Think of this as a kind of dictionary article for "Storms." When skimming through my Bible dictionary, I found entries for "wind" and "rain" but not for "storm." Clearly I'm just OCD, but I want to see all of this data in the same article with the entry title "storm, storms." Weather PrimerMy guess is that a lot of people who stumble across this article are somewhat familiar with the weather of the Ancient Near East. If that's the case for you, feel free to skip ahead! Otherwise, here's a brief description of the kind of weather ancient Jews would have been familiar with. For the most part, the region is subtropical with cold winters and hot (dry) summers. The cool wind blows off the Mediterranean from the west, while the hot blast-furnace blows off the desert from the east. The mountainous region along the Jordan provides a natural barrier to all but the most severe phenomena and creates an unstable patch within. The drop in elevation from north to south also creates disparity in weather conditions. The Sea of Galilee is a particularly unique place in that it is surrounded by mountains; cool, dry air sinks down the mountains and meets the milder, wet air on the lake, regularly creating windy and violent conditions. The rainy season is basically October through March when the west winds prevail and the season is much cooler (even cold). Those rains fill the streambeds and cisterns that keep the area live during the dry summers. Rain is scarce in the coldest months of December and January, but snow falls regularly in the higher elevations. The Jordan valley is relatively mild, while the coastal plain is cold and windy. Once April hits, the east wind prevails and things turn terribly dry and hot. Just about all of the vegetation turns brown. At noon, the winds turn from the west. Sometimes they are strong enough to bring enough moisture and cold to create conditions for storms, but very rarely. Temperatures in the southern part of the region can stay about 90 for weeks. Harvest was influenced by weather conditions. Olives were harvested from late September to early November; barley from April to May; wheat from May to June; summer fruits from August to September. Harvest generally took place during the dry season. There are obviously going to be many different words related to a storm found in the Bible.
Now let's get to the list. Here are all of the applicable passages in the Bible (not including more or less duplicate references). And yes, it's a long one. FYI: I will be using the New American Standard (NASB) for these English translations. It's really quite interesting to see the small differences from translation to translation, but I don't think I have the space to add that wrinkle. God as the Master of StormsThere are several places in the Bible in which God is seen as sovereign over all storms, not just those called for a specific purpose.
Verses about the Destructiveness of StormsThere are also several places in the Bible where we are simply reminded that storms were (and still are) destructive and terrifying forces.
Figurative Uses of "Storm"This is the list that most people seem to be thinking about, and it's how pastors justify sermons with the title "How to Survive the Storms of Life" or whatnot. Of course, that idea is totally spiritualized from the example of Jesus calming the storm. In much of the Bible, storms are identified as divine agents of judgment.
Specific StormsNow we're to the list that interests me the most for this article: the specific occasions on which God appointed a storm for a divine purpose or God controlled a storm.
What Do We Do with It All?There are some useful conclusions we can draw from these texts, and some run a bit counter to conventional wisdom. Let's see what you think about how I read this. Most importantly, God is in control of the weather. In partial consequence, this means that "bad" weather (and by that I mean weather that results in destruction of some kind) only happens with His permission. But it also means that God simply built weather into the natural order of things. "Bad" weather is a consequence of the Fall, therefore we do not need to read specific judgment into every storm that happens on the earth. Let's not overlook an additional theological consequence: if God is in control of the weather, that means no one else is. Many of Ancient Near Eastern deities were related to the weather (as should make sense). Captain Bugabear in the Old Testament was Ba'al, a storm god and considered by many of Israel's neighbors to be the king of gods. God's proven mastery over all weather, especially as predicted by His prophets, was designed to remind His people how foolish it would be to chase after foreign gods. In the case listed above of Samuel and Saul, God used a storm to remind the people how impotent a human king was compared with Him. Now, there is the one strange case of Job. Sadly, I saw at least one "commentator" use that passage as proof that Satan is in charge of the weather. Whoa, there! I don't want to get into the extent and limits of Satan's power here, but I do think we should review the entire context before making any declarative statements (of course, if you think Job was a metaphor, this is moot for you). Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power, only do not put forth your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord. (Job 1:9-12) Read that carefully. What power does Satan have? Does he have any power? Not according to this. Satan has to ask God to bring these calamities on Job, and it looks very much to me like God grants Satan that authority for this occasion. At whatever end, there is no way that this exchange can be used to prove Satan's power over any kind of weather (except in one very specific instance in which he had to ask explicit permission from God).
Second, while the experience of bad weather is not necessarily punishment from God for a specific sin, God can use weather to punish wrongdoers or protect the righteous. We have multiple examples of such action listed above. But as with all miracles, that is a rare exception. The experience of bad weather is a price of being fallen humanity living in a broken world. Just as God sends rain on the righteous and the wicked (per Jesus), so God sends a tornado on the righteous and the wicked. And then think carefully about that - what makes weather "bad"? The destruction it causes. And what is destruction but a "happenstance" of human migration plus technology? In the parable of the two foundations, what causes the destruction of the house? The storm might have brought it down, but the construction doomed it. In the well-built house, the storm was just another bit of wind and rain. However, that said, it is clear that the peoples of the Old Testament did consider catastrophic weather as divine judgment. Why? Because storms could be very destructive; they were feared and were beyond the control of the people. Consequently, "storm" was a metaphor for judgment. But I think there is a very important difference between their usage and the way this shows up in sermons today about "shelter in a time of storm": to them, God was in control of the storm. People experienced storms either as a direct result of sin or as an element of divine discipline and testing. On rare occasion was a storm equated with chaos in the sense that we see it used today. Yes, Jesus calmed the storm and took the disciples to safety, but I would make two observations about that. One, they were on the Sea of Galilee; storms were common and a function of geography. It is hard to make a theological point about a common occurrence. But two, Jesus used His own power over the storm as proof of His deity. This was not about the disciples' safety but about Jesus' power. Listen carefully to those sermons; what is their connotation? That's what I see so far. What do you learn from these texts that I missed?
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