Science in The Bible - The Source of Light, The Water Cycle, Lightning and Wind

Welcome to Faith Science Chapter Studies! These monthly sessions are open to the community and provide an open forum for discussion, discovery, and debates arising from the inevitable collision between modern scientific developments and timeless biblical truth!

You can join us in person on Saturday, February 26th from 2:00PM to 4:00PM at AMLI at Milton Park, 26000 Mill Creek Ave, Alpharetta GA 30022. Please RSVP to faithscienceonline(at)gmail.com if you plan to join us.

From Faith Science:

• The Source of Light

Where does light come from, and where does darkness go? Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there? But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!
Job 38:19–21 nlt

In this context, light is defined in Merriam Webster’s New World Dictionary as “the form of radiant energy acting on the retina of the eye to make sight possible.” These visible quanta of electromagnetic energy are called photons. When these same Scripture verses are seen through natural scientific eyes, God was asking Job to explain the formation and transmittance of photons from the center of the sun. Figuratively, he was asking Job if he could explain the source of light from a big-picture perspective. In that case, proper follow-up questions would have been, “How does the sun work?” “Where is it located?” “How did it get there?” Of course, he didn’t know the answers, and if we’re honest with ourselves, neither do we.

• The Water Cycle

Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail? (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.)

Job 38:22–23 nlt

Snow consists of soft, frozen particles of water vapor, while hail consists of frozen raindrops, according to Webster’s New World Dictionary. The water cycle of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation is responsible for their formation. God asked Job a trick question. The Bible also says, “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry,” (Isaiah 55:10 nlt).

There are no literal storehouses of snow or hail because once the condensed water in clouds changes to form precipitation, rain, snow, or hail immediately falls to the ground.

• The Source of Lightning and Wind

Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind?

Job 38:24 nlt

God asked Job for the source of light again. God then followed with another trick question about the source of the east wind. Wind is moving air that is naturally attributed to a difference in air temperatures. As warmer air rises and cooler air sinks, wind is formed. The east wind appears in several places in the Scriptures and received special attention throughout the Old Testament because of its strength.

God asked Job to literally explain the scientific process of lightning and wind formation. At the time, it was an impossible request. Since the light and east wind were grouped together in the Scripture reference, one interpretation can be that the east wind comes from the east the same way the sun rises in the east. Nonetheless, I agree with Bible Knowledge, The Bible Exposition, and Adam Clarke’s Commentaries that the light is interpreted to specifically refer to lightning, which connects it to the verses that follow. Regardless, how electrical charges flash through the sky from clouds until they’re grounded on the earth is a scientific wonder.