What is the meaning of Leviticus 26:24?

Then

• The word signals a sequence: if Israel continues defiance after earlier warnings (Leviticus 26:18, 21), this next level of discipline arrives.

• Cause-and-effect runs through all the covenant blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 28:15–20). God’s responses are never random.

• Romans 2:4–5 reminds that persisting after patience stores up wrath; Hebrews 12:6 shows discipline flows from love, urging repentance before harsher steps follow.

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I will act with hostility toward you

• “I will” underscores divine initiative; the Lord Himself becomes the adversary (Isaiah 63:10, “He turned and became their enemy”).

• Hostility here portrays active opposition, not mere withdrawal. Compare Psalm 68:21, “Surely God crushes the heads of His enemies.”

• This reversal stands in contrast to Exodus 23:22, where obedience makes God an enemy to Israel’s foes. Disobedience flips that protection.

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and I will strike you sevenfold

• “Strike” conveys tangible blows—war, famine, plague (see Leviticus 26:25–26).

• “Sevenfold” points to completeness and intensity, as in Proverbs 6:31’s “sevenfold” restitution and Revelation 15:1’s seven last plagues.

• The escalating pattern (Leviticus 26:28: “I will punish you with sevenfold more”) shows measured yet increasing pressure designed to break stubbornness, not to annihilate.

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for your sins

• Judgment targets specific rebellion—idolatry, injustice, covenant breach (Leviticus 26:1–2).

• Ezekiel 18:30 affirms, “Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your downfall.” God’s strikes aim to expose sin, prompt confession, and restore fellowship (Leviticus 26:40–45).

• Galatians 6:7 echoes the timeless principle: “Whatever a man sows, he will reap.”

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summary

Leviticus 26:24 reveals a sober chain: persistent sin (“then”) turns the covenant Protector into an active Opponent, bringing complete (“sevenfold”) discipline precisely “for your sins.” The verse underscores God’s faithfulness to His word—both in warning and in mercy when repentance follows.