Aside from Christmas, the iconic wintertime image is some type of snowy landscape. For the first time in more than a dozen years, all 50 states can simultaneously identify with this image, for each state has experienced snowfall. At the time of this article, the total snow accumulation here in Pensacola exceeds cities like New York, Philly, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Northwest Florida and the rest of the southeast has truly seen history being made.
The memory of half a foot of snow lingering in our memory provides an excellent opportunity to make some biblical observations. In Scripture, the Lord uses snow as a tangible demonstration of important truth. God wants His people to observe the snow and learn some lessons from it. Here are a few.
Snow comes directly from the hand of God
This first truth should be obvious. God is the giver of all the weather we receive. However, we take the “ordinary” events of weather and season for granted. Snow is a seasonal gift, and so it is more difficult to overlook. Job 37:6 affirms God’s power over weather. “For he saith to the snow, ‘Be thou on the earth’. Likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.” Psalm 145:16-16 says it this way: “He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth; his word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool; he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.” Snow fell in Pensacola because the Lord planned it. He arranged for the cold and the precipitation, and when He spoke the instructions, the clouds and cold hurried to meet their divine deadline. He crafted, the weather obeyed, and we received.
Snow reminds us that God is greater than we are
When the snow falls, humans and animals alike must find shelter. Even creatures that thrive in snow must have a warm place to return to. Psalm 145:17-18 continues with words we now know by experience. “He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.” When the snow falls, God’s creatures retreat, waiting to reemerge when the frozen surface melts.
It is not only the living things that must change their behavior when the Lord sends snow. Job 37:7-10 describes how our Father “sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work. Then the beasts go into dens and remain in their places. Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north. By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.” The surface of the water becomes rigid, animals settle into their dens, and man is forced to stop his work and wait for God to command more favorable weather. Our God has the power to bring the world to a standstill. The snow-covered earth is one example.
Snow is God’s strategic weapon
Militaries anticipate any future need for self-defense by stockpiling munitions and by preparing defense systems. Once more in Job 37, God proclaims that He also retains a tactical stockpile: the snow. “Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?” We have never seen God’s heavenly armory; we only get to see the weapons He deploys. Humans are not wise enough to guess at the Lord’s strategic reasons, but Scripture assures us His use of the cold is carefully planned to accomplish His own often martial purposes.
Snow is a testimony to God’s sure words
We do not hear the sound of God’s commands. Believers understand He is at work, but we do not always know where. Scripture reminds us that, despite our blindness, God’s words accomplish an effect as tangible as the evidence that God has commanded snow to fall. Isaiah 55:10-11 offers these encouraging words: “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” The next time you question whether the Lord is really at work, remember the snow, and ask for eyes to see.
Snow is a picture of judgment
Florida is an inhospitable place for snow. Even a record snowfall cannot forestall the melting process. After a week, there may be no evidence anywhere of the event. The speed that snow disappears is, in Job 24:19, a picture of the precarious condition of the sinner. “Drought and heat consume the snow waters: so doth the grave those which have sinned.” As you resume normal life, snow consigned merely to memory, consider how temporary is the influence of wicked men and sinners in God’s world. They, too, will inevitably be consumed by judgment.
Snow pictures gospel cleansing
We have saved the best for last. When you remember how white and clean and pure the snow looked on the landscape, think of the complete purity that the forgiveness of Christ accomplishes for us. “Come now, and let us reason together,” the Lord says to Israel in Isaiah 1:18. “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Sinful humans can be completely forgiven because Jesus atoned for our sins with His blood. When David prayed in Psalm 51:7, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow,” he was praying for the Messiah to come to die. Because of Jesus, there is no bloody sin-stain that cannot be made completely white. Snow covers, but Jesus cleanses. Don’t forget the snow, and don’t forget the lessons.
The above article was written by Jonathan Kyser. He is a pastoral assistant at NorthStone Baptist Church in Pensacola, FL. To offer him your feedback, comment below or email us at strengthforlife461@gmail.com.
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