Blog Eleven, October 17, 2025
The natural phenomenon we always associate with the Flood account is, of course, the rainbow. AI describes the rainbow as “a meteorological phenomenon that appears as a multicolored arc in the sky caused by refraction, reflection, and dispersion of sunlight by water droplets in the atmosphere.” We are familiar with its appearance in Genesis 9 and the covenant God made with us concerning the Earth:
“And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth’” (Genesis 9:12-13 ESV, emphasis added).
Something there is about a rainbow. We never tire of seeing this visual spectacle. Why?
• It is Exhibit A on what makes nature beautiful.
• Rainbows are always fleeting, a momentary and unexpected delight.
• These occur at the end of a storm, always giving hope after severe weather.
Rainbows always happen with the sun at our back, so we do not have to encounter sun glare. Nature displays the variegation of visible light, arrayed into a full color spectrum, always for our easy viewing pleasure.
How many times does the rainbow appear in Scripture? If you said four times in total, you are right. The rainbow after the Flood is its first appearance in Scripture. There are three others, a second in Ezekiel and two in the book of Revelations. Ezekiel’s initial vision includes the following:
“Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking” (Ezekiel 1:28 ESV).
In the Apocalypse, John records two instances of a rainbow (actually, a rainbow-like appearance):
“And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald” (Revelation 4:3 ESV, emphasis added).
“Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, wrapped in a cloud, with a rainbow over his head, and his face was like the sun, and his legs like pillars of fire” (Revelation 10:1 ESV, emphasis added).
The rainbows in Scripture are enlightening (no pun intended). The initial rainbow at the Flood is a covenant sign of God where He certifies to mankind and all living things that He will never again judge mankind by water. The bow in the clouds is a symbol of His grace, a concept which first appears in the account of Noah (Genesis 6:8). We remain sinful and guilty in every intent of our hearts, and it is by His grace that earth is not again judged, found wanting, and destroyed.
The other three mentions of the rainbow also draw our attention to God’s grace; all three are visions of the glory of the Lord, with the rainbow the background in each vision, denoting His grace. The number of appearances – four – let the reader know that this grace is manifest in creation and is available to the people of earth. These four have the standard three-plus-one pattern (like almost every usage of four in Scripture) – three are visions of rainbows, one an actual rainbow in the heavens.
The Flood is the first mention of grace in Scripture! Stop and count the ways that God’s water judgment of His created Earth magnified His grace. The rainbow is Nature’s demonstration of the continuum of God’s truth and grace – the narrow beam of sunlight is split into its component colors by water, beautiful for the eyes to see. The rainbow reveals the hidden beauty found in light; grace is the hidden beauty found in God’s truth.
D. E.