Science in the Bible – Water Cycle

(2 Minute Read)

Thousands of rivers hourly disgorge billions of gallons of water into the oceans.

For example, the Mississippi River alone pours over six million gallons of water into the Gulf of Mexico every second.

What is the source of all this water that keeps pouring into the oceans?
Where does all the water go?
Why doesn’t the sea level rise?

The answer to these questions was not understood until the 17th century when French scientists Pierre Perrault (c. 1608–1680) and Edme Mariotte (c. 1620–1684) developed the concept of the hydrologic cycle.

Hydrologic Water Cycle

1. Water from rivers flows into the oceans.
2. Water evaporates from the oceans into clouds.
3. Water returns to land in the form of rain from clouds.
4. Water drains from the land back into the rivers.

Amazingly, the Bible alluded to this water cycle thousands of years before Perrault and Mariotte figured it out. The Biblical authors credited it to the Creator.

The prophet Amos writing 2,800 years ago said,
He who calls for the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth,
The Lord is His name. (Amos 9:6 NASB)

The book of Job (circa 2000 BC) says,
For He draws up the drops of water,
They distill rain from the mist,
Which the clouds pour down,
They drip upon man abundantly. (Job 36:27-28 NASB)
He wraps up the waters in His clouds,
And the cloud does not burst under them. (Job 26:8 NASB)

Solomon (circa 950 BC) said,
All the rivers flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers flow,
There they flow again. (Ecclesiastes 1:7 NASB)

Science Catches Up to the Bible

Ancient thinkers like Aristotle (384–322 BC) did not understand the origin of rain. And they could not figure out why the sea level never rose despite the influx of waters from great rivers. But thousands of years ago the Bible hinted at the hydrologic cycle of evaporation, atmospheric transportation, distillation, and precipitation which today’s meteorologists understand.

How were the Biblical authors able to write about this so long before other men understood it?

Although the Bible is not primarily a science textbook, it does hint at many scientific truths like these and like those mentioned in this Science in the Bible series, truths that long pre-date their discovery by today’s scientists. This is strong evidence of divine authorship of the Bible.

Questions to Ponder

1. Do complaints about rainy weather honor the Creator?
2. Why does it take scientists so long to discover things when the clues are in the Bible all along?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

Soli Deo Gloria.

This is the 11th in the Science in the Bible series of blog posts. While there is much science connected with Creation and Noah’s Flood, this series will focus on lesser known scientific truths that were alluded to in the Bible long before they were known to scientists.
Read the prequels:
1. Science in the Bible – Blood
2. Science in the Bible – Ocean Currents
3. Science in the Bible – Undersea Mountains
4. Science in the Bible – Ocean Reservoirs
5. Science in the Bible – Good Medicine
6. Science in the Bible – Round Earth
7. Science in the Bible – Don’t Marry Kin
8. Science in the Bible – Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
9. Science in the Bible – Hanging Earth
10. Science in the Bible – Thermodynamics

Read the sequel:
12. Science in the Bible – Quarantine

Subscribe – Don’t miss future blog posts!
Click the sidebar’s “SUBSCRIBE” button to follow the
Bible-Science Guy Blog. You’ll automatically receive
new posts free by email. Click SUBSCRIBE NOW!

See the Bible-Science Guy Table of Contents for a list of all blog posts starting in October 2007.

©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday May 17, 2017 A.D.

Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)