God can stop the dew from
falling, as in Haggai 1:10 - "Therefore the heaven over you is stayed
from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit" - by sending a
famine of water just as the Holy Spirit may be withdrawn by a famine of reading
the Word of the Lord. Dew is formed from moisture in the air which cools at
night and condenses into pure drops of water to moisten the green plants, but
when the air is devoid of water, the dew will not form. Man, devoid of the
Water of Life will not know the Spirit.
God sends famine as a result of
disobedience. In the last verse of the Book of Judges 21:25, we read: In
those days there was no king (Jesus) in Israel: every man did that which was
right in his own eyes.
Disobedient people do not obey
God's Law, but do that which they want to do. When men behave so, God sends
famine. See the first verse of the very next Book (the Book of Ruth): Now it
came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was famine in the
land.
The Dew of Heaven represents
comfort which the Holy Spirit gives to us after the heat of the long day and
night of our striving. The Word of God which comes to us in our moments of rest
and ease is that 'Dew of Heaven'.
The Dew of Heaven is God's Word
coming to us, but not in the form of formal preaching and study. It is His Word
which has been planted in our hearts and naturally distills in our quiet
moments to bear fruit and life.
When the fever of life draws to
a close, the still and loving voice of God comforts our souls through the
agency of the Holy Spirit and re-assures us of His nearness even in physical
sleep or the sleep of death.
Let us examine the Dew of Heaven
in five particulars:
1.
Dew forms quietly and without fanfare.
Its forming is invisible to the observer. The evidence thereof is discovered with
the coming Light! The effectual working of the Holy Spirit likewise is
invisible to our observance. We do feel the Grace and effect of God's Word, but
its working in our hearts is silent and invisible.
The Dew of Heaven dampens our
visage imperceptibly, gradually by degrees, yet the Light will reveal its
presence.
2.
Upon some converts, the Word of God
storms and Rains; but in others, known only to the mind of God, it comes
gently, silently and sweetly - as the Dew.
3.
Dew comes as a life-giving relief to
herbs and plants which have withered throughout the day in the heat of the Sun.
It enlivens these plants and its life-water soaks into their beings and into
their roots. It makes them green again with vibrant light. So does God's Word,
planted deep in the roots of our hearts, lift our visage and our unbecoming
stoop. We wither in the heat of daily battle, but comes the Night and the
invigorating Dew of God's Word. Christ is that Bread which came down from
Heaven, as the Dew, in the form of Manna. He is now the Bread and Dew of every
committed Christian (Gospel of St. John 6:48). Read
in Hosea 14:5 - I will be as the Dew unto
Israel, and He shall grow as the Lilly.
4.
Dew is distilled without our means of preventing
it. No one can cancel its falling. Even the ruthless dictators in China,
Vietnam and the Sudan cannot prevent the distillation of God's Word in the
hearts of His people. My Word shall not return unto me void, it shall
accomplish that for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11).
5.
Just as God began His Creation in
Darkness, Dew usually falls during the night. The Word of God comes upon men's
hearts during the night of this world; however, in the perfect day, this Dew
will not fall - no more preaching, nor means of grace will then be afforded
sinners, neither will saints have need of it. "For when that which is
perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. (1
Corinthians 13:10)
The Word of God comes not only
in the form of Dew, but also as Rain upon a dry, parched ground. It may come
gently as Dew, or it may come in fierce anger and torrents as characterized by
the Thunder of Heaven.
©Jerry Ogles, 2004
