Do Christians have the authority to command the weather? Can they command storms, tornados, hurricanes and the like?
I like to get straight to the point. My answer is no. Please read my reasoning below. It’s the least courtesy you could show to someone who doesn’t want to waste your time with endless rhetorical meandering before stating one’s point. Thanks!
Many sincere people identifying as Christians believe Christians can take authority over the weather. They even have apparent bible verses to back it up. I believe these sincere people have been misinformed and lead astray.
This teaching is upheld by a complex doctrinal support structure (Known as the sonship doctrine.). Addressing the structure could be long and tedious, and could cause many to lose interest. I’m going to address this teaching without attempting to address the complex system upholding it.
The belief that Christians can command the weather seems to be based on this line of reasoning.
1.Jesus commanded the weather. Mark 4:39
2. Jesus said those who believe in him will do the works he’s doing and even greater. John 14:12
– Because Jesus commanded the weather, and because he said we’d do works like him, and greater works, Christians can also command the weather.
I think we have to understand the scope of what Jesus meant in John 14:12. Do those works involve even commanding the weather?
Acts 17 tells us about a prophecy concerning a famine throughout the entire world during the time of the early church.
27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers[d] living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Notice there is nothing mentioned about the need for Christians to take control over the weather to stop the famine? Notice no mention of the apostles doing such? What did they do instead? They made provision for food and sent relief. Surely if the scope of John 14:12 is that we’d command the weather, one of the apostles would have encouraged this.
In Acts 27 the apostle Paul was in a boat and came across bad weather. He didn’t attempt to command the weather. Surely if commanding weather was a foundational teaching of Jesus this apostle would have commanded the weather. He did not.
There are some things Jesus did as examples for us, so we can do the same. Some things he did as examples to show us that he is God and in total control, and those things are not to be done by us.
Jesus commanded the weather to show us he is God. If it were to show us an example of something we can do, then we would have seen apostles and believers doing it in Acts 17 and 27.
There are many things Jesus did that we know not to do. No one, and I mean no one, even those who believe in modern day major miracles teach that we can feed the hungry by taking a loaf of bread and a bottle of water to starving parts of the world, and multiply it like Jesus did. If you disagree, then please, by all means, go to the store, buy the bread and water, get an airplane ticket, and fly to the starving people. Put hustle to your muscle.
So what can Christians do concerning the weather? We can pray and petition God. Why? Because God controls the weather.
That’s all folks.
That’s all.
Is Not Satire 