DEW POINT

(Part 2)

Anglican Morning Devotion for 31 January 2022 Anno Domini

a ministry of the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide

“My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: ³Because I will publish the name of the LORD…”  (Deuteronomy 32:2-3; all scripture quoted is form the King James Version)

This devotion is a continuation of our devotion of two days ago on the Dew Point that is a reflection on the Word of God. Let us examine some distinct ways in which DEW can be compared to God’s Word:

• BOTH WORK BEYOND THE SIGHT OF MAN: The dew falls invisibly and so gradually that its coming cannot be discerned by the eye of man. Likewise, the Word of God works invisibly in the heart beyond the notice of other men, or even the owner of the heart in which it is working.
• CONFIRMATION OF TRUTH: Gideon was given confirmation of God’s Counsel by the dews on, and off, the sheep skin. God gives us silent, but sure, confirmation of His Word by way of the Holy Ghost and His Counsel.
• PRESENCE OF HOPE: There was not an abundance of rain in Israel and the surrounding region; but morning dew is evidence of a presence of moisture. That moisture is evidenced on the green foliage of the morning, and gives hope of blessing to come. If the air contains moisture enough for dew formation, it likely contains moisture enough for the condensation of moisture in the clouds of the upper atmosphere in due course. Job finally gained assurance that he would not perish in an untimely death, but rather in his own bed a natural death: “Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.  ¹⁹My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.” (Job 29:18-19)
• DEW REPRESENTS HEALTH AND LONG LIFE: “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.” (Psalms 110:3) Just as dew forms in the morning calm, so life is extended in a settled and calm living.
• RECONCILIATION: Terrible famine and flood may come at the evocation of the wrath of God; but His graceful benediction follows as the dew upon the meadows: “The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion; but his favour is as dew upon the grass.” (Proverbs 19:12)
• DEW IS LIKE GODLY WISDOM: “The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens. ²⁰By his knowledge the depths are broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew.” (Proverbs 3:19-20)
• PRESENCE OF DEW AT MORNING ILLUSTRATES THE PROMISE OF THE RESURRECTION: “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” (Isaiah 26:19) Christ arose while the “Dew was still on the Roses” and so shall all of the elect of Christ! The illustration is extended to all of Israel, or all of the Household of God: “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. ⁵I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. ⁶His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. ⁷They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.” (Hosea 14:4-7)
• DEW ILLUSTRATES DIVINE GUIDANCE: “For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.” (Zecheriah 8:12) Dew rarely forms in famine. Its presence is a sign of life-giving water; and Christ is the Water of Life.
• SALT, LIGHT, AND DEW OF GOD’S REMNANT PEOPLE: Our Lord said His people are the “salt of the earth” and “the Light of the world.” (Matthew 5: 13 & 14) Salt makes food taste palatable. But it must be used sparingly. It must also remain in circulation else it will clog up in the shaker. It preserves and heals. It makes thirsty for the Water of Life. Light disinfects and rids the society about us of sin and wickedness. And DEW is that soothing moisture that does not drown, but makes alive in its gentle formation just as the Presence of the Comforter (or Holy Ghost) sheds His love abroad in the hearts of God’s people. “And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men.” (Micah 5:7)

Just as the DEW forms silently and imperceptibly, so do the effects of God’s Word build faith and hope in the heart of the awakening sinner. To scream and belabor the sinner with God’s Word is not like dew, but like a smothering flood. Gentle words, and a gentle life, will convict sooner than threats and harangues. Then, first comes, the dew of planting; and, secondly then, follows the nourishing and soaking rains of God’s grace upon a dry and thirsty ground.