G<\/span>od is the Father of precipitation, Job says (Job 38:25\u201330). Rain is filial, the Father\u2019s nourishing gift to the world.<\/p>\n The imagery appears elsewhere. The righteous king is \u201clike rain upon the mown grass\u201d (Psalm 72:6), and the king\u2019s \u201cfavor is like a cloud with the spring rain\u201d (Proverbs 16:15). Yahweh \u201crained down manna upon [Israel] to eat . . . He rained meat upon [Israel] like dust\u201d (Psalm 78:24, 27), and we know that the rain of manna typified the true Bread that would fall from heaven (John 6).<\/p>\n Jesus knows what He\u2019s talking about when He says that the generous Father \u201csends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous\u201d (Matthew 5:45), because He is the rain that rains down upon all Israel. As always, the results are mixed: When Jesus falls from heaven onto the ground of Israel, it produces \u201cvegetation useful for those for whose sake it is tilled\u201d but also thorns, ultimately a crown of thorns (Hebrews 6:7\u20138).<\/p>\n And if we talk about filial rain, we must also talk about the Spirit-wind that drives the rain.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, ho, the wind and the rain. The rain it raineth everyday\u201d: Shakespeare spoke more theologically than he knew.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" God is the Father of precipitation, Job says (Job 38:25\u201330). Rain is filial, the Father\u2019s nourishing gift to the world. The imagery appears elsewhere. The righteous king is \u201clike rain upon the mown grass\u201d (Psalm 72:6), and the king\u2019s \u201cfavor is like a cloud with the spring rain\u201d (Proverbs 16:15). Yahweh \u201crained down manna upon […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible"],"yoast_head":"\n