Does Jehovah control the weather? (Pharaoh's dream - 7 years of famine)

by truthseeker 13 Replies latest jw friends

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  truthseeker

  According to the scriptures, Jehovah “makes his sun rise upon wicked people and good and makes it rain upon righteous people and unrighteous.” - Matthew 5:45

  In that case, if we look at the account in Genesis, God is shown to give Pharaoh a dream that he will cause seven years of famine.
  
  

  Genesis 41: Pharaoh’s Dreams

  25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. 27 The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.

  28 “It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, 30 but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. 32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.

  
  Note, this wasn't just Egypt where famine happened...
  
  56 When the famine was spread over all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe in all the earth.
  

  The JWs teach that God cannot be held responsible for bad things.
  
  http://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/bible-teach/what-is-the-truth-about-god/
  
  7 Worse yet, religious teachers sometimes lead people to think that God is hardhearted. How so? When tragedy strikes, they say that it is God’s will. In effect, such teachers blame God for the bad things that happen. Is that the truth about God? What does the Bible really teach? James 1:13 answers: “When under trial, let no one say: ‘I am being tried by God.’ For with evil things God cannot be tried, nor does he himself try anyone.” So God is never the source of the wickedness you see in the world around you. (Read Job 34:10-12.) Granted, he does allow bad things to happen. But there is a big difference between allowing something to happen and causing it.
  
  
  How would you reconcile what the Watchtower says with what God told Pharaoh?
  
  
  
• 

  _Morpheus

  Common misconception, that the desert god controlss the weather. He is only the god of parking lots. Thor can controls the weather. It be noted, however, that he doesn't actually "control' weather worldwide all the time, rather he causes weather when he desires to do so. Hope this helps you out.
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  eyeuse2badub

  Here's a thought about who's in control when it comes to the weather. This is loosely taken from a blog by Cedar's on his web site. I've made good use of this observation by our friend Cedar's many time to "witness" to my witness friends. The sobering observation illustrates just how ridiculous and naive JW's can really be.

  Who controls the weather?

  On October 5th, 2013 at the 129th annual meeting of the WTBTS, Governing Body member, Geoffrey Jackson announced the release of the revised new world translation of the Bible. At that meeting he alluded to the fact that Jehovah had blessed the Wallkill Bethel with favorable summer weather which allowed the new bibles to be ready in time for the annual meeting release. In other words, Jehovah had somehow intervened in the weather so as to allow the bibles to be printed at a time normally not favorable for bible printing due to high heat and humidity.

  One month later, super Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines on November 8, 2013. Tragically, 43 JW’s lost their lives during that typhoon. Even more tragically, 22 of those lost were swept out to sea while gathered together in a Kingdom Hall for worship!

  So did Jehovah control the weather at Wallkill so bibles could be printed but not in the Philippines where 43 of his witnesses perished due to a weather event? Something doesn’t add up here!

  I was also thinking about prayer. Why Jehovah “answers” some prayers and not others. If God "answered your prayers" and saved your child from cancer, it implies God has the ability to save other children from cancer, also, but chose not to.

  just saying!

  eyeuse2badub
• 

  SecretSlaveClass

  _Morpheus

  Common misconception, that the desert god controlss the weather. He is only the god of parking lots. Thor can controls the weather. It be noted, however, that he doesn't actually "control' weather worldwide all the time, rather he causes weather when he desires to do so. Hope this helps you out.

  
  

  LOL! Quality post!
• 

  Island Man

  According to the bible he does. But according to Watchtower spin he does not micromanage the weather but has put natural laws and cycles in motion from which weather events emerge. They say that texts that speak of God doing things don't really mean he literally does them - just that he permits them to happen. So he doesn't make the rain fall on the wicked and the righteous like the bible actually says, no, he merely permits the rain to fall on the righteous and wicked alike.

  In Watchowerland the bible does not always mean what it says. It always means what Watchtower says.
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  Mad Irishman

  They believe that Jehovah is not interfering in mankind's affairs after the death of Jesus and the Apostles so whether you believe in God or not he is not controlling the weather.
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  Crazyguy

  Yeah and let's not talk about how God changed Pharoah mind several times until he got to kill the first born of all Egypt. So much for free will. I wonder if God got together with his angels and had a BBQ with the dead bodies? You know how much he loves BBQ.
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  James Mixon

  Who controlled the weather in Job 1:16, 18, 19. Hell, fire came form heaven and

  burned the man sheep and his servants, and then a wind storm that kill his kids.

  So did Jehovah allow this or did he sit down with Satan and agreed that's a good plan,

  go for it. Either way it was a sick idea.
• 

  CalebInFloroda

  Actually, it is according to Jewish custom not that G-d gives birth to every drop of rain of the weather, but that only G-d can control it (i.e., stop a rain storm, direct wind, etc.).

  The JWs work from the odd premise that Jewish views come from written Scriptures, but in reality it is the opposite: Hebrew custom came to be reflected in Scripture, influencing what was written.

  Thus G-d is not responsible for the famine of Genesis lore, but does bring in a "control" of sorts via Joseph. This is what is known in Biblical academia as a "narrative device," the introduction of a character or situation or even reconstruction of something historical to fit a preconceived idea which in this case is that the G-d of Abraham controls all.

  But the statement of Jesus at Matthew 5.45 doesn't mean that G-d was believed to control the literal diffusion of sunlight by the Hebrews, deciding to transfer it to people based on moral quality or to forgo such a judgment in mercy. Instead Jesus was employing a clever form of Jewish rhetoric that the apostle Paul also used in Romans 1& 2: a setup based on a preconceived idea that judges a person by means of their convictions. In other words Jesus was saying: "God doesn't withhold life-sustaining sunlight, rain, etc. from anyone regardless if they are so-called righteous or unrighteous. My followers must reflect this quality in their dealings with others." It was not a discussion on weather.

  Footnote: it is due to this Jewish belief that only G-d can control weather that the early Christians came to believe that Jesus had to be an incarnation of YHWH. The events of Matthew 8:23-27 are considered one of the various Epiphanies in Trinitarian theology.
• 

  truthseeker

  CalebinFloroda,

  Thank you for your insight.

  I have to disagree with you here, though: "Thus G-d is not responsible for the famine of Genesis lore"
  
  Genesis 14: "5 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do."

  32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon."
  
  I cannot arrive at any different conclusion after reading what you said about narrative devices. God has stated he would cause famine.
  
  Now let's suppose you are right. God doesn't cause these situations even though we read that he does. How can I possibly believe anything the Bible says if everything is a theological narrative.

  Truthseeker