Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Covenant Sign

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!


[1] Title Image: Courtesy Pixabay.com

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