And if ye say, What shall we eat in the seventh year? behold, we may not sow, nor gather in our produce;
God asks Israel's question for them: a whole year with no sowing and no harvest raises the plainest worry a farmer can have. The answer turns the seventh year into a test — not of farming skill, but of trust in God's promise.
God writes the objection into the law and answers it at once. One writer boils the whole arrangement down to a single issue.
Verse 20 anticipates that they would say, "What shall we eat …?" In answer, they had to rely on God's pledged word that the sixth year would bring forth enough for three years. So there would be enough even when they did not sow on the fiftieth year as well as the forty-ninth. The question came down to this — would they take God at His word? It is an ominous fact that no record exists of the people ever keeping the jubilee year, though we do have a reference to a relative redeeming an inheritance.
No other ruler would have dared to make such a demand. God matched it with a provision just as unusual.
To worldly ears, this was the strangest law ever imposed on a people. Nebuchadnezzar, for all his absolute power, would not have dared to issue it; nor Cyrus the Persian, nor Alexander… Jehovah laid it down as a matter of course for a people set apart to Himself… And Jehovah never failed to make good the extraordinary means He adopted, as explained in verses 21, 22. While Israel obeyed, He gave them the produce of three years in every sixth year. That crop carried them through the sixth year, the sabbath year, and the eighth year, when they sowed and waited for the harvest. So it was a constant display of divine power and goodness to a people whom He encouraged in this way to trust and honour Him.
The fear behind the question is scarcity. So who could promise a year's food in advance, and then deliver it?
Nowhere but in Israel was there such a provision made, for it was not man's thought, but God's. What a sight it must have been. In the sabbatical year the land lay fallow everywhere. You would hear no sound of farming. The plough and the harrow lay idle, no seed was sown, no field watered. The sixth year's crop had been so abundant that it provided enough for three years (20-22). So the whole population had plenty, and there was no shortage for man or beast. Who would have thought of this? Who could promise this? Who could fulfil such a promise, but one? He to whom the land belonged, the Lord Jehovah, the Creator.
On paper, resting the land looks like losing one year in seven. God promised the opposite.
Refusing the rest cost Israel the very thing they were trying to protect.
If Israel had held to this, they would have been greatly blessed. The six years they worked would have provided more than enough to keep them through the seventh year. All they needed was faith to believe God. But we know how selfish our own hearts are. When for six years their crops were so abundant, selfishness would say, "Why not get the same profit from the seventh year too?" Instead of resting and giving God glory, Israel preferred their own works, and so lost instead of gaining… Despite much experience, we are slow to learn that selfishness defeats its own ends.
Only faith can hold a promise about next year's food. In Israel, what they could see pulled harder — and the land still got its rest, without them.
Here is one more instance of the power of the visible and what it cost Israel. It turned them aside from keeping the sabbatical year. That is all the more striking and solemn, because Jehovah had made a special provision to meet the case (see Lev. 25:20-21)… Notice the solemn warning of chapter 26:43: "The land shall be left by them and shall enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them"… These prophetic warnings come right after Jehovah's command about the sabbatical year. Yet they were lost on a nation ruled by the visible, as their refusal to keep the year makes clear.
- Question. God raises the farmer's objection Himself, so the law answers the fear before anyone voices it.
- Guarantee. The answer was a pledge, not a plan: the sixth year would carry them through three. The only question left was whether they would take God at His word.
- Owner. No one else could promise such a harvest; only the One to whom the land belonged could make it and keep it.
- Gain. Obedience paid. Israel took the extra crop instead of the rest, and lost by it.
- Rest. Ruled by what they could see, Israel never kept it — and the land took its sabbaths while they were gone.
then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, that it may bring forth produce for three years;
Leviticus 25 orders the land itself to rest one year in seven. Verse 20 raises the obvious worry: if we do not sow or gather, what will we eat? Verse 21 is God's answer — a harvest He commands, large enough to carry them through.
The command to leave the fields fallow raised a practical worry. God answered it before Israel raised it. One writer boils the whole matter down to a single test:
Verse 20 expects them to say, "What shall we eat …?" In answer to that they had to rely on God's pledged word that the sixth year would produce enough for three years… The question became this — would they take God at His word?
The difficulty was real. But it only weighs on people who leave God out:
Meanwhile the Jew need not be worried, any more than the Christian now, like Gentiles who do not know God… What does the difficulty matter if God is the guarantee?
The promise is not bare survival:
God would see to it that the sixth year produced enough for three years — not only enough for the seventh year, but far more than enough (v. 21).
No human ruler could order up a harvest. Picture the land in that year:
Nowhere but in Israel was there such a provision made, for it was not man's thought, but God's. What a sight it must have been! In the Sabbatical year the land lay everywhere fallow. No sound of farming was heard. The plough and the harrow lay idle, no seed was sown, no field watered. The sixth year's crop had been unusually abundant, providing enough for three years (20-22). So the whole population had all it needed, and there was no shortage for man or beast. Who would have thought of this? Who could promise this? Who could fulfil such a promise, but one? He to whom the land belonged, the Lord Jehovah, the Creator.
Israel held the land from God as tenants, and the rest year showed what kind of landlord He is:
Here, then, we have the special feature of the Lord's land. He would have it enjoy a sabbatical year, and in that year there was to be the evidence of the rich abundance with which He would bless those who held as tenants under Him. Happy, highly privileged tenants! What an honour to hold directly under Jehovah! No rent! No taxes! No burdens!… Nature might say, "What shall we do for our sowing?" God's answer is, "I will command My blessing." God's blessing is far better than man's sowing. He was not going to let them starve in His sabbatical year.
The offer stood. Israel did not take it. Writers trace the refusal to two roots: what the eye could see, and self-interest.
I turn now to one more example of the power of what can be seen and what it did to Israel. It worked on them to stop them keeping the Sabbatical year. Here it is all the more striking and solemn that what they could see turned them aside, because Jehovah had made a special provision to meet the case… As far as they were concerned, Jehovah promised in vain, "I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year." The visible work of man's hands, their sowing and reaping, was greater and better to them than His blessing.
All that was needed was faith to believe God. But we know how selfish our own hearts are. Their crops were so abundant for six years that selfishness would say, "Why not get the same profit from the seventh year too?" Instead of resting and giving God glory, Israel preferred their own works, and so lost instead of gaining… Despite much experience, we are slow to learn that selfishness defeats its own ends.
The law does not only command. It attaches an encouragement, and that pattern did not stop with Israel:
This beautiful scripture shows how the Lord encourages obedience, as well as how He commands and warns. Here He encourages the Israelites to keep the sabbath of the land by promising a great crop every sixth year… To this hour, in our own age, the Lord gives the highest encouragements to the obedience of the saints. For to those who keep His words, the Lord says, "My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him."
- Question: Verse 20 raises the honest worry — no sowing, no harvest — and verse 21 is God's direct reply to it.
- Guarantee: The difficulty only weighs on those who leave God out. When God guarantees the harvest, the question is settled.
- Owner: Only the One who owns the land could say, "I will command my blessing" — and then produce the crop.
- Overflow: The sixth year gave far more than enough — a crop for three years, not one.
- Refusal: Israel would not take God at His word. They trusted what they could see and wanted the seventh year's profit too — so they lost by grasping.
and ye shall sow in the eighth year, and ye shall eat of the old fruit until the ninth year; until her produce come in, ye shall eat the old.
God told Israel to leave the land unsown every seventh year. The obvious question follows: what do we eat? This verse gives part of the answer. One sixth-year harvest had to cover the fallow year, the next sowing, and the wait for the new crop.
The instruction sounds impossible by ordinary standards. One writer points out that no ancient power would have risked such a decree, and then sets out exactly how the sums worked.
To worldly ears, here was the strangest law ever imposed on a people. Nebuchadnezzar, despotic as he was, could not dare to issue it; nor Cyrus the Persian, nor Alexander. Julius Caesar or his imperial nephew would have counted it stark madness. Jehovah laid it down as a matter of course for a people set apart to Himself… And Jehovah never failed to make good the extraordinary means He used, as explained in verses 21 and 22. While Israel obeyed, He gave them the produce of three years in every sixth year. That crop carried them through that year, and through the sabbath year, and through the eighth year, when they sowed and waited for the harvest.
So the old crop is not a stockpile saved up by careful planning. It is the sixth year's harvest, given by God, still feeding them while the new crop grows.
Picture the country as it would have looked in such a year. One commentator does exactly that, and draws the obvious conclusion about who alone could stand behind the promise.
What a sight it must have been! In the Sabbatical year the land lay fallow everywhere. No sound of farming. The plough and the harrow lay aside. No one sowed seed or watered a field. The sixth year's crop had been so abundant that it provided enough for three years (20-22). So the people had all they needed, and there was no shortage for man or beast. Who would have thought of this? Who could promise this? Who could fulfil such a promise, but one? He to whom the land belonged, the Lord Jehovah, the Creator.
The land belonged to God, and Israel farmed it as His tenants. The sabbath year showed how generous a landlord He is.
Here, then, we have the special feature of the Lord's land. He would have it enjoy a sabbatical year. That year would show the rich abundance with which He would bless those who held land as His tenants. Happy tenants, and greatly privileged! What an honour to hold directly under Jehovah! No rent! No taxes! No burdens!
The promise reduced the whole matter to one question. And it stretched further than the seventh year — in the run-up to the fiftieth year two years in a row went unsown.
Verse 20 expects them to say, "What shall we eat…?" In answer, they had to rely on God's pledged word: the sixth year would bring forth enough for three years. This being so there would be enough supply even when they did not sow on the fiftieth year as well as the forty-ninth. The question became simply this — Would they take God at His word? It is an ominous fact that the history of the people records no jubilee year ever being kept.
Another writer says the worry that grips people without God has no place here.
Meanwhile the Jew need not worry like the Gentiles who do not know God, any more than the Christian need worry now… What does the difficulty matter if God is the guarantee?
The law here does more than give orders. It ties a promise to obeying — and that way of God has not changed.
This beautiful scripture shows the encouragements of the Lord in obedience, as well as the commandments or warnings to it. Here God spurs the Israelites on to keep the sabbath of the land by promising a great increase every sixth year… To this hour, in our own time, the Lord gives encouragements of the highest character to the obedience of the saints. For to those who keep His words, the Lord says, "my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."
One writer sets what nature would say against what God says.
Nature might say, "What shall we do for our sowing?" God's answer is, "I will command My blessing." God's blessing is better by far than man's sowing… They were to feed on the fruits of His blessing, while they kept His year of rest — a year which pointed forward to that eternal Sabbath that remains for the people of God.
- Command. God told Israel to stop sowing every seventh year. Writers call it the strangest law ever laid on a nation, one no ruler would have dared to give.
- Question. The law voices the fear it creates: "What shall we eat?" Everything came down to one issue — would they take God at His word?
- Gift. The answer was a sixth-year harvest big enough for three years. It carried them through the fallow year and on until the new crop came in.
- Reach. The promise even covered the two unsown years before the fiftieth. Yet writers note no record that Israel ever kept the jubilee year.
- Owner. Only the God who owned the land could promise this and keep it. His tenants lived on His blessing, in a year of rest that pointed to God's eternal rest.