As I look back upon the time I was growing up on the plains of Nebraska, there are cherished moments that come to mind. I can remember, as a child, waking up early in the morning and looking out the window of my bedroom. I remember being so excited about what I saw, I would hurry up and put on my clothes and shoes and go outside and take a deep breath, inhaling the clean Nebraska air. What was I so excited about? I was excited about seeing the morning dew on the trees, the grass and on the plants around our property. Some mornings I would wake up and see that the dew had frozen on the plants, and with the sun’s light, it made the ground sparkle.
During my younger years we had some sheep, a couple of horses, a cat, a dog and chickens. Part of my responsibility was to feed them in the mornings. I can remember picking up the rake, pitch fork, or shovel on some mornings and it having a coating of dew on it. Some mornings the dew was so thick it was like rain drops all over the ground. The sun would shine on the ground and it just sparkled. By mid morning the dew had burned off, as we used to say, and then I could climb on the roof of our old shed and not worry about slipping off.
I can remember camping out on the shores of the Pacific Ocean one summer with my grand father. The “women” would sleep in the station wagon and us “men” would sleep out on the ground. I remember my grand father putting a blanket or maybe it was a tarp over us. I didn’t know why at the time, and my grand father wouldn’t tell me, but in the morning the covering was all wet and we were sleeping in our own dry sleeping bag.
The morning dew was not just in Nebraska, but I can remember the dew appearing in Texas, Mississippi, Japan and in California. It seems that whereever I lived, at some point, I would experience the morning dew on something. Even now, some 40 years later, there are days when I get up and go outside to my car to leave for work I can rub my hand over the hood of my car and feel the water touching my skin.
The first reference to dew in the Bible is found in Genesis 27:28. Here we find the story about Isaac and his two son’s, Jacob and Esau, and the blessing each received. The story has many levels of applications, but I only want to focus on one aspect of the blessing that Isaac gave to both sons.
We know that the blessing a father gave to his son was not taken lightly. In this light we read about the blessing he intended to give to Esau, but gave to Jacob.
“When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he bless him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed. May God give you the heaven’s dew and the earth’s richness – an abundance of grain and new wine. ” “
The morning dew meant something very significant to Isaac. He saw the morning dew as a gift from God. Maybe Isaac remembered doing what I did, feeling what I felt, seeing what I saw when I was growing up in Nebraska.
Note the other blessing he gave to Esau. It also references the dew of heaven. It’s found in verse 39 of the same chapter. “Your dwelling will be away from the earth’s richness, away from the dew of heaven above .”
Once again we read that Isaac had placed an importance to dew. There was a link between it and heaven. It’s part of the blessing of both of his sons.
The morning dew was God’s delivery system for the mana that was given by God to his people in the desert on their way to the promise land. We read this in Exodus 16:13-14. “That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.”
Isn’t that amazing? Dew was God’s way of delivering the Mana to the multitudes. Note in verse 15 the response of the Israelites when they saw what was left on the ground after the dew was gone. “When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the LORD has given to you to eat.”
So many times God gives us “gifts” using the most simple delivery systems known. If we didn’t recognize it ourselves or don’t have a Moses to point it out to us we would just walk right over, under, around, or through the gift without knowing it. This “mana” delivered in “the dew of heaven” as I call them, can be the very thing that will be the bread of life that we need to make it through the problem or experience we are facing right now. Let me give you an example of my mana delivered from heaven in the dew of God’s delivery system as a feather.
Just like Paul had a tent ministry to support himself, I also have a tent ministry. I make my living working on computers. About two months ago I had a contract to move an organization from one type of internet delivery system (frame relay) to another (DSL). The job took about an hour to accomplish and I was very pleased with the results. The client was also happy with the results and signed off on the paper work and I left their location.
The next day I was in the back yard resting when I received a call from my contract company informing me that the client accused me saying that I had pulled out a power plug and it affected one of their items of equipment. I was shaken by this report and I was quick to respond. I had evidence that I had done nothing wrong. I had taken pictures of the location, the power strips and the wire closet. I left the place like I found it with the exception of the piece of equipment I removed from service. I had completed paperwork and faxed the paperwork to the contract company.
I was convinced that I did nothing wrong and there must have been a mistake. I found myself sitting in a chair in the back yard under a tree in a state of anxiety. Suddenly from the corner of my eye I saw something falling from the sky. It was a little blue feather about an inch long and so frail in appearance. It was swing in the breeze, one way and then the other way till it fell on the ground.
At first I didn’t know what was happening and then I had this encounter with the Living God. I felt a peace that came over me. I felt the Lord saying that the feather was symbolic of a feather from His wing, which I am under. I knew at that moment that everything was going to be alright. The mana was the peace of God. The dew was the feather. I picked up the feather and taped it to the back of my cell phone as a reminder of God’s presence and care.
When Adam and Eve were in the garden, they felt the dew on their bodies as they walked in the cool of the day with God and slept on the ground on the grass. I imagine that they licked the dew from the leaves or from their arms when they awoke. The dew was like a way God gave them a warm shower every morning.
God cares for us in so many ways. We just have to be sensitive to his Love or have a Moses to point out the delivery system of the Mana we need. Let me encourage you to read the following scriptures. May they be the dew from Heaven as you feast on the Mana they bring to your souls.
Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. (Deuteronomy 32:2)
Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised- look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew-a bowlful of water. (Judges 6:36-38)
My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches . (Job 29:19)
Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew ? (Job 38:28)
A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass. (Proverbs 19:12)
This is what the LORD says to me: “I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” (Isaiah 18:4)
I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; (Hosea 14:5)
The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the LORD , like showers on the grass, which do not wait for man or linger for mankind. (Micah 5:7)
The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew . I will give all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of this people . (Zechariah 8:12)
Scripture references taken from the New International Version. Copyright 1973,1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.