For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ....Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. NOW these things occurred as examples to keep us from SETTING OUR HEARTS ON EVIL THINGS AS THEY DID. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; (1 Corinthians 10:1-6)
The Old Testament records the faith journey of the Israelite people; the New Testament records the faith story of the first believers in Jesus. The people of Israel give us in the Old Testament an account of their relationship with God over a period of a thousand years. They record how they experienced God being present to them, acting to save them, calling them by means both gentle and firm to fidelity. This record is not just a map of their wanderings or a story of changing political, social and religious scenes. It is the transmission of accounts of significant events, that is, events which also signify some other reality. It is these events with their meaning which are valued and remembered. In fact, because the meaning is more important than the events, they are often depicted in ways which highlight their lasting significance to the community. Thus the Old Testament is the embodiment of a people's reflection upon their experience and their responses to those experiences. Such ongoing reflection -- through time and amid changing historical situations -- enabled the Israelites to discover and proclaim the reality of God and, and the same time, to find meaning both in their personal lives and in their on-going communal journey through history.
The past is meaningful not because it is past but because its meaning carries into the present. This truth is evident time and again in the scriptures.
HailThen the LORD said to Moses, "Lift your hand toward the sky, and cause the
hail to fall throughout Egypt, on the people, the animals, and the crops." So Moses lifted his staff toward the sky, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and lightning struck the earth. The LORD sent a tremendous hailstorm against all the land of Egypt. Never in all the history of Egypt had there been a storm like that, with such severe
hail and continuous lightning. The only spot in all Egypt without hail that day was the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel lived. Please beg the LORD to end this terrifying thunder and hail. I will let you go at once." (Exodus 9:22-28)
As the Amorites retreated down the road from Beth-horon, the
LORD destroyed them with a terrible hailstorm that continued until they reached Azekah. The hail killed more of the enemy than the Israelites killed with the sword. (Joshua 10:11)
How great is God--beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out. "He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams, the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind. ....
He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark. His thunder announces the coming storm; even the cattle make known its approach. (Job 36:26 -33)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZr8jXo1Uso&feature=related (Hail)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ0_Lwa4H2g&feature=related (lightning hits into car)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCm2UCj6eDU&feature=relatedhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khLcpi2HptM&feature=related (storm clouds)
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Tornado(The Hebrew word can mean a hurricane, storm, tempest, or whirlwind).
See, the Lord is coming with fire, and
his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For with fire and with his sword, the LORD will execute judgment upon all men, and many will be those slain by the LORD. (Isaiah 66:15-16)
See, the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a
whirlwind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. (Jeremiah 23:19)
The Lord is slow to anger and great in power; the Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and dries it up; he makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither and the blossoms of Lebanon fade. (Nahum 1:3-4)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43VoMesUd2Q&feature=related (tornado)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqc7QLTv9OE&feature=related (Sudden Tornado during football match)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYoXm_iftmE&feature=related (Tornado, Toronto, Vaughan, Canada)
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WindBut God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and
he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. (Gen 8:1)
So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the
Lord made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts; And the
Lord changed the wind to a very strong west wind, which caught up the locusts and carried them into the Red Sea.Not a locust was left anywhere in Egypt. (Exd. 10:13, 19)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVkMwo26smk&NR=1 (Wind)
