Deuteronomy 32 records the song that Moses spoke to assembled Israel just before his death. Joshua took over as leader of the people, as they crossed over the Jordan and at long last entered the promised land of Canaan. There is a beautiful sentiment expressed in the opening words of the song:
“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
And hear, o earth, the words of my mouth.
Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
As raindrops on the tender herb,
And as showers on the grass.
For I proclaim the name of the Lord:
Ascribe greatness to our God.
He is the Rock, His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice,
A God of truth and without injustice;
Righteous and upright is He.”
(Deuteronomy 32:1-4)
Notice that Moses characterized his speech, where he proclaimed “the name of the Lord,” as words of freshness and revival, likening them to rain and dew.
Dew, (tiny drops of water that form on cool surfaces during the night, as water vapor condenses) has always been portrayed as beautiful and rejuvenating. In the very beginning, God used such to water the ground, “but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground” (Genesis 2:6).
Later, Moses in his final blessings to the twelve tribes said of the tribe of Joseph, “Blessed of the Lord is his land, with the precious things of heaven, with the dew, and the deep lying beneath.” (Deuteronomy 33:13). In the picture of dew drops lies the promise of bounty, prosperity and life. It is a beautiful picture, and one that mirrors what one may experience walking a garden path on a cool morning, with the sun rising on the damp grass and moistened flowers of spring.
Exodus 16 reveals that that dew was involved in the gift of manna from God, given to sustain Israel during her sojourn in the wilderness. “So it was the quails came up at evening and covered the camp, and in the morning the dew lay all around the camp. And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground” (13-14).
In His words to Job, God proclaimed His omnipotence. He asked Job who alone could “cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, a wilderness in which there is no man; to satisfy the desolate waste, and cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass? Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew?” (Job 38:26-28).
Elijah prophesied a coming famine on the land as God’s punishment of Israel for her sin, proclaiming to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). James wrote that it did not rain on the earth for 3 years and 6 months, until Elijah petitioned God to end the drought (cf. James 5:17-18).
An interesting, though somewhat difficult passage is Psalm 110:3. The Psalm is Messianic, referring to the coming Priest/King. Peter referred to this Psalm when he preached to the Jews on Pentecost (cf. Acts 2:34-35). The third verse reads, “Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.” You will note that the word dew is associated with youth, thus vitality. Some believe “the dew of your youth will be yours” has reference to the Savior Himself, others to the vitality of the people who will follow the Savior. Whichever is correct, the words bring to mind the proclamation of Jesus to the Samaritan woman, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:13-14).
Whether it be from a lake, river, a cloud, or the condensation of water vapor, water gives life. In the same way, Jesus is the giver of living water, that which rejuvenates and vitalizes for eternity. All we need do to understand the imagery is to consider a drink of water when we are parched, or the effects of a soaking rain in the middle of summer. Water gives life. Earlier in that conversation in John 4, Jesus said, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (vs. 10).
The next time you see drops of dew on a spring flower, consider the gift of God granted through the Son — the one who gives us living water, “springing up into everlasting life.”
