This week, as we traveled down the highway, our family spotted a beautiful rainbow to the east as the sun was setting in the west. The contrast of colors filling the sky was stunningly beautiful. As we pointed to the rainbow in the sky, we asked our youngest daughter if she understood the meaning behind this beautiful spectacle that reappears in the sky on certain occasions. She responded by saying that there was probably gold at the end—so after a quick chuckle we talked about the real meaning of the colorful bow in the sky.
The Origin of the Rainbow
The rainbow finds its origin in a covenant that was made to Noah after the great flood. The Bible records that event in Genesis 9, and the whole backdrop can be seen leading up to the Noahic covenant. God was angry with the depraved population that filled planet earth. He commissioned Noah to build the ark in accordance with his plan of judgment and salvation. Only Noah and his family (eight people in total) were saved from the fury of God’s vengeance.
After flooding the entire world with a global flood, God made a promise that he would never again destroy the world with water. In order to communicate this promise, God not only spoke it to Noah, but he also hung a majestic bow in the sky. Genesis 9:12-17 records the scene of God’s promise to Noah and future generations:
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. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
The rainbow, like all of God’s creation, reflects the beauty and majesty of God. The radiant colors and glorious appearance of a rainbow in the sky points to the existence of God and reflects his glory. When we see a rainbow, we should consider how much more glorious and beautiful God is and one day the whole world will see his glory shine in an unveiled manner.
The Hijacking of the Rainbow
A few years ago I was riding in a vehicle through a remote village high in the Andes mountains. As we passed clusters of homes along the road, I noticed that many of the windows of the homes were decorated with a rainbow banner. Immediately my mind went to the homosexual agenda. I asked my friend who lives in Ecuador to explain, and he informed me that the rainbow banner represents a specific political party.
Why did my mind immediately go to the LGBTQ agenda rather than God’s covenant with Noah? Years ago, a man named Gilbert Baker was one of the original architects who designed a plan to use the rainbow as a symbol of the gay pride movement. Baker died at 65 in March of 2017 and is being honored this month at many LGBTQ events. According to Baker, “The flag is an action – it’s more than just the cloth and the stripes. When a person puts the Rainbow Flag on his car or his house, they’re not just flying a flag. They’re taking action.” [1] The idea took off with a great deal of enthusiasm and soon large numbers of homosexuals were marching the streets of major cities in America waving, wearing, and identifying themselves under majestic and colorful rainbow banners and flags. Today, that image is placed on bumper stickers and even appeared on the White House following the Obergefell v. Hodges decision in 2015. Baker would later recount:
The moment I knew that the flag was beyond my own personal experience – that it wasn’t just something I was making but was something that was happening – was the 1993 March on Washington. From my home in San Francisco I watched the March on C-SPAN and saw hundreds of thousands of people carrying and waving Rainbow Flags on a scale I’d never imagined. [2]
The Paradox of the LGBTQ Symbol
Interestingly enough, as the LGBTQ groups use the rainbow to identify their movement and to celebrate their freedom, God remains angry with sinners—including those engaged in the sin of homosexuality. The rainbow was not created by God as a sign of God’s cessation of anger. It was a sign to remember that God is holding back his anger and will not issue a global flood again.
The rainbow does not communicate that God is pleased with homosexuals. It communicates that God remains angry with sin and sinners, but he has chosen to not destroy the earth with a global flood again. That does not mean that God will not unleash his divine wrath. It should be noted that when Christ returns, he will come clothed in wrath to judge all rebels of God. On that day, people will run into the hills and hide in caves and no place will be safe—not even beneath a rainbow flag.
The very symbol used to promote freedom among the LGBTQ population is one that communicates the fact that God’s wrath is coming upon the world of sinners. When Christ returns, he will certainly reclaim the rainbow for what it was originally intended for in the first place. Even around the throne of God, there is pictured a majestic rainbow—used to communicate the glory of God (Rev. 4:3). One day, the rainbow will no longer be misused by sinners to boast in their sin. The rainbow will be reserved for the glory of God alone when Christ returns and makes all things new.
Until Christ returns, we must communicate the truth and the glory of the rainbow to our daughters and sons as we ride down the highway. We likewise have a duty to communicate this same truth to others who have misused, abused, and hijacked a glorious symbol used by God to communicate a promise. Veiled in God’s promise to not flood the earth with water is another promise that God remains angry with sinners. God’s glory will shine again throughout the whole earth, but before then Christ will return in judgment (Rom. 2:8; Matt. 13:41-43; Matt. 24:51; Is. 66). Therefore, we must point people to find their refuge in Jesus Christ, the only means of satisfying the divine wrath and holy justice of God. Until Christ returns—we must point all people to Jesus Christ for salvation. God loves to save sinners through his Son (1 Cor. 6:9-11).
- A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE RAINBOW FLAG [accessed 6-26-17]
- Ibid
