Lessons from the Rainbow

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.
Genesis 9:16

I know very few people who can't stop and admire the beauty of a rainbow in the sky. Knowing the things that I now know about optics, prisms, light rays, and angles of refraction still does not take away the wonder of it. I think that is because deep inside human beings is something of the memory of this promise of God. Noah was given the rainbow as a covenantal reminder from God that the epic destruction of humanity by flood would not come to the earth again.

And I am reminded that the promises of God are beautiful. Every rainbow shows this. Writing this reflection with a Canadian cold front fast approaching and sub-zero temperatures not far behind still does not take away the sense of joyous splendor I feel when I think of a warm spring shower followed by a shining rainbow. As surely as the rainbow follows the storm, God keeps His promises to us in beauty and in grace.

I think it is sad that the rainbow has been hijacked by both the New Age movements and the homosexual rights movements.From my point of view, it is a bit like Muslims deciding to adopt a cross as their symbol. But even that current meaninglessness aside, I know that God is a keeper of promises. And the rainbow is the reminder of that truth.

The rainbow is a covenantal sign given by God for all humanity. In fact, interestingly, the text says the covenant is with every living creature, making this the only biblical covenant that I am aware of that is with the all the living things on planet earth. This is God's commitment to seeing to the planet, which is why I really don't buy into environmental alarmism. We should not trash the place, but I seriously doubt that we will turn the planet to cinders. God will one day (see 2 Peter 3:11-13 on that truth). But until then, God has our planet in good hands.

When God is Grieved

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.
Genesis 6:5-6

This is one of the more difficult descriptions of God in all of the Bible. And it comes pretty early in the text. It is the sight of God grieved. The pre-flood narrative shows us a world where promiscuity, violence, wickedness, and power run amuck have become the standard culture of the human race. There is a phrase that is particularly chilling: "that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

There is a three-fold intensification of the evil of mankind that is frightful: 1) every intention was 2) only evil 3) continually. That was what finally grieved the heart of God. And the story of Noah is the story of one family's survival in the midst of what God saw as ONLY an evil culture. There was nothing redeeming about it. The solution was to wipe it out and start all over.

When I see God grieved in scripture, I need to take notice. He does not like to see sin in His creation. He does not like to see a society overcome by wickedness. And it will be dealt with. I refrain from social commentary ONLY because it is SO obvious. Today, almost all of society is overcome by an anti-God, naturalistic bias that has led to all sorts of evil being tolerated. In fact, such tolerance is now a virtue to most. Where is it going? I can only think toward grieving God and inevitable, consequential judgment. That is what happens when God is grieved.