Does God Control the Weather?

The Bible Claims Yahweh Personally Controls the Weather

The writers of the Bible claimed that their god Yahweh personally controlled all aspects of the weather: rain, wind, clouds, hail, snow, ice, cold, storms, sunshine, drought, thunder, lightning (even precisely where it strikes, Job 36.32), earthquakes, and everything down to the growth of grass.  They considered thunder to be the "voice" of Yahweh, coming from his "mouth" (Job 37.2-5; Ps 18.13-14; Ps 29.3-10).  Lightning belonged to Yahweh; it was "his" (Job 37.3; Ps 97.4).  Yahweh had storehouses up in the sky/heavens, where he kept water, winds, snow, and hail until he wanted to send them (Job 38.22; Ps 135.7; Deut 28.12; Jer 10.13; 51.16).  Yahweh personally created rainbows to remind himself not to drown all humans and other animals anymore (Gen 9.14-16).  Biblical authors also believed that bad weather occurred because of sin, but that if a good man would pray, Yahweh would listen from the sky/heaven and send good weather (Deut 11.10-15; 1 Kings 18.41-44; James 5.17-18; 1 Sam 12.17-18; 1 Kings 8.35-36; 2 Chron 6.26-27). 

Because some individuals do notice that natural disasters cause terrible suffering for millions and millions of people, regardless of religion or lack of religion, some modern believers will occasionally attribute natural disasters to the Satan character, in an attempt to shift blame from their god concept.  However, the writers of the Bible did not believe such.  Even in the book of Job, although the accuser ("the satan," one of "the sons of Elohim/God" who has free access to the heavenly court, 1.6) asks to bring harm upon Job as a test, it is ultimately Elohim who controls the weather, for good or ill.

Below I have provide a large number of specific biblical references to God controlling all aspects of the weather.  All quotations are from the NIV translation of the Bible, with an occasional note I have added in parentheses or brackets.[1] 

• Job 5.10:  (Eliphaz speaking about God/El) "10. He provides rain for the earth; he sends water on the countryside." 

• Job 26.8-14:  (Job speaking about God/El) "8. He wraps up the waters in his clouds, yet the clouds do not burst under their weight.  9. He covers the face of the full moon, spreading his clouds over it.  10. He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness.  11. The pillars of the heavens[2] quake [i.e. he causes earthquakes], aghast at his rebuke.  12. By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces.  13. By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent.  14. And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him!  Who then can understand the thunder of his power?"

• Job 28.24-27:  (Job speaking) " 24. for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.  25. When he established the force of the wind and measured out the waters, 26. when he made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm, 27. then he looked at wisdom and appraised it." 

• Job 36.27-33:  (part of Elihu's speech to Job) "27. He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; 28. the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind. 29. Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds, how he thunders from his pavilion? 30. See how he scatters his lightning about him, bathing the depths of the sea.  31. This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance.  32. He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark. 33. His thunder announces the coming storm."

• Job 37:2-13:  (part of Elihu's speech to Job) "2. Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. 3. He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth.  4. After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice.  When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back.  5. God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. 6. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ 7. So that everyone he has made may know his work, he stops all people from their labor.  8. The animals take cover; they remain in their dens.  9. The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds. 10. The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen.  11. He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them.  12. At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them.  13. He brings the clouds to punish people, or to water his earth and show his love." 

• Job 38.22-30:  (Yahweh himself speaking to Job from inside a storm) "22. Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, 23. which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?  24. What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?  25. Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, 26. to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert, 27. to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? 28. Does the rain have a father?  Who fathers the drops of dew?  29. From whose womb comes the ice?  Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens 30. when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?"

• Psalm 18.6-14:  (ascribed to David)  " 6. In my distress I called to the Lord [YHWH]; I cried to my God [Elohay] for help.  From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.  7. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.  8. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.  9. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet.  10. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.  11. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him – the dark rain clouds of the sky.  12. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. 13. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.  14. He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them."  (also 2 Sam 22.7-16)

• Psalm 29.3-10:  "3. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.  4. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. 5. The voice of the Lord [lightning] breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. 6. ... 7. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning.  8. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.  9. The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.  And in his temple all cry, “Glory!” 10. The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever." 

• Psalm 68.4, 32-33:  "4. Sing to God [El], sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds; rejoice before him—his name is the Lord [Yahweh]."  ...  "32.  Sing to God [El], you kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord [Yahweh], 33. to him who rides across the highest heavens, the ancient heavens, who thunders with mighty voice."

• Psalm 77.17-18:  "17.  The clouds poured down water, the heavens resounded with thunder; your arrows flashed back and forth.  18. Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world; the earth trembled and quaked."

• Psalm 78.26:  "26. He let loose the east wind from the heavens and by his power made the south wind blow."

• Psalm 97.1-5, 9:  "1. The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice.  2. Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.  3. Fire [lightning] goes before him and consumes his foes on every side.  4. His lightning lights up the world; the earth sees and trembles.  5. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.  6. The heavens [skies] proclaim his righteousness, and all peoples see his glory."   ...  "9. For you, Lord, are the Most High over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods."

• Psalm 104.1-5, 7, 13-14, 27, 29-32:   "2. The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens [skies] like a tent 3. and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.  He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind.  4. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.  5. He set the earth [land] on its foundations; it can never be moved.  ... 7. But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; ...  13. He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.  14. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate – bringing forth food from the earth: ... 27. All creatures look to you to give them their food at the proper time.  ...  29. When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.  30. When you send your Spirit [wind/breath], they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.  31. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works— 32. he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke."

• Psalm 135.6-7:  "6. The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. 7. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses."

• Psalm 144.5-7:  "5. Part your heavens [skies], Lord, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. 6. Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy; shoot your arrows and rout them.  7. Reach down your hand from on high."

• Psalm 147.8, 16-18:  "8. He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills.  ...  16. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. 17. He hurls down his hail like pebbles.  Who can withstand his icy blast? 18. He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow."

• Isaiah 29.6:  "6. the Lord Almighty will come with thunder and earthquake and great noise, with windstorm and tempest and flames of a devouring fire."

• Isaiah 30.23:  "23. He will also send you rain for the seed you sow in the ground, and the food that comes from the land will be rich and plentiful."

• Isaiah 40.7:  "7. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath [wind] of the Lord blows on them."

• Isaiah 40.22:  "22. He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth [land], and its people are like grasshoppers [to him, as he looks down from so high].  He stretches out the heavens [skies] like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in."

• Jeremiah 5.24:  "Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest."

• Jeremiah 10.13:  "13.  When he thunders, the waters in the heavens [skies] roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth [land]. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the windfrom his storehouses."

• Exodus 14:21:  "Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night ..."

• Leviticus 26.3-4:  "3. If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 4. I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit."  [Lev 26.14-32 also claims that bad things come from Yahweh if his people do what he does not like.  He allegedly brings upon them terror, diseases, war, crop failure, wild animals, plagues, forced cannibalism, destruction.]

• ·       Numbers 11:31:  "Now there went forth a wind from the LORD ..."

• ·       Deuteronomy 28.12:  "The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands."

• Jonah 1.4:  "Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up."

• Jonah 4.8:  "When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint."

• Zechariah 10.1:  "1. Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.  He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone."

• Matthew 5.45:  "45. ... your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

 Elohim (translated "God") personally created rainbows to remind himself not to drown all the humans and other animals anymore.

• Genesis 9.14-16:  "14. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15. I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

Yahweh had storehouses up in the sky/heavens, where he kept water, winds, snow, and hail until he wanted to send them (Job 38.22; Ps 135.7; Deut 28.12; Jer 10.13; 51.16). 

• Job 38.22-23:  (Yahweh himself speaking to Job from inside a storm) "22. Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, 23. which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle?"

• Psalm 135.7:  "He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses."

• Jeremiah 10.13:  "When he thunders, the waters in the heavens [skies] roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth [land]. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the windfrom his storehouses."

 Good weather comes when people do what Yahweh likes.  Bad weather occurs because of sin.  But if a good man prays, Yahweh listens from the sky/heaven and sends good weather.

• Deuteronomy 11.11-15:  "11. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. 12. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.  13. So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— 14. then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. 15. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied."

• 1 Kings 18.41-44:  "41. And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” 42. So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.  43. “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked.  “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”  44. The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”  So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.'"

• James 5.17-18:  "17. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops."

• 1 Samuel 12.16-18:  "16.  "Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes! 17. Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the Lord to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king.”  18. Then Samuel called on the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel."

• 1 Kings 8.35-36:  "35. When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance."  (Repeated in 2 Chronicles 6.26-27)

With the exception of relatively few well-educated individuals usually of the upper classes, other Mediterranean cultures likewise believed that their gods controlled all aspects of the weather personally.

In modern times, the more education a person has, the less likely that person is to believe that all aspects of the weather are personally controlled.  Modern science sees weather as governed by the same impersonal, natural "laws" and forces that are the basis of physics and chemistry.

[1] A reminder about translations:

• When English uses "The Lord," the actual Hebrew is "YHWH" or "Yahweh," the personal name of their god.

• When English uses "God," the actual Hebrew is usually "El," "Elohim," or something similar to "El."  El was the general Canaanite/Phoenician/Hebrew word for a god.

• When English uses "the earth," the actual Hebrew is usually "ha eretz" (the land).  In modern English, when we hear the word earth, we often think of our planet earth.  The ancient biblical authors never imagined living on a planet at all, so "the land" is often a much better translation than "the earth."  It is only "earth" in the older sense of the word "earth" as "the land, the ground, soil."

• When English uses "heaven" or "heavens," the actual Hebrew is "shamayim" (sky/ skies/heights).  The Greek is ouranos.  The Hebrews, Greeks, and many other ancient people did not have two different words for sky and heaven; they were the same place.  So when English Bibles translate shamayim and ouranos sometimes as sky and sometimes as heaven, they mislead modern readers into thinking there was a difference. In the Bible, the sky/heaven is the place where god lives; where the angels live; where the sun, moon, and stars move around; where rain, thunder, and lightning come from; where the clouds are; where birds fly.  They literally believed their god was sitting on a throne up in the sky over their heads (for example, Isaiah 40.22).

[2] Some ancients believed that mountains held up the sky dome – i.e. they were "the pillars of the heavens."  (See also 1 Sam 2.8; Ps 18.7; Haggai 2.21; Hebrews 12.26)