“And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Genesis 9:12-15).
God chose the rainbow as a reminder to Himself of His covenant to not destroy humanity by another flood. In the ancient world surrounding Noah, rainbows were seen as omens from the gods, with many possible meanings, and they needed men skilled in studying the sky to interpret. God used the rainbow as a sign, but He dispensed with the wise men and stated clearly what the symbol meant.
A Weapon of War
The Hebrew word used here is keshet, which obviously refers to a rainbow. However, in the Bible, this word most often means a bow as a weapon of war. For instance, as a sign of his friendship, Jonathan handed over his weapons to David, including his keshet (I Samuel 18:4). God chose to show us that His weapon is no longer in His hands. He took His keshet, His bow, and hung it up forever as a sign that He would no longer flood the world. Beyond that, this weapon of Heavenly warfare now faces upwards, not down toward earth. This shows us that God chose to transform His weapon of war into a symbol of His peace.
A Picture of God’s Glory
The rainbow in Scripture is used to describe God and His glory. Ezekiel the prophet saw God’s glory in the form of a man, and he likened Him to a keshet. “I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord” (1:27,28). In Revelation 4, John saw the throne of God, and once again he saw a rainbow around God: “And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.”
A Reminder of the Goodness of God
Arching from Genesis all the way to Revelation, the keshet, the rainbow, shows us the glory of our loving God. The two ends of this Heavenly bow point to Christ, for He is our new covenant (Hebrews 12:24). In Genesis, God said that He would look on the rainbow in the clouds and remember His promise to not destroy the world by flood. However, in the coming age, He does plan to flood the world, but this time metaphorically. “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).
Christian, the rainbow should fill you with hope. It reminds the believer that God honors His promises. His Word is full of promises, and He keeps all of them. Things may seem discouraging at times, but our God is faithful. When He brings a cloud upon the earth, in it he hangs His keshet, a symbol of His might and glory. So, when the dark, stormy clouds roll in, look for His abandoned bow and rejoice!
“Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire” (Psalm 46:8-9).
A rainbow over the modern city of Jerusalem. The sign of God’s covenant is still valid for people today, not just those of Noah’s day. Photo by John Buckner
Related Series: 2348 B.C. All Over Again?
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