Let me tell you another little story from the Bible. The hero is one who had a walk-on role in yesterday's saga on this page: Elijah the Tishbite, from the town of Tishbe in Galaad, is perhaps better known to history as the Prophet Elias.
According to Kings, Elias was upset when Ahab, King of Israel, allegedly led on by Jezebel, his evil wife, encouraged homage to the false god, Baal. In putting a stop to such nonsense, Elias used both his talents as a long-range forecaster, and his enviable expertise as a manipulator of the elements: "There shall be no dew or rain for years in Israel," he said, "except according to my word."
And so it happened. For 30 years or more there were obvious signs of a dramatic change in climate; the land burned under a blazing sun, rivers dried up, crops withered and died.
Leaving Israel to the not-so-tender mercies of the drought, Elias went off to while away his time in Zarephath.
But Elias relented, came back, and said he would repair the damage. He promised "the fire of the Lord", which we may reasonably construe as lightning, followed by abundant rain.
Knowing lightning is attracted to the highest point in the vicinity, Elias picked Mount Carmel as the site for his experiment, and also chose the evening time, when he knew that thunderstorms are most likely to occur.
He constructed an effective lightning conductor by "repairing the altar of the Lord", and building it up to a formidable height with 12 large stones; then he had the whole edifice saturated with numerous jars of water to improve its conductivity.
Before long, "the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice and the stones, and also licked up the water in the trench around the altar".
Following this first flash, "Elias climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, bent down to the ground, and put his face between his knees", thereby wisely adopting the foetal position, the safest physical attitude for anyone under threat by lightning.
The Prophet noted "the sound of the abundance of rain" - a reference, no doubt, to the commonly observed phenomenon that sounds often carry farther than normal in the humid atmosphere before a downpour.
When there appeared "a cloud as small as a man's hand rising from the sea", Elias was able to send word to Ahab that his prediction was about to be fulfilled: "And thus it came to pass that the heavens grew black with clouds, the wind rose, and there occurred a great rain over all the land of Israel."