The Lord promises in Hosea 14:5, “I will be like the dew to Israel“.
If you read the context of this chapter in Hosea you will see that the people of Israel have left God, going after idols, and they committed adultery. Yet God will still be to them like the dew, refreshing in the morning.
Every time God visits us, especially in the morning, He comes to us like the dew – in a calm way, almost unnoticeable, so mystical…
Even when we are not faithful to God and we depart from Him, as long as we set some time aside to spend with Him in His Word, we enjoy the refreshing dew and the nourishing manna.
The fresh and refreshing grace of God
What is the dew, and what does it signify? According to Wikipedia, the dew is the result of the interaction of the warmer air from higher level being transported by the wind to fall on the cold surface.
Especially in the morning, we are like a cold surface, ice-cold, hard core cold, and then some warm air from a higher level comes down to us, descending on our cold heart…
What does this dew signify? The dew signifies the fresh and refreshing grace of God coming to us especially through God’s fresh and daily new compassions (see Lam. 3:22-23 and Prov. 19:12).
The Triune God processed and consummated to be our life supply for our enjoyment is daily watering us as grace, refreshing us morning by morning.
Dew is not like the rain (falling on the ground hard, watering abundantly), the snow (cold, white, thick), or the frost (cold and white). Dew is softer than rain and not as cold as frost, yet it is so refreshing and watering!
God’s mercies, His compassions, are new every morning, fresh and refreshing. God’s compassions, His heart, His feelings, are new and fresh toward us every morning.
Even though we may have done something to displease the Lord or we may have idols, early in the morning the Lord’s compassions are there for us, fresh and new.
God’s grace comes to us through God’s compassions – morning by morning the Lord’s grace descends upon us as the fresh dew (see Psa. 133:3).
The manna comes with the dew
In Exodus 16:13-14 we see that the manna came with the dew. Why does the Bible mention this? There must be a spiritual significance to this, something related to our experience.
The dew signifies the daily grace from God, and the manna is Christ as our daily portion of supply, our food and nourishment. The fact that the dew came together with the manna shows us that we daily need to first enjoy the freshness of dew, the freshness of God’s grace, and then the manna will be there for us to enjoy and be nourished (see 1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 12:9).
In our time with the Lord in the morning, we need to experience and enjoy the freshness of God’s grace, and then the Word will be food to us.
For us to practice the vital living and to be overcomers in the church, we need to practice morning revival, having a morning watch with the Lord. We need to be revived every morning!
To be vital is to be an overcomer, and to be an overcomer is to be revived every morning! Especially in the morning, our first priority should be the Lord. As we taste the Lord’s presence and we read His word, His word becomes manna to us.
As we pray over the word, as we pray-read the Word of God, we eat the Lord in His word. We come to the Word first to drink something, and then we eat of Him. How much we need to enjoy the Lord and experience the dew and then the manna early in the morning!
Thank You Lord for Your fresh and new compassions every morning. Make us those who are revived every morning in Your Word. We want to come to You Lord, early every morning to be fed by You! Give us to eat and to drink! Our heart is hungry and our spirit is thirsty! Refresh us with Your grace and nourish us with Yourself!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from, Life-study of Exodus (msg. 36), as quoted in, the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of the Minor Prophets, week 2 (entitled, The Restoration of Israel — Transformation in Life by God’s Love).
- Further reading: Psa. 133:3, note 1.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Our Christ is so enjoyable, / His life is so applicable;
# Christ is our manna true, / Our bread of life indeed;
# Fresh as the dew of the morning, / Bringing a sweet rest unheard, / Christ, in the gentle anointing
About aGodMan
This matter of dew is wonderful. I appreciate that we can enjoy Christ as the dew morning by morning. As we open to Him, He refreshes us in a gentle and quite way. I love to begin my day with Christ as the refreshing dew.
Amen… we shouldn't "jump into reading the Word of God" first thing in the morning; rather, it is good to spend time in the Lord's presence, just to open to Him and enjoy Him as the refreshing dew… As we are watered and refreshed, we can then eat something…
I love the freshness of Christ in the morning. Lord, may every day we would enjoy You as the dew…