- Dwell in Safety
Leviticus 25:18,19 Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. And the land shall yield her fruit, and ye shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety.
This is a conditional promise: if you keep the commandments, then you will dwell in the land in safety and enjoy abundant harvests. Many blessings and good things come our way if we could obey the commandments of God’s Law. The consequences of good, upright, moral living are numerous. On the other side, many curses will come into effect for disobedience to the Laws of God. Consequences in themselves are not necessarily promises; they are principles, but God promises that He will be faithful to the principles of Creation.
The specific promise in this verse is that you will live in the land in safety. We may take this promise for NT believers in a spiritual way, and claim it for ourselves by faith. We will dwell in the kingdom (or, the kingdom resides within us) in safety from our spiritual enemies (sin, death, devil); we will enjoy perfect peace in the kingdom free from fear and danger; we can rest in the safe place, in the strong refuge, in the mighty fortress, on the solid rock. We are spiritually safe. Sin tempts us but we can resist with God’s help, and the sins are taken away when we repent and believe. Death scares us and we want to avoid thinking about it at all costs; it is a frightful enemy, but the resurrection of Christ defeated death forever and we enjoy eternal life from this day forward. The Devil falsely accuses us and attempts to bring us into despair and shame; he tempts us through the world and our own flesh to fall into sin, disregard for the good, and unbelief in God. Through repentance and faith in the gospel we overcome daily, and we dwell safely in the Kingdom of God.
This is God’s doing, for He puts the “Land” in us and a shield of protection around us; we dwell in safety. We cannot keep the statutes and judgments and do them; and so we cannot on our own merit expect to be spiritually safe. But Jesus has done it for us; He has lived righteously according to the Law. Be faith we have His life. By repentance we receive forgiveness. The promise is real: dwell in safety.