Rainbows!! I love rainbows. Every time it rains if the sun even thinks about peaking through the clouds my eyes are glued to the skies looking for one. The sight of one is just so neat.
However some in our society have totally perverted the true meaning of this atmospheric phenomena. People claim it's the sign of the homosexual community or they make it into Irish folklore. Have you ever studied the origins of the Rainbow and what it truly means. It is a sign of a covenant. A covenant is a promise made, an oath swore, between two parties that can only be broken by the death of one of the for mentions parties.
Now when we read the account in Genesis of Noah and the flood we see that God destroyed the earth and all of mankind because of the evil and wickedness that was in man's hearts. He tells Noah to build the ark and two of every kind of animal came aboard for a 40 day tour and were all rescued. Noah, his family and all the smelly animals get off the ark onto dry ground. Noah sacrifices to the LORD and scripture says in 8:21 that the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart, "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, EVEN THOUGH every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done."
What God is saying is that man is so rooted in sin and evil that generation after generation it's only going to keep getting worse. If the earth and everything in it were to stay pure God would have to destroy each generation because of their sin.
This is where the covenant comes in, God is making a promise to the earth and mankind that He will never again destroy the earth with flood waters. Now in a covenant each party must promise to do something for the other. For example when David and Jonathan made a covenant the terms were to protect each other's family. That was the obligation of both Jonathan and David and in 2 Samuel 9 we see David fulfilling his part of the covenant with Jonathan.
So did you notice that God's covenant with man is kind of one sided. He promises never to destroy mankind again with flood waters (even though He Himself said that every generation is only going to get worse.) But what is our part of the covenant? What is our side or the earth's obligation in this covenant?
Nothing!!
Can we really give anything to God. Is there anything we have that God is in need of? The book of Job says who can give anything to God, who has anything that God needs? If you study the covenants god makes with mankind you will always see the God's covenants are one sided. He does all the work because He is the only one who can do the work.
This is reflected in the symbol of this covenant; the Rainbow. Sure it looks pretty in the sky, but it's a symbol of war and wrath. It is a BOW MADE FROM THE RAINS. Notice the way it appears in the sky. The arrow points away from us and toward God Himself. In this symbol He is foretelling us of the coming of Jesus to take our punishment. The wrath God has from generation after generation of sinful men, He points to Himself and takes in full measure.
The next time you see a rainbow, marvel at it beauty but let it also be a reminder to you. A reminder of what your Savior did for you. A reminder of how good God is that he would take the full brunt of the punishment meant for you and me. Let it remind you of God's love and grace.
May our LORD be with you.
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