“However, if you do not listen to me or obey all these commands…”

Leviticus 26:14 (NLT)

When I was a teenager, I worked for my stepdad in the summer. He was a bricklayer who awakened me at 6:00 am with his powerful voice: “IT’S TIME TO GET UP!” Sometimes people need something shocking to wake them up.

The second part of Leviticus 26 describes the curses that would come upon Israel if they forsook the LORD and His commandments. It is full of shock and awe, for it describes the unthinkable consequences of disobedience. Five degrees of terrors are mentioned–each one significantly worse than the previous. It is a sad testimony to the rebelliousness and stubbornness of man. It also testifies of the severity of God’s judgments. God’s love is demonstrated by His willingness to bless His people who walk in His ways, but His justice is demonstrated by His willingness to punish the disobedient. In our relationship with God, there is a healthy balance of love and fear.

God’s purpose in visiting these things upon His chosen ones was reformation and repentance.

“But at last my people will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors for betraying me and being hostile toward me. When I have turned their hostility back on them and brought them to the land of their enemies, then at last their stubborn hearts will be humbled, and they will pay for their sins. Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.”

Leviticus 26:40–42 (NLT)

God will not punish His people forever. He will remember His promises to the patriarchs and restore Israel after they have suffered a little while. But they must humble themselves and confess their sins against God. This is the only way home to a rebellious and backslidden nation.

Do these things apply to us? We are not a covenant nation as was Israel. However, God’s principles are universal and eternal. These things are written as examples to us (1 Corinthians 10:6). And we are a nation that was built on faith in Jesus Christ and the teachings of Scripture. I pray that we will not have to go any further down the road of “shock and awe” before we all turn back to the LORD with all our hearts. May God wake us up!

Photo by Frank Cone