Somewhere Over the Rainbow, God Will Judge….

The other day I was driving behind a car that had a rainbow bumper sticker that said “We Are Everywhere.” Which got me wondering, “Why is the rainbow a symbol of gay pride?” Honestly, I’m not really sure, but if I had to guess, it would be because the rainbow is thought of as a non-judgmental symbol: God gave the rainbow as a sign that He would not judge the earth with a flood anymore. But is this really the case?
Genesis 9:12-17
12 God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations;
13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
14 “It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,
15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 “When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

OK, we’re all familiar with this story. But what else does the Bible have to say about rainbows?

Ezekiel 1:28
As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

The context of this passage is when God appeared before Ezekiel (No, it was NOT a UFO) to ordain him as a prophet. Ezekiel was already in exile with many other Israelites, and his prophecies would be foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem to those exiled in Babylon.

Revelation 4:1-3
1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”
2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.
3 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.

This takes place immediately after the letters to the seven churches, when John is taken into heaven and witnesses the worship of God.

Revelation 10:1
1 I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire;

It’s interesting to compare the Ezekiel passage (and the following verses) with this verse (and the following verses). There are a lot of similarities between John and Ezekiel. While this would be an interesting study for another time, for the purposes of this post I will state what I think is the most striking similarity between the two passages: Ezekiel prophecies the coming destruction of Jerusalem at 586 B.C. John prophecies the coming destruction of Jerusalem at 70 A.D.

So it appears that from the preceding passages, the rainbow surrounds either God or his messenger – particularly in times of judgment. I mentioned this in the Ezekiel passage and the Revelation 10 passage, but I also think this applies to the Revelation 4 passage. Here, John is being caught up into heaven to witness – or participate in – a worship service. And in fact, this is what worship is – a judgment. Many of us tend to relate judgment with bad people – the evil will be judged – but judgment goes both ways. God also judges the righteous and sees that they are in Christ and judges accordingly. This is what worship is – a judgment. We approach God to worship Him, and the only way we are able to do so is through His Son. We are judged, counted righteous, and admitted into the throne room with the angels… just like John. This is also what happens at the final judgment. Both the righteous and the unrighteous will be judged – not just the unrighteous. And speaking of the final judgment….

Revelation 21:19-20
19 The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;
20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.

Sort of reminds you of a rainbow, doesn’t it? This beautiful city that is being described here is not really a city at all, but the bride of Christ. Go back and read the whole chapter. God had created the new heaven and new earth and Christ is descending with His beautifully adorned bride to judge the righteous and the unrighteous (vs. 8). In some sense, I believe, the people of God are His rainbow (or warbow as it is sometimes referred to). There are 12 colors, corresponding to the 12 tribes, the 12 apostles, the representation of His people… The Church. So if the rainbow represents the Church, why does God surround himself with a rainbow, as we saw in the Ezekiel and the other Revelation passages? And for that matter, what does this have to do with the covenant God made with Noah? Let’s go back and see what God really said to Noah in Genesis 9.

Genesis 9:8-17
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
9 “Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you;
10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.
11 “I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations;
13 I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
14 “It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud,
15 and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 “When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

God’s desire from the very beginning was that the whole earth would worship Him and enjoy Him forever. After Adam sinned, things quickly went south. Because of man’s extreme sinfulness, God killed every last one, except for Noah and his family. After the flood, God made a promise to Noah that He would not destroy man with a flood ever again. This is indeed true, but we tend to emphasize the flood part and miss this part: “all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood.” It’s not that man will never be killed by a flood again, it’s that ALL of mankind will never be destroyed again. God is making a gracious promise to Noah. And indeed, that’s what happened. Not long after the flood we come to the plains of Shinar, where man is reveling in its evil and building the tower of Babel. But this time, God does not destroy them. He scatters them and the next thing we read is: “The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.” Instead of destroying the earth, God makes a plan to redeem it – through Abram. And we all know what happened next. Yes, it’s wonderful that we don’t have to worry about another worldwide flood, but its even more wonderful that God chose to save us.

So what about the rainbow? When we think of the rainbow, we think of the rain and clouds, the sun breaking through and the joy and security of God’s promise seen in that colorful sign. But there’s not always a rainbow after it rains. And there’s usually more than one cloud in a rain storm, isn’t there? Sure, I think God did create the rainbow for our assurance – a beautiful sign for our comfort and enjoyment. But look at what He really said: “I set My bow in the cloud.” “…when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud.” Notice the singular: cloud. Now think about the passages in Ezekiel and Revelation. When God reveals Himself, He is surrounded by a cloud – a glory cloud. Not only in the passages above, but also in places like the exodus – a pillar of cloud/a pillar of fire (which also is described in the passages above). God’s messenger in Revelation 10 is clothed in a cloud. And His bow is seen in the cloud. It surrounds Him.

In light of passages above, it appears to me that when God comes in judgment, He no longer comes in total destruction, but He comes in mercy, saving many – while also destroying the wicked. But even then, He is patient with the wicked – as is seen through out the Scriptures. And why is He gracious? He surrounds Himself with His rainbow – His people. The rainbow is a memorial – just like the Lord’s Supper. But it’s not just a reminder for us – it’s a reminder for Him. Not that He ever forgets, but this is the pattern through Scripture – God establishes memorials for His sake – He remembers His covenant – and these memorials are like lines in the sand. It’s arrogant to presume that God will not judge – regardless of your sin – but even worse, it’s scary to think that many of us are reminded of God’s lovingkindness everyday by the symbols that we see (or eat, or drink, or unite under), yet continue to throw His mercy back in His face. Let us thank God for His grace and repent of our rebellion.

Hail Miley Full of Fluff

I probably shouldn’t say this
But at times I get so scared
When I think about the previous
Relationship we shared

It was awesome but we lost it
It’s not possible for me not to care
And now we’re standing in the rain
But nothing’s ever gonna change
Until you hear, my dear

The 7 things I hate about you!
The 7 things I hate about you, oh you
You’re vain, your games, you’re insecure
You love me, you like her
You make me laugh, you make me cry
I don’t know which side to buy

Your friends, they’re jerks
When you act like them, just know it hurts
I wanna be with the one I know
And the 7th thing I hate the most that you do
You make me love you

It’s awkward and silent
As I wait for you to say
What I need to hear now
Your sincere apology

When you mean it, I’ll believe it
If you text it, I’ll delete it
Let’s be clear
Oh, I’m not coming back
You’re taking 7 steps here

The 7 things I hate about you!
You’re vain, your games, you’re insecure
You love me, you like her
You make me laugh, you make me cry
I don’t know which side to buy

Your friends, they’re jerks
When you act like them, just know it hurts
I wanna be with the one I know
And the 7th thing I hate the most that you do
You make me love you

And compared to all the great things
That would take too long to write
I probably should mention the 7 that I like

The 7 things I like about you!
Your hair, your eyes, your old Levi’s
When we kiss I’m hypnotized
You make me laugh, you make me cry
But I guess that’s both I’ll have to buy

Your hands in mine
When we’re intertwined, everything’s alright
I wanna be with the one I know
And the 7th thing I like most that you do
You make me love you, you do

Miley Cyrus
“7 Things” – from the album “Breakout”

My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

Mary, the mother of Jesus
“The Magnificat” – from the Bible

You can have today’s pop teen princess, I’ll take the original.

Well, there goes half our pastors….

In 1 Timothy 3, Paul writes about the requirements for elders and deacons. One of the requirements is that an elder must have faithful children.

“4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?”

Now, you might be thinking “it doesn’t say that the children must be faithful, only that the elder must manage the household well.” Well, if I only had these verses to go off of, I would agree that it seems that way, but I could still make the obvious conclusion that an elder must be Christian, therefore, his household must be Christian. Fortunately, though, Paul tells us exactly what an elder’s children should look like in Ephesians 6.

“1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

If a Christian father’s duty is to raise Christian children, then how much more for an elder and his children? Now, we could take the scenic route on this explanation by saying that a child who is consistently unruly and a disruption in his household is obviously not saved, because he is not displaying the fruits of his salvation – which is due either to his flat out rejection of his father’s teaching, or else due to his father’s neglect at training his child. Either way, that father should not be an elder. But it seems pretty basic to me – Fathers, if you wish to be an elder, you must have faithful children.

Now, notice it doesn’t say anything about fathers keeping his children submissive (having faithful children), when they reach the age of accountability. When Paul is writing to fathers in Ephesians and potential elder fathers in 1 Timothy, it is implied that their children are Christians, because he is writing to Christians in both cases. The implication is that the children of believers are believers too. After all, the passage does say “Children obey your parents IN THE LORD.” Some may want to speculate here, and try to say that these particular children were of the age of accountability… oh, say 7 or 12 (who knows?), but that’s not in the text. The obvious implication is that the children are old enough to hear instruction. There is not one case of a child coming to a mature moment of conversion in the Bible, but there are numerous accounts of salvific blessings for the believer and his children. In fact, I would point to Ephesians 6 as a clear example of this implication. The command is not “Children, once you make a profession of faith and are baptized, obey your father and mother…” Their faith is already implied.

So what am I getting at here? Well, my point is that there are many pastors out there who are disobeying this command. They are elders in the church, but their children are not Christians. First, you have the baptistic pastor who has not had his child baptized yet, because he hasn’t made a mature profession of faith yet. He has little pagans running around his house. That’s an unruly household, if you ask me. Then there’s the paedobaptist pastor who did have his child baptized, but refuses to give them communion. Refusal to the Lord’s table is nothing less than excommunication – church discipline – for the baptized. So he doesn’t just have little pagans running around his house… he has little apostates running around.

Now, I say this a little tongue-in-cheek, because I know that the Bible teaches that our children are believers, and in most cases, the above mentioned pastors practice this in actuality – if not doctrinally. They are inconsistent, though. And the scary thing is that there are some out there who try to be consistent. I’ve heard of one pastor who discourages his flock from teaching their children the Lord’s Prayer because God doesn’t hear the prayers of the unrighteous children. And I had a friend in seminary who refused to teach his little boy the song “I Am A C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N” because he was afraid he would be teaching his son to lie. Ugh!

So pastors, get with the program and either have a Christian household – according to God – or step down and wait till you have a Christian household – according to you!