Early and Later Rains

“Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day, little Johnny wants to play.” Do you remember your grandparents or your parents teaching you that little nursery rhyme when you were growing up?

Maybe for you, instead of “little Johnny” it was “little Mary who wants to play.” But you were taught that rhyme on the days it was raining outside and you were bored playing inside and wanted to go outside to play, however your parents wouldn’t let you venture out in the rain, especially if it was stormy.

And speaking of rain, it seems like we’ve been getting more than our fair-share here lately in this part of Texas, doesn’t it? And I don’t mean for just a few days or just a few weeks, but we’ve had quite a lot of rain for the past two months!

I can’t remember getting this much rain, weekly, like we’ve been getting it. I think maybe the Lord is going to change our environment around here.

I think He’s changing our lands into “rain forests”, and soon we will be planting bananas, oranges, lemons and kumquats! Do you like kumquats?

Sure seems like we need a little break here, a little sunshine! Yet, it sure beats the droughts we had this time last year, doesn’t it?

With summer on the way, we might be crying out for the rains to fall again!

But, you know, the Bible speaks about rain, not just the rains and floods of Noah’s day, but the rains that are called, “the early and later rains.” Now, I am not a farmer by any means of the imagination, but I do know that if our farmers, the folks that feed this nation, don’t get the rains that they need, then we don’t get the fresh fruits and vegetables that we need.

I did a little research and here’s what I found out. Palestine, the land in which Israel is located, is a land that is dependent upon the yearly rains to ensure an abundant harvest and an ample food supply for the coming year.

Rain falls in two seasons. The early rains fall during the months of October and November, and the later rains fall during the months of February and March.

Rarely does rain of any significance fall outside of these two periods. For six months of the year, from May to October, no rain falls, resulting in the whole land becoming dry, parched, and brown, just like it does around here when our farmlands don’t receive any significant rains.

I’ve seen many wheat fields just as dry and brown and parched as they can be, and so have you. So when the rains fell in the land of Biblical Palestine, they were viewed as God’s continued pleasure with His people.

The lack of rain in the spring proclaimed His judgment upon the land because of the sins and disobedience of the people. In Deuteronomy 11:13-15, the Lord promises, “If you carefully obey my commands I am giving you today, to love the Lord your God and worship Him with all your heart and all your soul, I will provide rain for your land in season, the early and later rains, and you will harvest your grain, and your new wine, and your olive oil. I will provide grass in your fields for your livestock and you will eat and be satisfied.”

Folks, there is a lesson here for us. Let’s not complain about the rain, but let’s give thanks for the rains that are much needed!

However, it’s not just our lands, our fields and forests that need rain, but our very souls and the very hearts of this nation and the hearts of nations of the world! With the political climate as it is here in America, we are in great need of a spiritual revival of early and later rains.

Again, I’m not just talking about physical rains, but spiritual rains that satisfy the parched hearts and morals of our souls, and not just individually, but politically, in the hearts and souls of every member of the House and Senate, and of the leaders in the Whitehouse, and in the Houses of our Courts! Listen again to the words of Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verses one through three: “Listen, O earth, to the words of My mouth. Let My teachings fall like rain and My words settle like dew, like gentle rain on tender grass and showers on tender plants. For I will proclaim the Lord’s name and declare the greatness of our God!” And Isaiah 44:3, says, “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your descendants and My blessing on your offspring.” And Hosea 6:1, “Come, let us return to the Lord, for He has torn us, and He will heal us; He has wounded us, and He will bind up our wounds.”

And the words of Peter as he preached from Solomon’s Colonnade, “Therefore repent and turn back, that your sins might be wiped out so that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Folks, it’s time for us, and for “U.S.” to pray for the refreshing rains of the presence of the Lord, for we are in desperate need for the rains of His Spirit to fall upon our land! Will you pray for this great land of ours?