BUT IF THEY WILL CONFESS THEIR SINS

Passage: Leviticus 26:34-46

Key verse: 26:40

NIV

34 Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time that it lies desolate(A) and you are in the country of your enemies;(B) then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. 35 All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest(C) it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

36 “‘As for those of you who are left, I will make their hearts so fearful in the lands of their enemies that the sound of a windblown leaf(D) will put them to flight.(E) They will run as though fleeing from the sword, and they will fall, even though no one is pursuing them.(F) 37 They will stumble over one another(G) as though fleeing from the sword, even though no one is pursuing them. So you will not be able to stand before your enemies.(H) 38 You will perish(I) among the nations; the land of your enemies will devour you.(J) 39 Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their ancestors’(K) sins they will waste away.(L)

40 “‘But if they will confess(M) their sins(N) and the sins of their ancestors(O)—their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward me, 41 which made me hostile(P) toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts(Q) are humbled(R) and they pay(S) for their sin, 42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob(T) and my covenant with Isaac(U) and my covenant with Abraham,(V) and I will remember the land. 43 For the land will be deserted(W) by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected(X) my laws and abhorred my decrees.(Y) 44 Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies,(Z) I will not reject them or abhor(AA) them so as to destroy them completely,(AB) breaking my covenant(AC) with them. I am the Lord their God. 45 But for their sake I will remember(AD) the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt(AE) in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.’”

46 These are the decrees, the laws and the regulations that the Lord established at Mount Sinai(AF) between himself and the Israelites through Moses.(AG)

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Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

34 (A)“Then the land shall enjoy[a] its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies' land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. 35 As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. 36 And as for those of you who are left, (B)I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The (C)sound of a (D)driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. 37 They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And (E)you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. 38 And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. 39 And those of you who are left shall (F)rot away in your enemies' lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.

40 “But if (G)they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they (H)committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, 41 so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their (I)uncircumcised heart is (J)humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, 42 then I will (K)remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will (L)remember the land. 43 But (M)the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, (N)I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and (O)break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. 45 But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, (P)whom I brought out of the land of Egypt (Q)in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.”

46 (R)These are the statutes and rules and laws that the Lord made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses (S)on Mount Sinai.

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Footnotes
  1. Leviticus 26:34 Or pay for; twice in this verse; also verse 43
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

First, the land of their enemies (34-39). With their land deserted, it would finally get the Sabbath rests that God had commanded (34-35). In exile, they will live in great fear and waste away (36-39). All this was because of their sins and their ancestors' sins. Second, 'I will remember my covenant' (40-46). This chapter is mostly warnings of punishment because we are so stubborn and sinful. But there is hope. Read verses 40-42. Humbly confessing sin, unfaithfulness and hostility toward God is the key to restoration. God will remember his covenant with Abraham and with his descendants, whom he brought out of Egypt to be their God. The Lord established these laws at Mount Sinai through Moses. Confession of sin and faith in Jesus' blood is the way of the new covenant (1Jn 1:9; Lk 22:20).

Prayer: Lord, I am stubborn and sinful. Thank you for providing a way of restoration through repentance and confession of sin. Thank you for your promise in the new covenant we have in Jesus' blood.

One Word: Restored through repentance and confession