Seasons Promised
The biblical view of the seasons reaches to Genesis. Adam and Eve decided they knew better than God and their decisions and the consequences of those actions led to what is called “the Fall of man.” The period that followed became rampant with the violence in the heart of human kind and led to the Genesis Flood.
After Noah’s family made their debarkation from the ark that saved them from the worldwide flood, God made a promise (Genesis 8:22) that includes specific mention of seasonal transitions, the day/night sequence, and seed time/harvest. The promise is enduring: it will not cease as long as the earth endures. But the lessons of this promise, or parables from this aspect of creation are manifold. Prophets, inspired to speak the word of God, and even Jesus Christ refer directly to things in the seasons or their changes that underline the magnificence of His creation but also teach many lessons.
So the scene in the photo is unique to earth. It shows a peaceful body of water in Autumn–that transition period from summer to winter. It is full of lessons as well as full of beauty.
Autumn’s Reach
The transition from summer to winter is notable to God by promise because it is the time of harvest. Even more, it is the stage of seed-making for vegetation that is in a preparation stage for the next season. For human kind, the harvest time is critical to carry adequate food through the harsher conditions of winter. It is also the primary time for the collection of seeds. That is what God intended. Toil continues, and it is more pronounced due to the Fall. A key part of the toil is making food ready and advance preparations for the next year’s planting season. All it takes is one very bad Autumn season to hinder the next year’s production. Likewise, bad harvest equates to a winter with food shortages. Even the tropical latitudes are dependent on these cycles, although they differ more by wet and dry periods than the classic Autumn conditions at mid-latitudes. So the period is critically dependent on the continuance of God’s promise but also His mercy. Good conditions are not promised but the season is. It takes a conscientious and God-fearing person to realize that the mercy and kindness of God provide weather and soil as well as our health to work the land. So Autumn shows the profit from the previous months but is also the seed for the coming year. The period also shows the mettle in a person according to Proverbs. The slothful or uninterested person is oblivious to the season’s importance and reach, and may, if God is not merciful, suffer the consequence of ill-preparedness. On the other hand, the God-fearing person realizes how every repeated Autumn is a reminder of God, His promise, and His admonitions to be conscientious.
Autumn’s Contrasts
A part of Autumn’s features are flowers. They are resilient, resistant to the cooler nights that become more prevalent, and last a long time. I have watched tiny flowers on a weed last almost two months. And, they spark a contrast. While the surrounding trees are beginning to turn colors and drop leaves, the little flowers just keep going on. Eventually they lead to their own seed. Grasses turn from green to milky shades of light brown and tan; they often have tassels that are used for decoration. While the dogwood trees are some of the first to turn color and drop leaves, one cannot help but notice the buds for the following year that are tightly formed and ready to both endure the winter and greet the spring.
As the earth continues its rotation and the sun line drops in the Northern latitudes, the changes in weather patterns contrast the summer patterns. The winds are often stronger; the temperature range between day and night increases; fronts generally become faster moving. It is not a time that farmers are idle because what they do affects the following year. In Southern latitudes, Spring is popping out. Farmers are active planting the crops and working the animals. The sphere is full of changes but also marks the mercy of God. While we might think (in middle latitudes) that the winter/summer changes are extreme, the overall temperature change is actually very modest. God angled the earth perfectly relative to its orbital plane with the sun. And, the cycle will continue until God brings earth’s endurance to an end. Autumn also bring huge cyclonic storms. Typhoons and hurricanes are have incredible impact on land masses. Some are destructive but they also bring critical rains.
The most obvious of Autumn’s features are the color changes in middle latitudes. Deciduous broad leafed forests turn orange, yellow, red, and brown. As the transition season continues, a person can watch the changes happen. Most of the changes occur within a month. The gold’s and browns dominate by end of the “leaf” season, which turns mornings into an orange glow in the mountains of the Eastern US. In the Rockie Mountains of the West, the golden Aspen are the mark of coming snows.
Even in the tropics, the seasons are evident. Regardless of where we are on earth, His merciful continuance of His promise be evident year after year. So, we have decision opportunities year after year: do we believe what He said and see His handiwork, or do we relegate all the changes to chance and evolution–denying the very Hand that created the masterpiece?
And why go to all this? Because He wants a people for Himself. A people that believe in Him and acknowledge Him. The motivation is simple: “God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son” that we might be saved from ourselves, our sin, and our wayward ways. The verses that follow the John 3:16 scripture are not read as often, but they show that God is not surprised at our rebellion. He delivers a verdict in verse 19 that is in agreement with so many other scriptures: we love darkness and generally will not come to the light–His light. But Autumn is a reminder of the cycle promised, so He waits because He is not willing that anyone perish. So when you see the seasons, think of Him. If you are believer, thank Him. If you do not believe, consider that what He says is the Truth and come to Him.
