Wednesday, August
23, 2017
Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with
you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and
with all the earth. When I send clouds
over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my
covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all
life. When I see the rainbow in the
clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living
creature on earth.” Then God said to
Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all
the creatures on earth.” Genesis 9:12-17(NLT)
We watched
the flood movie last night. It’s a story
that virtually every culture has, Christian or not; it’s our story with
God. Although the producers of the movie
took some license with what Scripture says or doesn’t say (and what Bible movie
doesn’t), it’s still a good watch, and presents the main themes of the Genesis
account well.
In
searching for a little background I came across this tidbit from Wikipedia.org:
The story of Noah starts with this concept of
strong justice, that the wickedness of man will soon be met with justice, and
it ends when the rainbow comes and it says, even though the heart of man is
filled with wickedness, I will never again destroy the world... So it ends with
this idea of mercy. God somehow goes from this idea of judging the wickedness
to mercy and grace. So we decided that was a powerful and emotional arc to go
through, and we decided to give that arc to Noah.[44]
From
creation to fall, from fall to punishment, and from punishment to grace and redemption
is a wide emotional arc,
indeed!
The film plays
a little fast and loose with the facts; there are fallen stone-encrusted
angels, of the three sons of Noah only Ham has a wife, and the evil distant
cousin of Noah’s, Tubal-Cain manages to sneak aboard the Ark. The story, however, remains intact from a
theological understanding. Upheaval in
the life and death struggle for survival is humanity’s story. We are, as Job says, bound for trouble as
surely as the sparks fly upward from a fire!
Rainbow are
iconic symbols of hope, and watching the movie leads you to a very basic and
comforting conclusion, that when God promises something He does not exempt us
from struggle; wickedness on the part of humans is as existential as the goodness
and faithfulness of God. But God assures
us nonetheless that His promise of redemption is stronger than mankind’s
self-destructive will.
And for
that I am unendingly grateful!
For You Today
Can you
ever look at a rainbow and not think of the flood…both of judgment, and of
grace?
You chew on
that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!
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