Most of my days are filled with everyday events and sights. Sometimes something remarkable happens, but usually I see and do what I have seen and done hundreds if not thousands of times. Yet every now and then, something extraordinary happens that makes me stop and wonder.
An example of this type of remarkable event would be the appearance of a rainbow in the sky. I don't think I've ever seen a rainbow appear without someone pointing up to the sky and saying, "Look, a rainbow!" And usually, the brighter and more colorful the rainbow, the more people, myself included, talk about it and cheer it on.
The rainbow world view.
As beautiful and unique as a rainbow is, there is a simple, non-miraculous explanation for this phenomenon.scientificWe have known for a long time that rainbows are formed when raindrops act as "little prisms".
White light from the sun shines on one side of a drop of water, reflects off the other side of the drop, and then emerges on the other side of the sky as a colored arc of circle or arc that is refracted or refracted through of the color spectrum
The rainbow contains a continuum of about 1 million colors that are indistinguishable to the human eye. Instead, we can only see seven shades: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.
In fact, a rainbow is little more than an "optical illusion" that only occurs when the viewer looks at the light source at the correct angle.
However, the beauty and mystical appearance of the rainbow has made it part of the difference.mitoamong many cultures around the world. For example, the Norse saw it as a Bifrost "bridge" for the gods to cross from Earth to their homeland called Asgard.
Likewise, the ancient Japanese believed that the rainbow allowed their deceased ancestors to return to earth, and the Navajo believed that this was the path to the holy spirits. Even today there's an old IrishmanLegendit is commonly said (often jokingly) that at the end of every rainbow there is a pot of gold guarded by a cunning leprechaun.
because the devil is the"Father of Lies"(Juan 8:44), all the myths about the rainbow are falsehoods that prevent us from discovering the true symbolic meaning behind it.
In fact, one of the most complete (stillsubtle) The distractions in our contemporary culture happened in 1978, when an artistkidnapped the rainbowdesign a flag that represents the LGBT community and celebrates a sinful, unnatural and even destructive lifestyle. For more information on this topic, seeThis article.
The true meaning of the rainbow.
So what is the true meaning of the rainbow? To answer that question we have to look beyond coloring books for kids and reallyweird moviesto the Bible - the only truly infallible, inspired and authoritative source of truth we have.
The rainbow first appears in Scripture at the end of the Flood story.Genesis 6-9. Due to the continued wickedness and wickedness of mankind (Genesis 6:5-12), God decided to make it rain for 40 days and 40 nights and flood the whole earth - and kill everyone and everything except one named manNoahand his family and some animals kept safe in a wooden box.
After several months of interesting events, God's judgment was "withheld" and the rain stopped (Genesis 8:2), causing a rainbow to appear in the sky.
If this were the first appearance of a rainbow in human history (because it hadn't rained yetGenesis 2:5seems to say) or was it simply God reusing the phenomenon that already existed (such asI know itexplained), the Bible is very clear about what the rainbow symbolizes.
After the waters receded and Noah was able to get out of the boat to shore, he built an altar and offered a burnt offering to God. In response, God made this promise to Noah and his family:
"Behold, I make my covenant with you, and with your descendants after you, and with you, with every living thing that is with you, with the birds, with the cattle, and with every beast of the earth, with you all what came out of the ark; It is for all the animals on earth. I make my covenant with you that never again shall all flesh be cut off from the waters of the flood, and never again shall a flood destroy the earth... This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and all living beings that are with you. you, for all generations to come: I have set my bow in the cloud, 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 will never again be a flood that destroys all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and I will remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living thing, with all flesh that is on earth."(Genesis 9:8-16, ES).
Therefore, in light of this passage, God has given the rainbow a special meaning so that whenever we see it we are reminded of God's covenant to never again destroy everything and everyone on earth with a flood.
Of course there are someother detailsthat we can perceive in this story, such as the power of God over the elements, as well as the constancy of the seasons, rotations of the earth and changes in temperature on earth (Genesis 8:22).
As fantastic as it sounds, this worldwide flood event actually happened. And while it's certainly not a myth, not even oneallegorical story,there are still lessons to be learned for our lives today.
It is fascinating that so many myths explain the rainbow as some kind of supernatural "bridge" (as we noted above), since the most important theme that the rainbow illustrates for us is God's merciful and magnificent redemptive purpose (especially in light of his justice and Holy Judgment) not only to save Noah and his family, but also to give humanity (another) chance to start anew.
This was good news for Noah, for despite the righteousness of Noah, who was (in some ways) a new "blueprint" for humanity, the hearts of men were still "wicked from their youth" (Genesis 8:21).
Although Noah built an altar to worship God immediately upon disembarking, it was not long before his drunkenness resulted in more curses on some of his descendants (Genesis 9).
The rainbow reminds us of the gospel.
And it's great news for us, too, because this story clearly and beautifully takes us back to the time when God sent his own Son, Jesus, to die on the cross and then rise again to give humanity an incredible chance to escape. from the judgment of being "hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3;1 Pedro 3:20-22;2 Pedro 2:9).
And thanks to the gospel we can respond to the will of GodGraciawith faithful surrender and be saved. As Paul explained to us:
...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Because with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.(Romans 10:9-10, ES).
Here you are15 Bible verses that every Christian should know by heartto download or share with your loved ones!
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