Job 38:28
Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?
Hath the rain a father?.... None but God; hence the Heathens themselves call God getiov {y}, and ombriov {z}; see
Jeremiah 14:22; he that is our Father in heaven is the Father of rain, and him only; whatever secondary causes there be, God only is the efficient cause, parent, and producer of it: so the Gospel is not of men but of God, is a gift of his, comes down from heaven, tarries not for men, and is a great blessing, as rain is;
or who hath begotten the drops of the dew? which are innumerable; he that is the parent of the rain is of the dew also, and he only {a}; to which sometimes not only the word of God, and his free favour and good will, but the people of God themselves are compared for their number, influence, and use; see Ps 110:3; and their new birth is similar to the generation of dew, it being not of the will of man, but of God, according to his abundant mercy, free favour, and good will, is from above, from heaven, and is effected silently, secretly, suddenly, at an unawares; John 1:13.
{y} Aristot. de Mundo, c. 7.
{z} Pausan. Attica, sive, l. 1. p. 60.
{a} Though a certain poet (Alcman Lyricus apud Macrob. Saturnal. l. 7. c. 16.) says that dew is the offspring of the air and of the moon; but these can only at most be reckoned but secondary causes. The Arabs speak of an angel over dew. Abulpharag, Hist. Dynast. p. 75.