Why Did God Create the Seasons?

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What Is the Reason for Earth’s Phases?

The entire creation was perfect in the beginning. It appears the Garden of Eden was tropical or subtropical in climate, not too hot, not too cold. How could people without clothes live in ice and snow? Food wouldn’t grow without the right conditions.

Although Adam and Eve had to till the ground to provide food and shelter for themselves, we don’t see in the Bible that the cycles of the world changed immediately after the fall. 

During the flood, with the entire globe covered in water, no seasonal changes would have occurred. Everything was dark, gloomy, and wet until the rain stopped. It took months for the water to subside and the ground to dry enough for Mr. and Mrs. Noah and their family to leave the ark and start a new life. 

The first time we encounter seasonal distinctions is in some words given to Noah when they left the ark.

As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. (Genesis 8:22 NIV)

The Ice Age occurred after the flood due to the cooling of the planet’s changing form. Evidence of fossilized tropical plants has been found as far south as Antarctica. Perhaps after the earth’s crust split open to allow water to pour out, these hunks of land drifted southward and froze. 

Post-flood also appears to be when the Lord changed the dietary rules He gave to Adam and Eve. The first couple, as well as the animals, were told to eat from every green herb the Lord provided. 

Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. (Genesis 1:29-30 NIV)

All animals were herbivores in the beginning. Since all death occurs because of Adam’s sin, animals also couldn’t have died before the fall. We don’t know when certain members of the animal kingdom became predators and ate meat, but we do see that not until after the flood did God give mankind permission to add meat to their vegetative diet. The animals adopted a fear of man to prevent them from being hunted to extinction. 

The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. (Genesis 9:2-4)

Let’s look at 5 reasons we need seasons:

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1. Seasons Are Necessary for Planting and Harvesting

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” (Mark 4:26-29)

The ground rests in the winter when we don’t grow fruit and vegetables. Cold weather can also limit the number of insects that can hatch in the spring. In those years when winter is not as harsh as in other years, the bugs do seem to flourish when the air warms. Trees and shrubs lie dormant during winter, preparing for new buds and leaves. 

Most vegetables are planted in the spring and grow to harvest, but others ripen in late summer and early fall. The varying timetable gives people a supply of food for many months that can be stored, frozen, or canned for consumption during the barrenness of winter when nothing grows.

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2. Seasons Give Our Bodies Rhythm

Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed. (Exodus 23:12)

While some areas of the globe have a mostly consistent climate, such as tropical or arctic, they do still experience some differences. The tilt of the Earth means summer is hotter in the equatorial areas than in other months. The arctic parts of the world experience months of darkness or months of light. 

Mental battles occur when the body is exposed to too much darkness; sleep is inhibited when the sun shines for months. Because the human body does need specific times of light and darkness for rest and work, the people in these areas have ways to adjust. Our bodies were not designed to move for twenty-four hours without relief.

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3. Seasons Give Us Methods of Measuring Time

God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:16-18)

God gave the moon and sun to dictate time. We need it, but He doesn’t, because God lives outside time (2 Peter 3:8). On our planet, we need ways to calculate progression and record events. 

We need the sun for our own health and for growing plants. The moon controls the tides of the oceans. The two great lights God put into the heavens keep our planetary home in balance.

Before we had clocks and cell phones, humans used the sky to measure time. We find relics of sundials and other solar-type calendars in archaeological digs. Because humanity depended upon the sun so much, sun and moon worship grew, as people thought of these lights as gods who controlled the land’s productivity. 

Some groups of people cited end-of-the-world cataclysmic events that would occur on December 21, 2012, due to the end date of a Mayan civilization’s long count calendar. Of course, these events never happened, as we are still here. 

Even though we now use electronic devices to calculate days, months, and years along with minutes and hours, the earth’s rotation and revolution around the sun are still the source of our measurements. 

In Joshua 10:1-13, we read about the one time in history that the sun did not set for an entire day. God miraculously stopped time to give aid to the Israelites in battle.

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4. Seasons Give Us Renewal

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) 

After the dreariness and cold of winter, spring is refreshing. The birds build nests, cattle give birth, and flowers and trees bloom. And on the opposite end of the weather spectrum, we seek relief from months of summer heat and welcome cooler temperatures of fall along with the beauty of autumn’s colorful display. 

We mentally prepare for New Year’s Day each year as a fresh start. We set goals and resolutions, hoping for a better tomorrow and better productivity than the year behind us. 

Seasons can also keep us from growing bored. We have the variety of nature to anticipate as this sphere undergoes a changing process. 

Winter brings snow and ice to northern regions, while more southern areas receive rain during cold months. We need these times of moisture to raise water tables and nourish roots of plants while they are dormant.

Tropical regions don’t experience the same seasonal changes as other parts of the globe do, yet they do have weather stages. The temperature stays mainly consistent, but dry months can be followed by long rainy periods that help to replenish the rivers and lakes that wildlife depend upon for survival.

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5. Seasons Give Us Celebrations

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV)

Celebratory seasons are used as markers for gratitude and for commemorating the blessings of God in a formal way. Because these wonderful days are only celebrated once per year, we have anticipation of the happy times they represent. Traditions vary across the world in the way families celebrate, but our calendars mark days set aside for special recognition. 

Most of the world celebrates Christmas and Easter, even those who may not realize the basis for the day. In America, we celebrate Thanksgiving in November, and other countries have times of formally giving thanks. The Jewish holidays commemorate Passover, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, and Hanukkah. 

We prepare, decorate, and even have time off from school and work for some of these. This separation from the day-to-day activities gives us times of refreshment, rest, and joy.

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A Season without Sin

Can we anticipate a world without sin? During Jesus’ Millennial Reign, Satan will be bound for 1,000 years and can’t deceive anyone. There will be no war, crime, or tragedy. After the devil is released and judged, he will be thrown into the lake of fire to be punished forever.

There will be a period of judgment from God for those who died in their sins. This will be the saddest season the world has ever experienced. 

Believers can rejoice that we will be resurrected into our new immortal bodies and given rewards for the deeds we did while living in our bodies. We will receive a crown of life from our Savior because we trusted in His sacrifice.

Seasons will no longer be needed because we will live in the light of God forever. 

There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:5)

For now, we need seasons to be able to live on this globe. Let’s enjoy the benefits of each changing interval and look forward to the new heaven and the new earth where we will live forever in perfection.

We can partake of the tree of life, the tree that needs no seasons and will never die. 

Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. (Revelation 22:14)

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