No rain on the earth from the time of Adam to Noah? (Gen. 2:5-6)
“Some say there was no rain on the earth from the time of Adam to Noah. Is this what Genesis 2:5-6 means?”
Genesis — the first book of the Old Testament — answers basic questions about origins. Genesis means “beginning” or “origin.”
The second chapter of Genesis fills in various details of the creation account that the first chapter leaves out. When both chapters are taken together, they complement and mutually amplify each other.
With this in mind, let’s observe what Genesis 2:5-6 actually says: “No shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground; but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground” (Jewish Publication Society translation).
Let’s consider these facts: (1) God causes rain — He set laws in motion to bring it about. There could be no rain if God had not set laws in motion to produce it. (2) Most important, Genesis 2:6 does not say that the mist descended upon the earth, as most assume. It says that a mist went UP FROM the earth. (3) Genesis 2:5-6 is speaking of a time prior to — not after — the third day of creation week.
Notice the proof. The mist ascended from the earth before any shrubs or herbs appeared. Genesis 1:11-13 shows that the types of vegetation on earth today were not created until the third day. The mist that ascended before the third day was needed to prepare the soil for plant life on that day. The mist ascended according to the laws of evaporation, became clouds, descended as rain, and readied the land for vegetation.
Genesis 2:5-6 tells us who is the Originator or Maker of weather and climate. It tells us about the beginning of climate for the age of man. God is the Beginner or Originator of a climatic process set in motion on the third day of creation week. This process is still in effect today. It is common knowledge that clouds are formed by the condensation of water vapor and mist that has first gone up from the earth by evaporation. Under certain conditions water droplets form and return to the earth as rain or other types of precipitation.
A mere mist without rain could not have sustained plant life over all the earth for the great length of time between Adam and Noah. The Bible is clearly telling us about the beginning of weather patterns to water the soon-to-be-created plant life.
The little word “yet” is clearly implied in the latter portion of Genesis 2:5: “. . . for the Lord God had not [that is, not YET] caused it to rain upon the earth…. “Afterward it did rain when the evaporation-condensation-precipitation cycle was begun by a gracious God who takes care of His creation and sustains it.
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