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The Meaning of the Rainbow as the Sign of the Covenant Between G-d and Man
MANNA FROM HEAVEN·2019年8月29日 星期四·9分鐘
We know the story of the Great Flood that destroyed the whole earth as well as the story of G-d’s everlasting covenant with Noah. However, how many of us know what the mind of G-d is behind all these? The following article “The Meaning of the Rainbow as the Sign of the Covenant Between G-d and Man” will bring you the answer.
The Meaning of the Rainbow as the Sign of the Covenant Between G-d and Man
By Liu Fang
As I looked outside the car window, I saw a rainbow appear in the sky. It had just rained. This reminded me of the story of the great flood during Noah’s time that destroyed the earth, and that G-d used a rainbow to establish His covenant with man.
In Genesis 6:13, G-d said, “The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” When I first read this verse, all I knew was that during Noah’s time, people were sinful, sexually immoral and corrupted, so G-d had to destroy the earth through a great flood. However, only Noah worshiped G-d, his family of eight built the ark according to G-d’s instructions and eventually survived the great flood. Later, I read G-d’s words in Genesis 9:11-13, “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 G-d 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.” I was puzzled and wondered why the rainbow was used as the sign of the covenant and what the intention was behind this covenant between G-d and man. One day, I read two paragraphs from a book that touched my heart, which gave me more revelation regarding why G-d used the rainbow to establish His covenant with man.
It says, “Originally, G-d created a humanity that in His eyes was very good and close to Him, but they were destroyed by flood after rebelling against Him. Did it hurt G-d that such a humanity just instantly vanished like that? Of course it hurt! So what was His expression of this pain? How was it recorded in the Torah? It was recorded in the Torah as: ‘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.’ This simple sentence reveals G-d’s thoughts. This destruction of the world pained Him very much. In man’s words, He was very sad.”
“Was the destruction of the world this time something G-d wanted? It was definitely not what G-d wanted. We might be able to imagine a small part of the pitiful sight of the earth after the destruction of the world, but we cannot come close to imagining what the scene was like at the time in G-d’s eyes. We can say that, whether it is the people of now or then, nobody is able to imagine or appreciate what G-d was feeling when He saw that scene, that image of the world following its destruction by flood. G-d was forced to do this due to man’s disobedience, but the pain suffered by G-d’s heart from this destruction of the world by flood is a reality no one can fathom or appreciate. That’s why G-d made a covenant with mankind, which was to tell people to remember that G-d once did something like this, and to swear to them that G-d would never destroy the world in such a way again. In this covenant we see G-d’s heart—we see that G-d’s heart was in pain when He destroyed this humanity. In the language of man, when G-d destroyed mankind and saw mankind disappearing, His heart was weeping and bleeding” (“G-d’s Work, G-d’s Disposition, and G-d Himself I”).
Before I read these words, I always thought that people during Noah’s time were wicked and corrupted, so because of G-d’s anger and hatred toward man, I thought He would be happy when He destroyed mankind. But I realized that I was totally wrong after reading this. The essence of G-d is love. He was utterly hurt when He saw mankind was destroyed by the flood. He was unwilling to destroy His creation, which He created with His own hands. Therefore, G-d commanded Noah to build an ark and preach about the coming of the great flood. G-d allowed humans to repent for more than 100 years, during which Noah took to build the ark. As long as men repented, He would let them continue to live. However, regardless of how G-d reminded and exhorted them, no one was willing to accept G-d’s good intention and repent. They didn’t believe the great flood was going to happen and they even mocked Noah and his family for following G-d’s command to build the ark. The disposition of G-d is righteous and holy, and He did not allow any filth or corruption to remain. Eventually, He had to destroy those who were corrupt and wicked and didn’t repent.
When G-d saw that whole world was covered with water, with no more forests and no human breath, He was sorrowful. Even with this sorrowful heart, G-d still cared for mankind. As a sign to warn humans not to do evil, G-d set His covenant with man using the rainbow and swore that He would never ever destroy humankind with a flood again. As it is written in a book: “On the surface, G-d did an easy thing to farewell the previous humanity, settling the past and drawing a perfect conclusion to His destruction of the world by flood. However, G-d had buried the pain from this moment deep inside His heart. At a time when G-d did not have anyone to confide in, He made a covenant with mankind, telling them that He would not destroy the world by flood again. When the rainbow appears it is to remind people that such a thing had once happened, to warn them not to do evil things. Even in such a painful state, G-d did not forget about mankind and still showed so much concern for them. Is this not G-d’s love and unselfishness?” (“G-d’s Work, G-d’s Disposition, and G-d Himself I”).
Yes, it is the unconditional love of G-d. He kept all the pain deep in His heart that was brought by the destroying of humans, cared for this mankind and guided the lives of Noah and his family on earth. G-d gives His ultimate care to humans and His love for humans is real and genuine. Therefore, since the covenant was established, from Noah’s time until now, never has the same great flood happened again. G-d is trustworthy and will never break His promises. This is the proof of His authority. As the word of G-d says, “He is as good as His word, and His word shall be accomplished, and that which is accomplished lasts forever.” Since then, the rainbow has appeared after rain and it reminds us that G-d will never again destroy mankind with a flood, from which I feel the love of G-d and how He takes care of and cherishes human beings.
The sound of a car horn awakened me. There were more and more cars and people on the street. Once again, I was lost in thought: People these days are even more corrupt than those during Noah’s time. As a passage in a book says, “Then look upon the present age: Such righteous men as Noah, who could worship G-d and shun evil, have ceased to exist. Yet G-d is still gracious toward this mankind, and absolves mankind during this final era. G-d seeks those who long for Him to appear. He seeks those who are able to hear His words, those who have not forgotten His commission and offer up their heart and body to Him. He seeks those who are as obedient as babes before Him, and do not resist Him. If you are unhindered by any force in your devotion to G-d, then G-d shall look upon you with favor, and shall bestow His blessings upon you. If you are of high station, of honorable reputation, possessed of abundant knowledge, the owner of plentiful assets, and supported by many people, yet these things do not prevent you from coming before G-d to accept His calling and His commission, to do what G-d asks of you, then all that you do shall be the most significant on earth and the most righteous of mankind. If you reject the call of G-d for the sake of status and your own goals, all that you do shall be cursed and even despised by G-d. … no matter how high your office, if you rely on your knowledge and ability in your undertakings, then you shall always be a failure, and shall always be bereft of the blessings of G-d, because G-d accepts nothing that you do, and He does not grant that your career is a righteous one, or accept that you are working for the benefit of mankind. He will say that everything you do, is to use the knowledge and strength of mankind to divest man of the protection of G-d, and to deny the blessings of G-d. He will say that you are leading mankind toward darkness, toward death, and toward the start of an existence without limits in which man has lost G-d and His blessing.” Looking around at those who enjoy worldly life, are sexually immoral and worship evil, their every word and deed are against what is right, and they are not interested in positive things. Everyone is greedy and selfish and competing with each other with maliciousness, treachery. Even parents and siblings are against each other for their own benefit. In addition, people’s hearts are filled with G-d-denying and G-d-resisting heresies and they don’t believe in G-d. How will G-d treat this kind of people?
When Noah first preached that G-d would destroy the world with a flood, G-d gave humankind an opportunity to repent, however no one believed him. Because of their corruption and rebellious nature, G-d finally destroyed them with the great flood. Likewise, G-d hates humans evil behavior nowadays, but He is also merciful toward man. Therefore, G-d gives us the opportunity to repent.
As I stopped thinking and looked up to the sky again, the rainbow was still there, and my heart was full of gratitude to G-d.

A New Life Is Born Out of the Creator’s Plans

"Which details of the first juncture—the place of one’s birth, one’s family, one’s gender, one’s physical appearance, the time of one’s birth—is a person able to choose? Obviously, one’s birth is a passive event: One is born involuntarily, in a certain place, at a certain time, into a certain family, with a certain physical appearance; one involuntarily becomes a member of a certain household, inherits a certain family tree. One has no choice at this first life juncture, but is born into an environment that is fixed according to the Creator’s plans, into a specific family, with a specific gender and appearance, and at a specific time which is intimately linked with the course of a person’s life. What can a person do at this critical juncture? All told, one has no choice about any single one of these details concerning one’s birth. Were it not for the Creator’s predestination and His guidance, a life newly born into this world would not know where to go or where to stay, would have no relations, belong nowhere, have no real home. But because of the Creator’s meticulous arrangements, it begins the journey of its life with a place to stay, parents, a place it belongs to, and relatives. Throughout this process, the advent of this new life is determined by the Creator’s plans, and everything it will come to possess will be bestowed upon it by the Creator. From a free-floating body with nothing to its name it gradually becomes a flesh-and-blood, visible, tangible human being, one of G-d’s creations, who thinks, breathes, and senses warm and cold, who can participate in all the usual activities of a created being in the material world, and who will undergo all the things that a created human being must experience in life. The predetermination of a person’s birth by the Creator means that He will bestow upon that person all things necessary for survival; and that a person is born likewise means that he or she will receive all things necessary for survival from the Creator, that from that point on he or she will live in another form, provided for by the Creator and subject to the Creator’s sovereignty."

Can We Become Pure by Keeping the Laws?

We can know from our last post: The earliest mankind didn’t know how to live on earth, so the LORD issued the laws and commandments to lead them and teach them how to worship G-d on earth and restrict them. As such, the entire mankind can live a normal life on earth until today. This is the effect achieved by keeping the laws and commandments. But is this G-d’s final requirement of man? The answer is NO. In the Book of Leviticus, G-d has made the final demand of mankind: "You shall be holy; for I am holy." When we keep the laws, our sins can be restricted and controlled to some degree. But does it mean that we have truly become pure—no longer commit sins? Let’s seek this aspect of truth together!

As we all know, it is recorded in Genesis that G-d created the light on the first day and G-d saw that it was good. Does this "good" mean that G-d’s entire work of creating the world has completely ended? Everyone is very clear that it only means that G-d’s creation on the first day was finished. If we think that G-d didn’t need to create other things anymore, it is very obvious that such understanding is wrong. After G-d created the light on the first day, G-d created other things in the following 5 days. Only when G-d's creation in the following 5 days was finished, did G-d’s entire work of creating the world truly come to an end.

Likewise, the significance and effect of keeping the laws are good and G-d also praises such behaviors, but it doesn’t mean that we have been entirely after G-d’s heart and met G-d’s requirements. Let’s give an illustration. In childhood, our parents teach us to be obedient and act according to their words, then they see us as good children. But this only means that we do something to satisfy our parents and win their praise, but doesn’t prove that their expectation to us will never change. After we grow up, they hope that we can respect them and be considerate of their will and so on. If we can live up to their higher expectation, they will feel more satisfied. Parents’ requirement of their children gets higher as the children grow older. Then, how about G-d’s requirement of mankind? Does it get higher as well?

The laws and commandments G-d issued for us are outwardly G-d’s requirements of us, but they are even more G-d’s salvation for us. We were the people who were tempted and corrupted by Satan, didn’t listen to G-d’s words nor obeyed G-d in the beginning. But because of the laws and commandments issued by G-d, we have gradually become the people who can listen to G-d’s words and obey G-d and act according to G-d’s requirements, which is salvation for us! However, is keeping the laws and commandments the final effect or objective G-d wants to achieve? If the answer is yes, why do we still violate the laws often? Why can’t we get along well with our parents? Why can we still lie and cheat driven by our desires? Why can we often fail to resist the temptations of the evil world? Is such mankind what G-d finally wants to gain? Very obviously, G-d not merely hopes that we can keep the laws and commandments, much less wants to see us be controlled by our desires or constantly struggle between laws and desires. The people what G-d wants to gain is not those who constantly commit sins and make offerings. G-d’s intention of creating mankind, however, is to allow people to easily live out G-d’s requirements and live in the light and freedom. So, we can draw such a conclusion: Keeping the laws doesn’t mean that we have met G-d’s final requirement, much less prove that we have been completely pure.

Let’s read a passage together, "What was the substance of the words uttered by Yahweh? He was only guiding men to lead their lives on earth, which did not touch on spiritual matters in life. Why is it said that, when Yahweh spoke, it was to instruct the people of all places? The word ‘instruct’ refers to tell explicitly and command directly. He did not supply man with life; rather, He simply took man by the hand and taught man how to revere Him, without too much in the way of parables. The work Yahweh did in Israel was not to deal with or discipline man or to deliver judgment and chastisement; it was to guide him. … He did not lecture men or expose their natures, nor did He expose their ideas and thoughts. He did not change men but rather guided them in leading their lives. The men of that time were like children, understanding nothing and capable only of some basic mechanical movements; and so Yahweh only decreed laws to guide the multitudes."

From this passage, we can see it more clearly that Yehowah only did the work of leading us to live on earth but didn’t do the work of resolving our sinful nature. Therefore, our sins have been only restricted to some degree but not removed from the root.

Then, what does truly becoming pure mean? Let’s discuss this question in the next post! Welcome to pay attention to it!