Genesis 9 - God's Covenant with Noah

As we close our first week in The Story (I hope you've enjoyed it, by the way!), we come to one of the classic stories in all of Christendom: the covenant with Noah where we hear of a rainbow for the first time (now I'm not saying it was the first rainbow, but that's another journal post in and of itself). It's a story that gives us a warm feeling inside because a) a rainbow is one of the most beautiful creations of God, and b) we hear that God loves us, so much so, that he has promised to never again destroy the world.

But why a rainbow?

First of all, they're relatively rare. Rainbows need rain, and we don't receive rain every day (and after July or so this summer, we've hardly seen a drop of it). Rainbows need sun, and not every precipitation event comes with sun; in fact, many times it's just overcast throughout the whole event. Third, the angles have to be quite precise. Did you know that to see a rainbow in the sky, the sun's rays have to form an angle with your line of sight that can be no less than 40 and no more than 42 degrees? For most of us here on earth, that only happens twice a day (though if you have a mist or spray, such as one that comes from a waterfall, you can easily manipulate your line of sight to create the needed angle).

These signs of God's promise are not common enough for us to disregard because we've grown accustomed to them; but they aren't rare enough that it's a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence either. We see just enough of them to consider them special and to keep fresh in our minds God's special promise.

Second, what two things do we need to create a rainbow again? Indeed, sunlight and water. I do suppose that the first thing worth mentioning here is what were two of the first things that were created? The formless, swirling deep; and light (which, incidentally is why I don't think Noah's is the first rainbow, because there was plenty of light and water well before Noah's time...).

But, taking this a step further; who does Jesus say he is? Well, he says he is living water (John 7:38) and also the light of the world (John 8:12). Now whether God the Father gave this as a foreshadowing or not, I don't know. Yet, it's neat to see that in the symbol of God's promise we see beauty, splendor and majesty; just as we see the beauty, splendor and majesty of God's love for us in his son, Jesus Christ.

Finally, when do we see the rainbows? When do most storms usually happen (at least around here)? Usually after a long day of diurnal heating and the air becoming more saturated with humidity and water vapor. In other words, most storms here happen in the evening hours. The storm hits with its ferocity and passes thereafter; and that's when we see the rainbow. We see the rainbow as the sun is setting and getting ready to rise again because the storm has passed and we are still here.

So, why a rainbow? It's not a sign that God never will destroy the earth again; it's a sign that God already has kept that promise, because the storm has passed and a new day is dawning.

Other questions to think about (and that I didn't have time or space to write about):
- So if God now gives mankind permission to eat animals; what is the purpose of Abel keeping flocks as a shepherd if not for food?

- Has anyone else noticed that the flood seems to be another creation narrative? The waters receded by a wind sent forth by God (Genesis 8:1), much like the Spirit hovering over the face of the deep (Genesis 1:2)? And now you have the same blessing from God to "be fruitful in number and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1) as did Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:28)?