A child gazes into the cloudy sky after a storm and witnesses with amazement and wonder at the rainbow phenomenon. Oh, she does not know that it is just a spectrum of colors explained by science due to the refraction of light through the droplets at specific angles that gives a prism effect. To her, it is a magical moment or a sign of hope much like Dorothy's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow." Rainbows have been attached to all types of signs and symbols to mark the presence of or serve as a reminder of something important. Throughout the ages of man, each civilization has inculcated the rainbow as an explanation in religion or myth. A few examples will suffice: the Greek mythology looked at it as being the path made by a messenger from Earth to Heaven, or the Norse imagined it as a bridge that connects the realms of where the gods live and humans. Maybe the most imaginative is the Irish leprechaun's secret hiding place for his pot of gold (at the end of the rainbow). The optical effect succeeds in keeping the leprechaun's stash safe because finding the end of the rainbow is impossible for the closer you think you are to the illusive prize, the rainbow, in effect, will move further away.
Noah, after the flood, received a covenant from the LORD not to destroy the earth or man again by water. He gave the "bow" as a sign of this unilateral agreement - a binding act of love that only He could keep. Many believe that it was the first appearance of a rainbow because the antediluvian world had not know rain as we do. Moreover, the language of Genesis 9:8-17 implies that the "bow" was given by God as a striking reminder of His eternal covenant -- imagine the joy and the remarkable significance it held for Noah and his remnant!!!
A Divine of days gone by left these words for us to ponder: "As it shines forth against a dark background which but shortly before flashed with lightnings, it symbolizes the victory of bright, gentle love over the darkly luminous wrath; ...it symbolizes the readiness of the heavenly to [penetrate] the earthly; ...it proclaims peace between God and man; reaching, as it does, beyond the range of vision, it declares that God's covenant of grace is all-embracing."
Rainbows transcend the natural and scientific into the world's of literature, art, music, flags, colors, and our own imaginations. When was the last time you noticed a rainbow? Or even a double-rainbow? Did it inspire you to see beyond the daily and mundane routine of life or give you that moment to share it with your little ones who squeal with amazement at its beauty and tell them that God's grace is is as real as the raindrops falling on her face.
