Taking Back The Rainbow

Insight
19/07/2019

Taking Back The Rainbow

In this month of July, you can’t help but deal with the topic of the rainbow as many celebrated Pride Day. But As Christians, we take a different meaning from the rainbow and hold to a history of wrath and hope in view of God’s love. Answers In Genesis wrote of this very topic, please read below:

These beautiful bows remind me of my parents’ teaching of what the Bible says about God’s purpose in giving us the rainbow.

From my childhood days as a lad in Australia to my travels today as a speaker with Answers in Genesis, I’ve seen scores—probably hundreds—of these amazing multicolored arches. Whether seen from the back seat of the family station wagon as it bounced down a dirt road in rural Queensland or the window seat of a jetliner flying over a storm below, these beautiful bows remind me of my parents’ teaching of what the Bible says about God’s purpose in giving us the rainbow.

Twisted Truth

Rainbows have come to be identified as symbolic of three basic concepts:

Promises—The Bible in Genesis 9 records God’s promise to Noah that He would never again destroy all flesh with a global flood.

Creation—Folklore and regional legends position the rainbow a bit differently. For example, Australian Aborigine and American Indian legends link it to creation events, and the Chinese have a legend concerning the rainbow and the creation of their first emperor Fohi.

Bridges—The rainbow has also been used to represent a bridge from earth (from humans) to a brighter, happier place. For instance, Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” represents connecting to a happier place. The New Age religious movement also uses the rainbow as a bridge.

The rainbow has been used as a sign of a new era and a symbol of peace, love, and freedom. Sadly, the colors of the rainbow are even used on a flag for the gay and lesbian movement.

A Biblical Covenant of Grace

However, the true meaning of the rainbow is revealed in Genesis 9:12–15:

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: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 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 (NKJV).

First, the covenant of the rainbow is between God and man and the animal kinds that were with Noah on the Ark: a promise that there would never be such an event again that would destroy all flesh on the land. As there have been many local floods since that time, this is obviously a promise there would never be another global flood to destroy all flesh.

The Bible states clearly that there will be a future, global judgment, but next time by fire, not water (2 Peter 3:10). Some commentators even suggest that the watery colors of the rainbow (the blue end of the spectrum) remind us of the destruction by water, and the fiery colors (the red end of the spectrum) of the coming destruction by fire.

Secondly, the rainbow is a covenant of grace. It is actually a symbol of Christ Himself.

When the secular world hears the account of Noah’s global Flood, they often accuse God of being an ogre for bringing this terrible judgment on people. However, the God of the Bible is a God of infinite mercy and grace.