My Sunday Thought for July 5, 2015: God's Rainbow Promise

"I would truly like to know how the "rainbow" (which is God's covenant with Mankind promising he will never destroy the world again) became the international symbol for Gay Rights. I am all for equality but it distresses me that whenever people look at a rainbow now, they do NOT think of God and the promise He made to us..."

-- TMB

"I will always look at the rainbow and think of God's promise. I don't think the gays' use of any color changes the Christian belief system. Mattel (I believe it was) created a Rainbow Bright toy years ago, and I never related it to God's promise. Purple is the color for Alzheimer's awareness, orange for Leukemia, etc., so if they had chosen purple or orange, someone would find that offensive. I think the bigger issue in our world is when are we going to all stop finding things to be offended by?"

-- LBB

Ask and ye shall receive!  Once again I went out to my readership for a topic and, once again, they have not failed to come through for me.  Terry and Lori both have questions of which I, of course, have my own humble opinion.  I'll tell you mine, if you'll tell me yours.

God's "rainbow promise" is from the book of Genesis and is also referred to as the Noahic Covenant.  After the great flood God makes an unconditional covenant with Noah, all of his descendants, every living creature, and the earth, to never "destroy" the earth by a flood, no matter how wicked man might become.  He sealed this promise with a rainbow so the covenant would always be remembered.  Of course this presupposed that man would always hold the word of God dear, and we all know how that has worked out.

An important point to note is that God does not promise never to destroy the earth again.  The promise is to never do it with water, so man is not off the hook when it comes to his wickedness.  Watch out for fire, asteroids, earthquakes, famine, plague, pestilence, and more of the worst we can imagine. 

Perhaps with more and more gays looking to the Abrahamic religions for answers, salvation, and faith, the rainbow might, once again, remind us all of the promise made.  We will have to practice the patience, understanding, tolerance, and love of Jesus, at least for the time being.

Terry and Lori both remember God's promise.  They look to the sky after a rain and remind us of a story, a parable, handed down through the ages.  Its truth is based solely on one's faith in the omnipotent power of God.  Lori reminds us of another "bigger issue." of when we will all stop finding things to be offended by.  Offense is in the nature of mankind.  We offend and we are offended, and one usually follows the other; a vicious circle of selfish desire.  

I always refer to the League of the Perpetually Offended.  There is an old adage that says you can't save the poor from their lot, as it is up to them to want to be saved.  The definition of the poor is always based in the monetary sense, but we forget there are many things we can be poor in.  I think tolerance is something man is sorely lacking in.  It is easier to be offended than to be tolerant as tolerance requires us to exercise our brain for something other than our own selfish attitudes and desires.  It is what causes even the faithful to forget scripture and sit in judgment over their fellow beings, voicing condemnation and God's wrath in burning fires of hell for all eternity to those that don't measure up to their holier than thou interpretation of scripture that contradicts everything they think is holy.  I would say the bigger issue is that nobody pays attention to the more important messages of their scripture.

…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; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. "It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will 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 never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. "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." 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."

-- Genesis 9:12-17

Just about every religion known touts a kinder gentler attitude toward one another, a more loving philosophy of life, and a respect we are sorely lacking for so many things.  I think we need to be more understanding.  I think we need to remember the Bible is simply a book, a collection of stories which, taken as a whole, is supposed to reflect the peace, love, understanding, and tolerance Jesus brought to us.  We always try too hard to read too much into it.  The lessons of Christ are really not that difficult, they were never meant to be.