THE GIVER OF RAIN

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.”

Zechariah 10:1

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I don’t know about you but I simply love spring. I love everything about it, except maybe the pollen that covers my car and terrorizes those who suffer from allergies.

It’s spring that brings us out of the literal dead of winter where everything seems to be laid bare and ushers in signs of life all around us, from the leaves on the trees to the flowers sprouting from the ground to the grass growing green again in our yards.

And with this, don’t think for a minute that it’s a coincidence that our blessed Easter holiday falls in the season of winter as we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection to new life, emerging from the confines of the tomb after dying on Calvary’s cross.

Why the focus on springtime?

Because as we see, it’s at the center of the opening verse of Zechariah 10 as we’re reminded who the true source of life is, spring or otherwise. Look again at these words:

“Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.” Zechariah 10:1

Note that the Lord is the source and wellspring of life, the One who sends the nourishing rains needed for all the aforementioned blossoming to occur. It is He, the Lord, who showers His people and everything else in creation and we need to look no further than Him for the cause of all weather events to include thunderstorms. After all, He is the Maker of all things.

So why all this talk about rain in this book filled with prophecy?

Because the Israelites needed a reminder. Let me explain.

Before God gave the Israelites custody of Canaan, they were a nomadic people, constantly on the move from point to point after being delivered from the clutches of Pharaoh in Egypt. You’ll recall their first exodus lasted forty days but with entry into Canaan before them, the Israelites got cold feet after ten of twelve spies sent to scout the land came back with a negative report regarding the opposition ahead. As punishment for not trusting Him to deliver them into the land He was granting, God sent His people back into the wilderness, this time for forty years, a year for each day they had traveled before.

After those forty years, the Israelites did go into Canaan under the leadership of Joshua with each tribe assuming the portion of land allotted to them. The people within those tribes settled down for the first time in a long time, establishing homes for themselves and planting crops for sustenance. Thus, the harvest became something of great importance to the Israelite people.  

Enter the pagan god Baal onto this landscape for the Israelites were not living within Canaan alone. They were supposed to be but they weren’t because they were disobedient to God’s command to drive out all the people who were inside the nation when they took over. Those people who were allowed to remain worshiped false gods and before you know it, the Israelites were being adversely influences by those practices which included worshiping Baal, the god of fertility. It was one of the things that drew God’s anger and led to Him punishing the Israelites with seventy years of exile, an exile that had just ended with God restoring His people to their nation.

This is why God felt it important to remind His people that He was the God who sustained life and provided for His people. He was the Giver of rain, not some lifeless idol or non-existent deity. It was true in Zechariah’s day and it remains true today.

Indeed, God brings the rain, literally but also figuratively. And that rain can be good and bad (Matthew 5:45).

For example, go back to Sodom and Gomorrah for a perfect example of how God’s rain can be bad. These two cities had become so wicked in God’s sight that He wiped them both out.

How?

By raining down burning sulfur from the heavens.

I think you’ll agree that this wasn’t rain that was life giving; rather, it was rain that was life ending.

In other words, as we look at God as the Giver of rain, we need to know that He can rain down judgment on us if we choose to be sinful in His sight.

Conversely, God can shower His people with blessings as well when they choose to live in a way pleasing in His sight, following His will and way in a quest for righteousness. For He rewards those who live in obedience to Him, serving Him and Him alone while serving others through Him.

In the end translation, God grants life but He also can take life away for He is the almighty Giver of rain whether in judgment or blessing.

How will He rain down on you in your life today?

It’s a question every person needs to carefully ponder.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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