So that times of refreshing may come

For the past couple of weeks, England has enjoyed warm and sunny weather, but this past Tuesday everything began to change. By midday the sun was screened by a thin sheet of cloud, and by evening the sky was dark grey and heavy; I could almost feel the gathering moisture by simply looking out the window.

Now, as I write this, rain is falling steadily. The soil of the vegetable garden has darkened, and rain is dropping everywhere on leaves, branches and stones, forming a continuous background of tapping against birdsongs and the sound of passing cars.

The rain, according to the prophet Isaiah, illustrates the word of God. As he writes on behalf of God:

'As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it' (Isa. 55:10-11).

As surely as the rain comes to nourish the earth, so will God's word come and provide for people's needs.

But there is another side to rain. In addition to giving life, it brings danger: people must drive more carefully during a storm, and in some places, too much rain erodes the landscape and floods neighbourhoods. In the Bible's first account of rain, nearly all life on the earth is destroyed (Gen. 7).

Similarly, God's word gives life to some while bringing destruction to others.

Another word for this is judgement.

We see God's word judging between the righteous and the unrighteous in Isaiah's foretelling the coming of the Messiah:

'With righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked' (11:4-5).

That his rod comes from his mouth indicates that it is his word that judges between the righteous and the unrighteous (see also Rev. 19:15).

Christians understand that this Messiah is Jesus, who is the Word of God in human form (John 1:1-14). Jesus said that God has given him the authority to judge the world (5:22-23, 27) and that a time is coming when everyone in their graves will hear his voice and awaken (vv. 28-29): those who have believed in him will experience his judgement as life-giving, but those who have rejected him will experience it as destructive (John 3:16-21; see also Psalm 146:7-9).

Christians call this the Last Judgement, which will occur at the Second Coming of Christ (see Matt. 25:31-46). 

The Last Judgement

I don't think about the Last Judgement very much. I would prefer to consider only the life that God's word brings: the blessings that come with the rain. However, God's word is not only comforting; it is also sharp, penetrating the deepest parts of a person, exposing everything within us to the One to whom we must give account (Heb. 4:12-13).

Keeping the Second Coming in mind helps us to get ready for it. Since it hasn't come yet, there is still time to prepare, which we do by repenting.

When we repent, we confess our failure to follow God's commands. By so doing, we open ourselves for God's mercy to heal us, which empowers us to obey his commands.

By repenting, we accept God's judgement upon us now so that the Second Coming may be for us nourishing rain rather than a destroying storm.

In the words of St Peter: 'Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, and that times of refreshing may come from the Lord' (Acts 3:19).