Ooooo, the beautiful rainbow towering high above the earth with its pretty colors stretch out in the sky. A sight which is not seen everyday. For me, it’s funny how something so beautiful can be so misrepresented. Take for example the magical notion of “the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow”, or the spiritualist who endeavors to find the deep spiritual meaning when they see one (or two). How about the latest trend to use the colors to represent gay pride. Funny how mankind always takes something God created and distorts it.

I find it interesting how, not many people know and understand its meaning; not realizing that there is a purpose as to why the rainbow appears. Perhaps our culture should quit Rainbowdiscounting the Bible and actually READ it. You would be surprise to find the original meaning as to why things are the way they are.

There is a story in the book of Genesis detailing a period of time when mankind became so corrupt and wicked. The wickedness was so bad that God actually was grieved he had made man. Folks, thats pretty bad! We’re talking about some serious stuff here. It was to the point, God had to step in and do something or in my opinion, his plan of salvation would be in jeopardy. So God sent a flood as judgement. Many people don’t want to believe there was ever such a thing as the flood, because that would indicate that God has a right to judge His creation. Whether you want to believe it or not, God does own this earth, in fact He owns it all. We are just stewards or caretakers of his creation.

Fortunately, there was a man named Noah who stood for what was right. God chose him to build an Ark to save his family and two of every kind of animal, most likely they were very young at the time. For forty days and nights water poured upon this earth killing EVERYTHING except for everyone on the ark. This totally wrecked the real estate! You can still see it’s effects in the earth today. We are still digging up animals and all types of plants from that disaster. I personally don’t believe God enjoys destroying things he worked so hard at creating, however, to act as a righteous judge (which He is) we left Him with no choice.

After the flood and the waters receded, the ark came to rest on dry land. Now here is where the rainbow comes into play. God begins to explain to Noah how this new world will be. Letting him know about the different seasons and how the behavior of the animals will be towards man. Then God says:

“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. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” – Genesis 9:12-16

This is the true meaning of the rainbow. A promise from God never to destroy the earth again with a flood. This is what comes into my mind every time I see a rainbow. The story of the flood also, reminds me that God continues to watch over the conduct of men. Sometimes I wonder how far we will stretch the limits of His grace. Yes, I know God is a loving, compassionate and forgiving God, but lets not forget He is equally a God of righteousness and holiness. You cannot separate and ignore these as well. In the words of C.S. Louis: “He is Not like a tame lion“.