Dew of Heaven and Earth’s Richness: The Link
“May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness—an abundance of grain and new wine” Genesis 27:28.
This verse comes from the passage of scripture where Isaac one the patriarchs, gives his eldest son’s (Esau) blessing to his younger son (Jacob) by deception. Knowing the context is not necessary for this thought. But, if you would like to read the whole chapter and understand the context, click this link.
Heaven’s Dew or Earth’s Richness
I believe everything we go through in life, whether good or bad, positive or negative, blessing or bane is an opportunity to have a greater measure of either “heavens dew” or “earth’s richness”. When we’re experiencing the good, the positive, the blessing, that’s “earth’s richness”.
We are being blessed and experiencing gain in the natural realm. Examples of this might be healthy relationships, good health, ample financial resources.
And when we’re experiencing the bad, the negative, the bane, that’s our opportunity to gain the “dew of heaven”. We have the chance to be blessed and experience gain in the spiritual realm.
For obvious reasons, “earth’s richness” is easier to accept and embrace and rejoice in than the “dew of heaven”. But, we don’t usually experience much of “earth’s richness” without first encountering “heaven’s dew”. When our character lacks nothing, our life lacks nothing (see Psalm 84:11).
Let me clarify this by saying some people (whether Christian or not) start out having more maturity and wisdom (and therefore earth’s richness) because of good role models, parenting, personality type etc. But, for those of us who weren’t given a head start, there is hope. . .
The Reward for Suffering
The dew of heaven is essentially the gain or reward or compensation for suffering. It comes in the form of repentance, emotional strength, maturity, wisdom, more intimacy with God.
These elements are necessary in order to be blessed with earth’s richness to any significant degree. And they give us the tools to help others do the same.
But, in order to reap these benefits from our trials, we must continue to love God and walk in faith and obedience. It’s not automatic. But once we do, we will experience gain and blessing at all times, no matter what we’re going through, either in the natural realm or in the spiritual realm.
Hence, we see the truth of Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose”.
The Dew of Heaven from Your Trials
It’s tragic if we don’t gain heaven’s dew from our trials (including temptation) because it’s difficult, if not impossible to get it at any other time or in any other way.
So, if we don’t get it during our trials, we won’t get it at all. And neither will we experience earth’s richness, since we must have heaven’s dew first.
I think it’s significant that the dew of heaven is mentioned before earth’s richness. That’s because in the natural world, you don’t get earth’s richness (abundance of grain and new wine) without first having heaven’s dew.
The dew (or rain) is necessary to provide the moisture for the grain and grapes (new wine) to grow, mature and produce a crop.
Every time we are tempted and resist that temptation we are suffering. And have an opportunity to gain more of heaven’s dew. But, when we suffer deep, painful devastating losses, we have a comparatively greater chance to gain heaven’s dew.
Whether we gain maturity and wisdom by small temptations or painful losses, I don’t believe it’s actually “us” changing. It’s that we are receiving a greater degree of the Holy Spirit.
Greater Affliction Means Great Opportunity
To say we don’t gain heaven’s dew at all unless we’re suffering great afflictions is false. But, the opportunity is certainly greater when the afflictions are greater. To reiterate, then, heaven’s dew is the Holy Spirit and we get more of Him as we suffer by resisting all kinds of temptations.
When you think about it, pretty much all trials involve temptation of some kind. And that’s part of what makes it so difficult.
These could range from resisting the temptation to say something unkind when we’re angry to turning our back on our faith because of a heartbreaking loss. One is unpleasant, the other devastating, but both are degrees of suffering.
And both give us the chance to yield the dew of heaven to some degree, which in turn, produces the richness of the earth.
And again, earth’s richness includes all temporal blessings ranging from family to good heath to success in our endeavors. For more on this topic see I Don’t Feel Blessed When I’m Poor in Spirit.
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