A Token of Mercy
Rainbows are always exciting no matter how many times you see them. Their beauty captures the attention and points you to Someone greater! The rainbow was an incredible picture of mercy to Noah and it still has significance of us today. It is much more than just a simple promise of God saying He will never flood the whole earth again. The rainbow is a beautiful, concrete picture of God’s mercy and justice coming together.
“...He speaks to us in our own language, that we may better understand Him.... Thus from generation to generation it [the rainbow] would testify of divine love to man and would strengthen his confidence in God.”
~ Patriarchs & Prophets p.106
In Genesis 9:13, it says, “I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.”
When God says covenant, He is referring to the way He relates to us, a promise of the restoration of God being with man and man being with God. When God performs acts of justice they can be difficult to understand but we need to understand they are acts of kindness and love in action. Jesus is coming soon and the rainbow reminds us that God’s acts of judgment have been and will always be acts of mercy and love in the process of restoring mankind to their Maker. Do a word search in your Bible about covenant and you will see over and over how much God longs to have a relationship with you!
The rainbow is a special symbol to God as well! It is a “token of mercy.”
“In heaven the semblance of a rainbow encircles the throne and overarches the head of Christ. (Ezekiel 1:28, Revelation 4:2,3.) When man by his great wickedness invites the divine judgments, the Savior, interceding with the Father in his behalf, points to the bow in the clouds, to the rainbow around the throne and above His own head, as a token of the mercy of God toward the repentant sinner.”
~ Patriarchs & Prophets 107.1
The rainbow story isn’t finished, you can find the Bible talking about a rainbow again in Revelation. Revelation 4: 2,3 as mentioned previously but also in Revelation 10!
“I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head... He had a little book open in his hand.” Rev. 10:1,2
There is a lot going on Revelation 10. It is the prophecy about an angel bringing a message that will be sweet to the mouth but bitter to the stomach. This message started a movement around the world that preached about the 2nd coming of Christ and the end of sin. Before Jesus comes there will be a Judgment. No one feels joy when they think of being judged but it is not us that is on trial but God’s character. His character of love and mercy will be shown and proven for all time. But look closely at the verse. The angel with this message has a rainbow over it’s head. And what does a rainbow represent to God, a token of mercy!
The message of the Investigative Judgment is a promise of the fulfillment of Christ in us and that sin will be no more. What a promise to remember and to claim every time we see a rainbow!
photo shot at Letchworth Falls, NY (Nov. 2021)