John Calvin Commentary Leviticus 26:25

"And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute the vengeance of the covenant; and ye shall be gathered together within your cities: and I will send the pestilence among you; and ye shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy." — Leviticus 26:25 (ASV)

And I will bring a sword upon you. There is no doubt that He means the hostile swords of all the nations, by which the Israelites were sorely afflicted. He teaches that whoever should bring trouble and perplexity upon them were the just executioners of His vengeance.

This is just as He constantly declares by the prophets: that He was the Leader of the people’s enemies, and that the Assyrians and Chaldeans both fought under Him. He calls the Assyrian His axe and the rod of His anger which He wields in His hand (Isaiah 10:5, 15), and Nebuchadnezzar His hired soldier. He says that He will call the Egyptians with a hiss and will arouse the Chaldeans by the sound of his trumpet (Isaiah 7:18, 20, and elsewhere).

But since this point is sufficiently well known, there is no need for further proofs. The sum is that all wars are stirred by His command, and that soldiers are armed at His will and are strong in His strength. Therefore, it follows that He has innumerable forces by whose hand He may execute His vengeance whenever He pleases.

Consequently, when the Israelites were afterwards harassed and even cruelly oppressed by their enemies, God’s truth was manifested in all those continual defeats; while from His great severity, we may gather how gross was the perversity of their conduct.