You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, for so You have prepared it. (Psalm 65:9)
Water is critical; without it, life would be impossible. This is a fact established in the very beginning for we see that water was extent before there was any plant life, before any animals and before mankind ever was. According to Scripture, before man was formed from the dust of the earth, God caused a mist to come up from the earth and water the face of the ground (Genesis 2:6). In essence, God made the ground moist so that He could mold and shape the man into the form He had ordained. In reality, our bodies are a combination of earth and water, in fact on average, we are about 60% water.
The point is, once again, without water life would be impossible — God established this law. And so it is logical that rivers and streams, rain and dew are emblematic of God’s blessing upon the land and the men who inhabit it. Conversely, the lack of adequate rain and the parched ground that is the result of drought is viewed as evidence of God’s displeasure at our behavior. When the ground is dry and thirsty, it craves water so that it can produce its fruit. If God withholds it, the intent is not to punish the ground but to provoke mankind to correct his ways. In short, what happens in the ground is a reflection of our condition.
From the beginning, it is clear that God Almighty desires to pour out blessings upon man and His people; as David said, “The river of God is full of water” waiting to be poured out. If this were not so, it seems to me that He would not have watered the ground to begin with; for that matter, why would He have created man in the first place if it were not with the notion of life and blessing? However it is also His desire that mankind would long and thirst for His Presence just as the parched ground craves the rain. I would argue, in fact, that drought and famine is not so much punishment as it is an invitation for us to call out to Him for intimacy. When we cry out in this manner, He visits the earth to water it, and to greatly enrich our lives; 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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