“For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things” (Zechariah 8:12).

Zechariah prophetically looked ahead to the restoration of the people to Israel after the Babylonian captivity ceased. God had punished the people because (1) Zedekiah refused God’s word and broke his oath to Nebuchadnezzar (II Chronicles 36:12,13); (2) the priests and people practiced heathen customs (II Chronicles 36:14–16); and (3) the people hadn’t kept the sabbatical year (II Chronicles 36:21). In spite of all this, He would eventually allow a remnant to “possess all these things.”

Part of “these things” included the agricultural yield of the land. However, that yield is a gift of God. It comprises good seed, bearing vines, fertile soil, and appropriate rains; but given all these things, there is still God’s will regarding the increase. In Genesis 26:12 we see Isaac’s harvest being blessed by God. He recognized that God controlled these things.

A remarkable behavior of nature (as programmed by God) is the response of seeds and plants to the right stimuli of climate and season. The internal messages of growth and development are directed by the conditions of moisture, temperature, nutrients, and God’s willingness. Man can prosper in a land and truly possess it, only as the land releases its providence to the tiller.

Read the controlling sequence of Leviticus 26:3,4,9: “If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. . . . For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful.” KBC