The Lord Sends the Harvest (vv. 6-7). What does the harvest have to do with the conversion of the nations of the world? The phrase “Then shall the earth yield her increase” (v. 6) is a quotation from Leviticus 26:4, and Leviticus 26 is a summary of God’s covenant with Israel. (See also Deut. 28–30.) God made it clear that His blessing on the land depended on Israel’s obedience to His law (Lev. 26:1-13). The blessings He would send Israel would be a witness to the pagan nations that Jehovah alone is the true and living God, and this would give the Jews opportunity to share the Word with them (Deut. 28:1-14). But if Israel disobeyed the Lord, He would withhold the rain, and their fields would yield no harvest (Lev. 26:14-39), and this would put Israel to shame before the Gentile nations (Jer. 33:1-9; Joel 2:17-19; Deut. 9:26-29). Why would “all the ends of the earth” fear a God who didn’t provide food for His own people? The application to the church today is obvious: As we obey the Lord, pray, and trust Him, He provides what we need; and the unsaved around us see that He cares for us. This gives us opportunity to tell them about Jesus. While verse 6 speaks of a literal harvest, it also reminds us of the “spiritual harvest” that comes as we witness for the Lord (John 4:34-38).

God blesses the nations through His people Israel and through His church, and all the nations should trust Him, obey Him, and fear Him.