If You Know, You Know
We are always glad to see a rainbow in the sky, because we view it as a sign that better things are on the horizon. But did you know that the rainbow was meant as a sign from God? In Genesis 8:13–22; 9:11–13, shows the inception of the rainbow as a sign of God’s covenant with Noah that He would never again destroy the earth and all living creatures by flood. In His wrath and judgment over sin and evil, God sent a flood to destroy His creation and begin anew. To that end, He saved Noah and the lives of those in the ark because of Noah’s righteousness. Today, because of His grace, all people have an opportunity to get into His ark of safety. While He promised never to destroy everything by flood again, His wrath will not abide evil and sin forever and His Day of Judgment is coming. But like Noah, those who accept God’s grace and enter the ark of safety will be saved. I pray that all of us who are in God’s ark of safety will encourage everyone we know and love to make sure that they are too. Amen
By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.
Then God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.” (Genesis 8:13-17)
Noah was deemed righteous in God’s sight. God sent a great flood which destroyed the entire earth. Only Noah and his family (wife, sons and their wives) were saved from destruction in an ark God had directed Noah to build. After the waters receded from the earth and the land was dry again, God told Noah that he, his family and the animals that they had preserved, were to leave the ark and begin repopulating the earth. Noah was 601 years old.
So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.
Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
“As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.” (Genesis 8:18-22)
Noah and his family and all of the animals on the ark came out of the ark in obedience to God’s instruction. The first thing Noah did was build an altar to the Lord and offer sacrifices to worship Him in gratitude and thanks. Thus was the beginning of this new age following God’s judgment and destruction of his creation because of man’s sin. The sacrifices Noah offered were pleasing to God and He made a covenant with Noah. God vowed to Himself that He would never again destroy all living creatures or curse the ground, even though He understood the evil that is in men’s hearts. That evil had been the catalyst for God to send the great flood in the first place. The continuity of day and night and the seasons would be evidence of God’s fulfillment of His vow.
I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth. ”
And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. (Genesis 9:11-13)
God made a covenant with Noah never again to destroy all life by flood. Then He gave a sign to seal His covenant…. a rainbow in the sky. This would be a sign of God’s covenant with the all living creatures. The sign is a reminder of this covenant and a reminder to us to keep the stipulations of the covenant.
The rainbow…. It comes after the sun comes out following the rain. We look at it and marvel at the colors formed by the sun rays that reflect off of the remaining mist. Seldom do we think of God’s covenant promise not to destroy the earth by flood again. But It should be a reminder to us that sin caused God to send the flood to destroy evil in the world, and only those in the ark of safety lived. Jesus’ return will lead to the final eradication of sin and evil in the world, and all those who rebel against God. Only those in God’s “ark of safety” will live and enjoy fellowship with Him. And so, for those of us who have been saved, the presence of a rainbow in the sky after a rain should cause us to pause and offer praise and worship to God for His grace, His mercy and His salvation. The rainbow is pretty with all of its beautiful colors, but more importantly, it serves as a sign from God to make sure that we are in His ark of safety so we will not be destroyed on the day of His judgment. The rainbow, a sign of God’s grace and salvation…. If you know, you know!
Blessings, Rev. Glenn