Rainbow of the covenant
Friday, Sept. 18
Genesis 8:1 – 9:17 Read it here Listen to it here
Forty days and forty nights of rain bring flooding to the whole world, covering its surface for months.
But finally the water recedes and the inhabitants of the ark are able to return to dry land with instructions to be fruitful and repopulate the world.
Noah built an altar to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offering on it, making a promising start for a world cleansed of sin and strife.
God promises to never again destroy the earth by flood, and even expands the bounty available to people by allowing humans to eat meat as well as plants.
People are cautioned, though, not to eat meat that still has its lifeblood in it. And, in a darker note, God also warns against the shedding of human blood.
God names the rainbow as a seal of his promise. “Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
We now understand the science of the rainbow, as the water droplets in the sky create a prism to separate light into its component colors. If anything, this enhances the symbolism Genesis gives to it; the same storm that brings potential destruction from water also bring beauty and clarity. The storms of nature allow us to see the colors that make up the clarity of light. The storms of life also allow us to see behind the image into the many parts that make up a person.
The flood brought some changes, and it brought new insight. But it didn’t end sin.
Even with the cleansing of the flood, God understands that sin still lurks, saying, “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.”

Friday meditation

Proverbs 1:28-33
“Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord.
Since they would not accept my advice and spurned my rebuke, they will eat the fruit of their ways and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

Prayer focus
Protect us, Lord, from the call of foolishness and evil.

-Rev. Mark Fleming