the symbol of God’s promises,
kept time and time again.
No matter how his children sinned
and live within sin's stain
our God still paints forgiveness
precious treasure through the rain
If we look at the entire story of the flood, we find that God’s anger at sin is terrifying.
The rainbow first appeared to men after God had washed the world of an epidemic of sin and debauchery. The Bible tells us
The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled.
So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” Genesis 6:5-8
But there was one man who did not yield to the sin that prevailed on the earth. His name was Noah. Again the Bible says,
God gave Noah instructions to build a boat. One that would hold all that God wanted to preserve on this earth. Noah spent many years building this “ark” and after that God sent the animals to him and they all entered the boat and “the LORD shut him in.”
It rained for 40 days, and water came up out of the earth and covered everything.
But after Noah and his family had been in the ark about 370 days and there was dry land, God said,
“Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.” Genesis 8:16
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Genesis 9:12-17
God promised to remember His people. The mighty, All-Powerful God of the universe made a promise. It was that He would never again flood the entire earth. God keeps His promises. Even with all the evil in our world over the centuries, we are still here.
The rainbow in the sky should not only remind us of our loving, promise keeping God, but also the lengths that He went to, in order to make sure the human race would go on. It should remind us how He hatred and was disappointed in the sin of the men He created.
When I look at the rainbow (in the sky) I see two sides of our God, His love and His justice.
It saddens me to see the way that beautiful symbol has been misappropriated by our culture. And God is Love, and He has a right to ask that we honor Him by obeying His just requirements.
So I pray that someday the world we live in will remember and give us back our rainbow.
Thank you Diane. So true. We need God's rainbow. Linda
ReplyDeleteThank you My friend
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