What is the significance of a rainbow?
To whom does the rainbow and its message belong?
To answer these questions, one must go back to the origin of the rainbow, back to when the rainbow initially appeared. Don’t listen to people today who seek to attach to the rainbow a variety of their own false ideas.
The first rainbow appeared around 4500 years ago. It was specifically installed by God and explained by God after Noah’s Flood. The Great Creator was explicit about His handiwork and what the rainbow means.
The Great Creator said this about the rainbow to Noah and to his sons following their departure from the Ark:
“Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth. This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you,.. for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.” (Genesis 9:9-17)
Notice that the Great Creator claimed ownership of the rainbow saying, “I set My bow in the cloud.”
God also clearly explained its meaning. The rainbow is a sign and a reminder of God’s promise to never again destroy the earth with a flood.
Every time we see a rainbow we should remember how God judged a sin-soaked world for its evil with a world-destroying flood.
How Do Rainbows Form?
When sunlight hits raindrops in the atmosphere, refraction and reflection of the light produce a rainbow. The light is refracted (bent) as it enters the raindrop. Some light rays are reflected off the back surface of the drop and refracted again as they exit the drop.
Light of different wavelengths (colors) is refracted at different degrees. Each raindrop acts as a prism as it separates sunlight into the colors of the rainbow.
Thus the rainbow results from the properties of light that God created on Creation Day One when He said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (Genesis 1:3).
Therefore by virtue of having created light and its properties which produce rainbows, the Great Creator is the inventor and owner of the rainbow. As the Author, He determines its meaning. The rainbow signifies God’s promise to never again destroy the world with a flood.
Questions to Ponder
1. What parts of the Genesis Flood history (Genesis 6-9) would you benefit from reviewing?
2. What is the significance of God’s Rainbow Promise?
Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.
For Christ and His Kingdom.
Alere Flammam Veritatis.
Soli Deo Gloria.
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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
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(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday, June 7, 2023 A.D.
“All flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth. This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.” (Genesis 9:11-13)
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