Teacher for Righteousness
Plants die under my care. I forget to water them. Only rain inside my house could potentially reverse my neglect. I would not be the one assigned over a garden, for a seed could hardly grow much less produce anything useful when I am in charge. Water is necessary for growth, for vegetation, for food. That is why rain is celebrated in agriculture.
Joel 2:23
Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
It is interesting that the phrase “autumn rains” can also be translated “teacher for righteousness”. So, it would read in verse 23 “Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for He has given you the teacher for righteousness…”
God gives on a physical and spiritual level. Rain is necessary for agriculture. The Teacher for Righteousness is necessary for life. The Lord desires to help us with our perceived needs, but He also wants to intersect our lives with more, with Himself, with what we truly need even when we do not realize it.
I have opinions on what I think would make my life better. I ask for “rain” on certain situations so they will be transformed. But what if the dry ground is for me to desire the “Teacher for Righteousness” to intersect those wilderness areas with Himself? What if I saw beyond the physical, circumstantial, financial, relational need to the opportunity of receiving God Himself into my life because of those situations? We desire a change in circumstances, God desires for us to be changed by our circumstances. The Teacher for Righteousness wants to guide me through those difficulties, training me to be more like Him because of what I am going through, not by the absence of hardship. His Presence is the gift in the situation, a better answer than what I desire.
God is faithful. He gives the rain. God is faithful. He gives Himself. We are called to rejoice in the gift of answered prayer but more importantly in the gift of the relationship with the Lord, the Teacher for Righteousness.