Snow and the Kindness of God

Snow should remind us who are in Christ of God’s kindness.

According to Queen City News, Charlotte has not seen measurable snow since January 2022. That’s a three year snow drought. That means, we (the Smith family) have never seen snow in Charlotte. But as I write this, snow sits on the ground outside our house. Our first NC snow! As many of you know, we moved here from the Midwest—namely Kansas City, MO, by way of Minneapolis, MN,—where we grew quite accustomed to lots and lots and LOTS of snow. But, let me tell you, it hasn’t taken very long for us to lose our familiarity with it. Three years of no snow may as well be thirty. So that makes our very first snow in Charlotte and the first snow in three years for many of you as fascinating and magical as ever. And, while there can often be some inconveniences with snow, these white crystals of frozen water that captivate us from the time we’re young should also spark flames of praise to our Heavenly Father. Consider the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 147,

 

Praise the LORD!

He sends out his command to the earth;

his word runs swiftly.

He gives snow like wool;

he scatters frost like ashes.

He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs;

who can stand before his cold? (Psalm 147:1, 15–17)

 

God is the inventor and maker of snow, and that should lead to our wonder and praise. And, when this rare snow starts to melt, which is likely to be rather quickly, that too should remind us to send up praises to the Creator. Again, the Psalmist,

 

He sends out his word, and melts them;

he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. (Psalm 147:18)

 

Snow should lead us to praise God. But do we praise God merely for this mesmerizing gift of snow as wonder-inducing as it may be? No. This sprinkle of snow and ice, its falling and its ultimate melting, is simply a kind reminder from God that he has been uniquely kind to us who are in Christ. That’s because, just as he sent this snow by his word, he has kindly revealed himself to us by declaring his Word to us. Again, the Psalmist,

 

He declares his word to Jacob,

his statutes and rules to Israel.

He has not dealt thus with any other nation;

they do not know his rules. (Psalm 147:19–20)

 

If you know the gospel, if you know God’s Word, it is only because he has spoken it to you and revealed it to you. It is only because God has kindly shown mercy to you.

 

Just as God speaks to send the snow and take the snow away, he spoke to reveal himself, awaken our hearts, and remove our sinfulness through the gospel of Jesus. As long as a three year snow drought may seem, we were on a trajectory of lifelong spiritual drought. And God in his kindness permanently broke the drought. Snow should remind us who are in Christ of God’s kindness to us. This snow, therefore, should lead all of us who are in Christ to one thing. It should lead us to repeat the refrain of the Psalmist,

 

Praise the Lord! (Psalm 147:20)

Thoughts on a Snowy Day

Snow and sleet cover the ground this morning. All is white. Clean. Pure. And brilliant, should the sun ever poke through the clouds.

So I turned this morning to Scripture, to see how the biblical authors refer to snow.

Only in one incident in the Bible is snow referred to in a weather report – Benaiah kills a lion in a pit on a snowy day (2 Samuel 23:20, 1 Chronicles 11:22). The other occurrences speak of characteristics of snow, or use snow figuratively. Six ways of speaking of snow stand out:

First, as we would expect, the biblical authors use snow as an image of purity. So God, Jesus, and an angel are pictured as having hair or clothing as white as snow (Daniel 7:9, Revelation 1:14, Matthew 28:3). And after David’s adultery and murder, he cries out to God, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7). Similarly, God calls to His people through the prophet Isaiah, telling them their rebellion against Him is stupid and foolish:

Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; . . . learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.  Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.  If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Isaiah 1:16-20)

So in this sense, God’s people should be like Him, white as snow. We should be pure, spotless, undefiled. Like the new-fallen snow around us this morning, there should be no speck of dirt, no hint of rebellion in us.

But, secondly, Scripture also uses the image of snow in a negative sense. Three times leprosy is pictured as “like snow” (Exodus 4:6, Numbers 12:10, 2 Kings 5:27). And leprosy ironically is an image of deep-seated sinfulness in us. So we are to be white, pure as snow; yet skin which shouldn’t be pure white becoming pure white indicates our rebellious, fallen nature.

Third, snow can be dangerous. We are all conscious of that today as we stay at home and avoid the roads. For the ancient Israelites, the danger was especially from exposure to cold. But the excellent wife of Proverbs 31 is not fearful of the snow; she has clothed her family not only with practical warmth but also with beautiful adornment (Proverbs 31:21).

Fourth: Isaiah 55 speaks of snow as the source of fruitfulness. Snow, like rain, is the necessary source of water for nourishing crops and forests. God’s Word similarly produces fruitfulness:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Fifth: Two passages refer to snow having its place; we humans similarly should have our place:

Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool. (Proverbs 26:1)

Does the snow of Lebanon leave the crags of Sirion? Do the mountain waters run dry, the cold flowing streams?  But my people have forgotten me; they make offerings to false gods; they made them stumble in their ways, in the ancient roads, and to walk into side roads, not the highway. (Jeremiah 18:14-15)

In these verses, the authors say: Snow belongs in winter, especially in deep fissures in mountains. Snow doesn’t belong in summer, and just so honor does not belong with fools. The people of God, on the other hand, have a purpose and a place: They are to love God, honor Him, and walk in His paths. But God’s people in Jeremiah’s day were rebelling against the purpose for which God had chosen them.

Finally, God’s control of the snow is evidence of His majesty, His authority, His awesome power (Job 37:6, Psalm 147:16). When Job raises questions about God, the Almighty turns the table and questions him: “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail? (Job 38:22). Indeed, the psalmist calls on the snow (together with fire, hail, mist, and stormy winds) to praise the Lord! (Psalm 147:8).

So look out on this weekend’s snow and reflect on these truths. You are born with a leprosy-like disease, deep within you, disfiguring you, making white what should not be white; but through the blood of our Savior and the power of the Spirit, you can be properly white as snow. There are dangers around us – but God grants us wisdom and resources to protect ourselves from those dangers. And as the snow itself will melt and be God’s provision for forest and field, just so His Word will nourish us and build us up to become what He intends us to be. In this way we can find our rightful place, we can fulfill His plans, delighting in the place and function He grants us.

And then as you look at the snow falling and hear of the blizzards further up the coast, stand in awe: Our God controls it all. The power of the storm is one minuscule part of His majesty. There is no power that can stand against Him. May the snow praise the Lord!