GOD PROVIDES RAIN!

   RAIN FELL on Wednesday. That same day, I received pluviophile as the Word of the Day from Dictionary.com. 

A pluviophile is “a person who enjoys rainy days and is fascinated by the sights, sounds, etc. of rain … someone who finds joy and peace of mind during rainy days.”

Phile denotes a fondness for a particular thing. A phobia is a “fear.”

An ombrophobe is a person who hates rain or fears it deeply. 

A pluviophobe experiences anxiety when confronted with the possibility of rain. In severe cases, pluviophobia can cause panic attacks, sources say. 

The late Eddie Rabbit sang “I Love a Rainy Night.” Rainy days or nights are fine as long as you don’t have to leave the house. Sunny days abide no excuse for not getting outside work done. Rain allows you to attend to things inside the house and also take a nap, read a book, or watch TV. Rain acts as a curtain — maybe a shower curtain? — between you and the world.

As a boy, I loved being outdoors. Mother often quoted this rhyme to me on rainy days: “Rain, Rain, go away; come again another day; Little Johnny wants to play.”  

Later, I began liking rainy days. A pluviophile loves rain and is generally a quiet, calm, peace-loving loner who is not afraid of being on his own. The calming effect of rain helps introverts get pleasure from their ability to escape and turn inward for a while, Charlene Ignites says. Introverts make up about 25-40% of the population, says Bagikan Artikel, adding, “Although some may think rain is annoying, it can be seen as a blessing that gives us a new perspective over life.”

“Just as the rain brings a clean scent and new life, rain lovers also appreciate the cleansing renewal of a good cry,” Ignites says. “Pluviophiles understand very well that it takes a little rain to make the flowers grow.”

IN THE BIBLE, RAIN is referred to as a blessing after a drought, a symbol of God’s love and teachings to spread over the world, and even as a flood to wash away the sins of a corrupt world, biblestudytools.com says. 

The word rain in the Scriptures “is employed in both a literal and figurative sense.”

“The whole population depended upon the field, and the field upon the rain,” Charles Spurgeon said of Israel. “Therefore let us lift up our eyes to the Lord who giveth rain, and in so doing drops bread from heaven… As it is in the outward world, so is it in the inward; as it is in the physical, so is it in the spiritual.”

The amount of rainfall in Biblical countries varies greatly, according to Merrill C. Tenny’s Pictorial Bible Dictionary. He says that in Egypt, there is very little water, if any rainfall, the land being dependent upon the Nile. In Syria and Israel, the rainfall is usually abundant.

The Lord said to Old Testament Israelites:

“For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables.  

“But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven … And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full” (Deuteronomy 11:10-15 ESV).

But if Israel disobeyed God?

“Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you” (Deut. 11:16-17 ESV).

There are the two types of rain in the Bible: the former (fall) rain and latter (spring) rain. These rains marked the beginning and end of the Jewish harvest. Israel’s main natural water source is the Sea of Galilee. It feeds the Jordan River that flows into the Dead Sea. Israel depends on rain.

“Surrounding Israel are nations who have their own flowing water sources — Egypt has the Nile, and the Euphrates serves the Mesopotamian basin, but Israel has no such permanent and reliable source of water. Civilizations quickly sprung up around the rivers that could sustain life, but God led his people to a land where they would be utterly at the mercy of the skies… and therefore completely dependent on the one who can make it rain,” oneforisrael.org says. “And so God has placed his people in a dry and dusty land with no reliable source of water so that they must look up to the skies, to the one who can make it rain. He did it on purpose.

“He loves his children to depend upon him and his provision, rather than taking the natural for granted and relying on their own abilities to cope. He wanted them to have to come to him and talk to him. In short, he wanted relationship with them.”

AFTER THE RESURRECTION

   BARBARA and I debated about attending the 7:00 a.m. sunrise service on Resurrection Sunday, April 9, 2023, but we knew chilly winds were blowing across the Faith Temple hill in Taylors, SC. Neuropathy bothers my feet, and the ground is uneven between the church and the giant cross. And I’d have had to stand unless I had taken a chair. I felt sort of guilty about missing the sunrise service. Someone said, “Jesus rose from the dead, and you can’t even rise from the bed!” 

A cold wind drove the Destination Church of God/Faith Temple (FT) sunrise service into Fleming Hall. Ms. Sandy Brown attended and said they had a good service. 

At the 10:30 a.m. FT Resurrection Sunday service, we sang hymns, prayed, and enjoyed a service planned by Mrs. Ann Burrows. Mrs. Sandra Martin played the piano for the singing, accompanied soloists, and sang a solo. Our church is blessed by her music.

Some folk feel a little letdown after Resurrection Sunday (“Easter” is the common name). We get excited about the day. Spring is in the air; flowers are blooming; the world is emerging from winter. We say, “He is risen!” And friends respond, “He is risen indeed!” Easter Sunday is triumphant! And then, it’s over. 

“We have come down from the mountain top of Easter, and now may feel that we are in the valley of the routine,” says the Rev. Charles P. Henderson, a Presbyterian minister. “There always seems to be a let down in the life of the church after Easter. Even if you could, like Thomas, reach in and touch the wounds in his body... Even if you had solid, certifiable evidence that the resurrection was real, there would still be the bills to pay, the meals to plan, the problems of life to solve… So it was for the first disciples.”

After you experience a great accomplishment or enjoyment, you feel things slowing down, returning to the routine and the mundane, Henderson says. 

I remember when my younger daughter, Suzanne, was a preschooler in the early 1980s and we attended the Fowler Reunion at Fleming Hall, Faith Temple’s fellowship building. My late mother, Eva Fowler Crain, was one of nine children, so I grew up with 15 first-cousins on the Fowler side. Many of my cousins attended the Fowler get-together, and Suzanne enjoyed playing with their children. Mark Fleming, child of the late Charles and Mrs. Sandra Fleming, entertained us by imitating an inchworm speeding along the floor of Fleming Hall. What fun! Driving away after the reunion ended, I heard a small voice from the back seat say, “Well, I guess we’ll never do that again.” My late wife, Carol, and I were amused at how quickly Suzanne’s letdown began.

Jesus’ disciples probably had a letdown after that first Easter Sunday, Henderson says, adding, “None of them had actually seen the resurrection. They had heard the reports about the empty tomb; a couple of them had seen a mysterious stranger on the road to Emmaus, but even if it actually were Jesus, so what? Things were quickly returning to normal.”

After the resurrection the disciples woke up to the fact that the world looked pretty much the same as it had looked before they ever met the man from Galilee, Henderson says.  

“They began drifting apart,” he says. “Some of them headed north to Galilee where it all began just three years before. They even returned to their fishing boats. It had been a heady three years, following Jesus to become fishers of men. But on the morning after Easter, Peter and the rest turned back to their boats” (John 21:1-25).

After fishing all night and catching nothing, they saw a man on the beach. He called to them, “Have you caught any fish?” They said, “No.” The man said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat.” They did and caught so many fish (153) they couldn’t pull in the nets. John told Peter, “It is the Lord!” Jesus had cooked fish for them and said, “Come and dine.” This was the third time Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he rose from the dead. He encouraged them in the work opportunities that lay ahead of them. 

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” 

To be steadfast is to be firmly fixed and not subject to change, to be firm in belief and determination, and to be loyal and faithful. 

“Lord, give me firmness without hardness, steadfastness without dogmatism, love without weakness,” Jim Elliot said. 

Paul says we should “always” do God’s work and not be hindered by letdowns. 

Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he told his disciples, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matt. 28:16-20).

UP FROM THE GRAVE

  JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, a rich man and disciple of Jesus, asked Pilate for Jesus’ body. He wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, laid it in his own new cut-rock tomb, rolled a stone over the tomb’s entrance, and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb. (The story continues below, according to Matt. 27 and 28 ESV.)

The next day, “the day of Preparation,” the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate” and said, “Sir, … that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.”

Pilate’s soldiers sealed the stone covering the tomb and set a guard. After the Sabbath (Saturday), toward sunup on the first day of the week (Sunday), Mary Magdalene “and the other Mary” visited the tomb. 

AN EARTHQUAKE HIT! An “angel of the Lord descended from heaven,” rolled back the stone, and sat on it. “His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.” The guards feared him, trembled, and fainted. The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him… .’” 

THE LADIES, feeling fear and joy, ran to tell his disciples. Jesus met them, and they “took hold of his feet and worshiped him. Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.’” 

While the women went, some of the guard hurried to the city and told the chief priests what happened. They and the elders decided to bribe the soldiers. “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep,” they said, adding that if Pilate heard about the body being gone, they would smooth things over and keep the guards out of trouble. The soldiers took the money and did what they were told.

TWO THOUSAND YEARS have passed, and Christians are still telling that Jesus physically rose from the dead on the Sunday after his crucifixion, says Neil Shelvi, author of the book “Why Believe?” He says, “Jesus’s death and resurrection are both tied to our salvation. While most religions teach that we are saved on the basis of the good things we do, Christianity teaches that we are saved on the basis of what Jesus did for us. God drew near to us in Christ to bear our sin, to take our punishment, and to die on the cross in our place. The resurrection was God’s confirmation that Jesus was who he claimed to be, and it is God’s assurance to Christians that they have been forgiven.”

Present-day historians are nearly unanimous in accepting Jesus’ death on the cross, Shelvi says. “His death by crucifixion is the single fact most mentioned in all the historical records of his life, both Christian and non-Christian.” Jesus’ burial is recorded in all four Gospels, and St. Paul writes about Jesus’ death. 

WOMEN DISCOVERED Jesus’ empty tomb, and that is the strongest piece of evidence in favor of the historicity of the empty tomb, Shelvi says. “This detail may not strike us as odd, but it is surprising, given the low status of women in the first century. For example, the first-century Jewish historian Josephus claimed that Jewish law expressed the following sentiment regarding the reliability of women: ‘Let not the testimony of women be admitted, on account of the levity and boldness of their sex.’ If early Christians were inventing narratives to support their own version of events, why not ascribe the discovery of the tomb to witnesses who would have been received as more credible?”

DIGGING UP JESUS’ BODY would have disproved his resurrection, Shelvi says, adding, “How did Christianity grow so rapidly in the very place where Jesus was buried if it could have been falsified so easily?” And if the disciples stole Jesus’ body, couldn’t the Romans have found that body?

MANY CLAIMED to have seen Jesus alive after he had been executed. “They did not claim to have seen him only once or for a short time; they claimed to have seen him repeatedly over an extended period of several weeks,” Shelvi says.

SUFFERING PROVES SOMETHING. “The apostles were repeatedly beaten and imprisoned,” Shelvi says. “We have good historical evidence that James, Peter, and Paul were all executed for their faith, and church tradition maintains that as many as eleven of the twelve apostles were eventually martyred. Given the suffering the apostles faced, it is difficult to maintain they knew the resurrection to be a hoax. … One after another of those who claimed to have witnessed the risen Jesus went to their own gruesome deaths refusing to recant their testimony.” The Apostle Paul claimed he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus and “went from regarding Jesus as a false prophet to believing that Jesus was the unique Son of God.” Paul joined the despised, persecuted Christian “sect” that had no power and few members because he believed Jesus was the promised Messiah who rose from the dead.   
 

THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS CHRIST

  “SPECULATION about the day and year timing of Christ’s crucifixion and death stems from the lack of direct day-to-day correlation in the Gospel accounts,” says christianity.com. Gospel writers wrote about events — not specific timings. They presented Jesus to various groups and did not give detailed dates. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John say Jesus died on Preparation Day. But was that day a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday?”

Friday fits best with the Gospel accounts, christianity.com says. The New Testament says Jesus rose on the third day — not necessarily after three full days.

“It is not all that important to know what day of the week Christ was crucified,” gotquestions.org says. “If it were very important, then God’s Word would have clearly communicated the day and timeframe. What is important is that he did die and that he physically, bodily rose from the dead.”

“God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17 ESV). The following account is largely from Matthew 27:1-56 ESV:

THEY CAPTURED JESUS in the Garden of Gethsemane. Morning came, and the chief priests and elders talked about how to legally kill Jesus. They bound him and led him to Roman Governor Pilate. Judas saw Jesus was condemned and brought back the 30 pieces of silver, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” He then hanged himself. 

JESUS STOOD before the governor who asked, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” The chief priests and elders accused Jesus, but he said nothing. Pilate said, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” Jesus gave him no answer to any charge. The governor was amazed.

BARABBAS WAS NOTORIOUS. It was custom at the feast for the governor to release for the crowd any prisoner they wanted. Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate knew they were jealous of Jesus and had brought Jesus to him for that reason. While Pilate was judging Jesus, Pilate’s wife had sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for last night I had a dream about him, and it troubled me very much.”

THE CHIEF PRIESTS and elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor asked again, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” They said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They said, “Let him be crucified!” Pilate said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!” Ultimately, sentencing was up to Pontius Pilate.

PILATE SAW he was getting nowhere and feared a riot might ensue, so he washed his hands with water in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.” The people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” He released Barabbas, scourged Jesus, and delivered him to be crucified.

PILATE’S SOLDIERS took Jesus into the headquarters, gathered the whole battalion before him, stripped him, and put a scarlet robe on him. They placed a soldier-made crown of thorns on his head. They put a reed (a stick) in his right hand and kneeled before him and mocked, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spit on him and took the stick and struck him on the head. They stripped him of the robe, put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.

SIMON OF CYRENE was forced by soldiers to carry Jesus’ cross. Roman soldiers had the legal right to make Simon do that. 

ON GOLGOTHA (meaning “Place of a Skull”), they nailed Jesus to his cross. They offered him wine mixed with gall, but he tasted it and wouldn’t drink. They crucified him and divided his clothing among them by casting lots. Over his head they put a sign that had told the charge against him: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”

TWO ROBBERS were crucified with him — one on the right and one on the left. People passing by shook their heads and said, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” The chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now… For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 

THE SIXTH HOUR (noon) brought darkness over all the land until the ninth hour (3 p.m.) when Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” meaning, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Soon Jesus cried out loudly again and gave up his spirit. The curtain in the temple was torn into two parts, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and many bodies of dead saints were raised and appeared to many in the city.

THE CENTURION (a Roman army officer in charge of 100 men) and many with him saw the earthquake and what took place at the crucifixion. They were stunned and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”