The Rainbow

“I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.”Genesis 9:13 · KJV

“And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:”Genesis 9:14 · KJV

“And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.”Genesis 9:15 · KJV

After the flood God hung a sign in the clouds: “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant” (Gen 9:13). Every storm since carries the promise that it will not end the world.

The Hebrew word is *qeshet*, the ordinary word for a war-bow, the weapon. God hung His bow in the sky, and He hung it pointing away from the earth, aimed at heaven. The weapon of judgment is retired and turned on its owner. And the bow is still there at the end: John sees the throne of God “and there was a rainbow round about the throne” (Rev 4:3), and Ezekiel saw it too (1:28). The promise made after the water is the last thing standing around the throne.