Rain and Rainbows!

Rain and Rainbows!
I have gotten behind on my posting this week. So let's catch up!

INITIAL THOUGHT: The Bible and Science are NEVER in conflict. Interpretations may be in conflict... but the TRUE INTERPRETATION is not in conflict. Don't you think the God of the Bible and the Creator of the World, the Creator of His physics would make sure everything 'synced?' God is consistent and faithful!

TODAY's POST: The purpose of Genesis 9:7-18 in which God establishes a 'rainbow' as a sign of a 'covenant promise,' is to demonstrate GOD'S CONSTANCY. God will never fail you! God is the one anchor in life that does not change...

"Jesus Christ is the same... yesterday, today, and forever!" Hebrews 13:8

And of course, Jesus Christ is God! We find in John 1:3 regarding the creation of the universe...

"In Him (Jesus) and through Him (Jesus) ALL THINGS were made."

God is not some petulant Creator who one morning decides to go after someone, or some nation or to change the laws of the universe.

God created ALL THINGS! God does not change the laws of creation, although God can sometimes choose to accelerate His laws of creation. However, that is a post for another day!

And this is true of physics as well. The entire universe, all of the galaxies, even those being formed today... are being made with the same foundational principles of physics that God first established in the initial creation.

I say all of this, to say all of this... the rain in Noah's time was NOT the first rain. The rainbow in Noah's time was NOT the first rainbow as many old time preachers preach! Why is this important? Because the entire Bible demonstrates God's consistency, constancy, faithfulness, long-suffering, etc, etc. If God becomes random about creation... then what about His promises?

The water cycle is the same today as it was in the days of Noah. The idea for it being the first rain is a misinterpretation of Hebrews 11:7...

"By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith."

Some have interpreted "things not yet seen" as the 'rain and rainbow.' Of course, if "things not yet seen" was something physical it could also be the 'flood.' We have to be careful NOT TO READ AN INTERPRETATION INTO THE TEXT. THAT IS A SIN AND IS CALLED EISEGESIS. As opposed to EXEGESIS, which is letting Scripture speak for itself. Personally, I believe "things not yet seen" is the 'wrath of God.' Why? Because that is how it is used in ALL of the APOCALYPTIC (destruction of the world) literature of the Bible, ie. Daniel, Revelation, etc. And, I know the BIBLE and SCIENCE AGREE IN ALL THINGS!

Now folks who want to believe the contrary bring up Genesis 2:6...

"...but streams (mist) came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground."

They want to believe that a ground mist or stream was God's alternate to rain at this time. This is problematic for a lot of reasons. God gave us the water cycle for purification as one. Go back to your science books to remember the importance of the water cycle. In any event, in Genesis 2:4-7...

"(4) This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. (5) Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, (6) but streams (mist) came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. (7) Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."

Well Pastor Jim, this passage says, "The Lord God had not sent rain on the earth." Yes, this was the case BEFORE ADAM and EVE (verse 7) and well before NOAH. By the time ADAM and EVE and NOAH came around THERE WAS VEGETATION! The water cycle in the atmosphere had developed. This passage is a short description of the earth forming it's atmosphere. God set the physics in place and now the planet is cooling and the atmosphere is forming. There is a whole bunch of stuff going on in these few verses that we don't hear about. Volcanoes erupting, earth cooling, tectonic plate shifting, etc, etc. Can you imagine God including all of that in for the average reader? No! But what God does make the focus... IS YOU! HE CREATED HUMANITY. The center of the story is God created US in the middle of all this physics, geology, and biology stuff!

SUMMARY-RAINBOW
The same is true for the rainbow. Trust me... there were RAINBOWS BEFORE God and Noah made their covenant in Genesis 9:7-18. However, God decided to take something that was ALREADY a constant, a "RAINBOW," and tell Noah this will be NOW be a sign of my PROMISES to you. In some respects, when we see the RAINBOW, we see JESUS! Why because a RAINBOW shows the HEART of Jesus! It is many colored. The white light is refracted to show many colors of light for JESUS IS THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD!