In my mid 20’s, God made clear to me his desire that I should be set apart for his purposes. This would require a deeper commitment on my part. I gave it considerable thought, weighing what type of lifestyle changes this would mean. After struggling a bit, I offered the Lord my yes.
To commemorate this major life decision, I made my way to the Logos Bookstore in Ann Arbor to find a few meaningful items. One of those was a rainbow decal which I centered in the rear window of my car. In that day, the rainbow was clearly distinguishable as a Christian image. It served as a reminder of the steadfast faithfulness God promised to Noah and all of humankind.
God’s bow is a perfect arch spanning the horizon and connecting heaven with earth. It is caused by the rays of the sun reflected and refracted from the falling raindrops viewed from a particular angle. Its mellow radiance of variegated colors brings spontaneous pleasure to the onlooker. The sun shining through a shower indicates that the sky is not fully overcast. What a beautiful and fitting symbol to assure there will be no more floods to destroy the earth.
God calls the phenomenon his bow because it is made by him, including the natural causes of it, but also because he appointed it to be a sign of his covenant with his creatures. Whether there was a rainbow before the flood is a question not easily answered. Scholar’s opinions differ on this. The greater number of Christian historians are of the mind that the rainbow was there from the beginning, before the flood, and then afterwards, God appointed it to be a sign of the covenant.
However, though the natural causes of the rainbow existed before does not prove that the disposition of them to produce such an effect could not be so ordered by God to create an entirely new thing. Perhaps the composition of the atmosphere was different after the flood, which is in harmony with the facts of natural history pointing to the difference in the climate of the earth’s surface before and after the flood. This would be a more wonderful sign of the covenant than if the rainbow had been what Noah and his sons were familiar with seeing. It would more sufficiently remove their fears of a future deluge.
God’s bow is a bow without arrows. It is not turned downwards toward the earth, but upwards toward heaven, making it a sign of kindness and compassion rather than anger and wrath. To the early saints, it was a clear sign of his mercy. Though they did not yet fully understand how God would accomplish his purposes, with this assurance, he prepared them to believe that all would return to the glory of his love, grace, truth, and holiness.
God did not promise we will never experience storms, but he promised to be with us during them. Viewing a rainbow in the sky, with its accompanying feelings of joy, became God’s pledge of peace to humanity. Today, it still serves as an everlasting covenant that extends through all ages, to the end of the world.
Becoming Biblical 