“As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.” – Ezekiel 1:28
Most of the rain falling in Israel comes in the form of brief, but heavy, showers followed by a brilliant sun – a perfect formula for rainbows. In fact, these conditions often treat us to double rainbows; occasionally the moon is so bright that it will generate one. The sight of the rainbow is so beautiful and powerful, that it is often used in the Bible as a reminder of God’s covenant with us and of our reconciliation and peace through Jesus.
We can, indeed, find prominent use of the rainbow in the beginning, middle, and end of scripture. Near the beginning in Genesis, God sends a rainbow as His covenant that He will never again flood all the earth as punishment for human sin. In the middle, in Ezekiel, the rainbow symbolizes the coming of Christ, as well as to declare the glory of God. And in Revelation, at the end of God’s Word, John described Christ as “clothed with a cloud and a rainbow on His head,” a symbol of peace and reconciliation with God.
God never intended the rainbow to be a symbol of diversity, or a symbol to represent the goodness of what God calls evil. God gave us the rainbow as a symbol of the trustworthiness of His promises – as a symbol of hope in Him.
