Was there Rain before the Flood?

Genesis 2:5-6 “And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.”

This is the first place in the Bible rain is talked about. Evidently water came from the earth, in the form of mist (probably an underground water cycle). The next place any type of precipitation is mentioned is in Genesis 7:12 when it rained forty days and forty nights.  We can't be 100% dogmatic because the Bible does not say if it did rain before the flood, however the Bible seems to suggest that it didn't rain before the flood. In looking at Genesis 9:12-17 we can see God made a covenant with man saying He would not flood the whole world again. This covenant sign is the rainbow, which was something new to man. Because of these verses I believe the Bible hints that there was no rain before the flood. 

Something else to consider when looking at this question is the verses Genesis 1:7 and II Peter 3:5. These two verses seem to suggest that there was a canopy of water above the atmosphere and layer of water below the earth. Some people think because of the weight and other attributes of the water canopy rain would have not been possible. 

In Noah's days the world was very wicked, a lot like today's world. It seems likely that Noah was preaching that rain would come from the sky. If it had not rained before the flood people would have probably mocked Noah for preaching something that had never happened. Even today people mock Christan's when they say Jesus is coming back in the sky, which is also something that has never happened. So could have it have rained before the flood? The Bible does not specific state it did not rain. However it does not seem likely that it rained before the flood.

Jonathan Lombardi
January 10, 2008