Leviticus 26-27

What’s Happening?

Leviticus closes by reminding us that everything in this book—the sacrifices, the priesthood, the holy place, and the holy calendar—rests on one foundation: the covenant between God and his people.

This covenant began in Eden, when God created humanity to live with him in a holy place through holy time. Humanity broke that covenant in sin, but God continued his promise through Abraham, renewed it at Sinai, and established it through Israel’s worship in Leviticus. The sacrifices, priestly rituals, and feasts are not mechanical transactions. They are covenant practices—expressions of what it means to live as God’s people in God’s presence.

The sacrifices are not a way for Israel to coerce God into keeping his covenant as if they were an equation. It was a relationship of belonging and fidelity. God promised to be Israel’s God—to dwell among them, bless them, protect them, and make them fruitful in the land. In response, Israel was to walk in his ways, mirror his holiness, and trust his provision.

Leviticus 26 describes what happens when that covenant is kept—or broken.

If Israel keeps the covenant, Eden reopens: rains fall in their season, crops flourish, enemies flee, and God walks among his people (Leviticus 26:12). The same Hebrew word for “walk” is used in Genesis 3 when God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden. Through obedience, the world begins to look like the garden again.

But if Israel breaks the covenant, Eden unravels: the land will withhold its fruit, the skies will turn to iron, and enemies will invade. Exile is described as a kind of “de-creation,” where order collapses back into chaos. Yet even here, God’s faithfulness does not end.

God tells Israel that when—not if—they are exiled and their hearts are hardened, he will still remember his covenant. Though his people will forget him, he will not forget them. Even when they reject him, he will not reject them. God will be faithful to his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He will work through exile and de-creation to lead his people to repentance. God will bring them back.

Leviticus ends with vows—reminders that every promise and offering is part of a relational covenant with a living God who never breaks his word. The book that began with sacrifices ends with commitment—God’s to his people, and his people’s to him.

Where is the Gospel?

Leviticus ends where the gospel begins—with a God who keeps covenant even when his people do not.

When Israel finally broke the covenant beyond repair, they were exiled from the land. But even in exile, God came to them—not in a tabernacle of fabric, but in the tabernacle of flesh. Jesus is the God of Leviticus dwelling again among his people. He is the true priest, the faithful Israelite, the living covenant.

Where Adam failed to walk with God in the garden, and where Israel failed to walk with God in the land, Jesus walked faithfully every step. He lived in perfect communion with the Father. Jesus showed us what holy living within Eden looks like. By offering us his life, through his sacrifice on the cross, Jesus invites us to participate in that Eden existence now. The covenant of belonging to a holy God and becoming holy like that God is given to us in the life of Jesus. He keeps the covenant in us as we remain in him.

In Jesus, the blessings of Leviticus 26 are fulfilled—not as temporary rains or abundant harvests, but as the life of the Spirit and the fruit of the new creation. He restores what our sin exiled us from: the presence of God, the peace of the land, and the joy of Sabbath rest.

Because God keeps his covenant, we can rest in his faithfulness. Even when our hearts are hard, even when we fail to keep our promises, he keeps his. Jesus is the one who ensures the covenant’s blessings for all time. He makes us a holy people, brings us into a holy place, and fills our lives with holy time—so that, once again, God can walk with humanity in the garden of his creation.

See for Yourself

I pray that the Holy Spirit would give you eyes to see the God who keeps covenant when his people cannot. And may you see Jesus as the faithful covenant keeper who restores the broken relationship between heaven and earth—bringing us back into the garden of his presence, where God walks with his people forever.