Does Scripture mention whether it rained before the flood?

Question

I've often heard it said that the flood of Noah was the first time that the earth experienced rain. This is the passage people use:

Genesis 2:5-6 ESV When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground

Is this saying that it didn't rain at all until Noah's time, or just in the creation week? The flood didn't happen for over 1000 years after creation--that's a lot of time to not have any rain. Is there more scripture that adds credence to the argument that there was no rain before the flood? Is there scripture that says otherwise?

Answer 1

In support of the idea that it did not rain is the very next verse:

Genesis 2:6

But a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.

No further mention is made of rain until the Flood account. Anything beyond this is conjecture on our part.

Answer 2

It may be reading things a little too much into the text, but it is possible to infer the prior existence of rain from God's address to Noah in:

Genesis 7:4 ESV For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.

If rain was going to be an entirely new phenomenon, you'd perhaps expect God to explain it a little more at the time - without this explanation, it looks like Noah knew what God was talking about already.

Answer 3

Genesis 2:5-6 indeed indicates that at one stage of the Earth's creation it did not rain, but instead it was watered from underground springs:

Genesis 2:5 - "No shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, (6) but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground."

This verse alone is not evidence that there was still no rain in Noah’s time because the said verse refers to a time before the creation of Adam, but there is more biblical evidence to show that there was still no rain right up until the flood:

Genesis 9:13 - "Now I have set my rainbow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. (14) Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds (15) I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.”

Of course rainbows are caused by clouds passing over the earth as the verse states, which means that before the flood there were no rainbows - because there was no rain or clouds in the sky before the flood!

The Bible definitely refers to an expanse of water above the firmament during the time that it did not rain from creation until the flood:

Genesis 1:7 – “And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.”

2 Peter 3:5 – “They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water.” (In most translation it says that the earth stood ‘both out of the water and in the water’).

We are also told that Noah believed in things God told about that had never been seen before: Hebrews 11:7 – “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.”

Rain and floods had never been seen in Noah’s time so it was a significant faith factor for him to believe God about such things as the flood. Whatever form this water above the expanse was in during Noah's time, it was not in the form of regular clouds. However it must have been an immense amount of water:

Genesis 7:11 – “In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, on the seventeenth day of the second month--on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.” (NIV) (Windows of the heavens were opened).(KJV) Many Bibles translate it as ‘windows of the heavens’ – with a window being like something transparent that is holding something out or in (usually air, but in this case water).

It did not rain, but there was still enough water up there to create a one off torrent of rain that fell consistently for over a month, day and night without stopping during the flood.

This water above the firmament could well have been in the form of ice crystals suspended in space just outside of the earth's atmosphere and held in place by the Earth's gravity - as is a moon or a planets rings held in place by gravity. This is very possible because Saturn’s rings are known to be composed mainly of ice.

This translucent layer water around the earth would not only have filtered out immense amounts of radiation coming from space but would have also prevented heat from escaping the atmosphere, making the climate much more moderate and consistently warmer. It also compressed the atmosphere beneath it allowing for much higher concentration of oxygen to be present at ground level.

(Discover, February, 1988, p. 12.) - “Another interesting feature of the early earth atmosphere was enhanced oxygen. The analysis of microscopic air bubbles trapped in fossilized tree resin gave Robert Berner of Yale and Gary Landis of the U.S. Geological Survey a glimpse into the ancient past… These breaths (produced by a quadruple mass spectrometer) disclosed some surprising evidence: the ancient air contained 50 percent more oxygen than the air today. Landis believes that the reduction in oxygen could have led to the dinosaur’s demise.”

In the past animals, people and plants could grow to be massive sizes and could live up to ten times longer than what is possible today, this is proved by the dinosaurs which cannot live today because there is not enough oxygen at ground level to fuel such a massive body. We see this trend in the Genealogies of Adam as recorded in Genesis chapter 5. The people of this time were living to be over 900 years old! Genesis 6:4 also tells us that - there were giants on the earth in those days.

Answer 4

Ok I suggest on either side you are having to read into the text. A point no one has made is that it says no bush or plant of the field had grown because God had not made it rain. So are you saying these bushes and plants did not come up until after the flood. It specifically says the hand come up because it hadn't rained. That leaves out streams and dew as the way of providing water for them. Also once they where kicked out of the garden. They where cut off from things and had to farm. The verse again says plants of the field had not come up for two reasons no rain and no man to work the earth. So God provided man but no rain? Yet the plants came up? No matter your stance on either side the Bible does not tell us either way. So no one can say it is one way or the other.

Answer 5

Hi there is a very clear answer in the Bible regarding rain before the time of Noah:

Hebrews 11:7

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

God warned Noah that He will bring floods of water upon earth.

Genesis 6:17

And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.

Even a small rain will cause a river to flood. So it is clear that if Noah have not seen a flood, then the event which leads to flood could not have occured in his lifetime, especially considering that people lived a very very long life.