Look for the Rainbow

God's Grace Promise Gen 9:8-16

Friday, November 10, 2017

4:11 PM

One of the greatest passages of God's grace and compassion is found in these verses. God is shown as both sovereign and merciful. It is in here we have the first showing of the natural phenomenon known as the "rainbow."

A rainbow is both beautiful and mesmerizing. Hard to capture in a photo and to explain, but at the same time when one sees a rainbow they usually stop to admire and look at it.

According to what we know of ancient times before the flood – there was not rain as we know it today, but rather mist came up from the ground and watered the earth according to Genesis 2:5-6.

A rainbow is formed when water droplets act as a prism. "When the sunlight enters a raindrop, the light is first refracted or bent as it enters the surface of the raindrop, is then reflected off the back of the drop, and is refracted once again as it leaves the drop. This splits the sunlight into the varied colors of the optical spectrum. When the conditions are right—which is when the angle of reflection between the sun, the drop of water, and our line of sight is between 40 and 43 degrees—we see this spectrum. It is most commonly listed in Isaac Newton's sevenfold order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. "

What is fascinating about this first sighting of a rainbow is:

The Hebrew word used for "bow" or rainbow is very significant. It is the same word used for the weapon "bow" as in "bow and arrow."

The bow was an ancient weapon and mentioned as a weapon for the first time in Genesis 21:20 where Ismael the son of Abraham and Hagar used it as his choice of weapons.

The picture we have here is that God has just judged the world, poured out his wrath, used His "bow" upon them and has now "Hung it up."

Out in the woods and fields of New Hope, MO a little blink of the eye unincorporated community around the intersection of B Highway and W Highway in Lincoln County, MO stands an old weather beaten and dilipadated log cabin. In that two room cabin many years ago lived Mr. And Mrs. Bill Harding and I believe all 14 of their children of which one of the younger ones was my Mom were born there, I mean literally in that cabin. While I have never had the privilege of visiting it personally I have a picture of the family standing outside it. My cousin and her sister found it a few years ago and were given permission to take some of the wood and they made a shelf for my Aunt who treasures it dearly. Part of this shelf is a hook, it was on this hook that Grandpa Harding would hang his gun when he did not need it. He was finished.

This is kind of the picture we are getting here with God, he has finished using his weapon and has now hung it up.

"As D. J. A. Clines has noted (1978), the flood represents an "un-creation" of the original *creation, a rending of the firmament that held back the heavenly waters and an eruption of the fountains of the deep that were retained beneath the earth. The work of separation and distinction that so characterizes the Genesis 1 creation account is undone in an act of cosmic judgment. The conclusion of the flood evokes a theme of recreation, accented in God's covenant and blessing of Noah, which echoes God's earlier blessing on the man and woman (cf. Gen 1:28; 9:1). It is significant that the sign of the covenant associated with this recreation, the rainbow, is a unique and auspicious feature of the creation—and open for all to see. Intimately associated with the storm, rain and cloud of destruction, the "rainbow in the cloud" is now newly interpreted as a sign of God's commitment to his creation, a covenant that God is solely responsible to uphold."

Dictionary of the Old Testament Pentateuch: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship.

Noah sees the rainbow after the storm. Noah sees a Promise of Peace

Ezekiel sees a rainbow in the midst of the storm - he has just seen a powerful windstorm, all types of creatures and heavenly colors and images and then he sees something even more astounding.

Ezekiel 1:27-28 King James Version (KJV)

27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.

Ezekiel sees a rainbow in the midst of the storm and to Ezekiel the rainbow is a comparison to the brightness of God's glory – NO WONDER WE ALL STOP TO ADMIRE IT WHEN WE SEE IT IN THE HEAVENS.

One more before I let you go

Noah sees the rainbow after the storm

Ezekiel sees the rainbow during the storm

But John sees the rainbow before the storm.

Revelation 4:1-3 (KJV)

1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. 3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

"Now we never see a complete rainbow. It is always broken at the bottom, and there is a space there where there is no color. So none of us ever see all the grace of God for our lives, all His goodness and mercy, and all the perfect plan He has for us." A Dictionary of Bible Types.

"The bow in this Scripture is a complete one. There is no break in it. All the colors have disappeared, except the green. Green is the color that represents praise and worship. The complete bow tells us that in the next life we shall see and understand all the goodness of God to us, all His grace in dealing with us, all His measureless mercy which preserved us. Because of this we shall spend eternity in adoring praise and worship."

A Dictionary of Bible Types.

I want to encourage us to take a new philosphy on life – I want you to look for the rainbow around your storm. Know that whenever things are dark and stormy "You will see Him standing by" sometimes in a rainbow of promise, peace and power.

001 - Look For The Rainbow Gen 9

1. Noah, who saw the rainbow AFTER the storm (Genesis 9);

2. Ezekiel, who saw the rainbow IN THE MIDST of the storm (Ezekiel 1);

3. John, saw the rainbow BEFORE the storm (Revelation 4:1–3).

http://www.sermoncentral.com/pastors-preaching-articles/joe-mckeever-skeletons-in-the-pulpit-and-cadavers-in-the-pews-1039.asp

Hijacked Rainbow - What it orginally meant - PROMISE SECURITY COVENANT