Friday, April 20, 2018

Dew



The dictionary definition of "dew" is: water droplets condensed from the air, usually at night, onto cool surfaces; also something moist, fresh, pure, or renewing. In scripture, the Hebrew word for dew is tal, meaning night mist, light rain; cover with a roof, to overshadow, to cover (with planks). So while dew in the natural looks very delicate and vulnerable, spiritually it is as substantial as being covered with planks!
Gen. 3:8 tells us that God would walk in the Garden of Eden "in the cool of the day". The coolest part of the day is that time when the darkness of the night becomes dawn, and the dew forms on the ground. The "cool" made reference here also refers to winds or breezes, so the Holy Spirit is very much a part of this time of day. Perhaps, knowing what was ahead for man, when man would no longer inhabit the Garden, Elohim wanted man to have a reminder of the time when God walked with him. As man awoke early to begin his burdensome labor, and his feet were soaked by walking through the dew, he would think back and yearn for the time when God walked with him in the Garden in the cool of the day.
Dew, which seems like a common, unremarkable substance, is also a subject of the prophets, and it is really connected to a powerful principle. Here are some of the prophecies:
"I will heal their (Israel's) backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away from him. I will be like the dew to Israel; He shall grow like the lily, and lengthen his roots like Lebanon (a cedar tree)."   Hos. 14:4-5
In this chapter of Hosea, the LORD is calling Israel back to Him. He starts His appeal to Israel by saying, "O Israel, return to the LORD, your God...". His promise to them is to revive them, and bless them, if they turn back to Him with repentance.
"Then the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass, that tarry (wait) for no man nor wait (delay) for the sons of men."
                                                                                                       Micah 5:7
The above is God's promise to Israel when He delivers Israel from "the Assyrian". Some believe this reference to "the Assyrian" is the person of the Antichrist. In any case, the LORD plans to deliver Israel in a manner that is not dependent upon any human help, just as the dew is not created by man. The dew of the LORD here is also the disbursement of the Jewish people  among many nations. With their disbursement, the LORD has also disbursed His Word to every nation. Another verse:
"For the seed shall be prosperous, the vine shall give its fruit, the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew- I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these. And it shall come to pass that just as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I shall save you and you shall be a blessing. Do not fear, let your hands be strong."   Zech. 8:12
This promise given to Israel, is on the occasion when the LORD has brought them back to Jerusalem from foreign nations, and Israel has built the house of the LORD. Israel, in turn, will become a people who "speak each man the truth to his neighbor; give judgment in your gates for truth, justice and peace."  This sounds like more than the rebuilding of the natural temple after the return of Israel from their captivity in Babylon. It is also perhaps a spiritual revival and deliverance through the coming of the kingdom of the Messiah, who establishes His dwelling in the midst of them, because of the description given here of the people as such a perfect blessing in the earth. From Proverbs 19:12, we have this verse regarding the "king", and his effect:
The king's wrath is like the roaring of the lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass."
When the manna came down from heaven to feed the children of Israel in the wilderness, it came with the coating of dew (Num. 11:9). This manna was a foreshadowing of the true Manna, or Bread, from heaven, Jesus (Jn. 6:48-51, 57-58).
Like the manna, the deepest meaning of the dew is its connection to resurrection:
"Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead."   Isa. 26:19
The covering nature of natural dew is a picture of the covering nature, or property, of spiritual dew. This divine covering here, is the power of resurrection. Like natural dew, it is beyond the power of man to manufacture, or to control its timing. Natural dew is manifested in the night, and is there for us to see in the dawn. Even in the night of death, the resurrection power of spiritual dew is at work, to be seen in the morning. There are other references as well:
"It is like the dew of Hermon (Sanctuary; dedicated, devoted to destroy utterly, to exterminate), descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing- Life forevermore."  Ps. 133:3
The above description comes as a result of what David describes as a unity, a joining together, of the brethren (the children of one father/Father). The dew comes from a place called Hermon. This place of sanctuary is a place dedicated, set apart, to the utter destruction of something. I believe that "something" that is destroyed, based upon the verses we read and will read, is death. The dew also flows, according to David's psalm, with the promise of God of life forevermore.
There is a final description to look at here:
"I sleep, but my heart is awake; It is the voice of my beloved! He knocks, saying, "Open for me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one; For my head is covered with dew, my locks with the drops of the night."   Song of Songs 5:2
This is the bridegroom appearing at the door of his sister/wife. We believe also, that this is the prophetic picture of Christ and His Bride. The bride here is asleep, yet her heart is awake. The voice of the bridegroom has awakened her heart, though her body sleeps. He assures her that his head is covered, soaked in fact, with the dew of the night. He has brought the dew (of resurrection) with him to her.
This scene of the bridegroom coming to his sister/bride out of the night, covered with dew, brought to mind a verse that talks about the mercy, like the dew, of each new morning:
"This I recall to my mind, therefore, have I hope. It is of the LORD's mercies ("checed": kindness, pity; eager and ardent desire) that we are not consumed (to be completely at an end), because His compassions (tender love, to love deeply) fail not. They are new (new thing, fresh, unheard of) every morning (end of night/break of day; bright joy after night of distress; to cleave, to open, like the ploughing of the ground): great is Thy faithfulness."   Lam. 3:21-23
To me, that compassion, and those mercies, are the power of resurrection contained in the dew of the LORD.
There may be different opinions about the Book of Lamentations by the prophet Jeremiah, but as I read it, I see someone experiencing death, especially in chapter 3. Let me include some verses here:
"He has lead me and made me walk in darkness and not in light...My enemies without cause hunted me down like a bird. They silenced (cut off) my life in the pit and threw stones at me. The waters flowed over my head; I said, "I am cut off!" I called on Your name O LORD , from the lowest pit. You have heard my voice...O LORD, You have pleaded the case for my soul; You have redeemed my life."   Lam. 3:2, 52-58
As Jeremiah relates his experience, whether spiritual or actual, he holds on to the hope that the eager and ardent desire and tender love of the LORD will come to him at the end of the night of distress with a new, fresh, unheard of thing, and break open the ground.
The first to see the newly resurrected Jesus were women who came to the tomb "when it was yet dark", and "as the first day of the week began to dawn" (Jn. 20:1, Mt. 28:1). Scripture wants us to know that the resurrection occurred at this time of the very early morning, which is also the coolest time of the day, the time of the dew.
The dew that comes in the night, and into the dawn, coating every surface, is new and fresh every morning, like those mercies, the ardent love and desire of the LORD, of which Jeremiah spoke. The spiritual dew of Christ, the King, carries with its covering the promise of resurrection, refreshing, revival and renewal.
I never knew all of the meaning packed into a little drop of dew.

Every morning, our Father sends us the new dew coating of life forevermore.

"The Steadfast Love of the LORD Never Ceases"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njBZ8XiLZ1A

"Wake Me Up"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y_KJAg8bHI

A Song of Thanks to the King of Kings (Young boy sings after receiving a miracle)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEQS3-p1HRc

"Lover of My Soul/Song of All Songs"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEt6pEYKvbE

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