While on my daily walk, I noticed a rainbow with clouds painted on the windows of a number of houses. Most of the paintings illustrated the seven colours of the rainbow with the words ‘stay safe’ above.
It is kind of these people to think of others. They are concerned that we must all remain at home as much as we can to try to be safe by not spreading the virus. But why the rainbow? These days most people do not know the true message of the rainbow. Yes, some can explain how the rainbow appears but they may not know when it first appeared and why.
We have to go to the word of God, the Bible, for the answer. After the flood which God brought upon the earth, Noah and his family emerged from the ark and God said to Noah, “I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant, that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.” (Genesis 9:13 -16)
The message is clear. God is not going to destroy all life upon the earth by a flood again. God has kept his promise. There has never been a worldwide flood since the time of Noah. Noah and his family and the creatures in the ark were saved. They were in the ark, in ‘lockdown’ for a year, because Noah had followed God’s commands.
Jesus believed that the flood took place, he said in Matthew 24:36 – 39, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
Jesus also taught that, before he returns to the earth, the situation will be similar to that of the time of the flood. People will be caught up in the affairs of this life, not aware, and sadly, not wanting to be aware that Jesus is going to come back suddenly. Look again at the verses quoted above in Matthew 24.
So, for us to ‘stay safe’, we must try to be like Noah. We must listen to Jesus and follow his teachings in our lives. Then, if we lose our lives because of this virus or any other disease, or if, by God’s grace, we are alive when Jesus returns, we may be blessed to experience everlasting life on this earth, when all disease and sadness will be no more.
Quotes ESV