SNOW

by Hallie Gipson

(this article is a repost from several years ago, but being in the midst of a winter storm has caused me to meditate again on God's wonderful provision through Christ for our sins to become "white as snow".)

Has it ever happened while you are reading a passage from God’s word that it suddenly takes on a meaning or connection to another passage(s) that you haven’t seen or thought of before? That very thing occurred to me this morning as I watched the snow fall, covering everything in sight in a beautiful blanket of white.

As I began to think about the snow and God’s creation of it, I thought of the verses in the Bible that speak about the snow and realized I could not easily recall them to mind . . . and so the search began.

Psalm 147:16

“He gives snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes. He casts forth His ice as fragments; who can stand before His cold?”

Matthew Henry’s commentary on this particular verse begins by saying:  “In general, whatever alterations there are in this lower world (and it is that world that is subject to continual changes) they are produced by the will, and power, and providence of God.” And he continues – “snow . . . is compared to wool for its whiteness, and its softness; it falls silently, and makes no more noise than the fall of a lock of wool; it covers the earth and keeps it warm like a fleece of wool, and so promotes its fruitfulness.”

What a beautiful reminder that God’s providence is in all things – even the snowfall! And in the continuing cycle of God’s purpose, the end result is the earth’s fruitfulness.

A portion of 2 Samuel 23 is devoted to “the names of the mighty men whom David had” (vs. 8).  We are told in verse 20 that “Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.”

Snow was certainly not a deterrent or inconvenience for one of King David’s mighty men! As I apply that to myself, some honest soul-searching is required. Do I allow small inconveniences to keep me from a task God might have for me, or at the least, to dampen my resolve to finish well?

As I continued my search through Scripture for references to snow, I discovered Job 37:6, Job 38:22, and Proverbs 26:1.

But when I found the reference to snow in Isaiah 55:10-11, the larger picture of God’s plan of redemption began to jump from the verses right into my heart! The threads of the Old Testament are like gold in a tapestry that is woven right into the New Testament in a seamless design.

Isaiah 55:10-11

“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 shall accomplish that which I purpose and shall succeed in that thing for which I sent it.”

In the New Testament:

John 1:1, 4, 10

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . In Him was life . . . He was in the world . . .”  (Isaiah 55:11 – “so shall My word be”)

John 6:33, 35

“For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life’. (Isaiah 55:10 – “bread to the eater”)

John 3:24

“For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God . . .” (Isaiah 55:11 – “so shall My word be that goes out from My mouth . . .”)

John 4:24

“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.’  (Isaiah 55:11 – “it shall not return to Me empty, but shall accomplish that which I purpose . . .”)

And finally:

Hebrews 1:1-4

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”  (Isaiah 55:11 – “and shall succeed in that thing for which I sent it.”)

Thank you, Father, for Your Word, the insight given by the Holy Spirit that enables understanding, and for Jesus Christ! Without His finished work on the cross, our sins could never be “as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).