Dew in the Diaspora

It was misty when my wife and I went for our early morning run, but before we had even left our yard we were arrested by an extraordinary beauty. During the night spiders had woven nets from every bush and railing they could find – and captured the dew in necklaces that sparkled like diamonds in the early morning sun.

For half an hour photography trumped exercise, but when I got running I got thinking about what the prophet Micah wrote about the dew in Micah Ch. 5.

Micah lived in a harsh dog-eat-dog world where wealthy land-owners were devouring their poor neighbors. He saw beyond the injustices and the grim exile that it would bring about. He foresaw a ruler who will come forth from the same obscure village where king David was born (Micah 5:2). He will shepherd Israel like a flock, protecting them from both aggressors and from their own aggressiveness. They will be a ‘remnant’, ‘a purged and select company’ (v.7 MSG) who ‘will live among the nations like dew from the LORD, like showers on the grass.’ (Micah 5:7)

Eugene Peterson calls Micah ‘a master of metaphor' and I love this picture of God’s people living in the diaspora, among the nations’, faithfully and mysteriously having an influence for good among them, like the morning dew and rain-showers on the grass. What a metaphor of blessing! Dew and rain give themselves away, gifts from God for the benefit of others whether they deserve it or not.

Israel’s exiles, who would lose everything material that they owned, would be tempted to grasp for themselves as much as they could. But some of them, like Daniel and his friends learned to live above that self-serving instinct. They saw their role as being ‘dew from the Lord’ among their pagan over-lords. They served the nation around them as best they could. They lived out the advice from Jeremiah who told the exiles to ‘seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (Jeremiah 29:7)

Prayer:
God of Jacob, Shine through your people in this world like sunlight on dew-drops. Let us serve the world like rain, giving ourselves away, showering mercy and truth. As light, may we bring out the God colors of the world and as dew let us inspire the God-growth of people around us. Amen