For the Genesis 9:12-17 PODCAST, Click Here!
"12 And God said: 'This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.' 17 And God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.'" ~ Genesis 9:12-17
Today, we return to our study of Genesis 9 where we see the survival of Noah in v.1-17, the sin of Noah in v.18-23, and, the sons of Noah in v.24-29. In this study, we will close out our study of the survival of Noah who was a real man who really lived through the flood. All of the stories in the Bible are true and they are all about on great thing: God's great unfolding plan for lost humanity to possibly come to faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In v.12-13 of today's passage we read, "12 And God said: 'This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.'"
God determined to establish this promise on His own, without consulting any man. There are no conditions in man that makes us deserve God's covenants. There are no conditions in us that make us sustain any covenant with God that He has given us. At the same time, there are no conditions in us that causes God to turn away from His faithfulness to us. Most people are clueless about what a covenant looks like because we live in a world where most people have thrown away their vows and covenants. This explains our difficulty appreciating God's commitment to us.
Throughout this passage we read, "between me and you." Such is the nature of God's promises. The promises of God are trustworthy because they are founded upon His character and power, and He cannot present any greater collateral than Himself. The rainbow was given by God to remind us of His faithfulness. The durability of something is what determines whether we are willing to stand on it. The soundness of its structure ensures its durability and reliability. This enables us to rely and trust that the platform will not collapse when we stand on it. God gave the rainbow to be a reminder of His faithfulness and His trustworthiness. We can therefore trust Him with every detail of our lives.
It was Isaac Newton who demonstrated that using a prism the white light of the sun contains all the colors of the visible spectrum. It was Lord Rayleigh who showed us how the interaction of atmospheric particles scatters the light waves into short wavelengths which appear more blue and violet. God made our eyes and brains to interpret certain combinations of wavelengths as a single, discrete color. Our visual sense interprets the blue-violet light of the sky as a mixture of blue and white light. This is why we see the sky as light blue.
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Man perpetuated on the earth due to the obedience of one man, Noah. It was through his faith in the goodness of God that Noah was able to access God's promises. God established His covenant with man and He used the rainbow as an object lesson that the earth will never again be flooded as it was in Noah's day. Before the flood there were no rainbows because there was no rain. God put the rainbow in the clouds as a statement of peace between Himself and sinful man. His goal was to show us that we can trust Him.
Covenants provide the needed solid foundation of any healthy relationship and society. When we establish covenants, we bind ourselves to that promise and to the one with whom it is established. Our character and integrity are all bound up in our loyalty to that covenant. Throughout the Old Testament, one of the attributes of God is He is faithful. And, when we give Him enough time, He will be faithful to show us His faithfulness and thus our trust in Him will grow. If we lack patience with God, we may never recognize His trustworthiness and His faithfulness.
In v.14-17 of today's passage we read, "'14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.' 17 And God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.'"
The word translated "rainbow" here is the same word for a battle bow, a weapon of death and destruction. In ancient Near Eastern literature there are often deities depicted with a bow, wielding destruction. In Exodus 15:3 we read "The Lord is a warrior." In Habakkuk 3:9 we read, "His bow is made bare." In Zechariah 9:14 we read, "His arrows are lightning." Throughout the Old Testament, God is depicted as a warrior with a bow fighting on the behalf of His people. In the Flood, God the Warrior shot His lightning arrows, pierced the earth, the earth broke open, exploded and then the sky fell. He bent His bow in wrath. But from now on God has hung up His bow and He hung it in the sky where everybody can see this is not the time of judgment, this is the time of peace.
Every time we see a rainbow, we must be reminded that it represents the victory of grace over judgment. Everyone deserves God's judgment, but His grace is possible because this is the age when God has hung up His bow. The whole flood story is a revelation of God’s holy wrath. But the rainbow is a sign that God is also a God of mercy and a God of grace and a God of patience and a God of peace. There will be a final wrath for those who are unwilling to believe in the goodness of God as shown in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. For 4500 plus years God has been faithful to the Noahic promise and the colors in the rainbow magnificently radiate the manifold glories of God's grace. As does every promise God made to Israel in the Old Testament. These promises point us to God's ultimate promise through His Son, the Lord Jesus. Through Him we are promised eternal life, only if we believe.
