Did It Rain Before The Flood?
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, August 21, 2026 (Donate)
An all-to-often Christian teaching is that rain didn’t
occur until Noah's Flood. However, a careful reading of the Bible doesn’t
actually say this. I humbly suggest that Christians be careful about against
being dogmatic about a "no rain before the Flood" position.
What About Genesis 2:5-6?
The main passage used to argue against pre-Flood rain is
Genesis 2:5-6 (NKJV):
…before any plant of the field was
in the earth and before any herb of the field had grown. For the LORD God had
not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; but
a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground.
However, Genesis 2 is focusing on events surrounding the
creation of Adam. And this comment is specifically regarding a time during Creation
week, prior to Adam’s creation on Day 6 (i.e., “no man to till the
ground”).
Therefore, the passage tells us that God hadn’t caused rain
to fall up to that particular point during Creation Week. During this time the dry
ground that God created on Day 3 was being watered. There is no passage that
reveals that the rain remained absent for the approximately 1,650 years between
Creation and the Flood.
The mist mentioned in Genesis 2:6 may have been an important
means by which God initially watered the earth. Furthermore, Genesis 2:10-14
describes rivers flowing through the pre-Flood world. Though much of this could
also be spring fed, it also reveals that the hydrologic cycle was in place.
This is to be expected since God made the laws of nature and
uphold them into existence and had no reason to change them—thus water
evaporated and condensed (natural created-properties of water) so water vapor,
cloud condensation, and rain should no doubt be realities.
What About Hebrews 11:7?
Hebrews 11:7 says Noah was warned "of things not yet
seen." Some interpret this to mean Noah had never seen rain. This is bit
of a stretch!
But the verse doesn’t say that. A global Flood had not been
seen either! The unprecedented event Noah hadn’t seen was the coming worldwide
catastrophic Flood and God's judgment upon mankind. And Bible reveals that is
what Noah endured on the Ark.
Was The Rainbow New?
Genesis 9:12-17 also does not necessarily mean that the
first rainbow existed after the Flood. Again, it would call into question the
very natural laws by which God upholds things into existence.
God could have taken an already-existing phenomenon and
given it a new covenant significance. God does this. Similarly, Christ gave
bread and wine a special meaning in the Lord's Supper even though bread and
wine already existed. Our bodies have become the Temple of the Holy Spirit (i.e.,
collectively the third Temple, if you will). Man’s bodies existed beforehand
and now take on new responsibilities and meanings.
What About The Water Cycle In More Detail?
Ecclesiastes 1:7 describes rivers flowing into the sea while
water continually returns to supply them, and passages like Job 36:27-28
describe evaporation, clouds, ice/snow, and rainfall. Scripture therefore
recognizes the normal water cycle.
God provides rain regularly for things like fields, crops,
and harvests throughout the Bible (e.g., Deuteronomy 11:11-17). Why assume He
didn’t do that in His perfectly created world?
When God told Noah that rain would come in the seven days to
begin the global Flood (Genesis 7:4), did Noah react in such a way, as to be
confused about what rain was if he hadn’t seen it before and had no concept of
it? No. Instead Noah did all that God commanded him, knowing full well what the
rains would do.
Since the pre-Flood world already possessed oceans, rivers,
sunlight, and an atmosphere, there is no biblical requirement that this process
was absent before Noah. There is no logical reason to insist that teh normal
water cycle did not function before the Flood. Thus, this becomes an arbitrary
assertion that really isn’t defensible biblically, logically, or
scientifically.
Conclusion
Did it rain before the Flood? Though Scripture does not openly
tell us, we have no reason to think it didn’t.
The Bible clearly says there had been no rain before Adam
was created (Genesis 2:5-6), but it never says there was no rain during the
entire pre-Flood era. So one should be careful about applying this verse to an
era of time that it wasn’t intended. Therefore, Christians should not teach
"no rain before Noah" as established biblical doctrine. Rain before
the Flood is totally consistent with Scripture.
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Bodie Hodge, Ken Ham's son in law, has been an apologist
defending 6-day creation and opposing evolution since 1998. He spent 21 years
working at Answers in Genesis as a speaker, writer, and
researcher as well as a founding news anchor for Answers News. He
was also head of the Oversight Council.
Bodie launched Biblical Authority Ministries in
2015 as a personal website and it was organized officially in 2025 as a
501(c)(3). He has spoken on multiple continents and hosts of US states in
churches, colleges, and universities. He is married with four children.
Mr. Hodge earned a Bachelor and Master of Science degrees
from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC). Then he taught
at SIUC for a couple of years as a Visiting Instructor teaching all levels of
undergraduate engineering and running a materials lab and a CAD lab. He did
research on advanced ceramic materials to develop a new method of production of
titanium diboride with a grant from Lockheed Martin. He worked as a Test
Engineer for Caterpillar, Inc., prior to entering full-time ministry.
His love of science was coupled with a love of history,
philosophy, and theology. For about one year of his life, Bodie was editing and
updating a theological, historical, and scientific dictionary/encyclopedia for
AI use and training. Mr. Hodge has over 25 years of experience in writing,
speaking and researching in these fields.
