Genesis 9:16, commentary and pictures

The bow in the cloud is the visible pledge of the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature that floodwaters will never again destroy the earth. When God speaks of looking upon it to remember, He speaks in human language to be understood, not because He could ever forget. It was given in condescension and compassion to free hearts from dread when clouds gather, and parents are to tell its story to their children from generation to generation as testimony of divine love and mercy encompassing the earth. The same bow encircles the throne in heaven and arches above Christ and the mercy seat, formed as sunshine and shower unite, to show the union of mercy and justice and to pledge mercy and peace to every repentant, believing soul who trusts in Jesus. There Christ as intercessor points to it as evidence of God's compassion and of the covenant to save through His given life, claiming exemption from wrath for His people, and in the time of trouble and at their deliverance the faithful see it encircling them as assurance of God's presence, protection, and covenant faithfulness.

Covenant Sign and Wording

The bow in the cloud is the visible token of the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh upon the earth that the waters will never again overflow to destroy the earth. It was set as assurance to Noah's family and to all generations that a flood will never again cut off all flesh, so that gathering clouds and falling rain need not bring terror. It was given in great condescension and compassion for erring creatures to free them from continual dread and terror when clouds gather and rain falls, to calm fear and to encourage confidence.

When God speaks of looking upon the bow that He may remember the everlasting covenant, He speaks in human language that men may better understand Him, and it does not mean that He could ever forget. His purpose was that when children of after-generations ask the meaning of the glorious arch spanning the heavens, their parents should repeat the story of the Flood and tell them that the Most High bent the bow and placed it in the clouds as assurance. So from generation to generation it testifies of divine love to man, teaches that the Flood came because of human wickedness, and confirms confidence in God's mercy and goodness still encompassing the earth.

The verse belongs to Genesis as the inspired, divine words of God affirmed by Christ and inseparable from the New Testament, and to literal history with Noah as a literal person who lived and the Flood as fact in history. Noah's day prefigures the present age before Christ's appearing in the clouds of heaven, and the character of that generation marks this age, because human nature uninfluenced by the Spirit of God is the same in both ages. The covenant signed by the rainbow also assures that seedtime and harvest will continue and that the world will never again be destroyed by a flood. It was a gracious act to be gratefully remembered as proof of mercy, not as proof that God is arbitrary and severe for destroying the world by a flood, yet the builders of Babel refused this grateful remembrance and complained against Him as arbitrary and severe.

Mercy and Peace Assured

The bow in the cloud is a symbol of mercy encompassing the earth, of forbearance and love, and of an unalterable covenant for all who believe and trust in Jesus as personal Saviour. The same bow is round about the throne in heaven and above the head of Christ, where it shows glory and mercy resting there for the benefit of repentant, believing people. When human wickedness provokes wrath, Christ as humanity's intercessor pleads for erring people and points to the bow as evidence of great mercy and compassion toward them.

As the bow in the cloud results from the union of sunshine and shower, so the bow above the throne represents the union of mercy and justice. To the sinful but repentant soul the word is to live, because a ransom has been found. As was sworn that the waters of Noah would no more go over the earth, so it is sworn not to be angry with nor to rebuke His own. Though mountains depart and hills be removed, kindness will not depart and the covenant of peace will not be removed, because the Lord has mercy.

Set in dark, tempest-gathered clouds, the rainbow is the arch of promise spanning wrath with covenant-mercy. Though nature looks gloomy and terrible, and though the fruitful vineyard became a desolate waste picturing degradation, the bow bent bright and beautiful above the desert declares that above that degradation shines the promised glory of the Messiah's reign. The covenant made with Noah still restrains judgment on earth. Though sin has increased in volume and prevalence since the transgression that closed Paradise, and men now trample law and Sabbath in rebellion, and though the inhabitants could be punished for iniquity and swept away by a flood as in Noah's day, they are spared because of that covenant, so that divine benevolence is not cut off but compassion, mercy, love and care still flow earthward.

Throne and Heavenly Intercession

The same bow that is set in the cloud encircles the throne on high, rests round about that throne and above the head of Christ, and arches over the mercy seat. It is there the token of the covenant of peace and an everlasting pledge of mercy to every repentant and believing soul, showing the glory and mercy of God resting there for the benefit of such. It points to the compact entered into by the Father and the Son to save the world by Christ giving Himself, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. No human power and no angelic power could have made such a covenant, and the throne where the bow appears rules by justice and mercy as the Throne of Grace with its Seat of Mercy, so the covenant is as sure as the throne itself and leaves no reason for unbelief or distrust.

With the cloud of confessed sins pictured behind it, the rainbow of promise about the throne, seen by faith, assures every humble, contrite, believing soul that his life is one with Christ and Christ is one with God. Life joined to Christ is joined to God, and the wrath of God will not fall upon any soul that seeks refuge in Him. When great wickedness on the part of man provokes the wrath of God, Christ as the intercessor of humanity pleads with divine eloquence for His church on earth. He points to the rainbow in the cloud and about the throne as evidence of the great mercy and compassion of God for erring people, declares His infinite love in giving His precious life, risen from the dead and interceding at the right hand of God, and claims for His people exemption from the deluge of divine wrath.

The bow of promise arching the throne above the mercy seat assures that petitions laid before God with one heart and mind in simplicity and faith will be heard. It is the glory of God to answer the supplications of His people. Seen through the open door set before those who obey and bind the commandments of God upon the heart, the rainbow overshadowing the throne shows mercy and truth knit together. The sight of it draws praise to the Lord from the beholder.

Protection in Final Crisis

In the time of trouble the faithful may see by faith the bow of promise encircling them as assurance of God's help, presence and comfort. The bow in the cloud is the sign of the everlasting covenant with every living creature, and faith looks to that encircling bow for comfort when trouble comes.

At the deliverance of God's people the bow of promise appears in the heavens with God's glory as they look up. It encircles the praying companies as the symbol of the covenant, a sign of divine protection and of covenant faithfulness. It shines with the glory of God's throne, and to God's people looking up to behold God's glory and Christ enthroned it is a sign of hope. Its glory arrests their wicked attackers and fills them with fear, making them long for the protection they have rejected.

Assurance for Daily Life

The bow of promise arching the throne of God is the emblem of a covenant-keeping God who holds the reins of guidance. Every Christian worker is to keep this emblem ever in remembrance before him. That God is to bear rule in every home, in every church, in every school, in every printing office, and in every sanitarium, and obedience to His commandments brings perfect safety under His divine leadership and distinguished marks of His favor.

It stands as an everlasting pledge of God's love and an everlasting testimony that He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes will not perish but have everlasting life. It testifies to the universe and to the whole world that God will never forget nor forsake His people in their struggle with evil, assuring them of His strength and protection for as long as His throne endures. Its assurance supports them through trials, opposition, bereavement, and affliction, so there is no need to fail or be discouraged. This life is probation under the discipline and government of God to form characters and habits for the higher, everlasting life, and because Jesus passed through all such sufferings, through patience, faith, and hope in all the changing scenes of earth characters are formed for everlasting life, and all things work together for good to those who love God.

Seen spanning the heavens like a bow of promise, it is the sign of God's promise and unfailing care, assuring comfort and peace. Even during a furious gale at sea with high, restless waves and wind and raging waters, after prayer to Christ who stilled the tempest to say Peace, be still, it gives rest and confidence in His protecting arms. So seen it encourages trust in God's protecting care in danger and hope for the heavenly home awaiting the faithful worker.

Seen by faith while standing in the shadow of the cross, the rainbow in the cloud is the rainbow of promise that God's word is sure. It gives certainty and consolation in pain, nearness to God in prayer for grace and restoration to health, assurance that the Lord belongs to the believer and the believer belongs to the Lord, and freedom from anxiety and restlessness and dissatisfaction even in pain and in longing to get well to proclaim the truth. Keeping looking up to it encircling God's throne keeps faith from being hidden under a cloud of unbelief by murmuring against the One who has done everything. Keeping it in view brings triumph in God and daily refreshment of the soul by contemplating the great love of the heavenly Father, even in sleepless pain and suffering.

Encircling the throne, it gives constant assurance that Jesus lives. It gives a glimpse above and beyond the clouds to the bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness, so believers need not be downcast amid a deceitful world of double-dealing and duplicity, because He lives they shall live also.