After the Flood, a New Beginning
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altar to God. His stock of cattle was small, yet he cheerfully gave a
part to the Lord as an acknowledgment that all was His. In like manner
His mercy toward us should be acknowledged by devotion and gifts to
His cause.
The Rainbow—Sign of God’s Kindness
Lest men fear another flood the Lord encouraged the family of
Noah by a promise: “I will establish My covenant with you; ... neither
shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth... . I do set My
bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me
and the earth... . When I bring a cloud over the earth, ... the bow shall
be seen in the cloud; ... and I will look upon it, that I may remember
the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature.”
How great the condescension of God, and His compassion for His
erring creatures!
This does not imply that He would ever forget, but He speaks to us
in our own language. As the children should ask the meaning of the
arch which spans the heavens, their parents should repeat the story of
the Flood and tell them that the Most High had placed it in the clouds
as an assurance that the waters should never again overflow the earth.
It would testify of divine love to man and strengthen his confidence in
God.
In heaven the semblance of the rainbow encircles the throne and
overarches the head of Christ.
Ezekiel 1:28
;
Revelation 4:2, 3
. When
man by his great wickedness invites divine judgments, the Saviour,
interceding with the Father, points to the bow in the clouds, to the
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rainbow around the throne, as a token of mercy toward the repentant
sinner.
“As I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over
the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor
rebuke thee... . My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall
the covenant of My peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy
on thee.”
Isaiah 54:9, 10
.
As Noah looked upon the powerful beasts of prey that came forth
from the ark, the Lord sent an angel with the assuring message: “The
fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth,
and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth,