Our Response Reveals Our Trust in God

Leviticus 26 turns on one little word: “if.” After sacrifices, priests, purity laws, atonement, and jubilee, the question is not whether Israel knows all the rules. The question is whether God’s people trust him enough to do what he says. Like a man climbing onto a tightrope walker’s back, trust means more than cheering from the sidelines. A person’s response reveals the relationship.

God gives these commands to people he has already rescued from slavery. Redemption comes before instruction. Obedience does not earn his love; it makes trust in his love visible. The repeated declaration, “I am the Lord,” anchors the commands in who God is. His people are called to listen because he has already shown his goodness and faithfulness.

God promises Israel provision, peace, protection, and, greatest of all, his presence. Those particular promises do not guarantee that Christians everywhere will be wealthy, healthy, and successful. Following Jesus can be costly. God does not promise that everything will be easy; he promises that his people will not face it alone. Trust becomes visible when his commands challenge preferences, anger, relationships, parenting, work, and civic decisions. Biblical convictions must shape both public choices and the treatment of people who disagree.

Persistent refusal brings discipline. The repeated warnings reveal God giving his people opportunity after opportunity to listen. The greatest danger is not simply stumbling into sin, but becoming comfortable with disobedience and convinced that it is right.

Yet rebellion does not get the final word. God promises mercy when his people confess and humble themselves. His faithfulness does not depend on theirs. Jesus fulfills what Leviticus points toward: the perfect sacrifice, the high priest, and the one who makes life in God’s presence possible through his death and resurrection. The gospel calls for more than admiration from a distance. It calls sinners to repent, surrender, and entrust their lives to the Savior who carries them.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Redemption Comes Before God's Instructions. God addresses Israel as a people already rescued from slavery, not as strangers trying to earn his affection. His commands call them to live out the relationship he has already established. Obedience becomes evidence of trust rather than a payment for love. [30:19]
• 2. God's Presence Outweighs An Easy Life. Israel’s promises of fruitful harvests and security cannot simply become guarantees of Christian wealth and comfort. The apostles and persecuted believers make that clear. God’s lasting assurance is that his people will not face hardship alone, because he remains with them. [38:12]
• 3. Trust Shows When Obedience Costs Something. Agreement with God is easy when his commands line up with personal preferences. Trust becomes clearer when forgiveness means releasing anger, honesty makes a conversation uncomfortable, or biblical convictions run against surrounding opinions. Those convictions must also govern the way believers love and treat people who disagree. [43:51]
• 4. Comfortable Disobedience Hardens The Heart. A stumble does not mean that a believer has no relationship with God. The deeper danger is explaining sin away until disobedience begins to feel right. Daily encouragement from other believers helps expose that deceit and renew trust in God’s goodness. [49:11]
• 5. God Remains Faithful After Human Failure. Leviticus does not end with rebellion and destruction, but with an opening for confession and mercy. God takes sin seriously, yet he also takes his covenant promises more seriously than his people imagine. Jesus’ coming shows that God’s faithfulness is not dependent on human faithfulness and gives sinners solid ground for surrender. [52:12]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [22:50] - Blondine and the Difference Between Belief and Trust
• [27:06] - Leviticus 26 and the Question of Obedience
• [30:03] - Redemption Comes Before Instruction
• [32:11] - The Commands Rest on God's Character
• [33:54] - Trust Listens and God Promises His Presence
• [38:12] - Faithfulness Does Not Guarantee Comfort
• [40:04] - Obedience When God's Commands Challenge Preferences
• [42:05] - Conviction, Civic Choices, and Loving Others
• [46:24] - Refusing to Listen and the Danger of Hardening
• [50:41] - Returning to God and Finding Mercy
• [53:03] - Jesus Fulfills What Leviticus Points Toward
• [55:11] - From Admiring Jesus to Entrusting Life to Him
• [56:52] - Prayer for Trust and Surrender

1. In Leviticus 26:1–13, how does God connect his commands and promises with what he has already done for Israel? [35:11]
2. What blessings does God promise in Leviticus 26:3–12, and which blessing goes beyond provision and protection? [35:00]
3. What pattern appears in the warnings in Leviticus 26:18, 21, 23, and 27 as Israel continues refusing to listen? [47:22]
4. In Leviticus 26:40–45, what response does God call for from his people, and what does he promise about his covenant despite their rebellion? [50:55]

1. How does Israel’s rescue from slavery change the meaning of obedience in Leviticus 26? How does John 14:15 help distinguish responding to God’s love from trying to earn it? [40:17]
2. Why would it be a mistake to use Israel’s promised harvests and security as a guarantee that faithful Christians will be healthy, wealthy, and successful? What hope remains for a believer whose obedience brings hardship? [38:20]
3. What is the difference between a believer stumbling into sin and becoming comfortable defending disobedience? How do the repeated warnings in Leviticus 26 help explain that difference? [49:18]
4. How does God’s faithfulness in Leviticus 26:40–45 give a person reason to confess rather than hide? Why does that mercy encourage repentance rather than make sin unimportant? [52:18]

1. When you fall short, do you tend to think you must earn your way back into God’s love? What might change in your response if you remembered that obedience flows from his love rather than purchases it? [30:19]
2. Where are you facing something difficult that you cannot quickly fix? What would trusting God’s presence look like this week, even if your circumstances do not improve? [39:42]
3. Is there an honest conversation you have been avoiding, anger you have been holding onto, or another clear command you have been resisting? What makes obedience costly, and what is one step you could take toward trusting God in that situation? [44:52]
4. Think of a recent disagreement about a public or civic issue. How did your words and actions reflect your biblical convictions—not only about the issue, but also about loving the person who disagreed? What might you handle differently next time? [43:58]
5. What excuses tend to make disobedience seem reasonable to you? Who could you invite to encourage you and gently challenge those excuses, and what would help you receive that honestly? [49:37]
6. Jesus calls people beyond admiration into repentance and trust. Where do you recognize a desire to stay in control rather than entrust yourself to him? What might surrender look like in that area, and how can this group support you? [54:20]