“The snow covers many a dunghill, so does prosperity many a rotten heart.”
– Thomas Brooks
The title for this devotional is wrong. I love snow but I have had enough of it for now. Have you? Snow provides writers with a wealth of images. Robert Frost, in the first stanza of his poem, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, sets the tone with snow:
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
The biblical authors also used snow to capture the idea of purity and holiness, and in an odd twist the color of leprous skin. Here is a collection of pertinent quotes:
Daniel 7:9 [the Ancient of Days]
“As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.
Matthew 28:3 [an angel]
His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
Revelation 1:14 [the Lord Jesus]
The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,
Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
Numbers 12:10
When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, Miriam was leprous, like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous.
For Robert Frost, the woods filling up with snow gives him pause to reflect a bit on his life. Snow in the Scripture can do the same for us. The skin of Miriam which is leprous and white as snow is a result of her rebellion against Moses. (see Numbers 12) But a common theme in Scripture is that snow represents purity. The image of snow is connected to The Ancient of Days, an angel announcing the resurrection, and the Lord Jesus when he appears to John on Patmos. This purity is a shared one. The Lord promises to make our sins like snow if we would but respond to his invitation. (see Isaiah 1:18) And finally, David, in his repentance, asks the Lord for forgiveness and cleansing, “Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7b) Have you done the same? Have you repented of sin and come to trust in the provision of Christ? If so, welcome to being whiter than snow! Have a blessed week and we will see many of you on Sunday.
Unto Him be glory,
Pastor Dale
