“My rainbow…will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” (Genesis 9:13)

We can imagine how stunning seeing the first rainbow must have been for Noah. More than just a delight to his eyes, the refracted light and resulting colors came with a promise from God. After a devastating flood, God assured Noah, and all the “living creatures” who’ve lived since, that “never again would the waters become a flood to destroy all life.”

Our earth still experiences floods and other frightening weather that results in tragic loss, but the rainbow is a promise that God will never judge the earth again with a worldwide flood. This promise of His faithfulness can remind us that though we individually will experience personal losses and physical death on this earth, whether by disease, natural disaster, wrongdoing, or advancing age, God bolsters us with His love and presence throughout the difficulties we face. Sunlight reflecting colors through water is a reminder of His faithfulness to fill the earth with those who bear His image and reflect His glory to others.

Daily Questions

1. How does God’s promise reassure you in the middle of weather related catastrophes?
2. Who in your life needs your reflection of God’s glory?

Daily Thoughts

Thank you, God, for Your faithfulness to protect and provide for us by sustaining the natural laws of Your creation. Help us to reflect Your glory to those around us.

Genesis 9: 12-17

And God said, “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.”

So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”

Bonus Information

The word covenant is a translation of the Hebrew word ber-eeth’. This widely used word in the Old Testament, close to 280 times, conveys ideas such as a pact, an agreement, or a bond between two or more persons. Entrance into the covenant bound the participants to the stipulated terms. Treaties could be unilateral, where one party subscribed to self-generated commitments. While in other arrangements, multiple parties agreed to specific terms. The covenant God made with Noah was unilateral. Four elements were essential; parties, conditions, results, and security. In the Noahic covenant, the parties were God, Noah and his descendants, and the earth; the conditions were that mankind would be fruitful and fill the earth; the results was God’s preservation of the earth and mankind; and the security was the rainbow.