Leviticus 26 · a question people ask
Do these blessings and warnings apply to Christians?
The chapter names who they were given to: they are the laws "which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by Moses" (26:46), and the blessings are tied to the land: rain, harvest, and peace "in the land" (26:4-6). Christians agree that God disciplines those he loves (Hebrews 12:6), and that Paul told the church of Israel's history, "all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition" (1 Corinthians 10:11). They read this chapter in two main ways.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
The terms of the covenant at Sinai
Those who hold this view read the rain, harvest and peace of 26:3-13, and the warnings of 26:14-39, as the terms of the covenant made with Israel at Sinai (26:46). Christians live under the new covenant; Hebrews says of it, "In that he says, ‘A new covenant’, he has made the first obsolete" (Hebrews 8:13). Their blessing is "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3), and "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13).
Leviticus 26:46 · Hebrews 8:13 · Ephesians 1:3 · Galatians 3:13
God's ways, shown in Israel's story
Those who hold this view read the chapter as showing how God deals with his people in every age, as Paul used Israel's history "for our admonition" (1 Corinthians 10:11). Obedience and blessing, turning away and discipline still go together, though not as rain and harvest in a land: "whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7), and "whom the Lord loves, he disciplines" (Hebrews 12:6). The way back is the same: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins" (1 John 1:9).
1 Corinthians 10:11 · Galatians 6:7 · Hebrews 12:6 · 1 John 1:9
The verses
“then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall continue until the vintage, and the vintage shall continue until the sowing time. You shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. “‘I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and no one will make you afraid. I will remove evil animals out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land.”
“These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in Mount Sinai by Moses.”
“for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and chastises every son whom he receives.””
“Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.”