Biblical View Of Weather Control

Biblical View of Weather Control

The biblical view of weather control is rooted in the understanding that God is the sovereign ruler over all creation, including the weather. The scriptures portray God as the one who controls the weather, using it to accomplish his purposes ^{[1, 8]}.

In the biblical account of creation, God is described as the one who separates the waters above from the waters below, establishing the sky and controlling the weather ^[3]. The Psalms frequently praise God for his control over the weather, describing him as the one who brings forth the wind from his storehouses and who causes the rain to fall ^{[2, 8, 9]}.

The biblical writers often use weather phenomena to illustrate God's power and providence. For example, the book of Job describes God's control over the weather, saying that he "commands the sun, and it does not rise; he seals off the stars; he alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea" ^[6]. The prophet Jeremiah also notes that God is the one who "brings out the wind from his storehouses" and "causes the rain to fall" ^[5].

The biblical view of weather control is not limited to grand, dramatic events like thunderstorms. Rather, it encompasses all aspects of the weather, from the gentle dew to the pouring rain ^[4]. God's control over the weather is seen as a demonstration of his power and care for his creation. As the Psalmist notes, God "makes the grass grow on the mountains" and "gives food to the cattle" through his control of the weather ^[2].

The early church fathers also understood God's control over the weather as a demonstration of his power and providence. Theophilus, a second-century apologist, wrote that God's control over the weather is a manifestation of his divine power, citing the changing seasons and the regular march of the stars as evidence of his providence ^[12].

Reformed theologians, such as John Calvin, have also emphasized God's sovereignty over the weather. Calvin argued that God's control over the weather is not limited to general providence, but extends to individual and special movements, demonstrating his omnipotence ^{[10, 13]}.

In contrast to the biblical view, human attempts to control the weather are often seen as futile. The book of Ecclesiastes warns against trying to predict the weather, saying that "he who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap" ^[11]. This is not a prohibition on prudent observation, but rather a warning against relying on human ability to control or predict the weather.

The biblical view of weather control has implications for how believers understand and interact with the natural world. It encourages trust in God's providence and care, even in the face of uncertain or changing weather conditions. As Matthew Henry noted, believers should "take the weather as it is and make the best of it," trusting in God's sovereignty over all aspects of creation ^[14].

The biblical emphasis on God's control over the weather also underscores the importance of humility and dependence on God. As Charles Hodge observed, the Bible teaches an analogy between the material and spiritual worlds, with God's control over the weather serving as a model for his control over spiritual realities ^[7].

Sources

Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Rain — Occasioned by the condensing of the clouds -- Job 36:27,28; Ps 77:17; Ec 11:3. God Made a decree for. -- Job 28:26. Prepares. -- Ps 147:8. Gives. -- Job 5:10. Causes, to come down. -- Joe 2:23. Exhibits goodness in giving. -- Ac 14:17. Exhibits greatness in giving. -- Job 36:26,27. Sends upon the evil and good. -- Mt 5:45. Should be praised for. -- Ps 147:7,8. Should be feared on account of. -- Jer 5:24. Impotence of idols exhibited in not being able to give -- Jer 14:22. Not sent upon the earth immediately after creation -- Ge 2:5. Rarely falls in Egypt -- De”
Psalms “Psalms 147:8 (BBE) — By his hand the heaven is covered with clouds and rain is stored up for the earth; he makes the grass tall on the mountains.”
Proverbs “Proverbs 8:29 (YLT) — In His setting for the sea its limit, And the waters transgress not His command, In His decreeing the foundations of earth,”
Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Dew — This in the summer is so copious in Palestine that it supplies to some extent the absence of rain and becomes important to the agriculturist. Thus it is coupled in the divine blessing with rain, or mentioned as a prime source of fertility, (Genesis 27:28; 33:13; Zechariah 8:12) and its withdrawal is attributed to a curse. (2 Samuel 1:21; 1 Kings 17:1; Haggai 1:10) It becomes a leading object in prophetic imagery by reason of its penetrating moisture without the apparent effort of rain, (32:2; Job 29:19; Psalms 133:3; Hosea 14:5) while its speedy evanescence typi”
Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Thunder — is hardly ever heard in Palestine form the middle of April to the middle of September; hence it was selected by Samuel as a striking expression of the divine displeasure toward the Israelites. (1 Samuel 12:17) Rain in harvest was deemed as extraordinary as snow in summer, (Proverbs 26:1) and Jerome states that he had never witnessed it in the latter part of June or in July. Comm. on (Amos 4:7) In the imaginative philosophy of the Hebrews, thunder was regarded as the voice of Jehovah, (Job 37:2,4,5; 40:9; Psalms 18:13; 29:3-9; Isaiah 30:30,31) who dwelt behin”
Job (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Job 37:6: The changes and extremities of the weather, wet or dry, hot or cold, are the subject of a great deal of our common talk and observation; but how seldom do we think and speak of these things, as Elihu does here, with an awful regard to God the director of them, who shows his power and serves the purposes of his providence by them! We must take notice of the glory of God, not only in the thunder and lightning, but in the more common revolutions of the weather, which are not so terrible and which make less noise. As, I. In the snow and rain, Job 37:6. Thunder and lightn”
CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 140: show how it is accomplished by moral suasion, and how it depends for its success on the coöperation of the subject of the work. This is not the Scriptural account. Our Lord said to the leper, I will; be thou clean; as he said to the winds, Be still. There is another view of the subject. As the Bible recognizes and teaches this analogy between the material and spiritual worlds, so it constantly assumes a like analogy between the relation which God sustains to the one and the relation which He sustains to the other. He has given to his cre”
Psalms (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Psalms 147:8: 147:8 God holds sovereign power over the weather (77:17-18; 78:26; 104:4; 148:5-6).”
Psalms (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Psalms 135:7: 135:7 The psalmist tells of God’s sovereignty over the weather (Pss 29; 77:17-18; 78:26; 104:4; 147:8-9; 148:5-6).”
CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 32: tenor observe the same course, day succeeding night, month succeeding month, and year succeeding year. But, as at one time, excessive heat, combined with drought, burns up the fields; at another time excessive rains rot the crops, while sudden devastation is produced by tempests and storms of hail, these will not be the works of God, unless in so far as rainy or fair weather, heat or cold, are produced by the concourse of the stars, and other natural causes. According to this view, there is no place left either for the paternal fav”
Ecclesiastes (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Ecclesiastes 11:4: "He who observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." The proverb is not to be understood literally, but in the spirit of the whole paraenesis: it is not directed against the provident observation, guided by experience, of the monitions and warnings lying in the present condition of the weather, but against that useless, because impossible, calculation of the coming state of the weather, which waits on from day to day, from week to week, till the right time for sowing and reaping has passed away. The seed-time require”
Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 2: Hermas, Tatian, Theophilus, Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria — CHAP. VI.--GOD IS KNOWN BY HIS WORKS.: Consider, O man, His works,--the timely rotation of the seasons, and the changes of temperature; the regular march of the stars; the well-ordered course of days and nights, and months, and years; the various beauty of seeds, and plants, and fruits; and the divers species[5] of quadrupeds, and birds, and reptiles, and fishes, both of the rivers and of the sea; or consider the instinct implanted in these animals to beget and rear offspring, not for their own profit, but for the use ”
CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 32: it very apparent that every single year, month, and day, is regulated by a new and special providence of God. 3. And truly God claims omnipotence to himself, and would have us 174 to acknowledge it,—not the vain, indolent, slumbering omnipotence which sophists feign, but vigilant, efficacious, energetic, and ever active,—not an omnipotence which may only act as a general principle of confused motion, as in ordering a stream to keep within the channel once prescribed to it, but one which is intent on individual and special movements”
Job (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Job 37 (introduction): Elihu here goes on to extol the wonderful power of God in the meteors and all the changes of the weather: if, in those changes, we submit to the will of God, take the weather as it is and make the best of it, why should we not do so in other changes of our condition? Here he observes the hand of God, I. In the thunder and lightning (Job 37:1-5). II. In the frost and snow, the rains and wind (Job 37:6-13). III. He applies it to Job, and challenges him to solve the phenomena of these works of nature, that confessing his ignorance in them, he might own hims”

Ask Your Own Question