“Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely. The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and dwell in it securely. And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years.” – Leviticus 25:18-21 (ESV)
God clearly directed His people to acknowledge Him as the Provider and to allow the land to rest every seventh year. Though an agricultural people – depending on the field and the vine for sustenance – the Israelites were to cease from sowing and pruning every seven years (Leviticus 25:1-5). The continual cycle of six years of work followed by one year of rest demonstrated at the most basic level of life that God’s will is the number one priority.
Knowing some of the Israelites would ask the same question I would ask, God preempts their doubt with this stunning statement, “And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives” (Leviticus 25:20-22, ESV). Yes, God knew many of His people would question the practicality of the plan. How would they have enough to eat if no planting or harvesting happens for an entire twelve months? (Remember, the Israelites had no Wal-Mart!) The resounding answer comes back, “God is both the Giver of the harvest and the Grower of the crops.”
Living for the Lord is not for the faint of heart – for those who do not grasp God’s sovereignty over the very essence of reality. Psalm 24:1 (ESV) comes to mind, “The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.” If we believe this basic premise of God’s rightful ownership of all creation, the corollary follows that He can, therefore, dictate creation’s path. In other words, the Lord is fully able to require the land to yield three years of crop for one year of planting. He made the earth, and He sustains it. The land must follow the voice of God.
The question becomes, “Why?” Why would God require the land to yield a supernatural crop in the sixth year? Why would He faithfully provide sustenance during a season when no sowing occurred? This continual, rhythmic cycle of provision for the seventh year took place because of the continual, rhythmic obedience of those who love God. Leviticus 25:18 (ESV) makes clear, “Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then you will dwell in the land securely.”
God reveals to us a right and productive way to operate. He knows “the land” best. He knows our lives best. He understands the way things ought to function. Moreover, He has the power to interject regular miracles into the flow of life. With obedience comes the consistent provision of God. As we trust the Lord enough to obey Him – even when it does not appear to make sense – God persistently offers His miraculous intervention in the daily stuff of our lives. To the Israelites, food and drink were basic and necessary (as they are with us!) The Lord consistently provided – even in the seventh year following a season without planting. The rational man without belief in God cannot see how this would naturally happen. However, the man of faith and rationality who trusts in God can see this as a reaction of God to His child’s obedience. God moves heaven and earth for His people!
We may not always realize this rather rhythmic provision, but the Lord is giving us breath, food, love, sanity, and hope. Even in the Old Testament, God promises consistent miracles with consistent obedience. Can you imagine His provision fully realized in Jesus Christ? I am given opportunity to be God’s child through Jesus, and I am given the strength to obey by His Spirit. Let us seek to regularly obey and regularly watch God work supernaturally!