The Call of Rainbows

 I was able to get this video of the lower part of a rainbow on Labor Day. (My wife was driving and I was sitting in the passenger seat, by the way.) We were driving on Route 32 in Pike County, Ohio.

I love rainbows. They always remind me of the covenant God made with Noah and all his descendants, including you and me, after the great flood which had decimated all but eight members of the human race, those who had remained faithful in living in what Martin Luther called the "daily repentance and renewal" that God gives those who believe in Him.

Genesis 9:8-17 says:

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” 

Of course, I understand (sort of) the scientific explanation of what rainbows are and how they are formed. But, Genesis tells us of Who forms rainbows and why.

Whenever I look at a rainbow, I'm also reminded of God's never-ending love for the human race. In their way then, rainbows also point to the ultimate expression of God's love for us, when God the Son, Jesus, Who, gave Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sin so that all who repent for sin and entrust their lives to Him will, like Him, rise and live with God forever.

Rainbows call us to repentance and belief in the God Who makes every single one of them.