Who sends the rain?

“Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.” –Jeremiah 5:24

The timing of rain can often determine whether or not it will be a blessing or a curse.  Especially when you’re talking in agricultural terms; concerning rain, timing is everything.  You can have a lot of rain at planting, then none throughout growing, and you will have a lousy crop.  You can have none at planting, and then a lot at harvest; and you will not be able to get to your crop.  The blessing of rain walks hand in hand with the timing of it; and we must remember that God controls both the rain and when it falls.

Agriculture analogies, allegories, and references are used all throughout the Bible.  People in that day and time could really relate to what was being said.  Furthermore, seeing is how people will always need to eat; the folks in our day can relate as well.  It is both relevant and timeless.  In the above text, Jeremiah speaks to a people who have a “revolting and rebellious heart.”  They do not fear God, that is to say, they do not respect or reverence him.  They do not recognize that God gives the rain, and reserves the harvest.  In other words, all that they have, they have because of God.  The arrogance of refusing to recognize this is astounding, and not surprising, relevant in today’s time.  Imagine if you will, a place where there is no grocery store, no Wal-Mart, no fast food chains; a place where the food you eat is solely provided by the land you own.  This is the reality that the people in Jeremiah’s day lived in (and truthfully it is the reality we live in as well; we are just further removed from the farming aspect of it all).  They had to totally depend on the rain, and on the timing of the rain.  In order to receive life and substance, they were completely relaying on something that was far beyond their control. 

In planting, you want a former rain, a rain that comes in swiftly after you plant.   This supercharges your crop and gives you strong germination.  Right before harvest, you want a latter rain.  A rain that drenches your crop and gives it that last drink to boost it up some more before you have to bring it in.  Obviously, you need rain in between, but the former and the latter rain at the perfect time gives you an abundant harvest.  Who on earth can command the rain?  What can we do to stop the rain from falling?  The nutrients and abundance of a field is reserved by God for man, and given by His hand.  These people in Jeremiah’s day are reaping the fruits of bounty on the back of the Almighty, and they have no humility or thankfulness in their heart.  There is only open rebellion and a false belief that they are the giver of life.  Do you see yourself in this text?  Our lives are our field, and in it we work and labor.  We sow what little seeds of time we have and earnestly expect a return on our investment.  We hope for a harvest, and rejoice when there is one; but to whom is the glory given?  What do you have that God did not give?  What did we gain that God did not first provide?  “Ye are not your own but bought with a price.”  One of the greatest tragedies that ever befell this country is the acceptance of evolution and anti-creationism.  Under the cloak of this theory the devil crept in and sowed a seed of doubt that would undermine Christianity entirely; and that seed is this.  God is not the creator.  When the people accept that there is no creator, then they believe that there is no governor of the rain; and if we believe that, then we accept that we are lords over our lives.

If God chooses to send the former and latter rain, than we must praise Him for it.  If he chooses to withhold the rain, that is in His providence and we must bless His name.   God knows when to send the rain and he knows when the blessing is needed.  The righteous trust God and praise God in the dry season and the rainy season.  The wicked trust themselves in all seasons, and “neither say they in their hearts let us now fear God”.  When we refuse to accept a God that sends the rain, then we break the first commandment; and though we have all the goods this world can offer, we will want in the Day of Judgment. “Fear ye the Lord all ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him.”