The Rainbow: God's Sign

My Bow in the Cloud

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God gave Noah more than words. He gave him something to see. Whenever rain clouds came, a rainbow would remind everyone of God's promise.

A sign. “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” (9:12). Perpetual means it keeps going forever.

God's own rainbow. God said, “I set My rainbow in the cloud” (9:13). God made the rainbow, and He calls it His own.

How rainbows happen. A rainbow appears when sunlight shines through raindrops. Each drop bends the light and spreads it into colors. God designed light and water to work this way.

Every color. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet are all hidden in plain sunlight. God put beauty even into His signs.

Right when we need it. “It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud” (9:14). The rainbow comes with the rain clouds, just when people might be afraid.

God remembers. “And I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh” (9:15).

God looks at it. “The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant” (9:16). When you look at a rainbow, God is looking at it too.

A bow. The Hebrew word for rainbow is also the word for a bow that shoots arrows. Many Christians see God hanging up His bow after the storm, the way a warrior puts away his weapon.

For all flesh. “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth” (9:17). Every rainbow is for everyone.

A promise kept. Isaiah writes, “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth” (Isaiah 54:9). God has kept this promise every day since Noah.

Storms in life. Sometimes life feels like a storm. God's rainbow reminds us that He is faithful in hard times. “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).

What we learn. God does not only make promises. He gives us signs that help us remember them and trust Him.

What to do. Next time you see a rainbow, stop and say the memory verse. Thank God for one promise He has kept for you.

The rainbow is the first covenant sign in the Bible. Anyone, anywhere, can see it after rain, and it keeps coming back.

Qeshet. Qeshet (say: KEH-shet) is the regular Hebrew word for a war bow (Genesis 27:3; 48:22). Many Christians see a picture in it: the God who judged the earth hangs His bow in the clouds, pointed away from the earth.

“My rainbow” (9:13). God calls the bow His own. The sign is His pledge, placed by His hand. It is not luck or chance that it appears.

Light and water. A rainbow forms when sunlight is bent and reflected inside falling raindrops, spreading white light into its colors. The same water that once judged the earth now carries a message of mercy.

God's remembering (9:15-16). “I will look on it to remember.” God speaks in a human way so that we can understand His faithfulness. The sign reminds God, so to speak, before it ever reminds us. Our safety rests on God's memory, not ours.

Isaiah 54:9-10. God uses the Noah covenant as His guarantee to Israel: “For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you.” If God kept His word about the waters, He will keep His word about His mercy.

Signs that point to Christ. God's covenants come with signs. The rainbow marks the covenant with Noah, and the cup marks the new covenant in Jesus' blood (Luke 22:20).

For all flesh (9:17). “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.” The sign is not hidden in a temple or kept by priests. It hangs in the open sky for every nation to see.

Psalm 46:1. “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.” The rainbow appears in the storm, not only after every cloud is gone. God's help is present in the trouble itself.

Application. Treat every rainbow as a reminder to trust God in your own storms, and to tell someone else that God keeps His word. The God who has kept this promise for thousands of years will keep every promise He has made to you.

A Rainbow Around the Throne

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The rainbow does not appear only in Genesis. The Bible also shows a rainbow in heaven, around the throne of God.

Ezekiel's vision. The prophet Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord. It shone like a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day (Ezekiel 1:28). Ezekiel fell on his face to worship.

John's vision. John saw heaven opened and God on His throne. “And there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald” (Revelation 4:3). An emerald is a green jewel. John wrote down what he saw so that we could know what heaven is like.

Mercy at the center. The throne is where God rules and judges. Around it is a rainbow, the sign of God's mercy. God's power and God's kindness go together.

Holy, holy, holy. Around the throne the living creatures never stop praising: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8).

The Lamb. In the next chapter John sees a Lamb standing “in the midst of the throne,” a Lamb “as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6). The Lamb is Jesus, who died and rose again.

Worthy. Heaven sings to Jesus, “For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).

For every nation. The rainbow covenant was for every person on earth. In heaven, people from every nation praise the Lamb. God's mercy reaches the whole world.

No more curse. In the new creation, “there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it” (Revelation 22:3).

No more tears. “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying” (Revelation 21:4).

What we learn. The God who set His rainbow in the clouds sits on a throne circled by a rainbow. His mercy is not a small part of who He is. It surrounds His whole rule.

Come close. Because the Lamb is on the throne, God's people can come near. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

What to do. When you pray, picture the rainbow around God's throne. Come to Him with confidence, because Jesus has made the way.

Genesis 9 puts the rainbow in the clouds over the earth. Ezekiel and Revelation put it around the throne of God. The sign of God's covenant mercy stands at the center of heaven.

Ezekiel 1:28. Ezekiel's vision of God's glory ends with its brightness compared to the bow in the cloud on a day of rain. Ezekiel's response was to fall on his face. Glory and mercy appear together.

Revelation 4:3. “And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.” John describes God with light and precious stones, not with a body. Jasper and sardius were among the stones on the high priest's breastplate, and so was an emerald (Exodus 28:17-20).

The throne and the rainbow. A throne speaks of authority and judgment, and the rainbow speaks of covenant mercy. Revelation goes on to describe God's judgments on the world, but it begins with mercy circling His throne.

Revelation 4:8. The living creatures cry, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.” God's holiness is why sin must be judged. His covenant mercy is why sinners can stand before Him.

The Lamb in the throne (Revelation 5:6). John sees “a Lamb as though it had been slain” standing in the midst of the throne. Mercy has a face: the crucified and risen Jesus.

Revelation 5:9. “You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” The rainbow covenant was made with all people, and the Lamb's people come from all peoples.

Hebrews 4:16. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace.” Because the Lamb is on the throne, the throne of judgment is, for believers, a throne of grace.

Revelation 22:3. “And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it.” The story that included a flood and a rainbow ends with the curse removed.

Revelation 21:4. “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.” The God of the rainbow will end sorrow itself.

Mercy for every nation. The rainbow over Noah was for all people, and the song in Revelation 5:9 is sung by people from every nation. God's covenant mercy reaches as far as His rainbow.

Application. Worship the God whose holiness is surrounded by mercy. Come to Him boldly through Jesus, and look forward to the day when every tear is wiped away.

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