Did you know that sometimes too much of a good thing can kill? When creation is out of order, humans suffer. But what puts creation in disorder? In the last blog post, we looked at a Greek word describing a new, painful manifestation in the physical world that occurred on account of Adam’s sin. Today we will look at what happens when human society gets out of order, when what is meant for blessing becomes a source of destruction.

The Koine Greek word ΥΕΤΟΣ (pronounced uetos – and the first vowel is /u/, as we find in the French “u” or German “ü”) – this word means “rain.” It can refer to light rain or torrential downpours.

ΥΕΤΟΣ first appears in the Scriptures in Genesis 7, where God predicts the torrential rain that will bring about the flood. Genesis 7:4 reads (and I’m citing the Jewish Publication Society version):

“For in seven days’ time I will make it rain upon the earth, forty days and forty nights, and I will blot out from the earth all existence that I created.”

The ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew text says the following:

ἔτι γὰρ ἡμερῶν ἑπτὰ ἐγὼ ἐπάγω ὑετὸν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νύκτας καὶ ἐξαλείψω πᾶσαν τὴν ἐξανάστασιν, ἣν ἐποίησα, ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς.

(This is from the Rahlfs and Hanhart edition of the Septuagint.)

It’s always important, I believe, to note when the first time a word or concept appears in the Bible. Here, the Greek word ΥΕΤΟΣ is translating the Hebrew word geshem, which also appears first here in the Hebrew Old Testament. The Greek word appears a number of times in the story about Noah. ΥΕΤΟΣ will not appear again until the ten plagues, in Exodus. (And the Hebrew word geshem will not occur again until the book of Leviticus.) ΥΕΤΟΣ, rain, therefore, is closely associated with the flood.

What does this tell us? A lot. Here’s how. First, we should note that rain is very often a blessing from God – provided it comes at the right time and in the right amount. This principle is stated explicitly in Leviticus 26 and in Deuteronomy, chapters 11 and 28. (In the last two instances, ΥΕΤΟΣ translates another Hebrew word, matar.) God promises that, if his people will abide by his commandments, they will receive the rains in their appropriate season, so that the earth will be fruitful. The people of God will, therefore, receive an abundance of blessing, in the form of material provisions – food to eat, fodder for animals and other produce to bring humans joy.

When the temple in Jerusalem is dedicate, King Solomon calls upon God to hear the people’s prayers for rain in the future, in the event that there is a drought. Solomon recognizes that the drought might occur on account of the people’s sin. In both versions of the event (1 Kings 8 and 2 Chronicles 6), our word ΥΕΤΟΣ is employed.

The same idea appears in the New Testament. In a public speech in Lystra, talking to non-Jews, Paul speaks of ΥΕΤΟΣ as a blessing from heaven, for fruitful seasons, to provide food and make hearts joyful (Acts 14).

All of these places in the Scriptures point us to the first mention of the concept of rainwater, namely Genesis 2. There a different word is used – both in Greek (ΒΡΕΧΕΙΝ, pronounced brechein) and in Hebrew (himtir). In that case, the word used is a verb, meaning “to rain.” But the word is not based on the same root as the noun ΥΕΤΟΣ (or, in Hebrew, the word geshem), meaning “rain,” which we are concerned with in this study.

The point is this: when the concept of rain first appears, the book of Genesis describes it as a means by which God will water the earth, causing vegetation to be produced. So, in essence, God would want rain to be a blessing.

Indeed, God likens his own Word to rain, which will invariably water the earth. This profound idea appears in Isaiah 55. What God says will always accomplish what he desires – one way or another.

Now, we know that withholding rain can be a punishment. We saw this already in Solomon’s prayer. It is clear, too, in Moses’s words in Deuteronomy 11. If there is no obedience, there may be no ΥΕΤΟΣ.

History gives us a clear, practical example of this consequence. Ahab was one of the most wicked early kings in the Northern Kingdom – that is the Kingdom of Israel, which broke away from the Southern Kingdom or the Kingdom of Judah, after Solomon died. Ahab introduced pagan worship into the people of God to a previously unknown extent. Times were dire. As a result, God predicted a drought, through the mouth of Elijah, the prophet. In 1 Kings 17–18, we read about the absence of ΥΕΤΟΣ for years and, then, at the prophet’s prayer, the restoration of it.

In a similar vein, the prophet Isaiah speaks of the Kingdom of Judah, likening it to a vineyard. Because the vineyard has produced no good fruit, God will withhold ΥΕΤΟΣ from it.

But, what about too much rain? A torrent of ΥΕΤΟΣ appears in Exodus 9 – along with hailstones and fire, falling from heaven, and also thunder. This is one of the great plagues that God brings against the Egyptians – a civilization that despised God’s people, murdered their infants and had enslaved them.

Rain at the wrong time could spell a disaster for God’s people, too. Noting that the people were rebelling against God, the prophet Samuel prayed for rain and thunder during harvest time. Every farmer knows that rain at harvest spells disaster. You cannot get the harvest off the fields. And God answered Samuel’s prayer. Here, ΥΕΤΟΣ was a stern rebuke from the Lord.

And this sort of phenomenon is precisely what happened in Noah’s time – only to the nth degree. The word ΥΕΤΟΣ, then, is foundationally associated with the flood, where creation gets out of order, on account of human activity that has become lawless, deviating from God’s good order and design. An overabundance of what should be a blessing – ΥΕΤΟΣ – overwhelms the world and submerges it. Then, a cosmic reboot takes place. Noah and his family begin again.

When we as humans get out of order, the created world follows suit. Human sin produces the ill effects of disordered processes in creation – floods, droughts and other natural disasters. All of these have continued since the fall. The earth is affected by the cumulative weight of the sins of the generations before us on the earth – and our generation has added our own set of sins to the mix. And these have not been miniscule. We should never blame God, when natural disasters strike, as if God has done something wrong. It is human rebellion, human insubordination to God’s good ways that have put – and continue to put – creation into disorder, bringing about such disasters. So, it should not surprise us, when floods, forest fires, famines and the like take place.

What should surprise us is when everything is working as it should be. This is a clear sign of God’s mercy. We should not take this for granted. Jesus says the following about rain (though, here the word ΥΕΤΟΣ does not appear – so, I am deviating a bit from the word study). I’m citing from Matthew 5:44–45 in the New Revised Standard Version:

44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.

When God’s rain falls on the earth in good amounts and at the right time, this is a sign of his incomparable mercy. As a whole, as humanity, we don’t deserve it.

So, as Christians, the next time we experience weather as it should be – whether sunny at the right time or rainy at the appropriate season – let’s give thanks to our gracious Dad and God, whose persistent and passionate desire is to bring blessing to all Noah’s children.

Let’s remember the rainbow (ΤΟΞΟΝ), too – the sign of God’s mercy, signalling that he will never again destroy the whole world with a flood. And let’s call the thorn plants (ΑΚΑΝΘΑΙ) to mind, too, remembering how Jesus wore this physical representation of the curse on his beautiful head, all to show God’s mercy to us.

Finally, I’ll leave you with one further thought regarding the rain-based flood. Jesus’ disciple Simon Peter says this about the flood (2 Peter 3:5–7, again in the NRSV):

5 …by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water, 6 through which the world of that time was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.

(I’ve deviated again from the word study, here, since ΥΕΤΟΣ does not appear.) Peter describes how, long ago, the world was once decimated with water. In the future, though, he assures us, a final destruction by fire will occur for those who stubbornly have resisted God’s bountiful offer of mercy. So, in the next post, then, we will talk about “fire” (ΠΥΡ – pronounced pur, again with the “u” as the French “u” or German “ü.”)

As in the previous posts, I’ll leave off here with a song I’ve written for the occasion. It comes from the text of the Old Greek version of Genesis 7:4. The song is called ἐπάγω ὑετὸν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν (epago ueton epi ten gen). In the title you can hear our word ΥΕΤΟΣ in the object form, YETON. Enjoy!