Читать книгу There Will Be Showers of Blessing - D. J. Speckner - Страница 7

“There Shall Be Showers of Blessing” has long been a favorite hymn sung and loved by generations of Christians. The song was written by Daniel Whittle and James McGranaham. The first verse and chorus of the hymn are,

There shall be showers of blessing:

This is the promise of love;

There shall be seasons refreshing,

Sent from the Savior above.

Showers of blessing,

Showers of blessing we need:

Mercy drops round us are falling,

But for the showers we plead.

To this day, the words of this hymn have a way of uplifting the souls of those who are downcast. Whittle and McGranaham have a musical way of encouraging Christians by reminding us that God promises to bless his people.

These two hymn writers seem to have had a specific passage from the Bible in mind when they wrote their hymn. The title of their hymn is found as a phrase within the book of Ezekiel. God is speaking in this passage from Ezekiel 34:26 when he says, “And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing: and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” Written in the nineteenth century AD, Whittle and McGranaham were probably using the words of this verse as found in the King James Version of the Bible. In the Twenty-first century we have other English translations of the Bible. One of these, the New International Version, is similar to the King James Version. The New International Version reads, “I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.”

This author chose to use the New International Version for the title of his book because the word “will” is more emphatic than the word “shall.” God’s blessings and promises need to be emphasized because they are a certainty. God always tells the truth. God always keeps his promises. God never fails. God will bless his people.

In either case, Ezekiel 34:26 records a promise God made to his people during the lifetime of Ezekiel many centuries ago. However, because God is eternal and his words and promises continued to be in force, this author believes God still loves his people and he intends to bless all of us down through the ages in the same way that God blessed his people in the ancient times of the Old Testament. No wonder the two hymn writers could describe God’s “showers of blessing” as also being his “promise of love.” All Christians can believe in God’s blessings and promises because he is such a wonderful and faithful God.

I encourage you to read the Thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel even before going any further in this book. I thought about putting a copy of this chapter from Ezekiel in this book. But what fun would that be? Instead, you need to go and find your Bible (that is, assuming you can remember when you last had it), brush off the dust, and read not only the Thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel, but the entire book of Ezekiel as well. If you find that task too daunting, then please, at least read the Thirty-fourth chapter, and then continue with this book.

The hymn, “There Shall be Showers of Blessing,” is an inspiration for many Christians because it reminds us that God promises to bless us. It is even more important to realize that these showers of blessings are biblically-based. And, because these blessing are promised to us through the Scriptures, we can be assured that God always keeps his word. It is through the character of God that we can know without any doubt that he will keep his promise to bless us. In the Thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel, God identifies himself in two ways. He calls himself “the Sovereign Lord;” thus identifying himself as the God who has all absolute power and authority. Because God is the Sovereign Lord, he is all-mighty; therefore he has the ability to fulfill his word. Since all authority is his, God is in absolute control and can bless his people anyway he believes to be in their best interest.

Throughout the Thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel, God also describes himself as the Shepherd of his people. In this way, God shows his people that he has the desire and the love to bless them because he cares for them as a Shepherd would take care of his sheep to the point of being willing to give his life for his sheep.

The purpose of this book is to help the reader understand the promise which God makes in Ezekiel 34:26, and to describe how this God-given promise can be fulfilled in the lives of believers today.

These blessings are meant for all of God’s people. Even though God made his promise to the Israelites of Ezekiel’s day, it is still a promise that is in force for Christians as the people of God today. The God of the Old Testament has not changed. He was God back then when he promised to shower his people with blessings, and as the eternal Lord, he is God today. God’s word and promises are still true, because once spoken, God always keeps his word and always fulfills the promises he makes to the people who believe in him and who follow his teachings no matter what the time period is in which God’s people live.

When a person sings this Christian hymn, “Showers of Blessings,” and as he reads about God’s promise found in Ezekiel 34:26, a certain question comes to mind, “What exactly are these showers of blessing?” We can answer this question by placing the verse in its biblical context and by reading the entire Thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel. The answer to this question is also the reason for this author writing this book. There are several promises of blessing which God makes to his people that are found in this chapter of Ezekiel. The author intends to explain to the reader what the nature of a blessing is, and to describe four of God’s blessings found in Ezekiel 34. As God characterized himself as the Shepherd of the people, this writer has chosen to describe these four blessings in relationship with God as the Good Shepherd. As the Good Shepherd, God is also the Searching Shepherd. The Lord goes out to seek and save his sheep. God is also the Providing Shepherd, and he promises to take care of his sheep. God will bring his justice to his people and to the world, and therefore he is the Judging Shepherd. The Lord also makes the promise that he is the Future Shepherd. Because he is the eternal God, he is in control of all time; past, present and future. If God kept his word in the past and blessed the ancient Israelites, then he will keep his word and promises today and throughout all time. Past events become our assurance of our future lives with God.

The Gospel of Mark tells us a story when people were bringing their children to Jesus in order that he might bless them. Jesus’ own disciples rebuked these parents and their children because they thought they were too busy to deal with these kids. Jesus responded by saying, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it (Mark 10:14–15).” Jesus then blessed the children.

Keeping in mind the words of Jesus, this author wanted to think of God’s blessings with a child-like mind. The cartoons in this book are attempts to illustrate how a Christian may respond to God’s blessings by trusting in God as a child. A child would put his faith in God by believing in him to be his Heavenly Father. A child would believe God would answer his prayers and bless him through his love.

It is the hope of this writer that he will help the reader to understand the blessings which the Lord has in store for those who will place their faith in him. As a person understands God’s blessings, he will find the great hope which God’s promises bring; and that each one will experience God’s blessings as a reality in their lives. The truth of the matter is that God is miraculously showering us with His blessings! Once we are completely showered, what do we do when we are all wet? We should share this message of God’s grace with others who do not know the truth about our Shepherd. We should share the of God’s blessings with others by trying to pass our blessings on to them.