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Hurricanes, weather, and the judgement of God

Hurricanes are still relevant, though Gustav has passed.

Hurricane Ike is on the way - headed for Texas.

I find it amusing that I know an Ike...I play music with him every week. I've thought of him a lot this last week - good excuse to pray for him, since his namesake is planning on dumping 4 inches of rain on Dallas this weekend. I'm sure my friend has heard enough of hurricane jokes by now to last him a lifetime.

So given the recent posts by my friend William and myself, it seems appropriate for me to raise some of the larger questions in my mind:

Who's in control of the weather? Satan? God? Nobody? Natural Law ( the consequences of the fall )

{Your Father in Heaven} makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust- Matthew 5:45

Job 36, 37, and 38 are full of references to God's control of the weather - keeping hail in storehouses, dispersing lightning, making paths for the thunderstorm...

The plagues of exodus and the judgments of revelation also speak to God's control of the weather - if Satan had control of the weather and seasons, then rain, hail, burning sun, and astronomical phenomena would be opposing Moses and Christians, not the other way around.

In the millenial kingdom, as described in Zechariah 14, rain is withheld from Egypt and any other nation who does not go up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.


Here's the big point, which speaks also to whether or not God judges mankind with weather events:
Job 37:11-13

He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them. At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them. He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love.


He does what? He brings the clouds to punish men, or to show His love.

The struggle is to then interpret what He is doing - luckily, we have the Holy Spirit in us, who will teach us all things ( John 14:26 ) and guide us into all truth ( John 16:13 ). As with dreams and visions, only He can tell us what the signs in the skies above and the earth below signify.

Comments

Heidi said…
Wonderful. I appreciate seeing those places in scripture where the weather is either a blessing or a judgement, based on what God decides. After all the talk about Gustav and judgement it's nice that we don't have to view the weather as an instrument of judgement at all times. And again, I am reminded that I am not God, and I don't have to be. Whew!
Will De Hart said…
new post...new post...new post...new post... I want to hear more!

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