Graphic Illustration above is the United States Geologic Survey (“USGS”) graphic representation of the Hydrologic Cycle, also referred to as the Water Cycle.
“The Bible and the Hydrologic Cycle”
King Solomon, son of David, prayed to God for wisdom:
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. And if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.
1 Kings 3:5-15 (ESV)
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The next passage below is from Ecclesiastes in the wisdom books of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Christian Old Testament, King Solomon, referred to as the “Preacher”, reflects on the cyclical nature of this life of vanity:
. . . “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.”
“The basic theme of Ecclesiastes is the necessity of fearing God in a fallen, and therefore frequently confusing and frustrating world. The unique character of the book, however has let to its being interpreted in widely diverse ways: as a statement of pessimism, optimism, religious and philosophical skepticism (either the Preacher’s own or a skepticism assumed for the purpose of of demonstrating the futility of an irreligious point of view), faithful belief, heterodoxy, to name only a few.
—- English Standard Version (ESV) Study Bible, Introduction to Ecclesiastes, p. 1193.
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As many know, the rock group, the Byrds, third hit song, “Turn, Turn, Turn” was written by Pete Seeger, who adapted the first 9 verses of Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 from the King James Version of the Bible:
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
In the introductory verses 1 through 9 below from Chapter 1 of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher introduces the vanity of life on earth, and the cyclical nature of life. “There is nothing new under the sun.”
And in verse 7 below, Solomon recognizes the mystery of the hydrologic cycle without knowledge of the underlying science, as the USGS reveals in the Graphic Illustration above.
The words of the King Solomon, the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,
vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
3 What does man gain by all the toil
at which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down,
and hastens to the place where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
and goes around to the north;
around and around goes the wind,
and on its circuits the wind returns.
7 All streams run to the sea,
but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
there they flow again.
8 All things are full of weariness;
a man cannot utter it;
the eye is not satisfied with seeing,
nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
— Ecclesiastes 1:1-9 (ESV)
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Ecclesiastes ends with an epilogue of comments by the Preacher, and an apparent editor in verses 9-10:
9 Besides being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging many proverbs with great care. 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.
11 The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. 12 My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man
BETWEEN TWO CITIES 
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