Leviticus 26:40

The Bible says in Leviticus 26:40-46, “If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me;[41] And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity:[42] Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land.[43] The land also shall be left of them, and shall enjoy her sabbaths, while she lieth desolate without them: and they shall accept of the punishment of their iniquity: because, even because they despised my judgments, and because their soul abhorred my statutes.[44] And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.[45] But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.[46] These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.” It says at the beginning of Leviticus 26V40, “If they shall confess their iniquity…” That is a big “if” because some people are too proud to confess their sins. The same thing is said to Christians in First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins…” It is the only way to stay in fellowship with the Lord. God is very merciful, even to those who were under the law. Even though God did all the judgments that He warned them about, He still made this offer to them that even when they were cast out of the land and scattered among the heathen peoples, that at any time the Jewish people could repent and ask the Lord to forgive them and start serving Him again. They will finally do that very thing at the return of Christ.

In verse forty-one God said, “if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity.” Man’s problem is a problem of the heart. The Jewish men had to be circumcised because the cutting off of the filth of the flesh symbolized repentance from sin in the heart. The problem with the Jews was that they had circumcision of the flesh but their heart was not changed. The same thing is seen among supposed Christians who have had water baptism, but their hearts were never changed by conversion to Christ. Water baptism only symbolizes forgiveness that should have already taken place when a person accepted Christ into their heart. The Jewish people needed to be “humbled.” It is best to learn to humble yourself by a true view of yourself that you are a guilty sinner that needs the mercy of God. But if you are proud and stubborn, the Lord has no choice but to change the circumstances of your life in a negative way, and maybe then you will be humbled.

The Jewish people still have a chance to turn to God and His Son Jesus Christ. In verse forty-five God said, “But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.” What was “the covenant of their ancestors?” It was the Abrahamic Covenant. God made a promise to Abraham, and God repeated that promise to Isaac and to Jacob. For example, God said in Genesis 12:1-3, “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:[2] And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:[3] And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” God made a promise, and God always keeps His promises. That is why the Jewish people were never totally destroyed: God has a promise to keep, and no amount of man’s sin or failure will keep God from fulfilling His promises. Think of it: for centuries and centuries the Jewish people had no nation, and they were scattered all over the world, and yet they kept their language, their culture, and their religion. This is an amazing proof of the existence of God and of the enduring nature of God’s involvement in all things. That is exactly what God said would happen in verse forty-four: “And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God.”

Notice in verse forty-six that God said, “These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the LORD made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.” The law was given at Mount Sinai. The two are inseparable. When you think of Mount Sinai, you should think of the law of the Old Testament. The New Testament makes it clear that Christians have not come to Mount Sinai, and Christians are not under that law. We came to a different mount, figuratively speaking. We came to the cross of Christ, and the cross was located in Jerusalem: in Mount Zion. That is why it says in Hebrews 12:18, “For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest.” and then in Hebrews 12:22, “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.”

The Bible says in Leviticus 27:1-7, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,[2] Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a singular vow, the persons shall be for the LORD by thy estimation.[3] And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.[4] And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.[5] And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.[6] And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver.[7] And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.” When verse two says that a vow shall be “for the LORD by thy estimation,” it means that each person has a set value. The rest of these verses go on to tell the Israelites exactly how much money they had to pay whenever they made a vow. The amount was different depending upon if the person making the vow was a male or a female and depending upon their age. The thing to notice is that in this law about vows and giving money, nothing was left for the individual to decide. Everything was decided for them. That fits in with the law’s requirement to pay a tithe: ten percent. The law dictated how much to give. That is really different from the New Testament and the age of grace. Christians are given the freedom and the responsibility to decide how much they will give. It says in Second Corinthians 9:7, “Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him gibe; not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

The Bible says in Leviticus 27:8, “But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him.” Some people are poor. That is just the way life is. Jesus said, “The poor you have with you always.” And so we must make provision for the poor. We have done that in our country with the government programs that have a purpose of helping people that are less fortunate. Also, partly because of the influence of Christianity, many people in our country are very compassionate and give to those who are less fortunate. As we see in this verse, in the law of the Old Testament a poor person only had to give in relation to his or her income and net worth. Also, notice that they did give something. A system of taxation where some people pay nothing at all is not a good system.

The Bible says in Leviticus 27:9-13, “And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the LORD, all that any man giveth of such unto the LORD shall be holy.[10] He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.[11] And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the LORD, then he shall present the beast before the priest:[12] And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be.[13] But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation.” When someone promised to give an animal to the Lord, later they were not allowed to change their vow from a good animal to one that was not so good, such as changing from a lamb to a pig. A good person will keep their word both to God and man. If you tell someone that you are going to do something, then do it; or at least go them and explain why you could not.

It is interesting to notice that in verses 11 through 13 other animals were allowed to be given for vows that were not allowed for the normal sacrifices of the law. That means that pigs could be brought to the priests in these situations. There are exceptions to almost everything. But there was an extra charge of twenty percent whenever such an animal was brought.

The Bible says in Leviticus 27:14-34, “And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the LORD, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand.[15] And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his.[16] And if a man shall sanctify unto the LORD some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.[17] If he sanctify his field from the year of jubilee, according to thy estimation it shall stand.[18] But if he sanctify his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubilee, and it shall be abated from thy estimation.[19] And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him.[20] And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more.[21] But the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest's.[22] And if a man sanctify unto the LORD a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession;[23] Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of the jubilee: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the LORD.[24] In the year of the jubilee the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong.[25] And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel.[26] Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the LORD's firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the LORD's.[27] And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation.[28] Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the LORD of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the LORD.[29] None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death.[30] And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD's: it is holy unto the LORD.[31] And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.[32] And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.[33] He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.[34] These are the commandments, which the LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.”

This appears to be what was happening with the Jewish people in regards to vows. An Israelite would make a vow such as the following: “If the Lord heals my daughter from this terrible sickness, I will give the Lord my house.” And then when he got his request and wanted to keep his house or anything else that he vowed, he would go to the priest and pay the amount of money required according to these rules. To redeem means to pay for or to purchase. He would buy back whatever he vowed if he so desired. This was part of the law. Christians do not make vows like this because Jesus said in Matthew 5:34-37, “I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:[35] Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.[36] Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.[37] But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.” We pray and trust the Lord Jesus. That is the principle of faith. The New Testament is different from the law of the Old Testament.

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