by Coach Debbie

I have so much to share with you and wish you could see me tucked in my bed, with my open Bible and a lot of bookmarks on one side, and my pen with scribbled notes on the other.  My head is actually begging for aspirin as it works much faster than my fingers can type.  The aspirin will have to wait.

I love rainbows.  You love rainbows.  Kids love rainbows even more than we do.  We love to search for them on rainy days and we stare at the amazing ribboned tapestry that is painted in the sky.  Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.

Maybe you grew up with felt-board Sunday School classes and you’ve heard the Noah’s Ark/Flood/Rainbow story a million and a half times.  Maybe you’ve kind of heard of it before but don’t know the whole story.  The neat thing about the Bible is there’s always something to learn from it.

The first book of the Bible, Genesis, gives an account of the infamous Noah’s Ark / Flood / Rainbow story (see Genesis chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9).   My goal in filling pages with text is to discuss things with you so that you can teach your kids.

I know you’re a busy mom, so here’s the fastest rundown of events for you and your kids:

• The Lord sees how great man’s wickedness had become, which grieved him.
• The Lord decides to wipe mankind from earth, sorry that people chose rebellion over relationship with him.
• Noah loved and obeyed God, so God told him to build a big ark because he was going to destroy all the creatures that had the breath of life in them by a massive flood. (The boat is as long as 1.5 football fields and as tall as a 4 story building)
• God told 600-year-old Noah that he’d establish a covenant (promise) with him and that Noah’s family would be spared.
• God has Noah bring 2 of all creatures and some other stuff for the journey.
• It rained 40 days and the water was higher than the mountains.
• The waters flooded the earth 150 days, then the waters receded.
• Noah and fam exit the boat. 8 people total.
• God says he’ll never repeat this event.
• God tells them to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth and that everything on earth is theirs.
• God tells them He now establishes his covenant (promise) with them and every living creature after them to never again cut off all life by waters of flood. “Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”  The sign of this covenant (promise)?  A rainbow.

A rainbow is mentioned 6 times in the Bible (beginning, middle, and end incidentally).  Here are those 6 times:

• Genesis 9:13 - I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

• Genesis 9:14 - Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,
• Genesis 9:16 - 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. (Genesis 17:7 - I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.)

My Bible’s notes:

(Genesis) Noah stepped out of the ark onto an earth devoid of human life.  But God gave him a reassuring promise.  This covenant had 3 parts:  (1) never again will a flood do such destruction, (2) as long as the earth remains, the seasons will always come as expected, (3) a rainbow will be visible when it rains as a sign to all that God will keep his promises.  The earth’s order and seasons are still preserved, and rainbows still remind us of God’s faithfulness to his Word.

Ezekiel 1:28 - Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

My Bible’s notes:

(Ezekiel) The rainbow over the throne symbolizes God’s never-ending faithfulness to his people.  Just as God sent a rainbow to Noah to symbolize his promise never again to destroy the earth by a flood, so this rainbow symbolizes God’s promise to preserve those who remain faithful to him.

Revelation 4:3

And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.

Revelation 10:1

Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 

My Bible’s notes:

(Revelation) A rainbow encircles the throne~ it’s always been around Him on the throne because it is a sign of His covenant of faithfulness.

This is all a lot to take in. Here are some takeaways I’m thinking about:

• God can be grieved.
• God wants relationship with us.
• God notices our obedience and if we really love him.
• God judges.
• God likes animals.
• This story is real and it truly happened. It is not legend or fairy tale.
• The rainbow was not a symbol that God made as a sign of favoring homosexuality.
• After the flood, wickedness resumed.
• From 8 people, our planet now has 7.3 billion people living. God can do anything.  He is the boss.  He is astonishing.
• God is an artist.
• God puts rainbows in the sky so we are forced to look up and think of things eternal.
• God is radiant and faithful.
• Rainbows exist in heaven.
• God gives signs.
• Francis Chan, one of my favorite Christian authors, says:  “But since Noah found favor in God’s sight He gave him the task of building the ark and saving those who were willing to get inside, which ended up being a total of eight people, all from Noah’s family.  Yet how many nurseries are decorated with Noah’s Ark?  Tons, right?  But when you think about what the Ark really symbolizes you realize how we have changed it to make it palatable.  We fill it with cute little animals poking their heads out of the side of the boat, but we forget the people and animals that didn’t make it in.  Noah’s ark should look more like the last scene of the Titanic than a cute nursery decoration. When we look at the ark, or the cross, we should not only see God’s provision for those who believe, but His judgment on those who do not.”

There is so much to learn and uncover about rainbows, God’s faithfulness, and how crucial His concept of covenant really is.  Go spend time in God’s Word, reading and asking Him for wisdom!