Moses and the Children of Israel were on the verge of entering the promised land. It was clearly important – vitally important – that the people would be sincerely obedient to the commandments of God when they settled down in the land flowing with milk and honey which He had provided for them. Moses therefore emphasised the duty of obedience and listed the blessings which would be theirs if they would “hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all His commandments”. And, on the other hand, Moses warned them of the multitude of curses which would come upon them, as a nation under judgement for their sins, if they were not obedient.
Among all the fearful curses he pronounced was: “Thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron” (Deut 28:23). So serious would be the drought, so long-continued the absence of rain, that the ground would be rock hard, and it would seem as if the sky above was just as solid. And no doubt it was in judgement that the Lord “called for a famine” in the time of Elisha, when he advised the Shunammite woman to leave the country for the time being.
In the United Kingdom today, and in other countries also with a similar heritage, there is no drought, no famine, or anything of that nature. Are we then free from God’s judgments? By no means. We are experiencing the situation Amos prophesied of: “a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11). In many areas of this country there is nothing remotely like the pure preaching of the Word of God. In such circumstances we cannot expect that the Lord will give the Holy Spirit, the rain from heaven. Where there is no scattering of the good seed of the Word of God, there will be no spiritual harvest, though we must not limit the power of God to apply His truth to those who read it in these places. But we can only anticipate such communities continuing to descend further and further into heathenism.
By way of contrast, God has often blessed communities by sending not only drops from heaven, in a spiritual sense, but heavy showers of rain. What
an abundance of rain fell from heaven on the Day of Pentecost! The Holy Spirit was so wonderfully poured out that, when Peter proclaimed the truth about sin and salvation, there was much fruit. On that one day 3000 individuals believed on the Saviour. And the rain went on falling; we are told that “the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47). Which was according to the promise: “I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing” (Ezek 34:26). Similarly at the Reformation there was in many parts of Europe – and in times of revival in various places since then – an abundance of rain, when the Lord was, over a period of time, bringing significant numbers of sinners into His kingdom. At the same time, by the same Holy Spirit, He was building up in their most holy faith those who were already in the kingdom.
So when showers do not come regularly, there must be an element of judgement. And when, as today, we only see drops of the Holy Spirit’s power from time to time, we must conclude that God’s hand is against us in manifest judgement. We should indeed be sincerely thankful for every evidence of the Spirit’s work, but we have great reason to be disturbed when our situation is so very far from a daily adding to the Church of such as should be saved.
What we see today is according to the words of Psalm 107: “He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein”. Which explains what has gone wrong in a land which in the past experienced so many showers of divine blessing. Especially over the past 150 years there has been an increasing departure from God and the revelation He has given to mankind. This has not only been true within the nation as a whole but also within most of the professing Church, so that now almost everyone – including the great majority of ministers – believes whatever seems right in his own eyes. And if they have rejected the Word of the Lord, we must ask as the prophet Jeremiah had to ask: “What wisdom is in them?” No wonder if God should ask: “Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this?” Our present situation is much more grave than what would result from any temporal judgement; the spiritual famine we are experiencing is far more drastic than any lack of food for our bodies, for this has eternal consequences.
The outlook may not be encouraging, but we have no reason to despair, even of a generation so determined to turn its back on God. He asks: “Is My hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?” (Is 50:2). The answer to these questions was obvious in Isaiah’s time; it ought to be just as obvious today. God’s power has not changed. And though His hand is stretched out in judgement today, we do not know how soon He may return in mercy to give showers of blessing. When He does so, it will
be in answer to the prayers of His people. He will send out a multitude of ambassadors to proclaim, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, the same gospel that He so richly blessed in times past.
Meantime, preachers are to continue scattering the good seed of the Word in the hope that God will grant showers from heaven. J C Ryle uses for their encouragement the Saviour’s words in John 4: “Look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal”. He writes: “The true antidote against despondency in God’s work is an abiding recollection of such promises as that before us. There are ‘wages’ laid up for faithful reapers. They shall receive a reward at the last day, far exceeding anything they have done for Christ . . . They are gathering ‘fruit’ which shall endure when this world has passed away – fruit, in some souls saved, if many will not believe, and fruit in evidences of their own faithfulness, to be brought out before assembled worlds. . . . Do we feel disposed to say, My labour is in vain and my words without profit? Let us lean back at such seasons on this glorious promise. There are ‘wages’ yet to be paid. There is ‘fruit’ yet to be exhibited. ‘We are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish’ (2 Cor 2:15). Let us work on. ‘He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him’ (Ps 126:6). One single soul saved shall outlive and outweigh all the kingdoms of the world”
At the dedication of the temple, Solomon prayed: “When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against Thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess Thy name, and turn from their sin, when Thou afflictest them: then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy people Israel, that Thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon Thy land” (1 Ki 8:35,36). And Solomon was assured that the Most High had heard his prayer. This should encourage God’s people today to come before Him, in the name of Christ, to plead that He would give showers of spiritual blessing. We are to do so in the spirit of Daniel: “We do not present our supplications before Thee for our righteousnesses, but for Thy great mercies”.
The Jews were sent into captivity in judgement and, for years before then, the Lord had largely withdrawn His Spirit. But it was in answer to such prayers as Daniel’s that God fulfilled the promise already quoted: “I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing”. How much we need to pray – in a time when God’s judgement is upon this generation in a marked way – that He would “in wrath remember mercy”. Then would the heaven no longer be brass or the earth iron.