Leviticus 26:4

. L. "titulum", Samar. Ar. "pillar", Ainsworth. {h} "Suidas in voce" yeuv arhv Vid. Arnob. adv. Gentes, l. 6. p. 232. Leviticus 26:2 Ver. 2. Ye shall keep my sabbaths,.... The seventh day sabbaths, and the seventh year sabbaths; especially the former are meant, in which religious worship was given to the one true and living God, and therefore the observance of them is strictly enjoined; and hence this law follows closely upon the former, though Aben Ezra restrains it to the sabbatical years, or seventh year sabbaths, as he applies the sanctuary in the following clause to the jubilee year, which is said to be holy, Leviticus 26:12; supposing that this refers unto and stands in strict connection with the laws of the preceding chapter, concerning the sabbatical, Leviticus 25:1, and jubilee years, Leviticus 25:8: and reverence my sanctuary; by attending in it, and on the worship in it, with reverence and godly fear, see Leviticus 19:30; I [am] the Lord; who had a right to such religious worship, and to command such things, in which he ought to be obeyed, his sabbaths kept, and sanctuary reverenced. Leviticus 26:3 Ver. 3. If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them. Both moral, ceremonial, and judicial, which had been delivered unto them, and now completely recorded in this and the preceding book; for what follow in the two next are chiefly repetitions of what are contained in these. Leviticus 26:4 Ver. 4. Then I will give you rain in due season,....

your God. 2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the LORD. 3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; 4 Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. 5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. 6 And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. 7 And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. 8 And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 9 For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you. 10 And ye shall eat old store, and bring forth the old because of the new. 11 And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. 13 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. Here is, I.

26:1-13 This chapter contains a general enforcement of all the laws given by Moses; by promises of reward in case of obedience, on the one hand; and threatenings of punishment for disobedience, on the other. While Israel maintained a national regard to God's worship, sabbaths, and sanctuary, and did not turn aside to idolatry, the Lord engaged to continue to them temporal mercies and religious advantages. These great and precious promises, though they relate chiefly to the life which now is, were typical of the spiritual blessings made sure by the covenant of grace to all believers, through Christ. 1. Plenty and abundance of the fruits of the earth. Every good and perfect gift must be expected from above, from the Father of lights. 2. Peace under the Divine protection. Those dwell in safety, that dwell in God. 3. Victory and success in their wars. It is all one with the Lord to save by many or by few. 4. The increase of their people. The gospel church shall be fruitful. 5. The favour of God, which is the fountain of all Good. 6. Tokens of his presence in and by his ordinances. The way to have God's ordinances fixed among us, is to cleave closely to them. 7. The grace of the covenant. All covenant blessings are summed up in the covenant relation, I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and they are all grounded upon their redemption. Having purchased them, God would own them, and never cast them off till they cast him off.

Then I will give you rain in due season,.... The former and latter rain, in the two seasons of the year in which rain usually fell, and the Scriptures frequently speak of; and when the land of Israel, which required rain, not being watered with a river, as Egypt, was blessed with it; the one was at the sowing of their seed, or a little after it, and the other a little before harvest; and when it was had in those times it was had in due season, and hence the word is in the plural number, "your rains" (i); unless showers of rain are meant: to encourage to keep the commands of God, promises of many outward good things are made; and this is the first, being a principal blessing, and which only God, and not all the vanities of the Gentiles, could give: and the land shall yield her increase; which is greatly owing to seasonable showers of rain, by which means the earth brings forth bread to the eater and seed to the sower, corn and grass for man and beast: and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit; vines, olives, pomegranates, figs, &c. are meant, with which the land of Israel abounded, Deuteronomy 8:8. (i) "pluvias vestras", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Verses 4-6. - These verses appear to have been in the mind, not of Joel only, as already pointed out, but of Ezekiel ( Ezekiel 34:20-31 ). In Leviticus we find, Then I will give you rain in due season; in Ezekiel, "And I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing." In Leviticus, And the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit; in Ezekiel, "And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth her increase." In Leviticus , Ye shall dwell in your land safely; in Ezekiel, "They shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods." In Leviticus, And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land; in Ezekiel, "And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land.... And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid." The promise, Your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time, is similar to that in the prophet Amos, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed" ( Amos 9:13 ). Leviticus 26:4

I will give you rain; therefore God placed them not in a land where there were such rivers as Nilus to water it and make it fruitful, but in a land which depended wholly upon the rain of heaven, the key whereof God kept in his own hand, that so he might the more effectually oblige them to obedience, in which their happiness consisted.

Rain in due season - The periodical rains, on which the fertility of the holy land so much depends, are here spoken of. There are two wet seasons, called in Scripture the former and the latter rain Deuteronomy 11:14 ; Jeremiah 5:24 ; Joel 2:23 ; Hosea 6:3 ; James 5:7 . The former or Autumn rain falls in heavy showers in November and December. In March the latter or Spring rain comes on, which is precarious in quantity and duration, and rarely lasts more than two days.

(4) Then I will give you rain in due season. —Better, then I will give you your rains in due season, that is, the former and latter rains ( Deuteronomy 11:14 ). In Palestine the proper season for the early rain is from about the middle of October until December, thus preparing the ground for receiving the seed, whilst that of the latter or vernal rain is in the months of March and April, just before the harvest. Thus, also, in the covenant which God is to make with His people, a similar promise is made, “I will cause the showers to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing” ( Ezekiel 34:26 ).

The Blessing of Fidelity to the Law. - Leviticus 26:3-5 . If the Israelites walked in the commandments of the Lord (for the expression see Leviticus 18:3 .), the Lord would give fruitfulness to their land, that they should have bread to the full. "I will give you rain-showers in season." The allusion here is to the showers which fall at the two rainy seasons, and upon which the fruitfulness of Palestine depends, viz., the early and latter rain ( Deuteronomy 11:14 ). The former of these occurs after the autumnal equinox, at the time of the winter-sowing of wheat and barley, in the latter half of October or beginning of November. It generally falls in heavy showers in November and December, and then after that only at long intervals, and not so heavily. The latter, or so-called latter rain, fall sin March before the beginning of the harvest of the winter crops, at the time of sowing the summer seed, and lasts only a few days, in some years only a few hours (see Robinson, Pal. ii. pp. 97ff.). - On Leviticus 26:5 , Leviticus 26:6 , see Leviticus 25:18-19 .

[Reformed Biblical] These statutes the Lord gave to Israel in Mount Sinai by Moses, Lev_26:46. ## A standing image, or, pillar , to wit, to worship it, or bow down to it, as it follows. Otherwise this was not simply prohibited, being practised by holy men both before and after this law. Compare Exo_23:24 Deu_16:22. So Exo_20:4. They are forbidden to make images, not simply or for any use, but for worship. Leviticus 26:2 ## Reverence my sanctuary, by purging and preserving it from all uncleanness, by approaching to it, and managing all the services of it, with reverence, and in such manner only as God hath appointed. Leviticus 26:3 Leviticus 26:4 ## I will give you rain; therefore God placed them not in a land where there were such rivers as Nilus to water it and make it fruitful, but in a land which depended wholly upon the rain of heaven, the key whereof God kept in his own hand, that so he might the more effectually oblige them to obedience, in which their happiness consisted. Leviticus 26:5 ## Your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, i.e. you shall have so plentiful a harvest, that you shall not be able to thresh out your corn in a little time, but that work will last till the vintage. Leviticus 26:6 ## Neither shall the sword go through your land, i.e. war, as the sword is oft taken, as Num_14:3 2Sa_12:10. Otherwise there is the sword of justice. It shall not enter into it, nor have passage through it, much less shall your land be made the seat of war.