Genesis 9:15
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 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.
God pledges by covenant to Noah, his descendants and every living creature that water will never again become a flood to destroy all flesh and cut off life from the earth. When He speaks of remembering the covenant and looking on the bow, He uses human language in condescension and compassion to be understood, not because He could ever forget. He set His bow in the cloud as the perpetual token of that covenant, so that when clouds gather the arch is seen and He looks upon it to remember the everlasting covenant. That bow of promise arching above and around His throne testifies to the whole world that He loved the world by giving His only begotten Son so that whoever believes will not perish but have everlasting life. There mercy and justice are joined, for justice alone would show only the penalty of the law, yet mingled with mercy it makes salvation full and complete and keeps God's government stable.
Words and Historical Setting
The covenant is God's guarantee to Noah's descendants and to every living creature of all flesh that the waters will never again become a flood to destroy all flesh and cut off life from the earth. The rainbow set in the cloud is the lasting sign of that promise for perpetual generations, seen when God brings a cloud over the earth, and when He looks upon the bow He remembers the everlasting covenant. When God speaks of remembering the covenant and looking upon the bow, He uses human language out of great condescension and compassion so that erring men may better understand Him. Such speech does not mean He could ever forget.
The promise was given to graciously encourage Noah's family, so that gathering clouds and falling rains would not fill them with constant terror and continual dread of another flood. The Flood had destroyed the old world and its inhabitants because of their great wickedness and their giving themselves up to every kind of wickedness. Genesis itself is inspired, divine, and inseparable from the New Testament, Noah was a literal person who lived, and the Flood is a fact of history. The days of Noah and the character of that generation specify the present age before Christ appears in the clouds of heaven.
The dwellers on the plain of Shinar disbelieved the covenant promise never to destroy the earth again by water. Some denied that God exists and explained the Flood by natural causes, while others admitted that a Supreme Being had destroyed the antediluvian world yet rebelled against Him with hearts like Cain's. To secure safety against another deluge they built a tower higher than the Flood waters had reached, thinking to place themselves beyond danger, hoping by ascending to the region of the clouds to discover the cause of the Flood. The whole enterprise exalted human pride and was meant to turn future generations away from God into idolatry. Those builders refused grateful remembrance of the gracious mercy shown in the covenant and murmured against God, treating the Flood destruction as proof that He was arbitrary and severe.
The covenant assures that the seasons of seedtime and harvest will continue and that the world will never again be destroyed by a flood. The promise means God will never again cleanse the earth by a flood destroying all flesh, but the earth will still be purified by fire at the last day. That purification will come through fires hidden inside the earth joined with fires from heaven. Before that day He gathers and binds up those who love and serve Him as good wheat, while the wicked are bound in bundles ready for the fire, and it depends wholly on each person which bundle to be in.
God spares the present world from being swept away as in Noah's day because of His covenant with Noah. He could come forth out of His place to punish its iniquity while His law lies prostrate and His Sabbath is trampled underfoot by rebellious subjects, yet He does not destroy them. Sin has increased in volume and prevalence ever since the transgression that closed Paradise, yet divine benevolence has not been cut off but still flows earthward in compassion, mercy, love, and care. This continued sparing should make man aware of his littleness and his sin-loving tendencies.
Rainbow Sign and Remembrance
God set His bow in the cloud as the token of the covenant between Him and the earth and every living creature for perpetual generations, so that when He brings a cloud over the earth the bow is seen in the cloud and He looks upon it to remember the everlasting covenant that the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. The bow is a beautiful, variegated, glorious arch and circle spanning the heavens and compassing the earth. It is formed in the cloud by the union of sunlight and shower.
It was His purpose that when children of after-generations see the arch and ask its reason, parents should repeat the story of the Flood and tell that the Most High bent the bow and placed it in the clouds as assurance the waters shall never again overflow the earth. From generation to generation the rainbow thus testifies of divine love, goodness, and mercy encompassing the earth, confirming belief and establishing confidence in God and strengthening trust after a judgment provoked by sin.
The rainbow is the sign of covenant-mercy spanning clouds of wrath and tempest, so that God's promise stands over judgment and degradation. For Israel in desolate degradation it means that above the darkness shines the promised glory of the Messiah's reign, with mercy reaching over wrath to fulfill the covenant. In the covenant it is a sign of Christ's love and of God's faithfulness.
Mercy and Covenant Faithfulness
The promise never again to destroy all flesh is a covenant of gracious mercy meant to assure people of God's goodness and to be gratefully remembered. The old world had been destroyed by the Flood because of its great wickedness. The rainbow was set as a lasting sign for future generations to give confidence in Him, yet the builders of Babel refused that gratitude and murmured against Him, treating the Flood's destruction as proof that He was arbitrary and severe. When God speaks of remembering the covenant He uses human language out of condescension so men may better understand Him, not because He could ever forget. The bow of promise given to Noah gives assurance of unfailing care, bringing comfort and peace as a token of love for encouragement. That assurance enables a grasp of His care and a forward look to the haven of rest awaiting the faithful worker.
The bow is an emblem of faithfulness and guidance, for He is a covenant-keeping God who holds the reins of guidance and rules. His covenant-keeping character gives reason to trust His rule. He is to bear rule in every home, in every church, in every school, in every printing office, and in every sanitarium. Every Christian worker should keep this emblem ever before him.
The bow in the cloud is the promise of mercy and forbearance and love. It is the symbol of the unalterable covenant of mercy for all who believe in God and trust in Jesus Christ as personal Saviour. The rainbow is an everlasting pledge of love that assures the universe He will not forsake His people in their struggle with evil. It promises them strength and protection for as long as His throne endures.
Christ, Law and Throne
The rainbow of promise arching above and around God's throne is an everlasting testimony to the whole world that God loved the world by giving His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. Whenever the law is presented, the throne arched with the rainbow of promise and the righteousness of Christ must be pointed out together, for the glory of the law is Christ who came to magnify the law and make it honorable, in whom mercy and truth meet together and righteousness and peace embrace each other. Looking to His throne in penitence and praise and thanksgiving perfects Christian character and represents Christ to the world, abiding in Christ with peace that passes understanding, which requires constant meditation on Christ and His loveliness and dwelling in every discourse on the divine attributes with minds directed to Jesus and fastened upon Him. The same rainbow encircles the throne on high as a pledge of mercy to every repentant, believing soul and declares that God will never forget His people in their struggle with evil.
The rainbow of promise above and encircling the throne represents the combined power of mercy and justice. Justice alone would eclipse its glory and leave men seeing only the penalty of the law, yet without justice and penalty there would be no stability to God's government. It is the mingling of judgment and mercy that makes salvation full and complete, revealing the gospel as perfect and complete and the law as immutable, and inspiring hope and love for God. Viewed together, the world's Redeemer and the law lead to the exclamation over God's gentleness, Thy gentleness hath made me great.
Mercy invites every obedient soul to enter through the gates into the city with full privileges as a member of the royal family, while justice stands at the entrance demanding holiness and purity in all who would see God. A rainbow is round about the throne and above the head of Christ as a symbol of God's mercy encompassing the earth. When man's great wickedness provokes God's wrath, Christ as man's intercessor pleads for him and points to the rainbow as evidence of God's great mercy and compassion for erring man, showing glory and mercy resting there for repentant man.
The rainbow is a token above God's throne of justice, mercy, and grace by which God through Christ binds Himself to save all who believe. The covenant it remembers is the compact of Father and Son to save the world through Christ giving Himself, which no human or angelic power could make, and it is as sure as the throne itself so that unbelief has no ground and seekers of enlightenment are answered from the seat of mercy at the throne of grace. The rainbow is the token of the everlasting covenant overshadowing the throne, seen through the open door set before the obedient, revealing mercy and truth knit together and drawing praise from the beholder.
Protection and Final Deliverance
The bow of promise is the sign of the covenant to remember every living creature and never again destroy all flesh by a flood, and in that covenant is assurance of divine protection. It assures believers that God will be with them through the time of trouble. They may therefore look up by faith, trust His protection, and await deliverance.
At the hour of danger in the final crisis the rainbow spans the heavens around God's praying people as the sign of the covenant. Its appearing accompanies their deliverance and reminds them that God will deliver them. The hostile multitudes and attackers are stopped and arrested by its brightness. They long to be shielded from its brightness and from the glory of God.
Comfort for Trial and Prayer
The bow of promise set above God's throne testifies to the whole world that God will never forget His people in their struggle with evil. It is the token of the covenant with Noah and an everlasting pledge of mercy to every repentant, believing soul, joined to the testimony that God gave His only Son so that whoever believes should not perish but have everlasting life. Knowing that the bow is above the throne keeps believers from failing or being discouraged.
This life is probation under the discipline and government of God, amid temptations and abounding iniquity and terrible, unexpected dark chapters that open where least expected to weigh down the soul. Heavy trials, opposition, bereavement, and affliction are suffered, yet through patience, faith, and hope in changing scenes character is formed for everlasting life. The bow arching over the throne where petitions are laid before the mercy seat means that prayers offered in simplicity and faith will be heard, and it is God's glory to answer the supplications of His people. Petitions laid there with one heart in Christian fellowship to prepare for the conflict are pledged an answer.
Seen spanning the heavens while wind blows a gale and waves run mountain high at sea, the bow in the clouds is the sign that the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. It gives reason to rest in confidence in His protecting arms, since God remembers His covenant to protect life from destruction by water. From that confidence prayer rises for Christ to still the tempest. Seen by faith while standing in the shadow of the cross, the rainbow makes God's promise sure.
It gives certainty that the Lord draws near when the heart is lifted in prayer for grace and restoration to health, that the Lord belongs to the sufferer and the sufferer belongs to the Lord. That nearness brings sweet communion and a sense of God's presence and consolation through tedious, painful nights of suffering in back, limbs, and neck, removing anxiety, restlessness, and dissatisfaction while longing to recover to proclaim the truth. Looking up to the living promise encircling God's throne in pain and sleepless suffering keeps faith from hiding under a cloud of unbelief and from murmuring and distrust against the One who has done everything.
It gives triumph in God and daily refreshment of soul by contemplation of the great love of the heavenly Father, who draws near in mercy to those who leave themselves without murmuring in His merciful hands. The bow encircling the throne is a constant assurance that Jesus lives, and because He lives His people shall live also. It lifts sight above and beyond the clouds of a mocking, deceiving world of double-dealing and duplicity to the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, so believers need not be downcast.