THE TOKEN OF THE COVENANT.
By George C. Tenney
SINCE early childhood we have been taught to look upon the rainbow in the cloud in the day of rain as a token of the promise that God would never again bring a flood upon the earth to destroy it. It means that, no doubt, but a more thoughtful consideration of its significance reveals a far greater depth of beauty and meaning. In the first place, the covenant which God made with Noah was not restricted in its application to the possibilities of a future deluge. It related to the plan of salvation; it was the gospel of peace. It was to extend to "perpetual generations;" it was to "all flesh" and to "every creature." All such covenants and promises come to men through Jesus Christ, and he is not simply a Saviour from temporal ruin, but from eternal death. These circumstances are referred to by the prophet in the following language:— "In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." Isa. 54: 8-10. That which is here declared to be "as the waters of Noah" is called the "covenant of my peace," which embraces salvation through Christ. In another place we read:— "Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." Zech. 6: 13. In this place the "covenant of peace" is the "counsel of peace," and this is the gift of Christ to every one of his people. In the first chapter of Ezekiel the prophet seems to endeavor to reduce to human language the picture presented to him of the throne and glory of God. Though he wrote under the power of the Spirit of God, we can but feel that he comes short of satisfactorily accomplishing his desired object, not because he did not understand his subject, nor from a lack of appreciating its fullness, but because human tongues know not the words which adequately express such glory, and the intellect fails short of comprehending the thought or catching the inspiration of the writer. But in verse 28 there is one thing of which we can form some idea. He says that round about the throne was "as the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain." "This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord." John obtained a similar view of it. He says, "And there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald." In "Patriarchs and Prophets" we read:— When man by his great wickedness invites the divine judgments, the Saviour, interceding with the Father in his behalf, points to the bow in the clouds, to the rainbow around the throne above his own head, as a token of the mercy of God toward the repentant sinner. How strikingly are the words of the prophet illustrated, "and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." To eternal and infinite justice the beautiful rainbow about the throne is a constant reminder of infinite mercy and compassion. Our sins invite the wrath of God, but we are protected by the gracious covenant of peace, in which God has sworn that, though the mountains depart and the hills be removed, "my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee;" and the sight of that bow is an everlasting surety of mercy for every repentant sinner. We notice again what Ezekiel says, when, speaking of the bow, he declares, "This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord." The rainbow is but the dissolution of sunbeams by refraction as they shine through drops of water. All the beautiful tints of the prism or of the rainbow are contained in every ray of sunlight. Indeed, it is their combination that produces sunlight; but sunlight is so common that we fail to appreciate its glorious beauty until we have been for some time deprived of it. A person emerging from a dismal dungeon or a dark mine understands its beauty. Sunlight is the best image we have of the glory of God; the most glorious object we know is the sun, and the glory of the sun is the combination of the primary and secondary colors of the rainbow, beaming with intensity and heat from the great center. Even so, as the rainbow is the analysis of sunlight, the bow above the throne, which is as the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God, is but the beautiful reflection and refraction of that glory. Those harmonious and wondrous colors are but the analysis of God's glory. It is the blending of infinite justice, love, mercy, truth, and wisdom that constitutes the glory of God. And no wonder the Saviour, who pleads for sinners, points with confidence to the resplendently beautiful arch where each element of the divine glory stands revealed in its individual loveliness, and by that exhibition of power and grace asks for pardon for the penitent sinner. To us the rainbow means all this. It is the token of the covenant of eternal peace, because it represents the analysis of that glorious character where justice, love, and mercy blend in perfect harmony.