The last week we’ve had several inches of snow. It’s April and people here are ready for spring. It’s one thing to have snow in January when it’s expected. It’s another thing to have snow when the flowers are starting to bloom. Granted, here in Michigan snow in early April happens more years than not, but rarely in these quantities.
Something similar took place in the Bible. The people of Israel asked the prophet Samuel for a king. After he appointed Saul as their king, Samuel gave a farewell speech. In it he warned the people to not turn away from the Lord, their true king. As a sign, he called thunder and rain:
“Now then, stand still and see this great thing the LORD is about to do before your eyes! Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call upon the LORD to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the LORD when you asked for a king.”
Then Samuel called upon the LORD, and that same day the LORD sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the LORD and of Samuel.
The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the LORD your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.”
1 Samuel 12:16-19
Why is it significant that it rained? The land of Israel gets no rain during the summer. The wheat harvest (mentioned at the beginning) is at the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) in late May/early June. For it to suddenly begin to storm like that meant that it was not something normal, and they knew it! May we not repeat their mistakes. Seek the Lord, our King, and serve him faithfully.