Hello! Thanks for stopping by. I know that you’ll gain a blessing after reading the message below.

With the recent rainfall and subsequent flooding in many parts of the world, the Lord inspired me to revisit a covenant that he made thousands of years ago.

“And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. 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. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.” Genesis 9: 8 – 17.



One of my earlier memories of the rainbow came after a downpour and I saw it emblazoned in the sky. The rainbow stood in the foreground, and a backdrop of lush mountains accentuated its colors. It was amazing! I would later realize that this natural phenomenon could be duplicated. My discovery came one day while watering our garden and the hose sprayed water high in the air. Okay, I’ll admit it. I was playing with the hose and water, not particularly watering the garden. What do you expect from a four-year-old child? As the sun’s rays caught the droplets of water, I saw that I had created my own rainbow. I was later told that the water served as a prism to unpack the colors within the rays of light from the sun. ROY G BIV is the acronym used to describe the colors of the rainbow which are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet.

As a young Christian, I was taught the story of Noah and the origins of the rainbow covenant. Mankind had engaged in sinful activity that was not pleasing to God and, because sin is repugnant to Him, He decided to destroy every living thing. Before the destruction, however, God used Noah to warn the people that they had 120 years to repent and get into the ark.



What is a Covenant?

Wikipedia defines a covenant this way: “in its most general sense and historical sense, [a covenant] is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action. Under historical English common law a covenant was distinguished from an ordinary contract by the presence of a seal.” I like this definition, but I’ll try to explain further.

A covenant is a special type of contract. Let me demonstrate a simple contract here: My lawn needs mowing and Dave’s Mowing Company charges $100 to do the job. I agree to pay the $100 charge, and Dave agrees to come to my house on Sunday to mow my lawn. Do we have a contract? Yes. In exchange for Dave’s work, I’ve agreed to pay him $100. This is called “consideration” because the work and payment were bargained for.

Is the contract that I have with Dave a covenant? No. Why? Well, because there’s no seal. This is important for our discussion. A seal is placed upon something to show authority; that the agreement is binding; and, that it has legal consequences if the terms are violated. Think about the seal that you see on court documents. Someone who violates a covenant may be forced to forfeit property, pay fines, face imprisonment or death, or suffer a combination of all these things. Covenants are quite serious.

Another difference between a contract and covenant is that contracts typically require everyone in the contract to do or not to do something. A covenant, on the other hand, may only require one party to do or not to do something. For example, in real estate, an easement is the right to use or to enter unto another person’s property. Easements are a type of covenant, and generally place a restriction or requirement on one party.

The Rainbow

Let’s talk about the Bible verses that you read above. God did not simply make a promise, nor did He enter into a simple contract. He made a covenant with all creation and signified it with the rainbow seal. Why did He do that? Did Noah and his family members ask for assurances from God? No, and God did not require Noah to do anything. God bound Himself to the covenant not because of Noah, but because God is love and He, Himself, wanted to give assurances. In my opinion, God thought it very necessary to place Noah, his family, and future generations at ease because every time it rained, you can be sure that people would think that another worldwide flood would occur. Despite the assurance of the rainbow, humanity tried building the Tower of Babel to create their own assurance that they would survive another worldwide flood. The purpose of the tower was to be high enough that it would be above the waterline of worldwide flood. They didn’t believe that God would keep His word, and that’s chiefly because humans often break the contracts and covenants into which they enter. They were judging God based upon their own flawed and corrupt standards. We do the same thing today. Of course, God intervened and stopped them from completing the Tower of Babel.

“What a condescension on the part of God. What compassion for erring man, to place the beautiful, variegated rainbow in the clouds, a token of the covenant of the great God with man! This rainbow was to evidence to all generations the fact that God destroyed the inhabitants of the earth by a flood, because of their great wickedness. It was His design that as the children of after generations should see the bow in the cloud and should inquire the reason of this glorious arch that spanned the heavens, their parents could explain to them the destruction of the old world by a flood, because the people gave themselves up to all manner of wickedness, and that the hands of the Most High had bent the bow and placed it in the clouds as a token that He would never again bring a flood of waters on the earth.” Spiritual Gifts, Volume III, page 74, by Ellen G. White.

To learn more about the flood, click the link to watch a great presentation by Professor Walter Veith. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZrxogY9Pnc



Trademark Infringement

God created the rainbow seal, and was the first to use his invention as a symbol to represent something greater than the symbol itself. Specifically, the rainbow pointed to the God’s covenant with His creation, and was a constant reminder that He would never destroy the earth by flooded again. In today’s business world, besides seeing the rainbow as a seal, we would consider it God’s logo and His intellectual property. A logo is a mark or symbol used to identify a company or brand. The company that creates a logo will own it, and no one else can legally use the logo without the company’s approval. Again, God created the rainbow, determined its meaning, and decided its purpose.



In my lifetime, I’ve seen the rainbow used in many ways for many purposes. I have even seen it used for reasons that do not capture the essence of why the rainbow was created in the first place. What’s more insulting to God is that many use the rainbow in ways that dilute and violate the brand that God has built, and cuts against His character and His commandments. Those who do this have infringed upon God’s intellectual property, and have committed trademark infringement.

Think, too, that because God’s intention of the rainbow was for all of us to find safety and assurance whenever it rains, then to use the rainbow for uses outside of God’s character, is to mock God and to say, “Hey, God, you can’t destroy us!” However, careful reading of the covenant and of the Bible as a whole shows that God qualified His covenant. He said that He would never again destroy the world by water. The Bible is also clear that this world will be destroyed by fire, not water. (See Malachi 4:1; Matthew 25: 41; 2 Peter 3:7, 10, 12; Revelation 20:14 for example.)



So, to which judge would God turn for relief on this trademark infringement claim? Hebrews 6:13 states, “For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself.” There is no one higher than God, so He will be the judge of those who misuse His property.



Fire Next Time?

Some say that God will not destroy the Earth because He loves us too much. But, to think that God will not do what He said He would do shows doubt, and it could be a sign of rebellion. If you believe the Biblical account of creation and the history in Genesis, you will conclude that no one had ever seen rain before Noah entered the ark. The Bible states in Genesis 2: 5, 6: “And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.” As you read this, you may look back at the pre-flood people and think that they were quite foolish not to enter the ark, but that’s because we often see history very clearly. After all, we know how the story ends. What Noah preached about must have seemed very strange to those people. He preached that water would come from the sky! That seemed impossible, but it happened. It happened because God said that it would happen. We still see rain today, and I think that one reason it still rains is for us to remember the story of the flood. Each raindrop should cause us to reflect upon the reason God allowed water to come from the sky. It was solely because of humanity’s sinfulness. Rain should announce the awful sinful nature of the people who lived before flood, and we should search our own souls to ensure that it is well with the Lord. God will stop the rain, send His rainbow logo to remind the world and Himself of His covenant to never again destroy the earth by water.

With all that said, men and women have preached for millennia that the earth will be destroyed by fire. Besides the account of Sodom where it was destroyed by fire and brimstone (see Genesis 19), I don’t think that anyone has ever seen fire come from the sky. The only thing that I can think of is lightening. However, there are millions (perhaps billions) of people who reject the notion that the world will be destroyed by fire. Does this seem familiar to you? Isn’t that the same sentiment of doubt expressed by the pre-flood people? Yet, the flood came. Friend, the fire will come. Our responsibility is to ensure that we warn everyone, point them to the Lord, and not be burned up by the fire.

Conclusion

There’s good news! The flood wiped out all of humanity except for eight faithful people: Noah and his wife, and his three sons and their wives. This means that there is hope for those of us who obey the Lord’s words. The rainbow is our reminder that a worldwide flood will never happen again. Additionally, we have the flood story as an example for us, and as an extra reason to trust in God. The Lord is trying to get our attention and He wants to save us. He’s given humanity much more time that the 120 years given to the pre-flood people. There’s no reason for us to be burnt up by the fire next time. Why not choose Him as your ark of safety today?!

May God continue to bless your life and your decision to follow Him.

Be Godly. Be free.

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