The Winds of the World

“Blowing toward the south,
Then turning toward the north,
The wind continues swirling along;
And on its circular courses the wind returns.”
Ecclesiastes 1:6

This is one of the Bible’s many scientific insights, written long before such a process was discovered in the modern science of meteorology. The basic circulation of the atmosphere (which generates the winds of the world) is “toward the south” near the ground, which then turns “toward the north.” The heated air near the equator expands and rises, then flows north to replace the colder, heavier air which has descended to the ground in the polar regions.

This simple north-south-north cycle is complicated, however, by the earth’s rotation. Further complexities are introduced by the different topographical features of the surface (oceans, mountains, etc.), but the end result is a general circulation of the whole atmosphere, which “continues swirling along, and on its circular courses the wind returns.”

None of this was understood at all until very modern times, but this ancient verse in Ecclesiastes corresponds beautifully to modern science. In fact, it was not even known until recent times that air had weight, but the patriarch Job had noted about 4,000 years ago that “He...sees everything under the heavens. When He imparted weight to the wind...” (Job 28:24-25) - and this fact is essential to the atmospheric circulation.

This is only one of many scientific principles implied in the Bible ages before men discovered them in their scientific research. In contrast, there are no demonstrable scientific errors in the Bible. This is not really surprising, for the same God Who wrote the Word made the world! In Jesus Christ “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:3).