One night I was listening to a TV
minister teaching on the goodness of God. He pointed out that God was love, and
how God always wants to bless His people; that He longs to only give us good
things. In light of these wonderful truths about God, he admitted that he
didn't understand the scripture that says
"God
causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust."
Though I applauded
his honestly it also made me sad, for I have heard several people (some of whom
have a background in Biblical studies) use this verse to show that God causes
bad things to happen to believers and unbelievers alike, and they quote this
verse to prove their point.
According to the Bible, the devil
is the one that causes trouble and calamity in people's lives, not God. It
states in James 1:13 that God does not tempt mankind with evil. God's Word says
God with not withhold anything good from those that walk uprightly (Psalms
84:11) So how can we reconcile this verse to fit with the rest of the Bible?
First, let us look at the entire
verse.
"That ye may be the children
of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and
on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew
5:45)
The problem is with people's understanding of "rain". When we,
in America,
read this verse we tend to read our own western thinking into it. Remember,
that the Bible is an eastern book and must be understood from the culture in
which it was written. In our culture "rain" is often referred to in a
negative way. We even have phrases that reflect this, "Saving your pennies
for a rainy day" or "when it rains it pours" or "don't rain
on my parade." Even children songs like "rain, rain, go away, come
again some other day" give the word "rain" a negative connotation
to it.
The people of the Bible did not
view rain this way. People in the Bible were very familiar with the process of
agriculture and the way plants grew. Rain to the eastern mind was a good thing.
Farming required sowing the right seeds at the right time of year, sunshine and
rain. If you study the word "rain" in the Bible you will find that
this is how it is usually used.
"Then
I will give you RAIN in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and
the trees of the field shall yield their fruit." (Leviticus 46:4)
"The
LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the RAIN unto
thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt
lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow." (Deuteronomy. 28:12)
"Nevertheless
He left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave us RAIN from
heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."
(Acts 14:17)
Let's look again at this wonderful
verse,
"That ye may be the children
of your Father which is in heaven: for He makes his sun to rise on the evil and
on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."
Now that
we know how the people of the Bible thought about rain, we can more accurately
see what this verse of scripture really says. This verse not only applies to
farming but all areas of life as well. It starts out stating that we are to be
like our Father in heaven who chooses to bless saint and sinner alike. As it
says in Galatians 6:10,
"As we have
therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."
We
are to do the same. God loves to bless His people. Many times when He blesses
us, subsequently unbelievers also get blessed as well because of God's abundant
goodness. The place where you work, for example, will be blessed by God simply
because you work there. People who you work with will also be blessed by God.
God's love for His people knows no bounds.
Now we can see the true meaning
behind this great verse. Now it fits with the rest of the Bible and fits like a
hand fits in a glove.
Love Always, Ray
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