THE EARLY AND THE LATTER RAINS
Let us know,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
His going forth is established as the morning;
He will come to us like the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth.
Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
His going forth is established as the morning;
He will come to us like the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth.
Hosea 6:3
This week most of the country received its eagerly awaited first rain of the rainy season. Unusually it came in from the south and it was the southern desert areas that received the most. Eilat received 27.7 mm overnight, more than its average annual rainfall, and was inundated by serious flooding. Elsewhere gentler rains fell but here in Jerusalem all we got was a sprinkle during the night.
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| Flooding in Eilat http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4871361,00.html
As a child growing up in rainy New Zealand I can remember my Sunday School teacher explaining to us that in the Bible rain represented the blessing of God. I could never really 'get it'. Rain was something that ruined outings, shut us up indoors for days on end, and was just plain miserable. It wasn't until I came to live in Israel that I began to understand what a blessing rain is. In New Zealand 8 days without rain constitutes a 'drought'. Here in Israel we have every year 7-8 months without a drop of rain. The landscape turns brown, everything gets covered with a layer of dust and the ground cracks open. By autumn it is as if all of the Land is gasping for rain and as we pray the prayers for rain during the Festival of Succot our eyes turn skyward searching for the first rain cloud. Usually it comes some time in October but this year summer seemed to stretch on endlessly, until this week when at last the temperatures have cooled and at least some parts of the country received the delicious refreshment of the first rains.
In the Bible the first rain is called the 'Yoreh' and the latter rain the 'Malkosh'. The meaning of these ancient words is a matter for debate. The root of 'yoreh' means to teach or to shoot . The meaning of 'malkosh' is less clear. It could be derived from the root 'lksh' which means to be tardy or late, or it could be a combination of two words 'maleh' to fill, and 'kash' stalk.
In the Middle East the agricultural growing season is the winter, the rainy season. The early rain, in October or November, is the rain that softens the soil and causes the seeds to germinate and begin to grow. Then follows a drier period but one in which intermittent rain falls, allowing the plants to grow and mature. Then in February- March the heavier latter rains begin, bringing about the time of flowering and the ripening of the seed. The rains usually peter out by the end of March.
At the foot of Mt Sinai, after the LORD had given Moses the tablets of the law for the second time, He promised Israel this,
And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.
Deuteronomy 11:13-14
In the Bible there are several other references to the early and latter rains, and there is much argument about their interpretation. Are the early and latter rains only to be taken literally, or do they have a deeper symbolic meaning? I think it is both. It refers to the very concrete and real blessing of the rain for the good of the land and its inhabitants, but it also has a deeper symbolic meaning.
Some see the first rain as referring to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the second rain of another outpouring of the Spirit before the return of the LORD.
I think however that Hosea 6:3, quoted above, suggests a somewhat different interpretation, namely a linkage between the early and the latter rains and the coming of the LORD as Messiah, His first coming and His second. At Jesus' first coming he died and was resurrected just as a seed must 'die' before it can germinate. The Kingdom of God began to grow. Since then it has continued to grow, watered by the rains of the Holy Spirit, looking forward to the final flowering or fulfillment when Jesus returns again to take his Bride.
Joel 2 describes the events leading up to the second coming of the LORD. When great and terrible armies will come up against Israel, causing the hearts of the people to be melted by fear. Then a trumpet will be sounded in Zion to gather all the people before God in repentance, and the priests will call out to God for help:
Blow the trumpet in Zion,
Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; 16 Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. 17 Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
Then God will drive away Israel's enemies and restore the blessing to the Land, giving the former and latter rains, so that the crops may prosper again:
18 Then the Lord will be zealous for His land,
And pity His people. 19 The Lord will answer and say to His people, “Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, And you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations.
20 “But I will remove far from you the northern army,
And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, With his face toward the eastern sea And his back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, And his foul odor will rise, Because he has done monstrous things.”
21 Fear not, O land;
Be glad and rejoice, For the Lord has done marvelous things! 22 Do not be afraid, you beasts of the field; For the open pastures are springing up, And the tree bears its fruit; The fig tree and the vine yield their strength. 23 Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the Lord your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully,[d] And He will cause the rain to come down for you— The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month. 24 The threshing floors shall be full of wheat, And the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.
Joel 2
Israel has always been described as a stiff-necked or stubborn nation. What will it take to bring her to her knees in repentance and supplication before God? Perhaps only abject fear as the fearsome armies confront us from the north. Then we as a nation will repent and cry out to God who will hear, have pity on us and send us salvation.
The rabbis have an interesting third alternative meaning to the word 'malkosh'. Rabbi Nehilai ben Idi said that the [latter rain is termed malkosh] 'because it is a thing that removes the stiff-neckedness of Israel'. This is based on the understanding that perhaps the word is derived from a combination of two words 'mal' to remove and 'kosh' - stiffness or stiff-neckedness. http://www.yeshiva.co/midrash/shiur.asp?id=6909
Many of us here in the land are feeling that we are seeing the beginnings of a softening of the spiritual stiff-neckedness that has for so long afflicted the people Israel. People are fearful of the future and are watching events unfold around us. The threat to our survival seems to grow daily. At the same time there seems to be more of an openness to the person of Jesus than perhaps ever before. The Bible teaches that the veil which hides the truth from the eyes of Israel will be lifted when they turn to Jesus.
But their [the children of Israel] minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
2 Corinthians 3: 14-16.
We here in the Land long for this day but tremble because of the events that must occur in order for it to happen. Already we see the stage being set. Right now the Middle East is in turmoil and the world is focused on the battle against Dayish (ISIS) and the civil war in Syria. As I write the Iraqi forces, backed by US air strikes, are mounting a massive offensive against Dayish with the intention of retaking Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, Dayish's last major urban stronghold. Meanwhile, in Syria, Assad's forces, backed by Russia, are gaining more and more control. It is possible that these regional confrontations will soon be resolved and we will be left with a new reality in the Middle East, a nuclear armed and powerful Iran backed by Russia and an irresolute American presence struggling to shore up the rest of the fractured and divided nations. The stage will then be set for the great battle described in Joel 2, when the northern army (v. 20) will swoop down on little Israel.
Blow the trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand: 2 A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains. A people come, great and strong, The like of whom has never been; Nor will there ever be any such after them, Even for many successive generations
Joel 2: 1- 2
Some other news from Jerusalem
Four days ago another committee of the UNESCO, the World Heritage Committee, passed yet another resolution in which the Temple Mount was referred to by its Arabic name without mention of Jewish or Christian ties to the site. It was passed however without a majority vote: 10 nations voted for, 8 abstained, 2 voted against and one was absent.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, condemned the decision, saying,
“The absurdity continues, and UNESCO has adopted yet another ridiculous decision that is completely disconnected from reality,” he said in a statement. “UNESCO embarrassed itself by marching to the tune of the Palestinian pipers. All attempts to deny our heritage, distort history and disconnect the Jewish people from our capital and our homeland, are doomed to fail.
As the United Nations tries to rewrite history archaeologists are unearthing the truth. At Tel Lachish a large city gate has been uncovered and the findings there support the Biblical historical account. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4861075,00.html
The Army from the North.
Today (1st November) reports are coming in that a Russian convoy composed of the heavy aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, the heavy nuclear-powered missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky, the large antisubmarine warfare ships Severomorsk and Vice-Admiral Kulakov and support vessels have entered the Mediterranean on their way to take up position in the Eastern Mediterranean. Analysts believe that this fleet will have little strategic value in the battle arena of Syria but " is saying to the world, but first of all to his own citizens, that Russia once again has super-power aspirations". https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/video-russian-aircraft-carrier-group-arrives-mediterranean/ http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/1.749859 A few days ago the Observer ran a headline that put it very succinctly : "Syria's Civil War is Over - Russia won." http://observer.com/2016/10/syrias-civil-war-is-over-russia-won/ Winter has now officially arrived in Israel and the dark storm clouds are gathering. |
