God and the Weather #3

Hopefully in the series so far, we see evidence that God controls the weather. Despite what scientists have said in the last 50 years about man-made Global warming or cooling, the scriptures testify that God controls the weather. John Piper has written numerous articles and blog posts on natural disasters, especiall weather-related disasters that point to God. Rev. Allen Baker wrote about natural disasters in his recent article, The Ways and Whys of Almighty God.

Today, we turn to the Book of Exodus for scriptures that point to God, who controls the weather.

• Exodus 9:16-19, 23-25 - But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them...Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.;There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field.
• Exodus 14:21-22 - Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
• Exodus 19:9,16 - And the Lord said to Moses, "“Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever...On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled." God giving the Ten Commandments.
• Exodus 20:18-19 - Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” God's presence being known to the Israelites.

God and the Weather #2

The last two days, the southern states experienced severe weather. There was high winds, rain and tornadoes.  There was lives and property lost to the weather in those states. One tornado was a few miles north of my mother-in-law in southern Oklahoma. This tornado eventually hit Tushka, Oklahoma. See Video.

At the same time, northwest Texas has multiple brush fires that has been burning for several days. The smoke from the fires has reached where I live here in College Station. See Picture.

This week, several area farmers has asked the members of their community to come together to pray for rain.    

They have organized a prayer rally tomorrow afternoon and expect the citizens to bring umbrellas.

So what do we make of droughts and tornadoes? Does these weather events come from the hand of God or some impersonal force?

Let's continue exploring the Book of Genesis.

• Genesis 19:24-25 - (God's judgment on sinners) Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
• Genesis 27:28 (Jacob receives blessing) May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine.
• Genesis 27:39 (Esau receives cursing) Behold, away from the fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and away from the dew of heaven on high.
• Genesis 41:25-32 (God causes the famine) Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. And the doubling of Pharaoh's dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about.

God and the Weather #1

Currently, Brazos County, Texas of which I reside, is in the worst case of drought according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. According to our local television station, we have not had substantial rain since September of 2010. The government climatologists predict that we will stay in this drought through the end of June at least. Humanly speaking, there is not much hope that the weather will change. But...there is hope in God.

The Holy Bible is full of scriptures that point to our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, who controls the weather. Apostle Paul says of Jesus Christ in Colossians 1:16-17, "For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together."  All things includes the weather.

So, I will be going through all of the books of bible and finding scriptures that point to God and Him controlling weather. When looking through the scriptures, we find God has different motives behind Him controlling the weather, sometimes the motives are redemptive to save His people and sometimes the motives are a judgment against sin and rebellion towards God.

With all of this in mind, does Jesus Christ control our weather today? I believe he does because the scriptures says so. What should our response be if He is still controlling the weather today? The immediate answer is to be thankful, stop complaining and to pray to God to change the weather. To find a more thought-out answer, we need to reflect on His motives more...and that we should do when we turn to the scriptures.

Genesis

• Genesis 1-2 speaks of God being the creator of the universe, planet Earth, the seas, the dry land, all the vegetations, animals and the our first parents, Adam and Eve. 
• Genesis 2:5-6 - When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground.
• Genesis 6-8 -And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth...For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die...For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground. And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, and the waters receded from the earth continually.”
• Genesis 9:12-16 - And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
• Genesis 12 speaks about the first recorded drought which caused a famine. "Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land."

To be continued...