In connection with studying the wedding at Cana at which Jesus turned water into wine, we looked at Amos 9:13-14 in Bible Class.

“A time is coming, says the Lord, when the plowman will follow hard on the reaper, and he who treads the grapes after him who sows the seed.  The mountains will run with fresh wine, and every hill will flow with it.  (Israel) will plant vineyards and drink the wine, cultivate gardens and eat the fruit.”

One of the retired farmers in the class said, “That’s double cropping.  We plant soybeans after the wheat is harvested.”

What was a dream for the people of Israel in the time of Amos over 750 years before Jesus made an overabundance of wine in Cana, is often a reality for the farmers of Southern Illinois.

In the cycle of planting and harvest in Israel the barley and wheat ripened in April-May.  The grapes were picked in August-September.  The fields were plowed after the October rains after which the barley and wheat were planted.  In the promised days when the Lord restored the fortunes of Israel the grain harvest would be so abundant that the harvest would be barely finished before the plowing began.  They wouldn’t be done pressing the grapes before it was time to plant grain.  The grapes will hang so heavy in the mountain vineyards that the slopes will seem to drip and flow with fresh wine.

Furthermore, they will be able to eat the produce of their gardens and drink the wine that they tread.  It’s a picture of God’s blessing and favor.

As we partake of the bread and wine of Holy Communion we enjoy the harvest of God’s abundant grace.

The book of Amos closes with, “It is the word of the Lord your God.”