THE BIBLICAL VIEW OF THE RAINBOW
After the waters of the Great Flood receded, and Noah and all creatures disembarked from the ark, God placed a rainbow in the sky as a sign of His promise to never again destroy the world with a flood. Not only did God make this promise to Noah and the human race, but to all creatures dwelling on the earth. (Genesis 9:8-17).
There has been much speculation as to why God added a diversity colors to the rainbow, and what the colors represent. The rainbow is thought to be composed of six colors, including red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet; yet, there are actually seven colors when indigo is included. The number seven (7) normally represents completeness and perfection from God's standpoint, and perhaps that's why God put seven colors in the rainbow. Some Bible scholars are convinced that the colors of the rainbow represent the six work days of the Creation Week plus God's seventh day of rest, as described in Genesis 1 and 2. Everything that exists on the earth, to which God made the Noahic Covenant, came into existence during the six/seven days of the Creation Week.
Other Bible scholars think that the colors represent the seven major ethnic subdivisions of the human race that descended from Noah and his three sons. (Genesis 10:1-32). There are also Bible scholars who portray the rainbow's seven colors as representing the Seven Spirits of God mentioned in the book of Revelation. (Revelation 1:4; 3:1; 4:5; 5:6; Isaiah 11:2). Still other Bible scholars believe that the rainbow represents God himself in all His glory (Ezekiel 1:28; Revelation 4:3; 10:1), and that the colors of the rainbow represent the seven most recognizable attributes of God that make Him so holy and glorious, including the attributes of eternal existence, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, perfect love, pure truth and perfect righteousness. The rainbow forms from the refraction of white light as it passes through water droplets in the air, and, just as white light is the combination of all the colors of the rainbow, so "holiness" is the sum total of all of God's attributes; God is "Holy, holy, holy" (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8).
As far as eschatology or Bible prophecy is concerned, the rainbow may foreshadow the permanent end of sin, suffering and death, as well as the permanent end of God's wrath against His creation due to wickedness. Remember that the rainbow was a sign of God's promise to never pour out His wrath on His creation by means of a flood. The Noahic Flood serves as a warning example of an even greater destruction that is soon to befall this world---the coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:36-39; Luke 17:26-30; 2 Peter 3:5-7). Just as He did during the Flood, God will remove sin and death from His creation, except this time sin and death will be removed totally and forever---not even to be remembered. (Isaiah 65:17-25; 2 Peter 3:5-13; Revelation 21:1-8). This will be affirmed by the fact that all the redeemed saints, along with all of the New Heaven and New Earth, will be immortal and incorruptible before God. Analogous to the rainbow of Noah's day would be Almighty God and the Holy City establishing a permanent dwelling place among mankind in the New Heaven and New Earth; that is, after the final outpouring of God's wrath on the wicked has passed by. (Revelation 21:2, 3; 22:3-5). That's right; the rainbow in the New Heaven and New Earth will actually be the glorious presence of God himself among His holy people.
In addition, the rainbow represents the exaltation of God's mercy and grace over God's wrath and judgment. (Psalm 103:8-10; Micah 7:18; James 2:13). This present age, spanning from the Great Flood to the Final Judgment, is the time for God's holy people to go to the ends of the earth and tell lost sinners about God and His mercy, God and His grace, in hopes that they will repent, be saved and join the spiritual family of God with everlasting life. (Ezekiel 18:30-32; 33:11; John 3:16, 36; 17:3; Acts 17:30, 31; 1 Timothy 2:3-7; 2 Peter 3:9).
In a 2001 sermon, John MacArthur said of the rainbow: "God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant, this bow, which I've established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.' The whole Flood story is a revelation of God's holy wrath. God is a God of vengeance, a God of judgment, a God of wrath [against sin]. But the rainbow is a sign that God is also a God of mercy and a God of grace and a God of patience and a God of peace. There will be a final wrath to come in which the universe will be destroyed by fire and all sinners will perish. Between the Flood and that final time is the period of grace, and the bow of God, the bow of a warrior, hangs in all its beauty over the earth against the clouds of judgment as the beauty of grace touching heaven at its arc and touching earth at its ends, to tell all humanity that God is gracious to sinners."
In closing, I want to warn people that our postmodern culture is deconstructing the Bible text and is giving unbiblical meanings to the rainbow. God's rainbow DOES NOT represent multiculturalism, pluralism or syncretism, nor does it represent a diversity of sexual lifestyles paraded with pride, nor does it represent a wide diversity of world religions pointing to salvation in the same God. All of these are man-made ideas of what the rainbow represents; these ideas are not grounded in an objective, exegetical interpretation of scripture. We must stick strictly with the biblical meaning of the rainbow, which is one of God's most beautiful, most awesome creations.
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