Jeremiah 5:24

Neither say they. Neither the fearful grandeur of God’s power as displayed in the sea, nor the gracious kindness of His works as exhibited in the blessing of rain, moved Judah to godly fear and holy awe.

Giveth rain. Nature has no inherent power to act apart from the Creator (see 8T 259). Her laws are not self-working; God is unceasingly at work in nature through them. Rain is a gift from the great Benefactor of mankind (see on Lev. 26:4).

The former. This rain fell in the late autumn. It softened the parched and thirsty soil for plowing and sprouted the winter grain (see Vol. II, pp. 108, 110).

The latter. This rain, so essential for the maturing of the grain, fell in the spring, in March and early April, before the harvest season (see on Deut. 11:14; see Joel 2:23). The fruitfulness of the year was closely bound up with the regularity of the rainy seasons.

Weeks of the harvest. Possibly a reference to the seven weeks between the Passover and Pentecost (see Ex. 23:16; 34:22; Num. 28:26; Deut. 16:9, 10). There was virtually no rain during these weeks, and the harvesting of the grain could proceed without interruption (see Gen. 8:22). The unusual occurrence of rain during the wheat harvest in the days of Samuel brought terror to the hearts of the Israelites (1 Sam. 12:17-19). The three main feasts of the Jews coincided with the three harvest seasons: the Passover at the time of the barley harvest, Pentecost, or the Feast of Weeks, at the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Tabernacles at the close of the fruit harvest.