We are now over halfway through our journey through the season of Lent. A few years ago, during the pandemic, I wrote about this 40-day period of “spiritual quarantine” we call Lent that leads up to Easter. This time I want to focus on a different aspect of Lent: “lent” comes from the word meaning “spring season”.
This week marks the official beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere. As I write this while snow is still falling here in Michigan, it can be difficult to imagine warmer weather on its way. The land of Israel has its seasons too. From about October to April is the cooler, rainy season. From May to September there is a hot, dry summer.
Water From Heaven
So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil.
Deuteronomy 11:13-14 (NIV)
Often, when we hear that it’s going to rain (or snow), we’re upset that outdoor plans may have to be canceled. To the people of the Bible, rain was the exact opposite: an essential blessing from God. Without rain, crops would not grow, and people would starve or die of thirst. Unlike the predictable flooding of the Nile in Egypt, Israel needed to rely on God for rain (Deuteronomy 11:10-12). It was no wonder that the chief deity of the local Canaanites (Baal) was a god of rain and storm.
Jesus even refers to rain as God’s outpouring of love lavished on both the righteous and the unrighteous (Matthew 5:45). But as the passage from Deuteronomy above states, God’s blessing could be conditional on the people’s obedience. There is a direct reason God schedules his festivals to coincide with the start and end of the rainy season.
The Rainy Season
In the fall, after humbling themselves with the Day of Atonement, the people would celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This festival included a water-pouring ritual to pray for God to send rain for the season. In John 7, Jesus declares himself the ultimate blessing the people were longing for, “Living Water”, during this ceremony. These early rains were essential for crops to grow.
By springtime, the first harvests of barley and then wheat were ready. God ordained a second batch of feasts to coincide with these harvests. First Fruits (during Passover week) celebrated the barley harvest, and Pentecost celebrated the wheat harvest seven weeks later. We should not just ask God for future blessings, but also thank him for the blessing he’s already given. Otherwise, we grow arrogant and claim the credit for ourselves (Deuteronomy 6:10-12). These springtime feasts were a time to look back on God’s provision, but also a time to lean forward into trusting God with what is to come.
The Desert Season
Each year in Israel, rain almost completely stops during the summer months. If you’ve ever been on a trip to Israel during these months, you know how hot and dry it can get! Compared to the rainy season, it can be quite the contrast.
As the long, hot summer months pass, the people of Israel might have started worrying. Would the harvest last until the next rain? Would God be faithful to provide again like last year? It looked like God had removed his blessing, if only for a season. Imagine the anxiety of the people in Elijah’s time, where, due to the people’s disobedience, God didn’t send rain for over three years (James 5:17-18). It’s as if God said, “Fine. If you want to trust Baal for your rain instead of me, let’s see how that works out for you.”
Like the 40 years in the wilderness or 40 days of temptation, desert seasons are hard. They are a time where, though God’s blessings may be less seen, trusting in God is the only way to survive. And by trusting in God to supply our needs, we need not worry (Matthew 6:31-33).
Seasons of Life
Like the seasons in Israel, our lives often are full of different seasons, sometimes when God seems close and sometimes when God feels distant. Maybe you’re in a season drenched with God’s blessing – thank God for his provision! Maybe you’re in a season of drought or hardship – trust God is still near and will provide again!
Let this spring season of Lent be a time to thank God for what he’s done and trust him in both good times and bad. God’s blessings may ebb and flow like seasons, but his faithfulness is like the blessing of seasonal rains:
Let us acknowledge the LORD;
Hosea 6:3 (NIV)
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.