The Rainbow

The most refreshing, even exciting, experience is when the earth has been washed by a gentle rain, the sun reveals itself again and a rainbow appears in the sky! Sometimes it's a double rainbow and at other times we see both ends of the rainbow from the same vantage point. It's as if what we see is a mysterious entrance to heaven. The arch is the door to a realm unseen! 

From a metereological standpoint rainbows are the light of the sun reflected of water droplets in the sky. They always appear opposite the sun and the sun exposes a spectrum of colors hidden to the eye under normal conditions. With a primary rainbow the blues appear on the inside and the reds on the outer perimeter. When there's a double rainbow, the color spectrum is reversed. In order to see the rainbow the observer has to be in an optimum position. The angle has to be right. A second observer standing opposite actually sees a different rainbow than does the first observer. Rainbows are not material. They cannot be touched and if you get near one, it disappears. Rainbows are real, but their not objects!

Rainbows are a parallel to God!  God is as real as real can be, but he's not material in existence. Like the rainbow God reveals himself at times to those who look toward him. In order to see God our position has to be just right. He only reveals himself to observers who believe in the reality of him even though they can't touch him; those who have faith!  The sun is akin to the Father. The rays are the Son and Holy Spirit. The Son can't be seen except through special glasses; the lens of salvation. When the believer has faith his position is just right for seeing the Son. Just as the rays of the Sun reflects off the water droplets in the sky, Jesus is can be seen in the rainbow. What has always been  there is revealed. When the light of the heavens is revealed it's in splendor! All the beauties of the pallet are manifested in the rainbow. Just as the spectrum of light is beautiful in the rainbow, it represents the grace of Jesus. There is beauty in grace!

After the flood God speaks to Noah. Whenever God speaks to man, that spokesman, called The Word, is Jesus Christ! It was  Jesus speaking to Noah. He made a covenant and it was a promise of a coming Messiah:

Genesis 8:21 And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
Genesis 9:8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you..."
Genesis 9:11 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.
Genesis 9:16 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.

Simply said: Man is corrupt. God knows the evil of our hearts. As disobedient children we don't respond well to punishment. God doesn't want to force us to love him. He wants for us to freely love him. Therefore, he promises grace for mankind! He made a deal. That deal is called the Noahic Covenant and it is a promise of Jesus!  God will no longer punish all mankind. Some of the righteous were casualties (collateral damage) of God's revenge for the sins of man. We would never again be judged as a community, but as individuals. That's grace. That's a beautiful promise!

That promise was that God will set the rainbow in the sky as a reminder of the deal which was just consummated. The covenant is between God and the individual. It's no longer a covenant of law (and punishment), but one of grace. The rainbow is the seal by which man is sealed and the bow is the door to Paradise, hope in a Savior. He stands at that door and knocks and all that may can enter. Unlike the door of the ark where God decided who was to enter, the door to Paradise is open for all who believe!

The rainbow is a picture of Jesus. For those who're born again, we see him. That's our special vantage point. It's a beautiful sight; the rainbow. An even more beautiful sight is the Glory of God as manifested in Jesus! When we see that rainbow we see a promise, we see hope! God is an entity. He's in the expanse. That rainbow reflects the expanse into view. God's always there, but he's not always seen. The rainbow let's his glory be seen. God is light and that light is revealed through the special photography of the rainbow; God revealed is Jesus. The rainbow is a picture of Jesus!

"Well, what about the double rainbow?" you ask. There is another counterpart of Jesus; another essence of God. It's the Holy Spirit! Just as Jesus is the light which saves us and is reflected outwardly, the secondary rainbow represents the Holy Spirit whose light is from the outside in. He resides in us who see the light! As a Messiah was pictured  by the primary rainbow, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is represented by the double rainbow. Looking toward the light, the inner bow comes first and the outer bow is finally revealed. That's just as Jesus was first to be experienced, then the Comforter came!

When we see the rainbow we see much! We see God the Father as the light in the sky and that same light reflected through the cleansing water is Jesus. Beside Jesus, in the secondary rainbow, is revealed the Holy Spirit. The secondary rainbow isn't quite as luminous as the primary. That's because Jesus is the Way! The Holy Spirit is to assure us the reality of the Son. The Holy Spirit is important and is there, albeit unseen, but we're not to worship the Holy Spirit, we're to worship Jesus for he is the Way! In the picture of the rainbow, if we look closely, the Trinity is revealed!