The Everlasting Covenant

​10th Sunday after Pentecost – B (Proper 12)                                                 LSB #’s 906, 809, 924
Text – Genesis 9:16
 
When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it & remember the everlasting covenant between God & every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.
 
THE EVERLASTING COVENANT
 
 
During the 4 years, one month & 9 days that I was stationed onboard the submarine, we made numerous voyages out into the deep blue sea.   It was a mostly tedious & boring existence filled with the monotony of the endless repetition – work, sleep & eat, work, sleep & eat.   The only time it got interesting is when the danger of dying became very real. 
We trained on a regular basis for disaster to strike, so that if it did, we’d know how to respond.  In order for the training to be real, it had to involve danger.  Anything short of that & the training was not worthwhile.  We had to experience the fear in order to learn how to control it & still do our job.   During a real emergency, there would be no do-overs if we failed. 
During the other 99.9% of the time we suffered from mind-numbing boredom.  When my enlistment ended on May 10th, 1984, I never looked back.  I wanted nothing to do with going to sea ever again.   Then, I visited the Ark Encounter down in Kentucky. 
Deep inside, at one end of the boat, there is an incredible sound system that vibrates the structure with the pounding of the waves & the crashing of thunder.   The area is dimly lit & it’s easy to imagine the destruction happening outside the ship.  The power & hazardous nature of life at sea brought back to mind the adrenaline rush of the battle against it. 
It was the first time in over 30 years that I could feel the sea beckoning me to join the battle.  What an amazing experience it would have been to be on the ark with Noah as the flood waters raged upon the earth.   Yet, when considering the utter devastation that Noah saw once he got off the ark, it makes sense that God gave him the rainbow as a promise.  Most all the picture books & toys based on the Ark portray the hopeful happy ending of the story.  Lions, giraffes & all sorts of cute animal figures are popping out of the Ark every which way.  They skip over the multitudes of people gasping for breath as the relentless rising waters force them desperately to seek rooftops or high ground, only to ultimately die. 
Over the course of studying for this sermon, I read some comments suggesting that Noah failed to reach all those who would be lost in The Flood.   That is not the way that Holy Scripture portrays this.  According to Genesis, they were not innocent victims trapped in a natural disaster.  The Torah explains that the entire civilization was corrupt & violent & deserved to die. 
Do you   deserve to die?   True followers of Jesus all agree that they do.  I’d venture to say that most Americans today completely reject what the Bible teaches in that regard.  Though the 2nd half of Romans 6:23 says, “…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” most people are unwilling to accept the 1st half, “For the wages of sin is death.” 
It’s one thing to think about the verse, “all have sinned & fall short of the glory of God,” in a generic sense.   It is quite another to think of that verse in a personal sense, “I have sinned & fall short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23 ESV)    When people truly accept that reality, they appreciate God’s intention & purpose for the rainbow. 
We consider now that the colors of the rainbow have been coopted by a movement that is proud of its rebellion against God.  That’s the same attitude which brought The Flood in the 1st place.  In Greek mythology, Iris was a messenger of the gods & she wore a garment made of the colors of the rainbow.   Iris is the Greek word for rainbow. 
In Revelation 10:1, John uses the Greek word iris to describe the rainbow-like halo around the upon the head of a mighty angel coming from heaven.  God will take back His rainbow to let mankind know that there is a real & true messenger, not of pagan gods, but who represents the true God & Creator of all life.  This God has bound Himself to His creation in an everlasting covenant, regardless of our unfaithfulness to Him.  His messenger demonstrates & reflects the glory & the mercy of Yahweh.  God’s rainbow reminds people that after destroying the earth due to sins of men, He will now cover their sins when He sends Messiah. 
John sees this as part of the vision of heaven that he is given.  God is connecting Genesis to Revelation.  In Jewish theology, the rainbow was a reflection of God’s glory – holy & sacred.  Whenever the rainbow appeared, God’s people should praise Him as their Creator.  You could think of it this way, when you see the rainbow, your eyes are meeting the gaze of God. 
People looking at the moon like to think that friends thousands of miles away are looking at the same moon.  It helps them to feel connected.  When you look at a rainbow, God is looking at that same rainbow at the same time.  People today encounter a rainbow with wonder, yet without thinking of its proclamation of God & His mercy.  
In previous generations, children were taught to stop & pray the Our Father when a rainbow appeared, in acknowledgement of its divine origin.  In Revelation, the rainbow appears not only as a reminder of God’s promise never to destroy creation again, by a flood.  It is also a sign of God’s salvation by grace for us & for the entire creation to be made beautiful again. 
The rainbow is a picture of the beauty of heaven.  That’s in stark contrast to the wars going on in Ukraine & Gaza.  It’s horrific to hear about & to see pictures of the devastation.  Now, imagine how Noah & his family felt after everyone in the world was destroyed, & all of the earth with it.  They were the only people who accepted God’s mercy & forgiveness. 
After The Flood, sin & evil will still be allowed to have their day, but God will work from within such a world to redeem it, not overpower the world from without.  The Son will take on human flesh to become part of His creation & save it from within, by the shedding of His blood.  The essence of the rainbow sign is this contrast: its brilliant, sublime radiance & beauty against the dark, threatening clouds in which it appears.  The rainbow’s appearance, then, is not unlike the joy & splendor of the resurrection of Christ against the backdrop of the darkness of Good Friday & the tomb. 
Since God decided to endure a wicked world, while continuing to open up His heart to that world, means that God’s grief is ongoing.  Yahweh thus determines to take suffering into His own heart & bear it there for the sake of the future of His creation.  The cross of Jesus is on the same trajectory as God’s promise never to destroy the world again with a flood. 
“When I bring the clouds,” God says, “& when I see the bow in the clouds, I will remember the everlasting covenant between me & all that is in the earth.”  Still, the rainbow also serves as a sign for us, reminding us of God’s promises first & foremost, reminding us that God remembers & has not abandoned us, even when He afflicts us for our good. 
The rainbow is a sign that God’s memory is more powerful than our forgetfulness, that God’s desire for resurrection & new life overcomes our appetite for destruction & death.  All of us deserve to die, but God desires that we would be saved. 
Because we deserve to die, we should be led to take human sin & God’s judgment seriously.  Faith in Jesus as Savior regards His present   patient   preservation of the world (promised by the rainbow) with humility & gratitude.  A 2nd world catastrophe is coming & its suddenness & extent will be “just as it was in the days of Noah.”  (Luke 17:26) 
Until then, our lives will be much like we read in Psalm 107, a favorite of sailors who trust in Jesus: “Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters, They see the works of the Lord, And His wonders in the deep.  For He commands & raises the stormy wind, Which lifts up the waves of the sea.  They mount up to the heavens, They go down again to the depths; Their soul melts because of trouble.  They reel to & fro, & stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits’ end.  Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses.  He calms the storm, So that its waves are still.  Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven. 
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!”  (Psalm 107:23-31 NKJV)  All of God’s provision in our lives is under the umbrella, so to speak, of the rainbow.  His everlasting covenant is part of His plan to bring us home in heaven.  Amen. 
 
 
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father; there is no shadow of turning with Thee.   Thou changest not:  Thy compassions, they fail not; as Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.   Pardon for sin & a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer & to guide;   strength for today & bright hope for tomorrow, blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!   Great is Thy faithfulness!   Great is Thy faithfulness!   Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Thy hand hath provided; Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!  Amen.  LSB 809:1, 3.