God asks the question before the people do. He knows that a law to leave the fields unsown for a year will raise a fear: "behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase." So He puts their worry into words and then answers it.

Gill describes those who would ask it as people "of little faith," who "take thought for tomorrow," anxious about how they will be fed in the sabbath year. Yet he also says it was "very likely some would" ask it, and "the answer to it follows." Matthew Henry's concise note says, "Thus many Christians anticipate evils, questioning what they shall do, and fearing to proceed in the way of duty." The question is natural for farmers. God does not scold it; He meets it with a promise.

God answers at once: "Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store" (Leviticus 25:21-22). The answer is a promise tied to obedience: "ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments... and ye shall dwell in the land in safety" (Leviticus 25:18).

This question shows a God who anticipates His people's fears. He commanded the land to rest, and in the same breath He promised to "command my blessing" (Leviticus 25:21). Obedience was not a leap into nothing. It rested on His word.

Israel had seen this before. In the wilderness the LORD gave "on the sixth day the bread of two days" so they could rest on the sabbath (Exodus 16:29). Gill and Matthew Henry both connect the sixth-year harvest with that double portion of manna. Henry says the promise was "intended for an encouragement to all God's people, in all ages, to trust him in the way of duty, and to cast their care upon him." Later, the LORD warned that if Israel broke His covenant, the land would "enjoy her sabbaths" while they were in their enemies' land, "because it did not rest in your sabbaths" (Leviticus 26:34-35).