An Opportunity to Trust

"For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and date honey; a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. "When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. Deuteronomy 8:7-10

Our seder plate had taken a fatal fall last summer; so with Pesach fast approaching I realized it was time to purchase another. Realizing we didn't want just any ol' plate, I set out on my quest to find the perfect plate for my family and I.

In my exploration I ran across some absolutely beautiful selections but the one pictured above kept tugging at my heart. I realized the motif on the plate is what is known as The Seven Species within Judaism and is drawn from Deuteronomy 8:7-10; but I have to be honest and say I had given little thought to the seven varieties listed and their relevance to me as a child of God. Little did I know the adventure that awaited me as I began to dig and the message of trust within those lines of scripture from Deuteronomy.

"Why these seven varieties?" This question sent me back in time to when my daughter was very young and we'd look at a group of items and asked,  "Which of these doesn't belong?" Of the seven honey seemed out of place. Why in a list of goods which are products of plants am I seeing one that is a product of an animal? In my research I found that the honey in this list has long been considered date honey - the syrup squeezed from ripe dates (Jerusalem Talmud, Bikkurim 1.3). Once this was settled things flowed.

During the fifty days between Passover and Shavuot, the flowers of grapes, dates, pomegranates, and olives begin to blossom, figs begin to form, and the heads of wheat and barley begin to fill with starch. This critical growth period is also the time of Israel's unpredicable winds which, if they come at the wrong time, can wreak havoc on these crops.

""The northern wind" - the northwesternly and northern winds that blow over Israel between Passover and Shavuot - frequently bring rain. This northern wind is most beneficial to wheat if it blows during the wheat's early stage of ripening, while it is still young ("a third of its ripening"). But the same wind can wreak havoc on the olive crop if the buds have already opened into flowers. Olive blossoms, like the flowers, need successive days of dry heat ("southern wind"). Under such ideal conditions these flowers open, allowing the pollen to reach the pistils for pollination. But if the heat wave is too brief and pollination has not been completed before the cold northern wind comes, the olive flowers may be blown away by the wind or the pollen washed off by the rain. The same danger threatens the grape, pomegranate, and date flowers. Therefore, this northern wind can, at one and the same time, be a blessing to wheat "when it has reached a third of its ripening" and a curse to the olives if it comes after they have blossomed but before they have been pollinated.

On the other hand, a prolonged southern wind (the dry wind coming during this period from the south or southeast) is good for the olive as well as for the grape, date and pomegranate crops. However, this same southern wind can devaste the wheat and barley crops if it comes before the kernels have filled with starch (while only at "a third of its ripening"), for then the grain will be scorched and the crop decimated, as described in Pharoah's dream..."Nogah Hareuveni, Nature in Our Biblical Heritage, pg 36.

The Israelites had to rely on God to bring the winds and rain at the right time. Year in and year out this would be a call of total dependance and trust in God.

But the land into which you are about to cross to possess it, a land of hills and valleys, drinks water from the rain of heaven, a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year. "It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil...Deuteronomy 11:11-14

And this led me to think about the winds and rain (and at times the lack there of) in my own life. Just as the north wind and rain are needed at the right time, so too in my life is needed the prolonged southern wind to develop the fruit God desires. Am I willing to drink the rain of heaven as it is sent and will I welcome His wind to blow through my life?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control...Galatians 5:22-23

Times of drought, rain, sunshine, tempest...all opportunities to trust God and the work He is doing in us.

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. James 5:7-8

God is Lord of the north and south winds. May we welcome Him as Lord of our own lives and may His winds blow through our lives to His praise and glory!