Harvest has two mercies, and they are not the same sky.
The first is the cold of snow in the time of harvest. Not snow on the standing grain. Proverbs 26:1 will not allow that reading. Snow in summer and rain in harvest do not belong. Such a thing is a sign against the people, not a gift. The line is the cold of snow: a cold brought in the heat, during the labor hours, put in the cup of the ones who have been reaping under the sun. A faithful messenger is like that. He refreshes the soul of the ones who sent him. The mercy reaches the workers.
The second is clouds and wind, and rain that does not fall. A man boasting of a gift of falsehood. Rain, in the Law, is not a figure for any broken promise. It is the blessing on the field, given in its season so the grain and the wine and the oil can be gathered. A cloud can even feel like relief from the sun. The proverb does not count the feeling. The gift that was owed was water on the ground. He announced it. The ground stayed as it was.
One mercy reaches the reapers. The other never reaches the ground.
Those who feed themselves are the ones Jude set apart. They sit in the love feast without fear, shepherds of their own portion. Clouds without water, carried along by winds. Sensual, not having the Spirit. The feast was the place a gift is shared. They announced nothing they gave. The cup went around, and the rain did not.
William
