The Sign of the Rainbow

Introduction

No matter how young or old you are, and no matter how many times you have seen one, to behold a rainbow is always an awesome sight.

Maybe you remember from school that rainbows appear when light from the sun strikes a collection of raindrops and that the beautiful colors in the rainbow are caused by the refraction and internal reflection of light rays that enter the raindrops. A bright, full rainbow is indeed a beautiful sight.

1. The Rainbow as a Sign of the Covenant

The rainbow is first mentioned in the Bible in , right after the flood in the days of Noah. Noah and his family and all the animals had left the ark. Noah then built an altar and offered a sacrifice to God, and God responded:

“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.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.” ()

Point 1

“Never again,” God said—three times. Never again would He destroy all life with a flood. Every time He sees a rainbow—the handiwork of His own design—He remembers His promise. And while we see a rainbow only occasionally, God must see a rainbow every day, for there is surely a rainbow somewhere in the world every day.

Why God Grieved

Did God regret sending the flood? We walk on thin ice when we try to peer into the mind of God, for we see Him only from a human perspective because we are human. When we talk about Him—indeed, when He talks about Himself—we do it and He does it in human terms, for those are the only terms we can understand. Did God regret sending the flood? Was He sorry He did it? No, but the text does say that God did grieve the fallenness of humankind from His created holiness to the depravity of sin. These verses from chapter 6 of Genesis—just before God sent the flood—are haunting:

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart. ()

The flood was a result of the sinfulness of humanity. After the flood, it was as though God began anew with Noah and his wife and their three sons and their wives—eight people to whom God said (even as He had said to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden), “Be fruitful and multiply, teem on the earth and multiply in it” ().

So He set the rainbow in the sky as a sign of His promise never again to destroy the earth with a flood—no more, no less. Interestingly, God does not say the rainbow would serve as a reminder to man; it would serve as a reminder to Himself. He says, “I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant” (). But do you know what? Throughout the Old Testament period, when God saw a rainbow, not only did He remember His promise not to destroy the earth with a flood, that temporary fix for sin, but I suspect that every time He saw a rainbow, He also remembered that the permanent solution for sin would be to send His only Son to suffer and die.

The Ultimate Payment for Sin

We are told that before the flood God’s heart was filled with pain when He saw that man’s heart was filled with evil. Imagine the pain in His heart after the flood when He saw that man’s heart was still filled with evil, knowing that the ultimate solution for sin would be the death of His Son. Imagine the pain in His heart when He saw Noah fall into sin. Imagine the pain in His heart when He saw the tower of Babel being built. Imagine the pain in His heart when later in the Old Testament He saw His people Israel continually rebel and worship other gods. Imagine the pain in His heart when He saw His only Son hanging on the cross, suffering for all those sins. But Jesus not only suffered for the sins that had already been committed, He also suffered for all the sins that would be committed. He suffered for the sins that you and I would commit, do commit, and will commit. Imagine the pain in God’s heart when we, knowing what Jesus has done for us, continue to sin.

But thanks be to God, the love in God’s heart is stronger than the pain in His heart, so that our sin results not in a flood of judgment, but rather in a flood of forgiveness—a flood of forgiveness that came to us in the waters of Baptism, a flood of forgiveness that comes to us in the bread and the wine of the Lord’s Supper.

Today, when God sees a rainbow, He still remembers His promise not to destroy the earth with a flood. More so, He also remembers that ultimate solution for sin—the suffering and death of His Son. He remembers it not with pain in His heart, for that Son is now at His right hand, ruling all things for the Church, as St. Paul puts it (). And what shall we remember when we see a rainbow? The next time you see a rainbow, see it as a sign of salvation. Be reminded that God’s final solution for sin was not a flood, but a Savior.

Conclusion

Today, when God sees a rainbow, He still remembers His promise not to destroy the earth with a flood. More so, He also remembers that ultimate solution for sin—the suffering and death of His Son. He remembers it not with pain in His heart, for that Son is now at His right hand, ruling all things for the Church, as St. Paul puts it (). And what shall we remember when we see a rainbow? The next time you see a rainbow, see it as a sign of salvation. Be reminded that God’s final solution for sin was not a flood, but a Savior.