God’s reason for rainbows

 

This morning’s temperature is -36C more or less. Wind makes it feel colder. It is hardly a day to be thinking about a flood but this third COVENANT promises no worldwide floods ever, a comfort to some but not those local places where flooding happens.

The Noahic covenant was made after that big flood. Prior to it, rain did not exist as the earth was watered by a mist. The world became full of evil so God selected one man and his family to rescue. He told Noah to build an ark and fill it with pairs of all living creatures. The story is well known . . .  

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” (Genesis 9:8–16)

This covenant has several parts. Just as with the Edenic Covenant, humanity was to repopulate the earth but the command to subdue it was not repeated. It seems at this time Satan usurped human authority and became the ruler of this world (see John 12:31). Even so, humans had some sway over the animal kingdom as they became fearful of people and were now included as a food item in human diets. However, blood was forbidden; it is the sustainer and symbol of life with shedding of blood as the symbol of death. Somewhat related, the provision for capital punishment came with the Noahic Covenant and all murderers were to be executed.

This covenant also came with a promise: humanity would never again be destroyed by a worldwide flood. The token or symbol, a rainbow, appeared for the first time with rain that also appeared for the first time. This sign was a reminder that God would never again destroy humanity with a flood.

This unconditional covenant is still in effect. It is also the basis for the Dispensation of Human Government. Nevertheless, just as mankind in Adam failed to keep their part, so also did the descendants of Noah. It was not long before people began resisting God, even Noah who He had rescued.

This story is sometimes deemed a fairy tale or fiction, yet every ancient people group has a flood story. It is unlikely all of them invented it. Not only that Jesus talked about Noah regarding His Second Coming:

And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. (Luke 17:22–27)

Noah was a real person. He trusted God and made it into the ‘Hall of Faith’ in Hebrews, “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.” (Hebrews 11:7) At that time, he stood alone in an evil world.

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Is our world heading the same direction as the world did in the time of Noah? Maybe, yet no matter how I view current events, the Bible says wickedness will not end with a flood but a fire and the world as we know it will be destroyed. God’s grace provides a way out, an Ark of rescue, not another Noah but Jesus who promises, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”