No longer does the farmer have to rely on his intuition, informed by the look of the sky and the prevailing wind - reading the signs. Now he can dial for the latest weather by fax and know what to expect with a measure of confidence. Because of increased accuracy, we tend to accord weather forecasts a degree of trust that didn't exist in the past - a degree of trust that, from time to time, lets us down badly.
A few years ago three carloads of us travelled from Maroochy Parish to St George to bring encouragement to the Church people there. Beardmore Dam had about half a metre of water in it. The town weir was full of poisonous blue-green algae - signs warning people to stay clear. The air was hot, the ground dry. Could they depend on the rains coming?
One farmer, already a million-and-a-half dollars in debt was facing the prospect of extending his bank overdraft by a further quarter-of-a-million for the cotton-seed he would need to plant in readiness for the rain. Some initial showers were forecast. These would germinate the seed, but without good follow-up rain the plants would die. If he waited for the good rains, his paddocks would be too wet to take out his equipment and plant the seed.
Some folk think farming is a gamble. I disagree - in gambling, it is only possible to win because of someone else's loss. Farming does involve taking risks - and, yes, the varying circumstances may favour one area over against another - but the farmer's experience, skill and intuition combine with all the available information to make reasonable and responsible decisions - to do things when the time is right most of the time.
The southern kingdom of Judah was in trouble. Ezekiel had spoken of corruption and moral decline in the nation (chaps 8-11, 22). Already in 597BC Nebuchanezzar deported many of the key people to Babylon - including Jehoiachin the king, and Ezekiel and Daniel. Jeremiah was among those remaining in the land of Judah where the Babylonians had appointed Zedekiah as king.
Jeremiah urged Zedekiah to remain true to his allegiance to Babylon, but others urged rebellion. Against Jeremiah's counsel he formed an alliance with Egypt and in 588BC broke his oath of allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24.20). Jerusalem was soon besieged by the Babylonian army. The Egyptian king could do little to help them.
The prophet Jeremiah had brought the Lord's word of warning to Zedekiah. But his words were regarded as treason - undermining public morale. There would be no confession of sin, no returning to the true worship of the Lord. As the Babylonians were besieging Jerusalem, Jeremiah was "confined in the courtyard of the guard in the royal palace of Judah" by order of king Zedekiah.
Zedekiah complained, "Why do you prophesy as you do? You say, 'This is what the Lord says: I am about to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. Zedekiah king of Judah will not escape out of the hands of the Babylonians but will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon, and will speak with him face to face and see him with his own eyes. He will take Zedekiah to Babylon, where he will remain until I deal with him, declares the Lord. If you fight against the Babylonians, you will not succeed'." (Jer 32.2-5)
Right now the pressure was on. The foreign army was around the city walls. The siege had gone on for some time. The people were starving. The words of the prophet - warning of divine judgment through this foreign power - were already being fulfilled.
Jeremiah's answer to Zedekiah is curious. He recounted guidance from the Lord to buy a field from his cousin Hanamel and to have the transaction witnessed. Yes, there will be judgment - "The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down, along with the houses where the people provoked me to anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings to other gods" (32.29). But there is also the promise of restoration - "I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. They will be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul" (vv. 37-41).
The purchase of a field while the land was occupied and the capital city besieged was against all human reason. Yet it was a confident pledge that they would return.
"In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David's line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety. This is the name by which it [Jerusalem] will be called: The Lord our Righteousness" (33.15-16).
Jeremiah had spoken in similar words about this righteous Branch in 23.5-6. There the King himself will be called, "The Lord our Righteousness." Here it is the whole city.
Babylon fell to the Persian Empire in 539BC. Under the rule of Cyrus, Jews returned to Jerusalem. The city and Temple were rebuilt. But they continued to be a subject people - the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans… Part of the promise of restoration had been fulfilled in their return to the land. But there was no evidence of "the righteous Branch from David's line."
In the period between the two Testaments, a man named Mattathias and his five sons gathered support and staged an uprising against the Greek ruler Antiochus who was endeavouring to stamp out worship of the Lord. We know them by their nickname - the Maccabees or "hammerers." At one stage they managed to gain control over an area extending from Samaria to the Sinai desert. Was this the fulfilment of the promise? Not at all! This line of kings has been described as reaching "a grotesque climax in the drunken and unhinged Alexander Jannaeus (102-76BC)."
The Jews have been truly amazing - maintaining a Messianic hope for centuries - and trying to help things along from time to time! But, as someone has put it, history is HIS-story. Many people are involved in the accomplishment of God's will - even the heathen Babylonians may have a part to play. But "the promise" will be fulfilled by God at his own "right time" - and in his way, not ours.
And the time is now! We live in the days of fulfilment.
After the resurrection Jesus' disciples asked him an outdated and irrelevant question, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1.6).
The righteous Branch has come. The King is here. However, his coming doesn't herald an earthly kingdom of Israel, but the very Kingdom of God. He was sending them to the ends of the earth as witnesses to that King and Kingdom.
He is "the Lord our Righteousness" - through him alone we are made right with God. That exalted name becomes our name as he implants his character in our hearts and lives.
The time is now! We may be uncertain what the weather is going to do. We wait hopefully and expectantly for enough fine sunny weather to ensure the completion of the cane harvest. We await a fulfilment - the realisation of work begun, the completion of the promise of months of growth.
The time is now! God has acted decisively. He has sent his Son Jesus, the righteous Branch from David's line, the long-awaited Messiah.
The time is now! Trust him! Follow him! Live for him!
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