I Do Set My Bow in the Cloud (Genesis 9:13)

2022-09-14

After Noah and his family left the ark, the Lord made a covenant with every living thing to not destroy life with a flood ever again:

And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. (Genesis 9:11)

As a sign, or reminder, for this covenant, the rainbow is placed in the sky when sunlight meets rain:

I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. (Genesis 9:13)

And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. (Genesis 9:17)

This shows that the Flood of Noah was a worldwide flood. There have been huge floods that have destroyed much since then. None of them matched the destruction of Noah’s Flood.

What audacity for humankind, who received this grace after a flood that destroyed the entire world with all people save eight, to make the rainbow a symbol of pride. It should be the symbol of humility. “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water” (2 Peter 3:5). The second worldwide destruction will not be with water, but fire. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).

Regardless of humankind’s wickedness, the rainbow remains encompassed around the throne of God, as He always keeps His promises:

And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. (Revelation 4:3)