As mentioned above, G‑d promises to bless the produce of the sixth year, making the land yield enough for both that year and the following, sabbatical year.
[G‑d instructed Moses to tell the Jewish people,] "I will command My blessing for you in the sixth year." (Leviticus 25:21) When G‑d hid His presence after Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, He limited this concealment to 6,000 years. Although we can usher it in earlier, the Messianic era will commence no later than the beginning of the seventh millennium.
The six years during which agricultural work is permitted correspond to the six millennia of the world's present state of existence. The sabbatical year corresponds to the seventh millennium, when the world will "rest" from its present state. We are now in the latter part of the sixth millennium, i.e., nearing the end of the sixth "year."
In this context, we know that the Divine consciousness and spiritual strength of our generation cannot compare to those of earlier ones. This being the case, we may wonder how it can be that the sixth "year" – the weakest one – will be the one to provide for the seventh. How can our relatively weak spirituality usher in the Redemption, when the superior spirituality of our holy ancestors did not?
To this, G‑d replies that in the merit of our simple faith – as expressed in our dedication to our Divine mission despite all obstacles and beyond the constraints of logic – He will increase the yield of the "sixth year," and bring us the Redemption.
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