Ask Jehovah for Rain!

When we see that, due to severe climate changes these days, droughts and wildfires often occur, while floods also happen frequently, we seem to think more about the importance of rain. Of course, scientifically, people can identify the reasons why rain falls or does not fall, make predictions, and even cause artificial rain to fall. However, especially in this time when we are experiencing such severe climate changes, we must all the more know and believe that, fundamentally, the One who governs rain is God alone.

There are many verses in the Bible which reveal that God governs rain. Let us look at a few of them.

Genesis 2:4-6 “4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven. 5 And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth: and there was not a man to till the ground; 6 but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.”

From this, we can see that in the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, God had not yet caused rain to fall upon the earth.

Genesis 7:4, 9-12 “4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the ground. 9 there went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, male and female, as God commanded Noah. 10 And it came to pass after the seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.”

In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, we can see that God caused rain to pour upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. Therefore, it is recorded that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered with water, and that every living thing on the face of the ground died (Genesis 7:19-23). Thus, because the amount of rain is important to all living things on the earth, the proper amount of rain falling at the proper time can only be the gracious favor of God. Therefore, rain from heaven can signify “the grace of God.”

Deuteronomy 11:13-15 “13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love Jehovah your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy grain, and thy new wine, and thine oil. 15 And I will give grass in thy fields for thy cattle, and thou shalt eat and be full.”

Joel 2:23 “Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in Jehovah your God; for he giveth you the former rain in just measure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, in the first month.”

Amen. Just as rain is important even in modern society, when humanity lived in an agricultural society, rain must have been felt to be far more important than it is today. Therefore, after King Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, where God would place His name (2 Chronicles 6:5-6), he prayed to God as follows:

2 Chronicles 6:26-27 “26 When the heavens are shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them: 27 then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou teachest them the good way wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.”

Thus, because the wrath of God can bring a great flood, as in the days of Noah, and on the other hand, He can also shut up the heavens so that no rain falls (Deuteronomy 11:16-17), we must humbly fear the name of God. Therefore, God answered Solomon’s prayer as follows:

2 Chronicles 7:12-16 “12 And Jehovah appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice. 13 If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; 14 if my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent, unto the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now have I chosen and hallowed this house, that my name may be there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.”

Because God governs rain in this way, we must humbly believe in and rely on the name of God. Also, in order to give Job understanding, God asked him many questions. Among them was the following question:

Job 38:25-29 “25 Who hath cleft a channel for the waterflood, Or the way for the lightning of the thunder; 26 To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; On the wilderness, wherein there is no man; 27 To satisfy the waste and desolate ground, And to cause the tender grass to spring forth? 28 Hath the rain a father? Or who hath begotten the drops of dew? 29 Out of whose womb came the ice? And the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?”

The prophet Jeremiah acknowledged by faith that this One is God.

Jeremiah 14:22 “Are there any among the vanities of the nations that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O Jehovah our God? therefore we will wait for thee; for thou hast made all these things.”

Amen. Thus, because God, who made all things, also governs rain—in other words, because grace comes from God—it is only natural that we today also must wait upon God alone.

Ezekiel 34:26-27 “26 And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing. 27 And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those that made bondmen of them.”

As this passage says, the One who sends rain for us in its season, even showers of blessing, is God alone. We also must know and believe this, and seek rain—that is, the grace of God—from Jesus alone, in the name of Jesus. If we become the people who are called by the name of Jesus in this way, God will open unto us His good treasure, the heavens, and send rain upon our land in its season!

Deuteronomy 28:10-12 “10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of Jehovah; and they shall be afraid of thee. 11 And Jehovah will make thee plenteous for good, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which Jehovah sware unto thy fathers to give thee. 12 Jehovah will open unto thee his good treasure the heavens, to give the rain of thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thy hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.”

Amen.