Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son
And where have you been, my darling young one
I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways
I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans
I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard
And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son
And what did you see, my darling young one
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin’
I saw a white ladder all covered with water
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children
And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder that roared out a warnin’
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’
Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’
Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin’
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter
Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley
And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
Oh, what did you meet, my blue-eyed son?
Who did you meet, my darling young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony
I met a white man who walked a black dog
I met a young woman whose body was burning
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow
I met one man who was wounded in love
I met another man who was wounded with hatred
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
And what’ll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
And what’ll you do now, my darling young one?
I’m a-goin’ back out ‘fore the rain starts a-fallin’
I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison
And the executioner’s face is always well hidden
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten
Where black is the color, where none is the number
And I’ll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it
Then I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’
But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
Bob Dylan – A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
On December 10th, 2016 the Swedish Academy presented its award for literature to America’s eminent poet and prophet, Bob Dylan. His speech was read to the distinguished audience by the American ambassador, and can be found at the Nobel Prize. org website. While the actual event may be monumental in its symbolic meaning, it may well be lost on the planet. For the hand of Providence moved the Academy to ask Patti Smith to perform a song in honor of the poet. Thinking that she really ought to sing one of Dylan’s, she settled on her old favorite from her youth, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. She sang it with soul and passion; from her depths poured out a most moving performance and remarkably Dylan in style. Coming at this time in world history, to a world steeped in violence and turmoil, hunger and hatred, chaos and confusion, and a global system moving to consolidate its strangle hold upon the poor and oppressed; and a period when new demi-gods arise to take the reigns of power, it was as if the voice of God broke into the world and spoke to all people and called them to repentance. The prophet’s poetry reached a place in the human heart which knows we are our brother’s keeper. And the elite wept. The audience, mostly members of the 1%, were overcome by the devastating truth of his song.
Who could not weep? The tragedy of this world has made God cry. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Matt. 5:4) We mourn for all of the reasons which our brother put into this poetry, and for many more which are too overwhelming to commit to lyrics. Something beautiful has been lost, and God mourns, and all the lovers of God mourn with Him. The Most High and His Beloved have been working until now to restore what is lost. There was a Unity, and a love, a splendor, and a joy that was replete. And it shall be again.But first: “It’s a hard rain’s a gonna fall.” The logos, speaking to Joel (ch. 2) said “Blow a horn in Zion!” — Because a hard rain’s a-gonna fall. It is coming. It will be as it was in the days of Noah — it came upon a people unbelieving and unsuspecting, and it fell hard and long. And when it was done, it was a new world. And so shall it be again.
I heard the sound of a thunder that roared out a warnin’
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world
The world will very shortly now be overcome by a wave of events that will overtake all life. And this time it will be fires of purification that will burn away the dross which must pass for the kingdom to be established in righteousness.
As Qoheleth wrote in Eccl 3: “What will be has been already.” The devastation of the world is so extensive that it will take a lot to bring about the lost thing which God Himself is seeking. “I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard.” It is a vast abyss in which we live, in the shadow of death; it is a death chamber with a mouth ten thousand miles in width.
I heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin.
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children.
This is a prophet’s song from a prophet’s prophet. It silences the voices of those “ten thousand talkers whose tongues are all broken.” More importantly it resounds as the voice of the Logos, who walks among his people. We must go where He goes, where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten. We live in a world of forgotten souls, and the merciful mourn for those souls and seek them out, because they remember that they are there. The Logos remembers each and every one of them, and he knows when each one falls — far more precious than a sparrow. Christ Jesus asks us to remember as He does, and He speaks to us through this poetry.
It is a call to disciples. For where we have gone, what we have seen, what we have heard, and what we have met compel us to hear our call. “What will you do now, my blue-eyed son?” And it is precisely at this place that the beatitudes in Matthew 5 join with the inner compulsion of the heart of compassion moving it to minister to a world of desolation. And to those of us who live in the final days when the abomination of desolation draws near, it is an irresistible pull on our hearts to go where the people are many and their hands are all empty, where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters. And not only are their hands all empty, but their lives are empty, even with a Creator who longs to fill them with life. Their lives have been poisoned, on all levels. And as the people perish, laughter can be heard — behind closed doors, in the hallways of power, in the heights of the host of heaven. For the fat sheep devour the lean sheep. (Ezek 34:20-22)
That is precisely why a hard rain’s a-gonna fall. And while scripture depicts more fire in these final days, we can still see a coming flood of world events and understand them in terms of a hard rain, because there is a flood coming.
And in the face of this flood, before the rain comes, we are called with the singer to be the living message, to think it and speak it and breathe it. To proclaim it with a faith that stands upon the waters.
And I’ll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it
Then I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’
But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’
The Lord is speaking. He is patient and gracious, desiring all men to repent and turn their hearts to him. But the Kingdom of God is breaking in on the world. And it is a Kingdom of Righteousness. It will wash away all iniquity.
So now must be the time of final preparation so the voices for the Lord will know their song well before they start singin. As Joel proclaimed the words of the Lord “Sound an alarm on my holy mountain” so Mr. Dylan has sung “reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it.” Do not put your light under a bushel basket but upon a mountain so that all souls can see it and give glory to God.
This we do for love, not to try to stop the rains. They are coming and they are coming quickly. But the alarm must go out for whatever number might hear and understand and behold what the Lord is doing. He is not distant and He is not idle. As Jesus said, “The Father and I are working until now.” So we want the rains, because they will be the flood to wash away iniquity, though it lays within us.
For those of the House of God, we know the songs are the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb (Revelation 15). So we better know our song well before we start singing, because
It’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall
Thank you Bob for doing what was unpopular with the majority of your fans, for proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for My name’s sake.” Thank you for being a vessel for the Lord to speak through and to call out the unrighteousness in the land. Thank you for inspiring us these last 50 plus years and being the prophetic voice to America. The whited sepulchres of Pharisees all crumble to dust, but your words hearken to the heart of our Lord. Glory to the Most High and His Anointed that this year they have declared the coming rain through your brilliant poetry. Congratulations on receiving the Nobel Prize, finally one of God’s own is recognized. You have served well; and when the rains come, no one will be able to say that God did not warn them in our own time. You reflected it from the mountains for all souls to see it. May we each do the same.