God gives instructions to Moses on Mount Sinai for observance of the Sabbath and the Year of Jubilee once they have entered the promised land. What did this mean to the Children of Israel? The ones who have been wandering homeless in the desert for forty years are told that when they enter the land they can build their houses, accumulate land, servants, build up fortunes, and at the end of fifty years, it all goes back as it was. Would they be grateful for what God had given them, Would they recognize that He was the giver of all. Would they acknowledge him as the giver of harvests and rain, peace and safety, fruitfulness and increase, the one who broke the bars of their imprisonment in Egypt? Or would they begin to think that it was their own efforts that brought about their prosperity.
God lays out for his people a road map of what it will look like if they are obedient, and what it will look like if they hostile. It's interesting that God goes into much greater detail of what the punishment will be for disobedience. Prosperity for the Israelites will be open-ended. There is no limit to the blessing they could experience as God's people. Punishment is cut and dried. There is a limitation to God's patience, but not his covenant. " 'Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking my covenant with them. I am the LORD their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the LORD.' " Leviticus 26:44-45 NIV
Whether or not the Children of Israel would be able to keep their part of the covenant remains to be seen. Can they accept the fact that they are custodians of God's grace or will the Ancient of Days be relegated to someone they call on only in an emergency?
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