Repentance Brings Restoration

“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land."

Leviticus 26:40-42 

Before arriving in the Promised Land, the Lord gave His covenant people Israel the law. The book of Leviticus specifically describes the laws that the Lord expected His Israel to follow at present and upon arrival in Canaan. All of these laws were enacted in order to reflect the coming of the promised Messiah, who would lead the people out of bondage from the law.

After enacting laws about everything from proper offerings to handling the poor, the Lord then told the people what would happen if they refuse to follow His law. The Lord warned the people that if they disobey Him, He would strike the people with great physical and mental illnesses (26:14-16), attacks from enemies and animals (17-19, 21-22), great plagues, droughts (20), and hunger (23-26). 

But the Lord gave a hopeful promise in Leviticus 26:40-42. The remnant of the Lord’s people would have to repent in exile, turning their backs against false gods and the evil culture of their conquerors, and turning toward the Lord in order to experience true restoration. The Lord would also continue to hold to the covenant that He had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, promising to make them a great nation, through which all the people of the world would be blessed forever.

It was only a several hundred years after the writing of Leviticus that the people, which had been continually living in sin, were sent into exile by conquering powers. 

The warnings, lessons, and hope for restoration of the people of Israel apply spiritually to New Covenant believers today. Those who are recklessly living in sin, ignoring the law of the Lord, can experience true and lasting spiritual restoration only through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If our sin is confessed, He has promised to forgive and to cleanse His people from all unrighteousness, restoring us into a right and proper standing before the King. Thanks be to the Lord for His forgiveness and restoration.