The Rainbow

September 3, 2017 Background Scripture: Genesis 8:20 – 9:17 Lesson Passage: Genesis 8:20 – 22, 9:8 – 17 Our next three lessons will focus on signs as a physical representation of a divine-human covenant. Note that Jesus admonished the Jews during the time of his earthly ministry to avoid craving after a sign from God. He said that those who do so are evil and unfaithful. On the other hand, as we will discover, each of the signs covered in our lessons was initiated by God as an assurance of His agreement with the covenant that He outlined. It is fitting that these lessons will be based on scripture passages from the book of Genesis. Genesis is the beginning or origin of everything in the physical world including man. It is also the place where foundational covenants between God and man were established. Each covenant was initiated by God without human involvement or input. Today’s lesson is about the rainbow and what it symbolizes relative to the divine-human covenant. As a child, I thought rainbows were some of the most beautiful displays in nature. Their sheer size and range of colors made them the object of my continuous gaze and fascination. I didn’t know of anyone who could see a rainbow and not call it to the attention of as many people as they could. Beauty on this scale deserves to be shared. Of course we heard the tale that the beautiful display was being projected from a pot of gold. Later in life I learned the story of Noah and the origin of the rainbow. Many believe that rain was a new phenomenon in the earth when it was sent as a judgment against the living creatures of the earth. This judgment came because of the wickedness and sinfulness of the hearts of mankind. God saw that man’s thoughts were evil continuously. After the judgment, God allowed rain to continue to be a part of the climate in this world but He tempers it so that it will never be enough to destroy all living creatures in the world. Whenever God allows clouds to gather over the earth, He promised to place the rainbow in the clouds as a visible reminder to Him that He will never again destroy all living creatures on the earth by using a flood. His assurance of this is the rainbow He provides for Himself when He allows the clouds to form above the earth. God causes a rainbow to occur with the clouds as assurance that the rain would be limited and never again a total judgment against the living creatures of this world. Just as the rainbow serves as a reminder to God to limit the rain’s destruction, it can also serve as a sign to us that God does judge sin. God promised to not use flood waters to destroy all living creatures as a judgment but He did not promise to not judge sin. God’s pleasure with the burnt offering offered by Noah after exiting the ark is evidence that sin is still an affront to God’s holiness. The burnt offering is a sin offering. The burnt offering acknowledged sin and the creature that was sacrificed represented the sins of the people. The life blood that was shed by the sacrifice was pleasing to God. Robert C. Hudson August 23, 2017