As you have lately seen the pure white snow falling, and clothing the earth with a soft garment, you have no doubt been reminded of some of the beautiful words of Scripture concerning it.

Have you remembered that “He giveth snow like wool?” [Psalm 147:16] This will teach you much about the snow: where it comes from; what produces it; and what is God’s purpose in giving it.

Notice first that it is God who gives both the snow and the wool; and He gives both in the same way, for “He giveth snow like wool.”

You know what it is that produces the snow. It is the cold, which causes the water to freeze into the tiny crystals that we see in the snow-flakes. God sends the cold, for it is “by the breath of the Lord frost is given.” [Job 37:10]

Did you know that it is also the cold, which causes the wool to grow on the backs of the sheep? In very warm countries where there is no cold winter weather, the sheep have no wool, but long, silky hair coats instead. The colder the climate the thicker the wool grows; there is even a difference in the same sheep according to the severity of the winter; in very cold winters the wool grows thicker than in mild winters. The cold affects the skin in a way that causes the wool to grow more plentifully.

You will see in this the goodness and loving care of God for His creatures. For in cold weather the sheep of course need a thicker coat, and so God provides it for them by the very thing that makes them need it, the cold.

It is for just the same purpose that He sends the snow, to provide a warm garment for the earth to keep the ground from freezing and to save the seeds and plants from perishing. For when the cold is intense enough to injure these things it also affects the water, and causes the falling rain to crystallise into the snow that makes a warm coat for the ground and plants. So you see that the purpose of the wool and the snow are the same, and God gives both in the same way, by the cold which makes them necessary.

But not only the ground and the animals find in the effects of cold a protection from the cold. In our picture you will see how useful the snow is to the people who live in Arctic regions, for they do all their building with it in the winter [picture in the pdf document].  It is the warmest material that they can have to make their house of. They pack it into hard blocks, and shape these little round huts from it. Here they manage to keep warm and cosy all through the cold weather.

God gives to all His creatures exactly what they need in the circumstances in which He has placed them. He knows just the needs of all, and provides for them; for “the Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” [Psalm 147:16]

The Present Truth – March 1, 1899
E. J. Waggoner

Story in pdf  He Giveth Snow