What does the Bible say about rain?
Bible Topic · WEB
The Bible teaches that rain is a gracious gift of God, displaying his sovereign care for creation, sustaining life, and calling people to thankful faith and obedience. God promised Israel seasonal rain as a covenant blessing in Leviticus 26:4, while Jeremiah 5:24 warns against forgetting the Lord who appoints the rains. Zechariah 10:1 urges God’s people to ask the Lord for rain, recognizing that he alone governs the heavens. Through rain, God gives fruitful seasons and bears witness to his goodness even among the nations, as Acts 14:17 teaches. Isaiah 55:10 also uses rain to picture the effective, life-giving power of God’s word.
Top passages, ranked by readers
Rankings: OpenBible.info Topical Bible (CC BY) · Scripture: World English Bible
- Leviticus 26:4
then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
- Zechariah 10:1
Ask of Yahweh rain in the spring time, Yahweh who makes storm clouds, And he gives rain showers to everyone for the plants in the field.
- James 5:18
He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth brought forth its fruit.
- Hosea 6:3
Let us acknowledge Yahweh. Let us press on to know Yahweh. As surely as the sun rises, Yahweh will appear. He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain that waters the earth."
- Jeremiah 5:24
Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear Yahweh our God, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
- Isaiah 55:10
For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn't return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
- 1 Kings 18:41-45
[41] Elijah said to Ahab, Get you up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain. [42] So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down on the earth, and put his face between his knees. [43] He said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. He went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. He said, Go again seven times. [44] It happened at the seventh time, that he said, "Behold, a small cloud, like a man's hand, is rising out of the sea." He said, Go up, tell Ahab, Make ready [your chariot], and get you down, that the rain not stop you. [45] It happened in a little while, that the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel:
- Acts 14:17
Yet he didn't leave himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you rains from the sky and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."
- Job 5:10
Who gives rain on the earth, And sends waters on the fields;
- Psalms 72:6
He will come down like rain on the mown grass, As showers that water the earth.
Study outline
Curated topical outlines from classic public-domain study works.
Nave's Topical Bible
- Forty days of, at the time of the great flood of Noah Genesis 7:4; Genesis 7:10-12; Genesis 7:17-24
- The plague of, upon Egypt Exodus 9:22-26; Exodus 9:33; Exodus 9:34
- Miraculously caused
- By Samuel 1 Samuel 12:16-19
- By Elijah 1 Kings 18:41-45
- David delivered by 2 Samuel 5:17-21; Isaiah 28:21
- North wind unfavorable to Proverbs 25:23
- Withheld as judgment Deuteronomy 11:17; Deuteronomy 28:24; 1 Kings 8:35; 2 Chronicles 7:13; Jeremiah 3:3; Amos 4:7; Zechariah 14:17
- The earth will never again be destroyed by Genesis 9:8-17
- Sent by God Deuteronomy 11:13; Deuteronomy 11:14; Job 37:6; Isaiah 30:23; Jeremiah 5:24; Jeremiah 14:22
- Contingent upon obedience Leviticus 26:3; Leviticus 26:4; Deuteronomy 11:13; Deuteronomy 11:14
- Prayer for 1 Kings 8:35; 1 Kings 8:36; 2 Chronicles 6:26; 2 Chronicles 6:27
- Answer to prayer for, promised 2 Chronicles 7:13; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Zechariah 10:1
- Withheld, in answer to prayer James 5:17; James 5:18
- Rainy season in Palestine is in the ninth month, corresponding to December Ezra 10:9; Ezra 10:13
- See METEOROLOGY
- FIGURATIVE Psalms 72:6
Torrey's New Topical Textbook
- Occasioned by the condensing of the clouds Job 36:27; Job 36:28; Psalms 77:17; Ecclesiastes 11:3
- God
- Made a decree for Job 28:26
- Prepares Psalms 147:8
- Gives Job 5:10
- Causes, to come down Joel 2:23
- Exhibits goodness in giving Acts 14:17
- Exhibits greatness in giving Job 36:26; Job 36:27
- Sends upon the evil and good Matthew 5:45
- Should be praised for Psalms 147:7; Psalms 147:8
- Should be feared on account of Jeremiah 5:24
- Impotence of idols exhibited in not being able to give Jeremiah 14:22
- Not sent upon the earth immediately after creation Genesis 2:5
- Rarely falls in Egypt Deuteronomy 11:10; Zechariah 14:18
- Canaan abundantly supplied with Deuteronomy 11:11
- Designed for
- Refreshing the earth Psalms 68:9; Psalms 72:6
- Making fruitful the earth Hebrews 6:7
- Replenishing the springs and fountains of the earth Psalms 104:8
- Promised in due season to the obedient Leviticus 26:4; Deuteronomy 11:14; Ezekiel 34:26; Ezekiel 34:27
- Frequently withheld on account of iniquity Deuteronomy 11:17; Jeremiah 3:3; Jeremiah 5:25; Amos 4:7
- The want of
- Causes the earth to open Job 29:23; Jeremiah 14:4
- Dries up springs and fountains 1 Kings 17:7
- Occasions famine 1 Kings 18:1; 1 Kings 18:2
- Removed by prayer 1 Kings 8:35; 1 Kings 8:36; James 5:18
- Withheld for three years and six months in the days of Elijah 1 Kings 17:1; James 5:17
- Divided into
- Great Ezra 10:9
- Plentiful Psalms 68:9
- Overflowing Ezekiel 38:22
- Sweeping Proverbs 28:3
- Small Job 37:6
- The former, after harvest, to prepare for sowing Deuteronomy 11:14; Jeremiah 5:24
- The latter, before harvest Joel 2:23; Zechariah 10:1
- The rainbow often appears during Genesis 9:14; Ezekiel 1:28
- Often succeeded by heat and sunshine 2 Samuel 23:4; Isaiah 18:4
- The appearance of a cloud from the west indicated 1 Kings 18:44; Luke 12:54
- The north wind drives away Proverbs 25:23
- Unusual in harvest time Proverbs 26:1
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