Would you agree or disagree that Jesus initiates and maintains the weather patterns? This is a question stemming from a book I’m reading and in reference to Psalm 102:25
Psalms 102:25 (NASB)
Of old You founded the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
The simple answer is, I wouldn’t agree at all, not in the sense that I think this question is coming from. To understand this, we need to understand what is commonly referred to as the sovereignty of God.
Have you ever heard the common Christian phrase, “God is in control?” This is up there with another of my pet peeve Christianese phrases, “The Lord works in mysterious ways!” Any truth that is in these two phrases is far less than the untruth of how they are commonly implied. There is a truth to the idea that God is in control meaning that He may let things go on in a certain direction. Ultimately though, if God said stop, it’s all going to stop. In this sense, yes nothing in of itself has more power or authority than God. However, God has chosen that things don’t operate according to His constant control. We see this in the first direction He gave to man. Genesis 1:28 (NASB) says, “God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” In this instance, we see that God gave a certain amount of authority to man. When He did this, He purposely took His hands off of these things.
When it comes to other things, the universe is not a wind up toy constantly needing to be manipulated in order to run. Though God may know where every breeze blows, this does not equate to Him controlling where every breeze blows. He has set things to work, and then lets it work. If God were constantly controlling things, there would be no need for natural law. Natural law, the reasons we can have science are the processes and boundaries that God has set up. If God were just controlling things, they would be impossible to measure.
Job 38:33 (NASB) says something interesting, “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, or fix their rule over the earth?” God asked Job this when He was rebuking him. It pointed to the idea that there are natural laws that govern things and that these laws are already established. Now some people might point to the idea that Jesus rebuked the wind in the waves when the boat was sinking. I would say, let’s look at this logically. Do we really believe that God kicked up a storm that threatened their lives just so that God could also rebuke the same storm? That seems a bit crazy doesn’t it? Further more, Jesus addressed this very idea in scripture.
When the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons because He had a demon He answered in Matthew 12:25-26 (NASB) with, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand?” God does not need to create a storm to have something to rebuke, He simply dealt with the one that came. Actually, many believe that the storm was demonically inspired anyway, trying to stop the plan of God from going forward. This would be a much better understanding of it in my opinion.
With that said I want to say this, read books, watch videos, or take in any information about the Bible carefully. Matthew 24:24 (NASB) says, “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.” Also 2 Timothy 4:3 (NASB) says, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.” It’s a good thing to get information and hear things about the Word, but it’s a bad thing to embrace wrong theology. I know this is probably why the question is asked, but spending a lot of time on things that don’t really feed you can make you choke. I’ve learned that it’s important to renew our mind in truth and then be renewed mind mindful as we grow in our faith.
Be Blessed,
Pastor Jeff
