#89 Rainbows!

The Book of Genesis Day 89 Ge 9:8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9 "And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, 10 "and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11 "Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth." 12 And God said: "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: 13 "I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 "It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 "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. 16 "The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." 17 And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth." 18 Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. Having established capital punishment as a deterrent to protect men from each other, God now gives mankind the formal assurance of safety from any future worldwide flood. He sets His rainbow in the cloud. Ah the rainbow! Saw one just the other day near sunset and the whole eastern sky was under God’s beautiful archway of promise! Rainbows of course most commonly occur at the end of a rainstorm. As the rain continues to fall, the sun breaks through the clouds, and as the sunlight penetrates the drops of water, it is refracted and displays all the colors of the spectrum in a beautiful arc! Rainbows have always been special in our house. When we see one, a family member will call out excitedly, “Come see the rainbow!” And we run and we look and we marvel! I think this is generally true for all people, believers or not. Something stirs in our heart, We don’t know what it is or why, but we are always drawn to this awesome sight in the heavens. I remember the first time God opened up this portion of Scripture for me. It made me want to cry, leap for joy, and fall to my knees all at the same time. . For the first time I understood why there is something mystical and even worshipful about a rainbow! Look again at verse 16 and pay attention to what God says about the rainbow! “The rainbow shall be in the cloud and I will look on it.” Do you understand the significance of that statement? Every time a rainbow appears in the clouds God promises to look at it! That means when you and I rush out to see a rainbow, our eyes meet the very gaze of God! He is on the other side at that very moment looking at you. You are seeing the face of God veiled through the rainbow! (Which by the way, embodies all that Jesus is!) It’s a picture of the only way we can see God and that is, through Jesus! Pray: Thank You Lord for the special occurrence of rainbows, may we always use them as an opportunity to pause and worship You!