When the Rain Descends and the Floods Come
It has been twenty years since the residents of the mid and upper Ohio Valley have seen major flooding like that experienced thus far in 2024. As the banks of the Ohio River overflowed from heavy rainfall, in conjunction with the river’s flooding tributaries, it has been a humbling sight to behold.
A few days ago, on a street by the river’s invisible banks in historic downtown Marietta, OH, I experienced a contrast of power, beauty, destruction, and wonder. The original lyrics of that early 1900’s song, ”Beautiful Ohio,” came to mind. The water was creeping onto the street as the river was rising to what would be a second crest above flood stage in a week’s time. This was not as that song says, “Drifting with the current down a moonlit stream while above the heavens in their glory gleam and the stars on high twinkle in the sky. . . .” However, this was the moving of powerful, dangerous, muddy flood waters rising to engulf much of the eastern border of the State of Ohio and the western border of what we proudly call “Almost Heaven West Virginia.”
In an old 1856 set of books, Sacred Philosophy of the Seasons, Henry Duncan demonstrated “the existence and attributes of God” from the consideration of the four seasons. In his 400 page treatment of Spring Duncan stated “the various phenomena of the [Spring] weather, though irregular . . . when viewed from day to day . . . wonderfully exhibit . . . a certain specific [rainfall] average, in a given locality . . . favorable for producing and nourishing the fruits of the earth. The cold or the heat, the sunshine or the gloom, may be longer protracted at one period or another. . . . The rain may sometimes fall in torrents [and] we see tremendous and destructive forces” (32). However, Duncan further observed: “There is here an arrangement which no chance could have produced. . . . Such is the legitimate conclusion which a rational being might form” (cf. 30-32).
The superb reference volume Dictionary of Biblical Imagery attests to the apologetic value of rainfall notwithstanding the natural calamities that sometimes accompany the rain—floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, et. al. From this dictionary, in an article entitled RAIN, one reads the following: “Paul makes rainfall a proof for God’s existence when he constructs a natural theology (Acts 14:17; cf. Mt. 5:45). . . . On the far side of the continuum rain becomes an image of terror. . . . [T]he original carries the force of torrential rain that beats down the ground and produces floods . . . ‘torrent of rain’ (Job 38:12) . . . ‘torrential rains’ (Ezek. 38:22) and rain that beats against the house (Mt. 7:25, 27)” (694). Additionally, in an article entitled SEASONS, this volume affirms (as Paul) that “rain from heaven and the crops in their seasons [are] God’s ‘testimony’ to human beings that he exists and loves the people he created (Acts 14:17). . . . The implication of the Bible is that every time one season changes to another we can hear God’s voice promising Noah that as long as the earth endures [God] will keep the rhythm of ‘seed time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night’ (Gen. 8:22)” (767).
In his book, Have Atheists Proved There Is No God?, Dr. Warren presented and proved 22 propositions which he called “propositions of Biblical theism which are basic to the problem of evil” (20). One of these propositions states, “Every instance of natural calamity [tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, etc.] results from some condition which was necessary to God’s providing man with the ideal environment for ‘soul-making’” (56-59). Warren observed, “It is to be doubted that any man has (or could have) the knowledge to explain completely the contribution . . . of every instance of such destructive forces” (58).
Perhaps it is ironic. However, given the staggering wonder of God’s creation, should it be surprising that sandwiched between the powerful spectacle of a mighty river rising and falling again and again one could see the awe-inspiring total eclipse of the Sun perched 93 million miles from Earth? There is so much we do not understand and comprehend. However, this we know—“He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31 NASV). Not by a flood but by this authenticated fact of ancient history (His resurrection) we know He is declared to be the Son of God with power (Romans 1:4), and we live in hope (1 Peter 1:3-4) when the rain descends, the floods come, and the winds blow.