“A PRAYER FOR RAIN…THE NEED IS BECOMING SERIOUS.

On Shmini-Atzzeret—the last day of the fall festival of Sukkot (1 October this year), it is traditional to pray for rain. For the “former rains”, which in Israel begin in the fall.  The “latter rains” fall roughly from Passover in the spring, until around middle May.  Afterwards, there is usually no measurable rain in Israel for five months—we are dependent upon the former and latter rains. 

We have often mentioned in these prayer updates the need of rain in Israel.  but during the past five months acuteness of this need has become more evident.  Israel recently completed her fifth year of an officially-declared drought.  On August 26^th, an article in The Times of Israel was entitled, “Israel enters 6^th year of worst-in-a-century drought, girds for even worse.”   The article points out how “Many of Israel’s lakes, riverbeds and aquifers are at unprecedented 100-year lows, with the Sea of Galilee [the nation’s largest natural water source] dangerously close to its “black line,” the level below the intake pipes of the water pumps that send the lake’s water to nearby towns.”  Many of the springs in the north, whose streams supply much of the waters to the Sea of Galilee, have slowed to a trickle.  In May, the Water Authority launched a public awareness campaign to make Israelis aware of the shortage and to encourage them to conserve their water usage.  

But with the construction in recent years of five large desalinization plants (which now effectively provide drinking water from the Mediterranean for the country’s most populated regions along the coast), Israelis have tended to put away concern about water.  After all, Israel invented “drip irrigation” (virtually all her produce is now economically watered that way); 86% of her wastewater is purified and used for agriculture.  And now redeeming water from the Mediterranean Sea seems to be taking care of our needs.  Except that it isn’t—even with the two new plants which are being built, there will not be enough for crops necessary to feed this population.  And if the Sea of Galilee continues to sink, it will mean an ecological disaster there, down the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.  Israel is planning to pump desalinated water into the lake—but that is really a stop-gap measure. And the de-salinized water is lacking in many nutrients, and is even being presently studied in Israel as a possible contributor to heart disease.  

Israel—and our neighbors—are desperately in need of rain water.  The scientists are pointing towards Global Warming as being the most probable cause of the drought.  Yet, the Scriptures often connect the coming or withholding of rains in Israel with the favor and mercy of her God (the Creator of the “globe” which is warming!), and with the humility of His people in acknowledging awareness of their need of that mercy:  

 PLEASE PRAY:

• That God will in mercy send abundant rains on His Covenant Land this year…a land which was meant from the beginning to, “drink water from the rain from heaven, a land for which the LORD God cares; the eyes of the LORD God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year”  (Deuteronomy 11:11-12).
  
• That Israel will awaken to her need for water—and an awareness that her God is the source of that water—as He was for our Fathers in ancient times,  when they drank from the spiritual rock which followed them around the desert…and that rock was Messiah! I Corinthians 10:4).
• That believers in the Land will ourselves take this need seriously, will humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from evil ways—cry out to Him for this need,  that He may hear from Heaven and heal our land.

Martin and Norma Sarvis