The Ultimate Rainbow

flyinghouse rabbinical studies presents

A paper by Dann McCreary

Uncovering the Final Sign of the Covenant
Introduction

God has given me many and varied interests and blessed me with curiosity and enthusiasm. Consistent with His gifts to me, He is often also very generous with me when it comes to teaching me new and interesting things from His word.

Some months ago, I was thinking about the beauty of the rainbow, and about how God had given Noah the rainbow as a sign and a promise that the world would never again be destroyed by a flood. A question occured to me then for the first time, a new question.

God often forshadows the future by what He has done in history. I wondered to myself, "If God gave Noah the rainbow after the great flood, will He give us a comparable sign of promise after He destroys the world by fire?"

The Rainbow of the Noahic Covenant

I began looking for an answer to my question by re-reading the account in Genesis where God presented the rainbow.

Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, ""Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. ""I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.'' God said, ""This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. ""It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. ""When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.'' And God said to Noah, ""This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.'' - Genesis 9:8-17 (emphasis added)
Some Interesting Observations

This time, upon reading the passage, certain elements came to light that I had forgotten or had never learned. I noticed several prominent things this time when I studied the passage:

God was emphatic by being very repetitive. God makes seven references to the covenant. Three times He speaks of the rainbow and three times He points to it as a sign, or promise, of that covenant.

In my studies of scripture, when God repeats Himself, it is evident that He is speaking of a matter of great importance, a matter that commands our close attention.

The covenant is not with Noah alone, but with all of Noah’s descendants. This is significant because there have been others to whom God has made promises that last for their lifetime (e.g., Hezekiah - II Kings 20:19). However, this promise extends past Noah’s lifetime and forward to all generations.
The covenant is not with humanity alone, but also with all of the creatures. Repeatedly, God says that the covenant is with "all flesh" and "every living creature of all flesh". Just as God had pronounced judgement on all flesh (Genesis 6:13), even so now God unilaterally promises all flesh that there will be no repeat of this universal flood.

This was all very interesting, but did not give me any direct insight into the future. Where might I find additional information?

The Isaiah Connection

Some time went by, and still I had no answer to my original question. Then one day I remembered a passage in Isaiah where Noah was referenced. With some excitement, I turned to Isaiah and began to re-read the passage.

"Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed; For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous Than the sons of the married woman,'' says the LORD. "Enlarge the place of your tent; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; Lengthen your cords And strengthen your pegs. For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations And will resettle the desolate cities. Fear not, for you will not be put to shame; And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced; But you will forget the shame of your youth, And the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the LORD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth. For the LORD has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife of one's youth when she is rejected,'' Says your God. "For a brief moment I forsook you, But with great compassion I will gather you. In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,'' Says the LORD your Redeemer. - Isaiah 54:1-8

In this preamble, God is speaking comfort to his people. It follows on the heels of chapter 53, the account of the suffering Servant who paid the price of redemption. God here begins to speak of the regeneration, and the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21).

The Noah Tie-In

Now God goes on to explicitly relate what He will do at the end of time, to what He had done in Noah’s day with the flood, and to the promise and sign that He had given Noah.

9 "For this is like the days of Noah to Me, When I swore that the waters of Noah Would not flood the earth again; So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you Nor will I rebuke you.

Now I was getting somewhere! Here was a direct reference to Noah, and more specifically to God’s covenant with Noah. God speaks of his oath to never flood the earth again. Then He says explicitly that He is making another promise just like the promise he made to Noah, to Noah’s descendents, and to all the living creatures of all flesh.

10 For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,'' Says the LORD who has compassion on you.

Furthermore, God also calls this promise a covenant, a covenant of peace. He speaks of the mountains being removed and the hills shaking – a clear reference to the final judgement, dissolution, and restoration of all things. Then He goes on to describe what He will do after the great shaking.

11-12 "O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, Behold, I will set your stones in antimony, And your foundations I will lay in sapphires. Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies, And your gates of crystal, And your entire wall of precious stones.

The connection with the New Jerusalem described at the end of Revelation should be obvious to any student of scripture. God goes on to enumerate and expound upon His promises of blessing to His people.

13-17 All your sons will be taught of the LORD; And the well-being of your sons will be great. In righteousness you will be established; You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear; And from terror, for it will not come near you. If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you. Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals And brings out a weapon for its work; And I have created the destroyer to ruin. No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me,'' declares the LORD.
A Brief Parenthesis

Now we come to Chapter 55. Most commentators perceive a discontinutiy here. I would like to assert that this is no more than a brief parenthesis.

Isaiah 55:1-2 "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.

The parenthesis consists of an invitation and an encouragement to individuals to partake in the promised and coming covenant of peace.

3 Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David.

There it is! The covenant again! This is the same covenant of peace introduced in Chapter 54:10, initiated by God through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the suffering Servant of Chapter 53. It is a covenant parallel to God’s covenant with David.

4-5 Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, A leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.''

God once more reminds the listener of what is required to enter into this covenant of peace with Him.

6-7 Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
The Means Displayed

God now discusses the means he will use to bring about the final transformation of the heavens and the earth. In Genesis, he used literal water, a figure of His word, to purge and purify and remake. Here in Isaiah, He reverts to the Word itself – the same Word of power by which He originally created the world (John 1:1,2).

8-11 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,'' declares the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
The Sign Revealed

Most commentators conclude that verses 12 and 13 are a purely poetic description of God’s kingdom. I am persuaded, however, that they are quite literal. How literal? I think at least as literal as a rainbow.

12-13 For you will go out with joy And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up, And it will be a memorial to the LORD, For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.''

Just as the rainbow was a perpetual sign to Noah and all generations of man and beast, the sign described here is called a memorial and an everlasting sign. Notice the elements of the sign:

You will go out with joy and being led forth with peace.

The term "go out" is a term connected throughout scripture with deliverance, with jubilee, with redemption (Genesis 8:16, Exodus 7:2).

The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy.

This is in contrast with the description in Romans 8 of all creation groaning. Rather than groaning, creation will shout for joy.

The trees of the field will clap their hands.

Literal? I believe so. Trees already make pleasant noises. Animals have their own voices as well. Before the flood, no one would have believed or pictured a description of a rainbow. Even so now, it may be hard to picture exactly how trees will "clap their hands" but I expect one day to see and hear it happen.

The curse will be reversed.

When God cursed the ground for Adam’s sake, He said it would bring forth thorns. Here we see the sign, the evidence that the curse is no longer present.

New Heavens and a New Earth

This is nothing less than a description of the new heavens and the new earth, and the hallmarks that will be a source of perpetual comfort to us that things will never revert to their old state. God will create new heavens and a new earth. These are the heavens and earth described by the apostle Peter as "the home of righteousness". When we finally live in them, we will live in perpetual peace and joy, surrounded by permanent and multi-faceted sign at least equal to, if not surpassing, the rainbow in uniqueness and striking beauty.

Conclusion

When God destroyed the earth with a global flood, He accomplished several major purposes. He cleansed the world of it’s existing sin and violence. He created a prototype of redemption in Noah’s ark, a type of Christ. He also created a prototype of universal judgement, a testimony to the world that God is judge and will one day again destroy the world to cleanse it of its sin.

After the flood, God made a new covenant with man and beast and provided a new and durable sign of that covenant, the rainbow – a sign that continues to this day.

In an analogous fasion, when God destroys the present heavens and earth by fire, he will recreate a new heavens and a new earth, "the home of righteousness". Those who have entered the Ark of safety, Christ, will enter into and enjoy that new home. God will at that time confirm His new covenant with a sign analogous to the rainbow of the Noahic covenant.

We who trust in Christ can rely on God. Not only will we enter into these new heavens and new earth, but we will also enjoy the new, perpetual, and obvious sign provided by God for our comfort and assurance. This sign will be our new "rainbow", the manifest evidence in the creation around us that the curse has been lifted forever!