God Personally Controls The Weather

These are some of the references to God personally controlling the weather. It builds my trust in Him when I see that He personally controls the weather. He uses it to bless His people, to rebuke His people and to bless and judge the nations. Blessed be the Lord God of Heaven and earth. Our God is a consuming fire.

Rain or Lack of and clouds
Jer 14:22 Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain?
Do the skies themselves send down showers?
No, it is you, O Lord our God.
Therefore our hope is in you,
for you are the one who does all this.

Amos 4:7 "I also withheld rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
but withheld it from another.
One field had rain;
another had none and dried up.

Gen 2:5 7:4 Gen 9:14 Lev 26:4 Duet 11:14 11:17 Deut 28:12 28:22 1 Sam 12:18 1 Kings 8:35,36 1 Kings 17:1,14 (the whole incident with Elijah) 2 Chronicles 6:27 7:13 Ps 68:9 Ps 135:5,6,7 Ps 148:8 Isa 5:6 Isa 30:23 Zech 10:1 14:17,18 Math 5:45 Acts 14:17 James 5:17,18

Hail
Ex 9:23 22:23 Ps 105:32 Ps 147:15-18 148:8 Hag 2:17 Rev 16:21

Thanks for sharing Cody. It reminds me of one of my favorite articles from a few years back:

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I think we can draw from the first creation story that God moves the earth from chaos to order and rested, with the processes working.

Of course, God can intervene.

Just wondering, did anyone read any of the scripture references?

If you had quoted them rather than just giving the reference, I might have scanned them.

But I am sure that I have read them all before.

And the Ancient Hebrew cosmology with a solid dome (or “firmament”) above the earth with water above and holding storehouses of snow and hail was not a correct view of the universe.

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I did not read them because I have read the Bible front to back several times. I assume it’s an assortment of verses like Elijah prayed that it would. It rain, or god sent rain down to punish , or god makes it rain on the just and I just and so on.

I also just know God spoke to people in a way they understood. I know that I don’t have to decide that weather patterns are unpredictable and based on Gods whims. I know that thing like climate change happen and so on. The Bible is definitely not always accurate.

Take the whole set up about a Virgin not bleeding on her wedding night means she’s not a Virgin. The Bible says that. I still know it’s not true.

Personally, I think you are unwittingly setting up a false dichotomy here. Ie. If the Bible says God controls the weather then naturally process cannot.

Reality: Does God control the weather? Yes. Do a complex set of meteorological rules control the weather? Yes.

Disbarring miracles for a mo, how does God control the weather? Through his divine providence. How is that providence worked out? Through the complex meteorological rules, which, ultimately, originated in the mind of God.

Sorry Cody, but this is a non starter for me, and that is even before we get on the the subject of the genre and authoral intent of the verses you quoted. Eg. Is the genre of Jer 14:22 scientific discourse? Is Jeremiah/The Holy Spirit’s intent in that verse to teach Israel a lesson about the water cycle?

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I figure most of you have read the scriptures a lot and figure you understand them, but I would encourage you to read some of the references in my post. Read where God said He would control the rain and why, the specifics. Read and understand that God told before hand drought was coming and that He was causing it and why He would cause it.
Joseph in Egypt, the drought in Elijah’s time. Amos 4:7 is a very open and plain word from God of what He did. Jer 14:22 asks, “Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? (Answer, NO) Do the skies themselves send down showers?(Answer, NO) No, it is you, O Lord our God.(Since it it God personally and not false gods or just the natural process of the sky, his response is) Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this.”
Because God is intimately involved in His creation we can put all our trust in Him.

In Jeremiah 14:22

It is clear Jeremiah is not trying to describe the process that generates rain. He is saying quite clearly that God is in control of the rain. When you think back over the OT it is quite clear that God is presented as being in charge of every natural event of which the people in the ANE were aware. The Bible doesn’t concern itself with how (and in fact often gets that wrong) but with why.

One more suggestion. Take off the glasses of a carnal mind and mans all knowing knowledge of God’s creation and read them fresh with the eye of faith(trust) in God, The Lord Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
May God give you understanding in His ways.

I have one for you Cody. Since you believe scripture trumps science.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/%3Fsearch=Deuteronomy%2B22:13-21&version=NASB&interface=amp

In those verses it is saying when a man sleeps with his virgin wife if she does not bleed, staining the garment, then he can accuse her of adultery and if the garment is found without a blood stain she can be stoned to death.

Now science nowdays says that not every woman bleeds. Scientist and educated people constantly battle people with that prehistoric mindset in their world countries.

So is it true that every single woman 100% of the time will bleed if she’s a virgin and science is wrong?

I agree with your conclusion, Cody, it is your workings out that I believe are incorrect. Perhaps, I can illustrate this by applying your same Bible reading method used to draw your conclusion about the weather to Psalm 104:5 (NIV2011). Psalm 104:5 says:

He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.

The verse is clear is it not; are these not God’s words? The earth cannot be moved. We should therefore conclude that the sun does in fact orbit the earth and not vice versa. In fact, since the earth can never be moved, it must therefore be the point around which the entire universe rotates. No more than this, since it cannot be moved, the earth does not even spin on its axis. It is gloriously stationary.

Just “Take off the glasses of a carnal mind and mans all knowing knowledge of God’s creation and read [Psalm 104:5] fresh with the eye of faith(trust) in God, The Lord Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” and it all becomes clear. The Earth does not move; everything moves around it. End of discussion. Don’t you agree, Cody?

I’m not making fun of you here, Cody, I am genuinely trying to show how your bible reading method is tying you in countless knots by essentially putting words in the mouth of scripture.

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NB: I’ve no problem with God’s miraculous use of the weather for blessing or judgement. I just don’t believe those miracles represent God’s usual way of controlling the weather. They are the exception, not the rule.

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@LM77

Maybe you can agree with this general principle:

When God uses natural processes to execute his will (from weather patterns to non-human primates evolving into humans), we can all that PROVIDENTIAL activity by God.

Jesus being born god is a one-off event is most usually categorized as a miracle!

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Thanks @gbrooks9, that’s a great summary. :+1:t2:

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This is just one of the times that God was personally involved in controlling the weather (I am assuming there was no rain during the famine) to produce His desired outcome. God told Pharaoh what He was about to do.

Gen 41:15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.” 16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.” 25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do . 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. 27 The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine. 28 "It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do . 29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, 30 but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. 32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.

This is a predetermined and God acting event. He is personally in control of it. Not arbitrary weather patterns. It brought Israel to Egypt and later God raised up Pharaoh for the purpose of showing His great power in delivering Israel from bondage. It was God’s plan and His personal, hands on involvement that produced the good years and the bad. God is telling Pharaoh “He will do it soon”. Blunt, to the point, no other option. God will do it.

Without this knowledge from God, people would say, “Well it looks like the weather patterns are going to bring us good weather and we should have a good growing season this year.” Then the next year they say, “Well, it looks like the weather patterns are looking like last year so we should have another good growing season.” And ect. Then on the eighth year they say, “Well, this year looks like the weather isn’t going to give us a good growing season.” The next year, the same weather happens and a famine is created.

Now man in all his knowledge could see the weather patterns but his willful ignorance of God, blinds him to what God is doing. It’s no different today, man’s blindness and willful ignorance of the Sovereign ruler of all creation, allows him to see the near potential effects of the weather and therefore they say, “God is not involved, it’s all just natural processes ”. Man in his ignorance does not glorify the creator of heaven and earth. They declare themselves to have knowledge and wisdom and that they don’t need God. They have made themselves to be gods and whether they say it or not, they want to shake off the chains of submission to God, but God will say, Ps 2:1 Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. 3 “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” 4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 6 "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill."

So should we be hiring Bible scholars and/or prophets for our weather forecasters rather than meteorologists, Cody?

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The God of theism certainly interacts with His creation and I have no doubt that there are occasions when He influences the weather for His purpose but that does not equal controlling the weather all the time. Likewise I have no doubt there are occasions when God influences the events in our lives for His purpose but that doesn’t mean that everything happens because God wants such things to happen. The Bible is very clear that lots of things happen which God doesn’t like and doesn’t want to happen at all. Participation is not control. God is a shepherd, teacher, and parent, NOT a control freak, watchmaker, or artist/writer painting/writing our lives to indulge His self expression in our joys and tragedies (nor the Deistic mad scientist tinkering and watching with curiosity). At least the former and not the latter is the God I believe in – one who chose love, life, and freedom over power and control as the things of greater value.

The mathematics of the weather is well understood. But that understanding includes chaotic dynamics which make predicting the weather exponentially more difficult the farther into the future you go. It leaves considerable room for a all-knowing all powerful Deity to stick His hands in things when needed. But most of the time, the weather has no influence on the things which really interest Him so I doubt He has much reason to bother with it. I think He is far more interested in seeing us take responsibility for our own lives now that we can.

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No, Christian meteorologists will work, that way God would get the glory when they acknowledge Him for what He is doing. But that’s the way it should be in all things, whether it’s a used car salesman, trash man, teacher, politician, ect. In all things at all times in all ways, let God be glorified. As the angels in Heaven say, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, the whole earth is filled with His glory.

Only if they can fully understand the mind of God and know what He is planning to do. Otherwise we are better off just using the models.

Why limit God to just “some of the time”? If He can do it once He can do it every time.