It doesn’t rain often here in the Antelope Valley of Southern California, since it is a desert climate. However we do have our rainy season in the late winter, early spring. Broken clouds during an early morning or late afternoon shower allow the sun to shine through. These conditions create the most vivid and complete rainbows I’ve ever seen anywhere. Under the right conditions, they span the entire valley, particularly the early morning ones which appear in the west. Absolutely magnificent. Perfect.

Isn’t it interesting that people are always captured by the appearance of a rainbow? People will grab their cameras and run out into the rain and snap as many pictures as they can. There is just something about a rainbow that people appreciate. God given ability to appreciate beauty? Perhaps the presence of a little of God’s glory in the sky? My theory is that when a rainbow appears, there is something innate within us that draws us to him at the appearance of a rainbow. Ever wonder why you appreciate a rainbow? Something to think about…

The physics that defines a rainbow is well known and depends on the index of refraction of water, itself dependent on the speed of light in water vs the speed of light in a vacuum. The math and physics is simple and elegant and uses as its model a single drop of water. But in reality, there are hundreds of millions of water droplets moving through the air with an observer between the sun and the rain shower, establishing the right geometry for the rainbow to appear as a static manifestation to the observer. Light, water, a person standing in the right place. Its beautiful – just like the God who made the rainbow.

With the mathematics and measurements of the physical properties of water which depends on the temperature and pressure of the environment, we can only construct an approximate mathematical representation of the rainbow – imperfect as mathematically calculated and yet when it appears in the sky it is perfect. I can discuss the physics all day long but it is the author of physics, chemistry, and quantum mechanics that makes it possible. God made it.

What does the rainbow have to do with the Kingdom of God and why write about it? First, I love rainbows – they are always awe inspiring here in the Antelope Valley. Second, the rainbow has everything to do with the Kingdom of God. Let me explain.

The rainbow is mentioned only 4 times in scripture: the first time in Genesis 9:8-19, a covenant God made with Noah, his descendants (us), and all living creatures never to again destroy the earth with a flood.

There were reasons for the flood at that point in history, in that the corruption and wickedness of mankind had reached the point of no return. It was either cleanse the earth with the flood and start over again with the few remaining righteous people (Noah and his family) or allow complete corruption to swallow Noah, his family, and the earth.

It was just-in-time intervention by the Lord that saved creation from complete corruption. It was a commitment from God to set things back on course for the redemption of mankind and indeed, all of creation. This could only result through his promise of a savior who would be the final answer to the evil plans of spiritual forces of darkness and rebellion against God and the sinfulness of mankind.

Genesis 9:13 says the rainbow is God’s bow. It belongs to Him. God said it would be a reminder, not to us, but to Himself of the covenant He made at that moment – with all of us. An absolute, rock solid commitment to send His son into the world to save it – a commitment to the resolve sin and rebellion once and for all, not through a flood that would destroy mankind and have to be repeated over and over, but through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross to pay for our sins and overturn corruption, once and for all.

Two remaining mentions of the rainbow are in reference to the throne of God (Ez 1:28, Rev 4:3) – divine authority and power – described by the prophet Ezekiel as the glory of God. It is a sacred symbol that represents God’s covenant to us made by the authority of His throne; His absolute divine authority, purity, holiness.

God’s commitment to salvation is promised on the authority of His throne. On that day with Noah, He swore by His own throne that His plan of salvation would be completed. If you don’t think God is committed to fulfill His plan of redemption, know this: every time the rainbow appears in the sky, every time you look at it, He Himself is also looking at it and reminded of that commitment. His Kingdom will come just as He said, by the very authority of His own throne.

Jesus came and fulfilled the promise of the rainbow. There is no need for a flood again because sin, death, corruption has been dealt with once, for all by the cross and resurrection.

The rainbow is mentioned in the context of the throne of God once again in Revelation:

Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.

Revelation 4:2-3

This same throne is within the Holy City – the final reality of the fullness of God’s Kingdom. The symbol of God’s throne, the rainbow, represents prophetic fulfillment: the prophetic promise made to Noah and all the following generations of mankind and the delivery on that promise in the Kingdom of God. All of this was made possible through His commitment to send His only begotten son down to the earth as a man born of a woman and who would then suffer on the cross and die an atoning death that through His blood we would have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins.

There are those who have claimed the rainbow as a symbol of wickedness. They defile a sacred symbol and insult the Lord by making the bow a symbol of pride. A symbol of God’s promise, purity, and power turned into a symbol of pride and impurity. The day is coming when people will once again know that the Lord is God and the rainbow belongs to Him.

And that is the connection between the rainbow, the promise of a savior, the throne of God and ultimately to fullness of His Kingdom.