Let my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, as raindrops on the tender herb, and as showers on the grass. (Deuteronomy 32:2)
We must remember that it was the LORD who gave Moses the words to this song, and so, that the wording strikes a poetic tone should not be regarded as superfluous language. Every word and every phrase in the message has a purpose to serve. So when Moses says, “Let my teaching drop as the rain,” let us consider that rain is generally viewed as a blessing. Therefore, even though some of the song definitely addresses misbehavior, Israel was to consider God’s Word to them as blessing, like a rain shower falling on their fields of grass.
Likewise, the dew falls gently and silently yet revives the faint grass and gives life to the plants an herbs. In my mind, the wording seems to say that His Word, even His rebuke, are not falling upon them like torrents of rain that wash away the soil and everything in it. Of course such a word storm might cause the young and immature to be drowned but, typically, that is not the method God uses. His Word is needed if we are to survive but is always tempered to meet the needs of the spiritually young as well as the spiritually mature. So just as “showers upon the herb” saturate the ground so the more mature plants, who need more water, can be sustained, God’s Word can also be distilled as dew so that young and tender plants are not overwhelmed.
In short, the Word of God can be simple and unfathomable at the same time. It can be as plain as “Jesus loves me, this I know” or as complex as the book of Revelation. Whatever the measure, the intent is always the same — to bring life to what He has planted and to rejuvenate the dry and thirsty. Whatever your condition today, the Word of God has the power and ability to supply what you need. As it is written: “I will pour water on him who is thirsty, and floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, and My blessing on your offspring; they will spring up among the grass like willows by the watercourses” (Isaiah 44:3-4).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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