Do you think Jesus made snowmen?



 Well here it is a beautiful Spring snow day. Just as we are tempted to think that gloomy gray days of shoveling snow are over, we are smacked with another dose of white stuff.

Which got me to wondering…did Biblical characters know about snow?

A quick Google search tells me that it does indeed snow in the Middle East….the coasts of the Mediterranean, especially Lebanon and Israel see their fair share of snow, as does Iran, and the mountains of Egypt and Afghanistan to name a few. How about that? When we think of Jesus and the wandering Israelites, we often think of deserts, but even the deserts have snow. When our family visited the Grand Canyon we got dusted with a light snow at that elevation. So why not snow in the Middle East?

Sometimes I use the web site www.BibleGateway.com to look up words or themes in the Bible. That site lists 23 citations for “snow” and I’ll share them here with you…from http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=snow&version1=31&searchtype=all&limit=none&wholewordsonly=no

If you go to the link, there are hyperlinks to contextual verses so you can get the whole meaning of the verse.

1. Exodus 4:6

Then the LORD said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous —it had become as white as snow.

2. Numbers 12:10

When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous —it became as white as snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had a defiling skin disease,

3. 2 Samuel 23:20

Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.

4. 2 Kings 5:27

Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.

5. 1 Chronicles 11:22

Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.

6. Job 6:16

when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow,

7. Job 24:19

As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow, so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.

8. Job 37:6

He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’

9. Job 38:22

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail,

10. Psalm 51:7

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

11. Psalm 68:14

When the Almighty scattered the kings in the land, it was like snow fallen on Mount Zalmon.

12. Psalm 147:16

He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes.

13. Psalm 148:8

lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,

14. Proverbs 25:13

Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him; he refreshes the spirit of his master.

15. Proverbs 26:1

Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool.

16. Proverbs 31:21

When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

17. Isaiah 1:18

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

18. Isaiah 55:10

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

19. Jeremiah 18:14

Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever stop flowing?

20. Lamentations 4:7

Their princes were brighter than snow and whiter than milk, their bodies more ruddy than rubies, their appearance like lapis lazuli.

21. Daniel 7:9

“As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.

22. Matthew 28:3

His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.

23. Revelation 1:14

The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.

Were you surprised to see this many references?  Have you ever been to the Middle East and seen the snow?

http://www.elcaandy.org/