The Biblical Meaning of the RAINBOW
Introduction
The rainbow is a magnificent spectacle in the sky that is described scientifically as an “optical phenomenon that can occur under certain meteorological conditions. It is caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky“. What is not said is that it is God Who created the conditions, the water molecules, and the sun to cast the sunlight, which make possible the presence and viewing of any rainbow.
The Rainbow, from a Biblical standpoint, has great spiritual significance, which is only meant to Glorify God. In fact, Ezekiel 1:28 tells us that the rainbow is representative of “the glory of the LORD“,
“As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain (the rainbow), 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.“
However, in our day, the rainbow has now been co-opted as a symbol representing those who are entirely opposed to God and His Word (the Bible) and seek only to glorify themselves (and their sins) through identification with the rainbow. It is not hyperbole to say that the differences in these two viewpoints have arisen to Biblical Proportions.
So let us first review how the Rainbow is described to us in the Bible.
The Biblical Meaning of the Rainbow
The very first mention of a “rainbow” in all of western literature can be found in the Bible, in the Book of Genesis (the first book of the Bible). There we find, following the Great Flood of Noah’s day, that God declares in Genesis 9:8-17,
“¶ And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; And with every living creature that [is] with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. ¶ And God said, This [is] the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that [is] with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow (קֶשֶׁת (qešeṯ))H7198 (the rainbow) in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow (קֶשֶׁת (qešeṯ))H7198shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which [is] between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow (קֶשֶׁת (qešeṯ))H7198shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it,that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This [is] the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that [is] upon the earth.” (The word for “bow” is the same as the bow, with arrows, used historically in warfare.)
However, before moving on, we also need to look into why God sent the Great Flood in the first place. In Genesis 6:5, we read, “¶And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Notice that destruction came because of the wickedness and continuous evil of mankind, which holds particular import for us in our day, as we will see below.
The second place in the Bible that a “rainbow” is mentioned is in Ezekiel 1:28 (as was noted above in the Introduction), “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain (the rainbow), 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.” In this case, the prophet Ezekiel was describing what he saw as “visions of God” that equated a rainbow with the glory of the LORD God.
The last two places in the Bible, which specifically mention a “rainbow”, are found in the Book of Revelation (the last book of the Bible) in Revelation 4:3, which describes Jesus, the Creator and The LORD God Almighty, sitting on the Throne in Heaven, “And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and [there was] a rainbow (ἶρις (iris))G2463 round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” and then Revelation 10:1, “And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow (ἶρις (iris))G2463 [was] upon his head, and his face [was] as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:“
If we compare and integrate all of the four places in the Bible that refer to the Rainbow, then we can see that the Rainbow was established by God as a token of remembrance of a Covenant that God established between Himself and all mankind, and every living creature, following the devastating world-wide flood of Noah’s day. That Covenant stated that God would never again destroy the world by a flood of water. Then we next see in both of the prophetical visions, witnessed by both the prophet Ezekiel and John the Revelator, that the rainbow refers to the glory surrounding the Throne of God and upon the Head of God, indicating to us that the rainbow also represents the Glory of God, the LORD God Almighty, Who we know Is also The LORD Jesus Christ. We can also see His coming to the earth, first to bring the Gospel of Salvation in the little book (the Bible)in which the Word is manifested Revelation 10:8-11, and next to Judge the whole earth on Judgment Day, when there is time no longer Revelation 10:6, just as Jesus was judged for His Elect in 33 AD who are received up into Heaven.
The Rainbow Appears Only AFTER Judgment Is Finished!
But we should also take note of the fact that the rainbow was only first seen AFTER the flood of Noah’s Day, which was AFTER the Judgment of God on the world in Noah’s Day. And the following three times all prophetically refer to Jesus in Heaven when He is seated on His Throne in His Glory surrounded by His Saints, also seated with golden crowns, which can only be AFTER the Judgment of God on Jesus Christ for the sins of God’s elect in 33 AD. Jesus is seated meaning His Work is Finished. This means that The Final Judgment for the elect of God, the believers, the saints, The Bride of Christ, is also in the past!
And that is evidence of the fulfillment of the “New Covenant” established by Jesus’ Sacrifice on the cross that we read about in Hebrews 12:22-24, “¶But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than [that of] Abel.”
How is this different from the meaning of the rainbow that is being accepted in our world today?
The Rainbow, and Its Meaning, Has Been Usurped
In today’s culture, predominantly today’s “western” culture, the rainbow is now publicly portrayed as a symbol adopted by those who identify with each other together under the heading of “Pride”.
What does the Bible say about “Pride”?
Suffice it to say, “Pride” is Biblically emblematic of the stumbling block of the Original Sin of Adam, which resulted in all mankind having been condemned to eternal death in Hell by God.
The very first verse in the Bible that specifically addresses the word “pride” is found in the context of God’s Righteous Judgment for disobedience to God and His commandments, as we find in the following verses:
Leviticus 26:14-19, “But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, [but] that ye break my covenant: I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you. And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride (גָּאוֹן (gā’ôn) H1347) of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:” Note that the words “iron” and “brass” are Biblical references to Hell, and that the number “seven” in the Bible points to the “Perfection” of whatever is in view.
There are many verses in the Bible that specifically denounce pride, and the proud and arrogant. Here is but a small sample of some key verses that address pride.
In Proverbs 16:18, “Pride (גָּאוֹן (gā’ôn) H1347) [goeth] before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
Proverbs 21:4, “An high look, and a proud heart, [and] the plowing of the wicked, [is] sin.”
Proverbs 21:10, “The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes.“
Psalm 119:21, “Thou hast rebuked the proud (זֵד (zēḏ) H2086) [that are] cursed, which do err from thy commandments.” The word translated from the original Hebrew as proud here is זֵד (zēḏ) H2086, meaning “arrogant”, “proud”, “insolent”, and “presumptuous”.
Isaiah 13:11“And I will punish the world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy (גָּאוֹן (gā’ôn) H1347) of the proud (זֵד (zēḏ)s H2086) to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.”
In the New Testament, we read in James 4:6, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
The Culture of Pride Has Become Ascendent Today
And is it not interesting how we are living in a time that both glorifies evil and abominable acts and lifestyles, while also promoting demonic icons in our culture (generally identified as “pop culture”). Marriage between a man and women is no longer sacrosanct. Full-term babies can be killed with impunity in the name of “health care”. Children are being subjected to grave perversions in our public schools. The Bible is abhorred in our society today, while the books of other religions are not only tolerated, but are being actively promoted. I will not go on to enumerate all the specific sins here, but rather simply point the reader to some Bible verses to ponder, which are generally not well known in our day.
Romans 1:18–32, “¶ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed [it] unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. ¶ Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. ¶ For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. ¶ And even as they did not like to retain God in [ their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.“
1 Corinthians 6:9–10, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.“
Psalm 12:8, “The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted.”
Ecclesiastes 8:11, “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”
Deuteronomy 22:5, “¶The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.“
Leviticus 19:28, “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I [am] the LORD.“
Proverbs 14:34 “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”
Proverbs 11:11 “By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.“
When Jesus is not being honored as The King today, then destruction will come soon. In Judges 21:25, we read what happened to Israel when they had no king, and it is happening in our world today, “In those days [there was] no king in Israel: every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.“
And we could all benefit by heeding the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:20, “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane [and] vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:“
Finally, In Isaiah, chapter 14, we read where God denounced and condemned the devil to Hell for his “pride”, although the original Hebrew word גָּאוֹן (gā’ôn) H1347 is translated in the King James Version of the English Bible as “pomp” in Isaiah 14:11-15, “Thy pomp (גָּאוֹן (gā’ôn) H1347) is brought down to the grave, [and] the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! [how] art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be likethe most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” And as a side note, is it not interesting that, in 2023, in a nation that founded its laws on Judeo-Christian principles, a televised music awards program showcased someone portraying the devil singing a song called “Unholy”, while a major sports team celebrated a sacrilegious group that that openly mocks Jesus’s Atonement?
God Will Judge, exactly as we are told in Ecclesiastes 12:13, “¶Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether [it be] good, or whether [it be] evil.”
So Why is Sin Abounding So Much Now in Our Day?
God makes it very clear in the Bible that He Is Sovereign over all of His Creation. God tells us that while the devil was bound at the cross upon the death of Jesus Christ in 33AD, that God would let the devil loose from his prison for “a little season”, as a judgment against the world for not reverencing God and His Word (the Bible and Its Embodiment, Jesus Christ) as a prelude to the ultimate Judgment Day and the end of the world in Revelation 20:3 and Revelation 20:7-9.
This current era certainly seems to qualify as the period the Bible refers to as the “Great Tribulation”. Jesus also said that if those days were not cut short, then no one would be saved, but for the elect’s sake, the days will be shortened. We see this in Matthew 24:22, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” and Mark 13:20, “And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.“
The bottom line is that we are now living in a heathen nation, and a heathen world, which has turned its back on The Creator God, and, therefore, iniquity is abounding. As a result, God is now pouring out His vials of Wrath upon the world, and one of the ways includes letting the devil “loose” from the prison where the devil had been bound from 33 AD until now. Churches have become largely apostate, because the devil has been allowed to take over the pulpit in many formerly Christian churches (as the “Abomination of Desolation“). Seeing that this is the case, we must conclude that we are all now in that “little season”.
And do not forget what Jesus said about the prelude (the beginning of sorrows) leading up to Judgment Day in Matthew 24:6-13, “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all [these things] must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. ¶Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” We have all seen enough of the above already.
Someone might say that this is all just the talk of a fool. OK, but please remember how, back in the Old Testament, God punished the ten northern tribes of Israel for their apostasy and for worshipping other gods, then later Judah and Jerusalem for doing the same thing. To learn more about how God used “Types” of the devil in the course of those horrendous events, please see this study on the Book of Nahum. But for all of us now, as the New Testament era comes to a close and Judgment Day approaches, the same kind of horrendous events have already begun to occur upon the whole world in the “spiritual” realm (and we are now seeing the effects in our physical/temporal world). God is not just letting loose a “Type” of the devil, but the devil himself has apparently now been loosed.
Think about it.
If any of this bothers you, then please cry out to God for mercy in the Name of Jesus Christ while you still have breath in your body.
Postscript: The Irony and Spiritual Implications of a Six-Color Rainbow Versus a Seven-Color Rainbow
Before proceeding further, it must be stated clearly that there is no Biblical basis for saying that the rainbow consists of any number of colors; either five, six, seven, or a million or more. The Bible is completely moot on that point. So where did the idea of seven colors come from?
Interestingly enough, for centuries, “western” culture had previously, generally accepted the view that the rainbow consists of seven distinct colors (although, from a purely empirical scientific view, the rainbow is in reality an indivisible and infinite spectrum of colors).
It has been claimed that Sir Isaac Newton, in England, back in the 1600s, derived the number as the result of experiments with a glass prism to refract sunlight. It should be noted that Sir Isaac Newton was not only a great scientist, physicist and mathematician, but Newton was also a professed Christian and devoted Bible student. It has been reported that Newton originally only saw five distinctly identifiable colors with his glass prism experiment, but later claimed that there were actually seven. According to some claimants, this was due, at least in part, to Newton’s awareness of the Biblical implications of the number “seven”.
And what are the Biblical implications of the number seven?
The number seven is consistently used in the Bible by God to point to the “Perfection” of whatever is in view, and most frequently having to do with time. There are the seven days in the week, the six days of creation culminating in the creation of mankind, followed by the seventh day of rest, known today as the Sabbath. Genesis 2:2&3, “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Then there are the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars that we read about in Revelation 3:1 “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” There are many other examples where the number of seven can be seen in Bible that underpin this interpretation. See Seven for additional references.
But what about the number six?
The Number Six
The number six is consistently used in the Bible in relation to mankind. God created man on the sixth day of creation. In Revelation 13:18, this is made very clear, “¶ Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number [is] Six hundred threescore [and] six.” The “666”, or the number six repeated three times. The number six will always fall short of the number seven, that represents God and His Perfection, Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” Man is not God, just as “6” is not “7“.
It should also be noted that the number six also refers to “work”, which is the foundational evil of every false gospel, in that each contains and exalts the free will and works of men, rather than the Grace of God. So six, refers to man and, more specifically, man’s work, which is always and entirely evil and opposed to God.
For more verses to help underscore this point, please see Six.
By adopting a six-colored rainbow flag, those professing “Pride” are either consciously, or subconsciously, boasting themselves to be like God, while remaining far short of God’s Perfection. It cannot be more accurately explained than what we find in Romans 1:21-23, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man,…”
And by the way, it was no accident that the great Judgmental Noachian Flood came when Noah was exactly six hundred years old. Genesis 7:6
And speaking of the Flood in Noahs day, that Judgment on the world in that day was meant by God to be a prefigurement of the last and Final Judgment Day. There are many other prefigurements that portend Judgment Day at the end of the world, such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the destruction of Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea, the death of the Canaanites in Judges 4&5, the death of enemies of the Jews in Esther, etc. But Jesus specifically pointed to just two of them. Noah’s Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:37-39, “But as the days of Noe (Noah) were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” and in Luke 17:26-30, “And as it was in the days of Noe (Noah), so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed [them] all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” 2 Peter 2:5 provides a bit of additional commentary, “And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;”
The bottom line conclusion is that this current ungodly world is ripe for the Final Judgment Day of God. Jesus also said in Luke 21:28, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then lookup, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” This is a time when everyone needs to ask themself, am I ready to meet God?
Note to the Reader:
Noah נֹחַ (nōaḥ) H5146, whose means “Rest” or “Consolation“, also relates in a way to Nahum (נַחוּם (naḥûm) H5151 as we read in Genesis 5:29, “And he called his name Noah, saying, This [same] shall comfort נָחַם (nāḥam) H5162 us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.” This word for “comfort” נָחַם (nāḥam) H5162 , which is used here to pertain to Noah, is the root word from which Nahum (נַחוּם (naḥûm) H5151 is derived. For more on the Book of Nahum, please see The Book of Nahum. For some more spiritual insights concerning Noah’s Ark please see: Noah’s Ark Versus Moses’ Ark
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