Matthew 5:45 – How can attributing sunshine and rain to God’s direct action be reconciled with modern scientific understanding of weather and astronomy?

God’s Provision of Sunshine and Rain in Matthew 5:45

“He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45)

1. Scriptural Context and Meaning

Matthew 5:45 appears within the Sermon on the Mount and underscores an important teaching: divine compassion and benevolence are expressed to humanity as a whole. The verse highlights God’s kindness, showing that sunshine and rain—symbols of crucial blessings for life—are given to everyone regardless of moral standing. This point challenges Christ’s audience to approach people with a similar benevolence, emphasizing a call to love others and pray for them even if they are enemies or do wrong.

In earliest Christian understanding, attributing weather phenomena to God’s direct action does not negate orderly patterns of nature. Rather, it sees God as the Sustainer of creation, personally aware of and involved in what He has created. Citation from other places in Scripture affirms this idea: “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof” (Psalm 24:1) and “He does great things beyond searching out and wonders without number” (Job 9:10).

2. God as the Sustainer and Source of All Natural Processes

Scripture consistently portrays God as upholding every function of nature. From the cosmic perspective of Genesis 1–2 (BSB text), where God creates and orders the universe, to passages like Colossians 1:17, which speak of all things holding together in Him, the biblical narrative stresses God’s power over nature.

This overarching sovereignty does not remove secondary causes or processes. Rather, the natural laws observed by science serve as instruments within His design. In the same way a composer masters thematic patterns, God’s governance of the natural world we see through wind patterns, evaporation, atmospheric pressure, and solar energy is the deeper “score” behind the observable rhythms of weather.

3. Modern Meteorology and God’s Action

From a scientific standpoint, weather results from solar heating, oceanic currents, atmospheric pressure gradients, and multiple other variables. The water cycle—evaporation, condensation, and precipitation—can be studied in meteorological terms, and much of this was first recognized in pre-modern times (e.g., Ecclesiastes 1:7, and Job 36:27–28 in Scripture, which allude to the cycle of water returning as rain).

When Scripture attributes sunshine and rain to God, it does not insist that clouds appear without atmospheric explanation. Rather, it affirms that all these processes exist because of God’s intelligence and creative power. Modern disciplines such as physics and meteorology help us understand the mechanisms, yet they do not undermine the scriptural claim that God is the ultimate source. As a parallel, the law of gravity explains the movement of planets, yet it does not negate the One who set these laws in motion.

4. Historical-Christian and Modern-Scientific Perspectives Aligned

• Historical Roots of the Hydrologic Cycle: Passages such as Job 36:27–28 portray the collection of water through evaporation and subsequent precipitation. Early commentators, long before modern science, recognized that Scripture pointed to a system of recycling water.

• Observing Predictability: The regularities of sunshine, rainfall, and weather patterns align with the biblical notion of an orderly creation. Modern forecasting relies on understanding that creation operates with consistent laws. In this sense, even the idea of “chance” weather patterns is simply an acknowledgment of the complexity in how these laws interact, rather than attributing them to randomness void of a Designer.

• Geological and Cosmological Evidence: While contemporary science speaks of billions of years, certain geological findings—such as in-depth analyses of the earth’s strata or catastrophic events like large-scale floods—may point to rapid processes that can align with a younger-earth model. Regardless of where one stands on these interpretations, they do not exclude a God who orchestrates both the microseconds of atomic movement and the eons of cosmic unfolding.

5. Philosophical and Theological Reconciliation

From both a theological and philosophical standpoint, recognizing “God’s direct action” does not require discarding natural explanations. In the same way that Scripture teaches human responsibility and free moral choices while affirming divine sovereignty over history, God’s governance of nature moves through established processes. He remains free to act miraculously as He wills—yet He frequently works through created order.

To illustrate, consider the composer-and-symphony analogy again. We perceive the instruments and structure of the piece, yet behind every note is the composer’s mind. Similarly, we see clouds forming, fronts colliding, and the sun’s radiation warming the atmosphere, but Scripture contends that behind it all is a divine Mind, ensuring the reliability we rely on each day.

6. Biblical Teaching on God’s Goodness in Natural Blessings

• Universal Kindness: The point in Matthew 5:45 is not only about physical rainfall and sunshine; it also highlights God’s moral perfection and generosity. He bestows good gifts on “the evil and the good.” This reveals a benevolent God, rather than a capricious or indifferent deity.

• Call to Reflection and Gratitude: In ancient Israelite agricultural life, rain and sunshine meant survival for crops and livestock, and still today, farmers remain dependent on it. Recognizing the Creator behind these processes encourages gratitude. Acts 14:17 says, “He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”

7. Application for Understanding Matthew 5:45

1. Practical Perspective: When reading “He causes His sun to rise,” the believer acknowledges both the scientific description (massive thermonuclear reactions in the sun) and the ultimate cause (the One who set the sun in place, as per Genesis 1). The synergy of these truths is not contradictory but complementary.

2. Moral and Spiritual Perspective: The heart of Matthew 5:45 is God’s nondiscriminatory love and call to show that same love to others. Understanding meteorological processes does not diminish the moral imperative to treat others with compassion, just as God does by providing for all peoples.

8. Conclusion

Matthew 5:45 reminds readers that the sustaining power behind sunshine and rain has a personal and benevolent Source. Through modern science, we gain insight into the physical principles behind these phenomena. Scripture’s perspective is that such knowledge should increase one’s awe of a Creator who established and continuously upholds these systems.

Thus, attributing sunshine and rain to God’s direct action can be understood as acknowledging the ultimate Cause who operates through ordinary physical processes. It is not a denial of scientific understanding but rather an affirmation of both the orderliness of creation and the personal involvement of its Maker.