The Rainbow Connection
Many years ago my wife and I were on our way to the Jersey Shore in a driving rain. As we drew closer to our destination, the rain began to subside and the sun appeared behind us. It was there, in those lingering clouds, that we saw the most amazing sight we had ever seen.
It was an enormous, natural arc of brilliant colors that stretched across the New Jersey Interstate. We drove directly underneath it as though it were a giant overpass made of a rainbow. We were almost transfixed by its beauty, simplicity, and depth.
“It’s completely in the clouds! It’s not at all in the sunny part of the sky. It’s exactly where God said He would put it,” my wife said with delight. At that moment, we experienced the unparalleled reality of Scripture: the visual manifestation of God’s ancient promise to Noah that He will never again destroy the world by universal flood:
Behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you:…Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood;…This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you…for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud(Gen. 9:9–14).
This covenant, like the one God would make later with Noah’s descendant Abraham, is unconditional. We have nothing to do with enforcing it. It is a promise from God to us.
This planet has experienced localized floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and even tsunamis. But not since the days of Noah more than 4,000 years ago has it ever faced a universal flood.
As we drove to our meeting, my wife and I rejoiced at the beautiful reminder of God’s love and faithfulness. And we were once again struck by the blessed reality of the matchless existence of an omnipotent, promise-keeping, heavenly Father who reminds us, “For I am the Lᴏʀᴅ, I do not change” (Mal. 3:6).
