Leviticus 26:1
"You must not make idols for yourselves or set up a carved image or sacred pillar; you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it. For I am the LORD your God.
Sermons
Idolatry: Our Danger and Our SecurityW. Clarkson Leviticus 26:1
Command to Maintain the Public Worship of JehovahR.A. Redford Leviticus 26:1, 2
The Blessedness of the RighteousJ.A. Macdonald Leviticus 26:1-13
Temporal Rewards and PunishmentsR.M. Edgar Leviticus 26:1-46














In the words before us we have -

I. THE QUALITIES OF THE RIGHTEOUS DESCRIBED. These are:

1. That they worship the true God.

(1) They make no idols. Graven images. Pillars to memorialize advantages supposed to be derived from false gods. Witness the votive offerings of the papists. They might not superstitiously worship such stones of memorial as Jacob set up to memorialize the blessings of Jehovah (see Genesis 28:18; and comp. 2 Kings 18:4). The images of stone or "stones of picture" (see margin) would probably be statues. Note: men make their idols.

(2) They respect Jehovah. He is the Maker of all things. He is himself uncreate. He is the Covenant Friend of the righteous.

2. That they worship him truly.

(1) By keeping his sabbaths. Memorials of his works of creation and redemption. Pledges of the rest of heaven.

(2) These are: weekly - monthly - yearly - septennial - in the jubilee.

(3) By reverencing his sanctuary. The place of his presence, of his altar, of the congregation of his people.

3. They serve him obediently.

(1) Walking in his statutes. This implies the study of his Word.

(2) To keep his commandments also implies prayer for Divine grace.

II. THEIR BLESSEDNESS ASSURED. They have the promise of:

1. Plenty.

(1) The elements were to be propitious to them. Seasonable rains. These are very important. They are here mentioned as representing all benign elemental influences - light, heat, electricity, - all which are essential.

(2) The result then is abundance (verse 5). Before they could have reaped and threshed out their corn, the vintage should be ready, and before they could have pressed out their wine, it would be time again to sow.

(3) This was to prefigure the abundance of grace which should mark the times of the gospel (see Amos 9:18).

2. Security.

(1) From the hostility of the elements. No plague should invade them.

(2) From the hostility of men. No warrior should invade them. No robber should trouble them.

(3) From the hostility of animals. Where population is reduced by wars and famines, beasts of prey prowl.

(4) How the faithfulness of God has been verified in the history of his people!

3. Victory.

(1) God puts the dread of them into their enemies. They fly before them. Witness the flight of the Syrians in the days of Elisha (2 Kings 7.).

(2) He puts courage into their hearts. Witness the exploits of Gideon, of Samson, of Jonathan and his armour-bearer (1 Samuel 14:6, 12).

4. Multiplication.

(1) This is a blessing of the covenant. It is a real strength to a nation. It is a real strength to a Church.

(2) But outside the covenant mere numbers may prove a formidable evil.

5. Divine favour.

(1) "I will have respect unto you." Contrast with this Hebrews 10:38.

(2) The token of the favour of God is his presence.

(a) His tabernacle was amongst them in the wilderness. What miracles of mercy were shown to them then!

(b) How glorious were the days of Solomon when the Shechinah entered the temple.

(c) His tabernacle was set among his people in the presence of Jesus (John 1:14). But they did not know the blessedness of their day

(d) How blessed is the mystical incarnation of Christ in the believer! (John 6:56; 2 Corinthians 6:16-18; 2 Corinthians 7:1).

(e) The glory of the tabernacle will culminate in the new heavens and earth (see Revelation 21:3). All this blessedness was pledged in the emancipation from the bondage of Egypt (verse 13). More fully in the redemption of the gospel typified thereby. - J.A.M.

If thy brother... be sold unto thee.

I. TEXTS RELATING TO SLAVES.

1. Called bondmen (Genesis 43:18; Genesis 44:9).

2. By birth (Genesis 14:14; Psalm 116:16; Jeremiah 2:14).

3. By purchase (Genesis 17:27; Genesis 37:36).

4. Sometimes captives taken in war (Deuteronomy 20:14; 2 Kings 5:2).

5. Strangers, under certain restrictions (ver. 45).

6. Foreigners, might be purchased (ver. 44).

7. Debtors, liable to be sold (2 Kings 4:1; Nehemiah 5:4, 5; Matthew 18:25).

8. Thieves were sold (Exodus 22:3).

9. Israelites to be kindly treated (vers. 39, 40, 46), and to be liberated after six years (Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12); or if they refused to be free, then (Exodus 21:5, 6; Deuteronomy 15:16, 17), when sold to foreigners might be redeemed (vers. 47-55), or be free at the jubilee (vers. 10, 40, 41, 54), but could not demand wife and child procured during bondage (Exodus 21:3, 4); were to be furnished liberally on regaining liberty (Deuteronomy 15:13, 14).

10. Foreign slaves to rest on Sabbath (Exodus 20:10), to share in national rejoicing (Deuteronomy 12:18; Deuteronomy 16:11, 14).

11. If ill-treated by masters, to be set free (Exodus 21:26, 27).

12. Laws respecting killing slaves (Exodus 21:20, 21).

13. If they ran away, not to be delivered up (Deuteronomy 23:15).

14. Sometimes rose to rank (Ecclesiastes 10:7), and might intermarry with master's family (1 Chronicles 2:34, 35).

15. Kidnapping condemned (Exodus 21:16; Deuteronomy 24:7; 1 Timothy 1:10).

II. NOTE ON THE ABOVE TEXTS. Consider —

1. The nature of slavery as practised by the heathen world (the treatment of Israelites by Egyptians).

2. The restraint laid upon these Israelites in their conduct to foreign bondsmen. But for these laws how might these people — who had been slaves of foreigners themselves — have treated foreigners when in their turn they became masters?

3. The relation of Israelitish slaves to Israelitish masters, with their privileges (social and religious), and certain freedom.

4. The causes for which alone they might become slaves.

5. Especially consider that while these laws ameliorated the condition Of slavery as it then existed — eliminating the elements of cruelty, &c., leaving, in fact, nothing of bondage but the name — they paved the way, by the training of justice and mercy, for the total extinction of slavery.

6. Christianity in spirit, precept, and practice against slavery.(1) Asserts that there is no bond or free, but that all are one in Christ.(2) Teaches the fraternity of the race. "God hath made of one blood," &c. "All we are brethren."(3) Strikingly illustrates this by the case of a runaway slave — Onesimus — whom Paul sent back to his master, whom in some way he had wronged, not as a slave, but as a brother beloved (Philemon). Learn:

1. No warrant for modern slavery in the Word of God (Isaiah 58:6).

2. Spiritual slavery the worst form (2 Timothy 2:26).

3. This may be the state of men who are politically free (John 8:34; 2 Peter 2:19).

4. Jesus the great Emancipator (John 8:32-36; Romans 6:18-22; Galatians 5:1; 1 Peter 2:16).

(J. C. Gray.).

People
Egyptians, Isaac, Israelites, Jacob, Moses
Places
Mount Sinai
Topics
Bow, Carved, Cut, Engraved, Erect, Figured, Gods, Graven, Idols, Image, Imagery, Images, Pictured, Pillar, Raise, Rear, Sacred, Standing, Statue, Stone, Worship, Yourselves
Outline
1. Of idolatry
2. Reverence
3. A blessing to those who keep the commandments
14. A curse to those who break them
40. God promises to remember those who repent

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Leviticus 26:1

     1225   God, as Spirit
     5211   art
     5212   arts and crafts
     8302   love, abuse of
     8780   materialism, and sin
     8799   polytheism
     8840   unfaithfulness, to God

Leviticus 26:1-2

     8242   ethics, personal
     8402   claims

Library
Emancipated Slaves
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 your yoke, and made you go upright.'--LEV. xxvi. 13. The history of Israel is a parable and a prophecy as well as a history. The great central word of the New Testament has been drawn from it, viz. 'redemption,' i.e. a buying out of bondage. The Hebrew slaves in Egypt were 'delivered.' The deliverance made them a nation. God acquired them for Himself, and
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Lii. Trust in God.
15th Sunday after Trinity. S. Matt. vi. 31. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness." INTRODUCTION.--We read in ancient Roman history that a general named Aemilius Paulus was appointed to the Roman army in a time of war and great apprehension. He found in the army a sad condition of affairs, there were more officers than fighting men, and all these officers wanted to have their advice taken, and the war conducted in accordance with their several opinions. Then Aemilius Paulus
S. Baring-Gould—The Village Pulpit, Volume II. Trinity to Advent

A Reformer's Schooling
'The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace, 2. That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 3. And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

a survey of the third and closing discourse of the prophet
We shall now, in conclusion, give a survey of the third and closing discourse of the prophet. After an introduction in vi. 1, 2, where the mountains serve only to give greater solemnity to the scene (in the fundamental passages Deut. xxxii. 1, and in Is. 1, 2, "heaven and earth" are mentioned for the same purposes, inasmuch as they are the most venerable parts of creation; "contend with the mountains" by taking them in and applying to [Pg 522] them as hearers), the prophet reminds the people of
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Repentance
Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.' Acts 11: 18. Repentance seems to be a bitter pill to take, but it is to purge out the bad humour of sin. By some Antinomian spirits it is cried down as a legal doctrine; but Christ himself preached it. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent,' &c. Matt 4: 17. In his last farewell, when he was ascending to heaven, he commanded that Repentance should be preached in his name.' Luke 24: 47. Repentance is a pure gospel grace.
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

The Second Commandment
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am o jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of then that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.' Exod 20: 4-6. I. Thou shalt not
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Covenanting Provided for in the Everlasting Covenant.
The duty of Covenanting is founded on the law of nature; but it also stands among the arrangements of Divine mercy made from everlasting. The promulgation of the law, enjoining it on man in innocence as a duty, was due to God's necessary dominion over the creatures of his power. The revelation of it as a service obligatory on men in a state of sin, arose from his unmerited grace. In the one display, we contemplate the authority of the righteous moral Governor of the universe; in the other, we see
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Solomon's Temple Spiritualized
or, Gospel Light Fetched out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let us More Easily into the Glory of New Testament Truths. 'Thou son of man, shew the house to the house of Isreal;--shew them the form of the house, and the fashion thereof, and the goings out hereof, and the comings in thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the ordinances thereof, and all the forms thereof, and all the laws thereof.'--Ezekiel 43:10, 11 London: Printed for, and sold by George Larkin, at the Two Swans without Bishopgate,
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Appendix ix. List of Old Testament Passages Messianically Applied in Ancient Rabbinic Writings
THE following list contains the passages in the Old Testament applied to the Messiah or to Messianic times in the most ancient Jewish writings. They amount in all to 456, thus distributed: 75 from the Pentateuch, 243 from the Prophets, and 138 from the Hagiorgrapha, and supported by more than 558 separate quotations from Rabbinic writings. Despite all labour care, it can scarcely be hoped that the list is quite complete, although, it is hoped, no important passage has been omitted. The Rabbinic references
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

The Mercy of God
The next attribute is God's goodness or mercy. Mercy is the result and effect of God's goodness. Psa 33:5. So then this is the next attribute, God's goodness or mercy. The most learned of the heathens thought they gave their god Jupiter two golden characters when they styled him good and great. Both these meet in God, goodness and greatness, majesty and mercy. God is essentially good in himself and relatively good to us. They are both put together in Psa 119:98. Thou art good, and doest good.' This
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Leviticus
The emphasis which modern criticism has very properly laid on the prophetic books and the prophetic element generally in the Old Testament, has had the effect of somewhat diverting popular attention from the priestly contributions to the literature and religion of Israel. From this neglect Leviticus has suffered most. Yet for many reasons it is worthy of close attention; it is the deliberate expression of the priestly mind of Israel at its best, and it thus forms a welcome foil to the unattractive
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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