make way for the new.
2. Peace in the land:
(1) safety from wild beasts;
(2) protection from and conquest over enemies.
3. God’s Presence to dwell among them.
The assurance of this promise: God’s deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery, to become His very own.
“Bands of your yoke” refers to the symbolism of the yoke worn by oxen. This was made of one piece of wood laid across the oxen’s neck. This kept them level with each other, and was the means by which they were attached to the wagon tongue. It was an emblem of the oppressive slavery they endured, and from which Jehovah liberated them.
This contrasts with the “yoke” of Jesus, Mt 11:28-30.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
ITS REPETITION
3. If ye walk in my statutes. We have now to deal with two remarkable passages, in which he professedly treats of the rewards which the servants of God may expect, and of the punishments which await the transgressors. I have indeed already observed, that whatever God promises us on the condition of our walking in His commandments would be ineffectual if He should be extreme in examining our works. Hence it arises that we must renounce all the compacts of the Law, if we desire to obtain favor with God. But since, however defective the works of believers may be, they are nevertheless pleasing to God through the intervention of pardon, hence also the efficacy of the promises depends, viz., when the strict condition of the law is moderated. Whilst, therefore, they reach forward and strive, reward is given to their efforts although imperfect, exactly as if they had fully discharged their duty; for, since their deficiencies are put out of sight by faith, God honors with the title of reward what He gratuitously bestows upon them. Consequently, “to walk in the commandments of God,” is not precisely equivalent to performing whatever the Law demands; but in this expression is included the indulgence with which God regards His children and pardons their faults. The promise, therefore, is not without fruit as respects believers, whilst they endeavor to consecrate themselves to God, although they are still far from perfection; according to the teaching of the Prophet, “I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him,” (Mal 3:17😉 as much as to say, that their obedience would not be acceptable to Him because it was deserving, but because He visits it with His paternal favor. Whence it appears how foolish is the pride of those who imagine that they make God their debtor, as if according to His agreement.
The restriction of the recompense, which is here mentioned, to this earthly and transitory life, is a part of the elementary instruction of the Law; for, just as the spiritual grace of God was represented to the ancient people by shadows and images, so also the same principle applied also both to rewards and punishments. Reconciliation with God was represented to them by the blood of cattle; there were various forms of expiation, but all outward and visible, because their substance had not yet appeared in Christ. For the same reason, therefore, because so clear and familiar an acquaintance with eternal life, and the final resurrection, had not yet been attained by the Fathers, as now shines forth in the Gospel, God for the most part shewed forth by external proofs that He was favorably disposed to His people or offended with them. Because now-a-days God does not openly take vengeance on sins as of old, fanatics infer that He has almost changed His nature; nay, on this pretense, the Manicheans (207) imagined that the God of Israel was different from ours. But this error springs from gross and disgraceful ignorance; for, by not distinguishing His different modes of dealing, they do not hesitate impiously to cut God Himself in two. The earth does not now cleave asunder to swallow up the rebellious: (208) God does not now thunder from heaven as against Sodom: He does not now send fire upon wicked cities as He did in the Israelitish camp: fiery serpents are not sent forth to inflict deadly bites: in a word, such manifest instances of punishment are not daily presented before our eyes to make God terrible to us; and for this reason, because the voice of the Gospel sounds much more clearly in our ears, like the sound of a trumpet, whereby we are summoned to the heavenly tribunal of Christ. Let us then learn to tremble at that sentence, which banishes all the wicked from the kingdom of God. So, on the other hand, God does not appear, as of old, as the rewarder of His people by earthly blessings; and this because we “are dead, and our life is hid with Christ in God;” because it becomes us to be conformed to our Head, and through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of heaven. Thus, the greater are the adversities that oppress us, the more cheerfully it behooves us to lift up our heads, until Christ shall gather us into the fellowship of His glory, and to pursue the course of our calling for the hope which is set before us in heaven; in a word,
“
denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Savior Jesus Christ.” ( Titus 2:12, 13.)
I admit, indeed, the truth of what Paul teaches, that “godliness” even now has “the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come,” (1Ti 4:8😉 and assuredly believers already taste on earth of that blessedness which they shall hereafter enjoy in its fullness. God also inflicts His judgments on the ungodly in order to remind us of the last judgment; but still the distinction to which I have adverted is obvious, that since God has opened to us the heavenly life in the Gospel, He now calls us directly to it, whereas He led the Fathers to it as it were by steps. For this reason Paul elsewhere teaches, that believers are afflicted in this world as
“
a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that they may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which they also suffer, seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense,” etc. (2Th 1:5.)
In short, let us no more wonder that the Israelites were only attracted and alarmed by temporal rewards and punishments, than that the land of Canaan was to them a symbol of their eternal inheritance, in which, nevertheless, they confessed themselves strangers and pilgrims; from whence the Apostle correctly concludes, that they desired a better country. (Gen 47:9; Psa 39:12; Heb 11:16.) And thus the wild absurdity of those is refuted, who suppose that the Fathers were contented with perishable felicity, as if God merely gorged them in a tavern. (209) Still the distinction which I have noted remains, that God manifested Himself more fully as a Father and Judge by temporal blessings and punishments than since the promulgation of the Gospel.
(207) “Through him (Manes) Christianity was to be set free from all connection with Judaism.” — Neander’s Church Hist., (Rose’s Transl.,) vol. 2, p. 145. “The theological error which naturally and immediately flowed from these principles, ( i. e. , the principles of Dualism,) was the entire rejection of the authority of the Old Testament. In respect to this question, Manes was compelled by his adoption of the oriental philosophy to reject the theosophy of the Jews.” — Waddington’s Hist. of the Church, vol. 1 p. 154.
(208) “Comme Core, Dathan, et Abiram.” — Fr.
(209) “This discussion, which would have been most useful at any rate, has been rendered necessary by that monstrous miscreant Servetus, and some madmen of the sect of the Anabaptists, who think of the people of Israel as they would do of some herd of swine, absurdly imagining that the Lord gorged them with temporal blessings here, and gave them no hope of a blessed immortality.” — Institutes, B. 2. ch. 10. sect. 1. Cal. Soc. Trans., vol. 1, p. 501.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
2. THE BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE TO GOD 26:313
TEXT 26:313
3
If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
4
then I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
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.
6
And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.
7
And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
8
And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.
9
And I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish my covenant with you.
10
And ye shall eat old store long kept, and ye shall bring forth the old because of the new.
11
And I will set my tabernacle among you; and my soul shall not abhor you.
12
And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people.
13
I am Jehovah your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 26:313
631.
Is there any connection between righteousness and the weather? Discuss for today.
632.
Threshing time will reach to vintage. What months are involved?
633.
Vintage time will reach to sowing. How much time is involved?
634.
Plenty of food and safety are promised by God. Did this ever occur in the history of the nation?
635.
Peace of mind, removal of wild beasts, no invasionswhat wonderful promises! How were they to be fulfilled? i.e. how do you imagine God was going to keep such promises?
636.
If there were to be no invasions, who are the enemies in Lev. 26:7-8?
637.
What added element was to be present to enable a few to rout many?
638.
The promises here are but a ratification of the covenant God made many years before. Discuss. Cf. 2Ki. 13:23; Mal. 3:6.
639.
There will not only be enough to eat, there will be more than enough. Explain Lev. 26:10.
640.
God actually promised to live among them, to walk in, with and among His people. How would He do this?
641.
Deliverance from Egyptian bondage was a very large event in Hebrew history. What was the one large lesson involved? What were the bars of your yoke?
PARAPHRASE 26:313
If you obey all of My commandments, I will give you regular rains, and the land will yield bumper crops, and the trees will be loaded with fruit long after the normal time! And grapes will still be ripening when sowing time comes again. You shall eat your fill, and live safely in the land, for I will give you peace, and you will go to sleep without fear. I will chase away the dangerous animals. You will chase your enemies; they will die beneath your swords. Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you, ten thousand! You will defeat all of your enemies. I will look after you, and multiply you, and fulfill My covenant with you. You will have such a surplus of crops that you wont know what to do with them when the new harvest is ready! And I will live among you, and not despise you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. For I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, with the intention that you be slaves no longer; I have broken your chains and will make you walk with dignity.
COMMENT 26:313
Lev. 26:3-4 God did not require or expect perfect obedience. He wanted consistency in attitude toward him: walk and do My commandments. When it is the planned purpose of man to follow the ethical code of God, both man and God shall be pleased. It is most comforting to contemplate the fact that the One who controls the weather is the One we worship. What the gods of sun and rain could not do, Jehovah God could do and did do, i.e. send an abundance of sun and rain at the right time. Deu. 11:14 speaks of the former and latter rains. The early rain is from about the middle of October until December, thus preparing the ground for receiving the seed, while the latter rain is in the months of March and April, just before the harvest. (Ibid) Cf. Eze. 34:26. For an agricultural people, no more encouraging promise could be made.
Lev. 26:5 The corn crop will be so abundant that those who harvest it in the month of March will not be able to complete it until July, which is the time for the ripe grapes. Once again, the grape harvest will be so full that the wine will not all be pressed out until the month of October. As Amos said, the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sowed seed. (Amo. 9:13) What a promise for those who were when they received it in the desert of Sinai!
Lev. 26:6 To walk in His statutes is to love one another and thus insure peace. To keep His commandments is to honor the person and possessions of our neighbor and thus we will have no fear of robbery.
The stones from the shepherds slings will find their mark in the head of the lion or bear. The spears or arrows will swiftly reach the vitals of the leopard or tiger. Perhaps a disease will decimate their ranks and thus fulfill the promise of God to rid the land of wild beasts. Cf. Eze. 34:25.
Lev. 26:7-8 There were seven nations in the land of Canaan when Israel came into their borders. These nations God promised to drive out. Their iniquity had caused the land to grow sick and to vomit them out. Perhaps the prosperity of Israel would be a cause of envy to the surrounding nations and would prompt them to attack. If so the outcome was already predictedyou shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight; your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. This same promise was repeated before in Deu. 32:30; Jos. 23:10; Isa. 30:17.
How completely God did provide for His people!Rain for food, a full harvest, personal protection, deliverance from wild beasts, victory over invaders. Is it any wonder when they turned their back on His goodness He delivered them into bondage?
Lev. 26:9 Such provisions were a ratification and fulfillment of the agreement He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God had said He would multiply or increase the nation of Israel until it was as numerous as the stars of the sky or the sands of the sea, Cf. Gen. 12:2; Gen. 13:16; Gen. 15:5; Gen. 22:17; Exo. 23:26. Along with their larger population would be the generous provisions just mentioned. How could anyone refuse such love?
Lev. 26:10 Even though they were to multiply so profusely, God will yet provide for them even more abundantly. The grain and goods will wax old because they cannot use it fast enough to exhaust the supply. The past years crop will not be gone when the new crop is ready for storage.
Lev. 26:11-13 The grandest gift was God Himself! I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and be their God, and they shall be my people. 2Co. 6:16. The presence of the tabernacle in the midst of the camp with the cloud by day and fire by night was a constant reminder that God was in their midst. God wants them to know that He will feel at home with them. He has no aversion to them; He does not regard it below His dignity to sojourn among them, and to show them His favor.
What was true of the presence and power of God in the tabernacle is now true in us. We are the sanctuary of His dwelling; our bodies are His dwelling place. 1Co. 6:19-20. Cf. Rev. 21:3. With what humble gratitude should we acknowledge His presence and goodness.
We appreciate so much these closing words of Ginsburg: The promises thus made to Israel of the extraordinary fertility of their land, of peace within and immunity from war without, and of the Divine presence constantly sojourning among them, if they will faithfully obey the commandments of the Lord, now conclude with the oft-repeated solemn appeal to the obligation they are under to the God who had so marvelously delivered them from cruel bondage and made them his servants. To remind them of the abject state from which they were rescued, the illustration is taken from the way in which oxen are still harnessed in the East. The bands or the rods are straight pieces of wood, which are inserted in the yoke, or laid across the necks of the animals to fasten together their heads and keep them level with each other. These bands, which are then attached to the pole of the wagon, are not only oppressive, but exhibit the beasts as perfectly helpless to resist the cruel treatment of the driver. This phrase is often used to denote oppression and tyranny. Cf. Deu. 28:48; Isa. 9:3; Isa. 10:27; Isa. 14:25.
FACT QUESTIONS 26:313
638.
God did not expect perfect obedience. What did he expect?
639.
It is most comforting to contemplate what fact?
640.
There are two periods for rain. What were they?
641.
Explain Amo. 9:13 as related to Lev. 26:5.
642.
Show how walking in His commandments and statutes will give us confidence and protection.
643.
How do you imagine God planned to drive out the wild beasts from the land?
644.
The prosperity of Israel became a means for driving out the seven nations of Canaan. How?
645.
Show how the promises made here were but a ratification of earlier agreements.
646.
What was the grandest gift God gave the nation of Israel? Show how this relates to us.
647.
What were the bands, or rods, or bars of the yoke which God broke for Israel? What application is in this for today?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(3) If ye walk in my statutes.We have already remarked that this verse begins the section in the Hebrew and ought to have begun the chapter in English. Having set forth the ceremonial and moral injunctions which are necessary for the development and maintenance of holiness and purity in the commonwealth, the legislator now concludes by showing the happiness which will accrue to the Israelites from a faithful observance of these laws, and the punishments which await them if they transgress these Divine ordinances.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
BLESSINGS PROMISED TO OBEDIENCE, Lev 26:3-13.
3. Walk in my statutes Mosaism was not mere ritualism, but a power which directed the conduct, shaped the character, and sanctified the heart. It aimed at inward as well as outward holiness. This is the end of all God’s statutes. The original statute signifies that which is absolutely fixed, a decree. Commandments signify acts definitely pointed out. The former is used to designate codes of law, the latter, specific precepts.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Blessings ( Lev 26:3-13 ).
Here follow all the blessings that would be theirs if only they would walk in His statutes and keep His commandments in their hearts and do them.
Lev 26:3-5
“If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them, then I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach to the vintage, and the vintage shall reach to the sowing time; and you shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely.”
The first promise in response to their loving obedience is that He would send the rain at the right times, when they were due, and would make the land and the trees fruitful. Their agricultural way of life would prosper. They would be continually busy because they would have so much grain to thresh that by the time they had completed the task the vintage harvest would be ready. Then there would be so much vintage that by the time that they had gathered in the vintage it would be time for sowing. They would be full of all manner of food. And they would dwell securely.
Lev 26:6
“And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.”
Furthermore the land would know peace. They would be able to rest content with a total sense of security. They would not be troubled either by plagues of evil beasts or by the swords of evil men. Yahweh would keep their land free of both.
Lev 26:7-8
“And you shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword, and five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand; and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.”
Indeed when faced with an enemy they would always be victorious. When they chased them they would fall before them. To deal with a hundred (a larger unit) they would only require five men (their smallest fighting unit). And their own medium unit of ‘a hundred’ would be sufficient to deal with ten large units of ‘a thousand’ each (ten thousand). For their enemy would be unable to resist them.
Lev 26:9
“And I will have respect to you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and will establish my covenant with you.”
And Yahweh would watch over them, and take notice of them and watch out for them, and cause their numbers to multiply. He would make His covenant with them firm and strong, fulfilling its potential.
Lev 26:10
“And you shall eat old store long kept, and you shall bring forth the old because of the new.”
Such would be their harvests that they would find that they always had good stocks of wheat and barley continually dating back a long time. They would never find themselves without. And because they would have such abundance they would have to bring the old out in order to make way for the new.
Lev 26:11
“And I will set my tabernacle among you, and I myself (my soul) shall not abhor you.”
And His tabernacle would be set among them. He would be there with them. And there would be nothing about them that He could hate, because their hearts were truly set towards Him. They would be able to be confident that His love was set on them and that there was no barrier between Him and them. See Exo 29:45.
Lev 26:12
“And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.”
And He Himself would walk among them and be their God, and they would be His people (compare Deu 23:14). It would be like the Garden of Eden restored (compare Gen 3:8).
“And will be your God, and you shall be my people.” As promised in Exo 6:7. This was a theme of Jeremiah. See Jer 7:23; Jer 11:4; Jer 24:7; Jer 30:22; Jer 32:38. In His mercy He is ever ready to respond to His people. See also Eze 11:20; Eze 36:28; Eze 37:23; Eze 37:27; Zec 8:8. It was God’s purpose that He might be their God, recognised, acknowledged, worshipped and obeyed. Then would they in turn be His people, watched over, protected, honoured, prosperous and secure.
Lev 26:13
“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright.”
For it was for this that He in His mighty power and presence as Yahweh had brought them forth safely from the land of Egypt so that they would not be bondmen but free. That was why He had broken the bar of their yoke so that they could go upright. The bar of the yoke went across the neck of the beast of burden bowing them down with the yoke of what they bore. But it would not be so for His people. They would be able to stand upright with no yoke to bow them down.
All this then would be so if only they were responsive and obedient to His will as revealed in His covenant.
The same equally applies to Christians. If we would enjoy overflowing spiritual blessing it can only result from obedience. But without responsive obedience there will be no genuine blessing. It is those who hear the Master’s voice and walk in the Master’s way (Joh 10:27-28), and only they, who will enjoy the fullness of what He wants to give. Only fullness of obedience will bring fullness of blessing.
Jesus constantly stressed that there were only two ways, one was the narrow way of obedience, the afflicted way, the hemmed in way, the way that leads to life, where men do not do their own will but His will. The other was the broad and easy road and it leads to destruction for all. There is no middle way (Mat 7:13-14). The one way was to build on the solid foundation, the rock, of hearing His words and doing them, the other way was to build on sand, hearing His words but not doing them (Mat 7:24-27). Note that both hear His words. It is the way that they then take that reveals them for what they are. Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter under the Kingly Rule of Heaven, only those who do the will of His Father Who is in Heaven (Mat 7:21). We dilute His words at our peril.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Lev 26:3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
Ver. 3. If ye walk in my statutes. ] God’s promises are with a condition, which is as an oar in a boat, or stern of a ship, and turns the promise another way.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
If. Then. Note the four occurrences of “If” and “Then” in this chapter.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Lev 18:4, Lev 18:5, Deu 11:13-15, Deu 28:1-14, Jos 23:14, Jos 23:15, Jdg 2:1, Jdg 2:2, Psa 81:12-16, Isa 1:19, Isa 48:18, Isa 48:19, Mat 7:24, Mat 7:25, Rom 2:7-10, Rev 22:14
Reciprocal: Exo 15:26 – If thou Lev 19:25 – General Lev 25:18 – and ye Deu 7:12 – if Deu 7:15 – will put none Deu 11:27 – General Deu 15:5 – General 1Ki 2:4 – walk 2Ki 21:8 – only if they Isa 65:23 – shall Jer 7:23 – Obey Jer 11:4 – Obey Hag 2:19 – from
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 26:3-4. If ye walk in my statutes, &c. In reward of their obedience, God promises them temporal prosperity in every instance that could render a nation happy. And, first, he assures them they should have fruitful seasons, here expressed by giving them rain in due time Because, in Canaan and Syria, they were wont to have hardly any rain but at two stated seasons; in the end of autumn, at seed-time; and in spring, before harvest; termed the former and latter rain, Jer 5:24; without which, the year was quite barren. For God did not place his people in a land where there were such rivers as the Nile to water it, and render it fruitful; but in a land which depended wholly upon the rain of heaven, the key whereof God kept in his own hand, that so he might the more effectually oblige them to obedience, in which their happiness consisted.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 26:3-13. The blessings of obedience: fertility, freedom from wild beasts, victory over enemies, and the presence of Yahweh Himself in the midst. For the first reward, cf. Amo 9:13; for the thought in general, Deu 28:1-14, Eze 34:25-28; and for Lev 26:11 f. the expansion in Ezekiel 40-48. No distinction is made here or in many other passages between temporal and spiritual blessings; each is appropriate, and the future happiness naturally suggests to a Jew, perhaps actually in exile, the memory of the Exodus.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
2. The blessing for fidelity to the law 26:3-13
The benefits of faithful obedience to the law of God would be fruitful harvests (Lev 26:4-5; Lev 26:10), and security and peace (Lev 26:6), including victory in battle (Lev 26:7-8) and numerical growth as a nation (Lev 26:9; cf. Gen 17:7). The obedient would also experience increasing enjoyment of God’s presence and fellowship (Lev 26:11-12).
The Hebrew word translated "dwelling" (Lev 26:11, miskan) is the source of the name "Shekinah." Later Jews described God’s presence in the most holy place as the Shekinah (cf. Exo 40:34-38). [Note: Harris, p. 644.]
These blessings were both material (Lev 26:3-10) and spiritual (Lev 26:11-13). Israel enjoyed them in her years in the land to the extent that she remained faithful to the terms of the Mosaic Covenant. They are reminiscent of God’s original blessings in the Garden of Eden (cf. Gen 1:26; Gen 1:28-29; Gen 2:8; Gen 3:8).
"But how many of the people in the nation had to live obediently, or how much obedience was expected before the blessings were poured out? The only information that we have to go on is the Old Testament itself. For example, in the case of the city of Sodom (Gen 18:24-33), God was willing to spare the cities of the area for ten righteous men. We do not know the population involved, but this number suggests that as long as a remnant had an influence for righteousness, judgment would not fall." [Note: Ross, p. 468.]
"God promises to reward his people with both spiritual and physical blessing if they are faithful to the requirements of the covenant." [Note: Ibid., p. 473.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
THE PROMISES OF THE COVENANT
Lev 26:3-13
“If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them; then I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 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. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will cause evil beasts to cease out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. And I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you; and I will establish My covenant with you. And ye shall eat old store long kept, and ye shall bring forth the old because of the new. And 1 will set My tabernacle among you: and My soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be My people. 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 bars of your yoke, and made you go upright.”
The promises of the covenant are thus to the effect that if Israel shall keep the law, God will give them rain and fruitful seasons, harvests so abundant that the “threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time”; internal security; deliverance from the wild beasts, which are still such a scourge in many parts of the East; and such power and spirit, that no enemy shall be able to stand before them, but five of them shall chase a hundred, and a hundred chase ten thousand. Then (Lev 26:9) is renewed the promise, given long before to Abraham, of a great increase in their numbers; and thereupon, very naturally, is repeated the promise of abundant harvests, so that notwithstanding they shall be so multiplied, one years harvest should not be consumed before it would have to be removed from the granaries to make room for the new (Lev 26:10). And then this section ends with the assurance which secures all other blessings, temporal and spiritual, that God will abide among them in His tabernacle, and will be their God, and they shall be His people. And the fulfilment of all this is guaranteed by the person, the purpose, and the past dealing of the Promiser; Himself, Jehovah; His purpose, to deliver them from bondage; and His past mercy, in breaking the bands of their yoke.