God’s Rainbow 🌈

https://odb.org/2026/02/26/gods-rainbow-answer

Genesis 9:12–16 (NIV): 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 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.”

Owen was on holiday abroad when he received a disturbing message from a colleague: “The boss is looking to replace you.” Deeply upset, he prayed one morning at dawn and asked God, “Where are You?” Then he went to the window to open the curtains—and spotted a huge, beautiful rainbow suspended above the lake outside. Immediately a comforting warmth gushed over him. “It was as if God was simply telling me, ‘It’s okay; I’m here,’ ” he recounted later.

In Genesis 9, God promised not to destroy the earth through a flood again. He promised, “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” (v. 16). This covenant was everlasting and unconditional. It depended totally on God’s protection and provision, not on humanity’s performance. (Leslie Koh, Our Daily Bread 26th February 2026)

I only learnt about the origin of the rainbow quite late into my Christian life. I’m sure it would have been taught in Sunday school but then I never attended Sunday school when young. This is because I only knew God in my teens. The other thing about my Christian life experience is that I also didn’t grow up singing hymns. Instead I grew up as a Christian in pentecostal/charismatic churches although I did attend a Methodist outreach for a few years when I first came to know God. However that outreach was a startup and thus they sang more youth fellowship kind of songs.

We all would have learnt about the rainbow in school as part of a subject in Science. The rainbow 🌈 is unique as the colours of the rainbow represent the spectrum of light. While commonly divided into seven colours from the longest spectrum (red) to the shortest (violet), the rainbow is actually a continuous spectrum with differing shades in between. However it differs from colour pigment with red, blue and yellow (RYB) as the primary colours while light’s primary colours are red, green and blue (RGB). For instance, the rainbow cannot create black, brown or magenta.

There are bound to be moments in life when we ask God, “where are You O Lord?” Some unexpected news or change in our situation. It could be like famine like during ancient times when the populace relied on crops to survive, especially wheat, as recorded in the Old Testament. Even if they had livestock for milk and poultry for meat, these need water to live. In our modern world, few are privileged not to work and yet live. Thus our jobs are essential to our sustenance in the modern world. Few of us grow crops on our own. We need to earn so we have money to buy life necessities and continue living.

The LORD is saying He is there with and amongst us. Whether we are young and starting out in career or marriage or on the verge of retirement or retired, He is there with us. For us who are about to retire, we often ponder how would it be like in the days to come when we cease earning a fixed income. We need to start digging into our reserves. Life will certainly be different but the Lord is saying that He is with us until our last breath. Because of the work of Jesus Christ in Calvary, our after life is guaranteed (if we hold on to our faith). But not only that, our life on earth is also guaranteed as we fulfil His plans and purposes for our lives and respond to His calling. He will meet our needs as the rainbow 🌈 is testament to His everlasting promise to never destroy mankind again with water. Always remember Jesus’s teaching in Matthew 6:26-27: 26 “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”