Last week the first snowfall of winter descended as a white blanket covering the earth. With the first fall there came the beautiful snow-crystals, six-sided, lacy forms that abound in myriad variations of design. Like the leaves of the forest no two crystals ever seem identical. It is one of the marvels of nature. The later flakes usually are larger, due to many crystals colliding in mid-air and adhering, thus forming the large flakes with which we are more familiar.
Of old the Prophet Job wrote of the “treasuries of the snow,” and inquired whether any could understand them. It remains so to this day. We observe the phenomenon, but only dimly comprehend the way in which such marvels are produced.
The word “treasury” is sometimes translated “storehouse.” and quite properly. The snow is a vast storehouse of blessing to mankind. The snow brings down from the atmosphere many chemicals which enrich the soil, so much so that it has been called “the poor man’s fertilizer.” But in more senses than one the snow is a vast treasury for man’s benefit.
On the high mountains of northern Palestine the snows of winter are deposited in huge drifts. There they hold the moisture till the warmth of the summer sun melts the snow and gives rise to the rivers which water the lands at the foot. The “rivers of Damascus” which Naaman the leper, praised so highly, Parphar and Abana, are fed by the snow which gathers on Mount Hermon. All through the torrid months of summer, they pour down to the fields of Damascus the clear, cool water which makes possible life and agricultural prosperity to the entire region.
Even the headwaters of the Jordan receive their flow from the little streams which tumble down from the lofty heights of Hermon. And the Psalmist recounts the blessings which Hermon and its snow bestow upon the land in the form of refreshing dew, which he likens to the blessing of God, even life forever more.
Not only in Palestine is the snow a treasure house for man’s good, but all over the world there are large areas which would be barren wildernesses were it not for the accumulations of snow in winter time. California on our western coast, and many of the “plains” states east of the Rockies, are dependent upon the “treasury” of the snow. High up in the mountains, snow gathers to a depth of twenty, thirty or even fifty feet, and then through the summer months the Missouri, the Kansas, the Platte, the Rio Grande — in fact most of our rivers, pour down the melting snows to enrich the fields and orchards of our land.
In the cities snow is a great hardship, and its coming always results in suffering, accidents and discomfort for all the inhabitants. But one who believes in the over-ruling providence of God, and who believes He does all things well, can see in these visitations the wise provisions of the Creator to make glad those who depend on the soil for their livelihood.
When the snow is swirling around our doors and blocking our streets and side walks, remember that it is God’s way of piling up moisture for the crops of the following summer. Rain is often referred to as the blessing of God. “and [He] sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matt 5:45). But snow is equally beneficial to man. Rain soon flows away and its blessing passes with the coming of the hot sun, but the treasuries of the snow then commence to bestow their blessing upon the parched land. And the hotter the sun becomes, the more the snow melts, and the more water is sent down the mountain sides to supply the harvest fields.
This may be clearly seen in the high mountains of Canada and Colorado. In July hen no rainfall occurs in our western wheat fields, the streams that come down from the towering, snow capped peaks are running bank-full, to make glad the wheat and corn farmers of our mid-west.
Could blind force provide thus for the benefit of mankind? None but a wise Creator could have foreseen the need for these “treasuries of the snow” and in wisdom so contrived the earth that the mountains bring forth the snow-fed streams to make glad the hearts of all of God’s creatures.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One