Tis The Season

Just before the nation of Israel crossed over the Jordan River to begin their assault on the land of Canaan, Moses spoke to the people and described to them the land they were about to inherit. In Deuteronomy 11, Moses says:

And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full. Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you. - Deuteronomy 11:13-17

In general, the land of Israel has two weather seasons: the wet season and the dry season. The wet season starts in mid-October and lasts until mid-April. Moses mentions this when he says, "He will give the rain for your land in its season." This rainy season is bookended by periods of heavy rain in October/November and March/April. Moses even mentions this when he says "the early and the later rain".

Earlier today, I was looking at the weather app on my phone. In that app, I have programmed in a number of cities that are of special interest to me. Of course, one of those cities is Jerusalem. I noticed that the five-day forecast for Jerusalem predicts rain for four of the next five days. The later rains of this wet season is about to begin. The same way that it has for thousands of years.

Flash Flooding in the Valley of Harod

Weather in Israel is very interesting. (Author disclaimer: Both my wife and I have degrees in Meteorology, so we think that ALL weather is interesting. Please hold off on nerd-based comments until further notice.) Often, people have a misunderstanding of the land of Israel in that it is completely arid and warm. While there are locations in the land that can be described that way, overall, that is not the case. Generally speaking, the country of Israel has two seasons: summer and winter. During the transition times, you have periods of heavy rain. You can even read about these periods of rain in the Bible.

And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. - Deuteronomy 11:13-14

The early rains come in the fall and the latter rains come in the spring. During the summer, very little rain will fall in many areas of the country. Consequently, when the early rains come, flash flooding can easily occur.

Earlier today, I read posts from Luke Chandler (who gave a hat-tip to Ferrell Jenkins) and Todd Bolen who featured a link to an amazing piece of video from flash flooding in the Valley of Harod. The Valley of Harod stretches a few miles from the eastern edge of the Jezreel Valley to the city of Beit-She'an.

I am also reminded of Elijah's warning to King Ahab.

So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’” Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. - 1 Kings 18:44-45

Elijah knew that flash flooding would occur in the Jezreel Valley once the rains came and sent his servant to warn King Ahab about it.

Isn't the weather in Israel interesting?

(You may now proceed with your nerd-based comments.)