Rainbows

I set My rainbow in the cloud … the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh (Gen. 9:13, 15).


What’s in a promise from God? Well, if you don’t like the thought of drowning from another global flood because evil is running rampant in the world or that polar ice caps might be melting due to global warming, this passage is a solid promise coming from a very reliable source.

We can only imagine what was running through Noah's mind whenever it rained after the flood. But the sign of the rainbow would also remind him of the goodness and mercy of God. This is because Noah was a man of faith (cf. Heb. 11:7) who took God at His Word, the very God of all creation who said to Noah, …Never again … never again … (Gen. 9:11). The word for rainbow is also the Hebrew word for a battle bow. This storm of judgment is past and the symbol of peace is hanging in the sky.


It takes sun and rain to create a rainbow, light refracting through millions and millions of droplets of water. Each droplet is acting like a prism that separates white light into a group of seven colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet called a spectrum. That spectrum had been given the mnemonic name of Roy G. Biv. Rainbows are a display of all the seven colors of light in the spectrum. And it is this magnificent prism in the sky that reminds God of His covenant with all living creatures of the earth – never again will there be a flood that will destroy all flesh. Seven is often symbolized as the number of completion. Since there are 7 colors making up the sign of the covenant between God and the earth, the number 7 suggests that the judgment by universal flood is complete, done and over with, never again.


A promise is only as good as the one making it, as well as one’s ability to make good on that promise. The writer of Hebrews declares that is impossible for God to lie (6:18). Paul states in 2 Corinthians 1:20, For all the promises of God in Him (Jesus Christ) are Yes, and in Him (Jesus Christ) Amen, to the glory of God through us. God’s Word is not only all good, but God’s Word is all powerful, By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God… (Heb. 11:3).


While the world goes searching for Roy G. Biv’s elusive pot of gold at rainbow’s end, we know that the real treasure is in the rainbow itself. Whenever we look up in the sky and spot a rainbow we can be reminded that all of God’s promises are infinitely better than the finest of gold and base our faith, even our very lives, on God’s promises because what He has promised He is able to perform. Did not Abraham take God at His word? The Apostle Paul testified of Abraham, He did not waiver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS (Rom. 4:20-22). What’s in a promise from God? Roy G. Biv reminds us of that! But so does the Word of God!