The Fear of Rainbows - Noah and the Flood

Little Onan is afraid of a rainbow in the sky because he’s heard that it’s a sign of something terrible. By telling him the story of Noah, his uncle Shem explains that it’s actually a sign of God’s power and loving promise to all people.

The best way to understand the story of Noah is to set it in the context of Genesis 1–9. Genesis 1–9 tells us that God created the world and everything in it. God created people for a special relationship with God. (Genesis 1, 2) People were tempted to sin and that created a barrier to their relationship with God (Genesis 3). Even though the relationship between God and humans changed, God still protected his people.

Over time, sin and evil were so present in the world that God decided to wipe it clean with a flood and start again. (Genesis 5–9) God found one man, Noah, and his family who were righteous. With great compassion, God protected the man and his family from the flood by telling them to build an ark.

Once the people exited the ark, God placed a rainbow in the sky and made a covenant (or promise) with Noah and his family. God told the people to be “fruitful and multiply in numbers and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1) and promised never to destroy all life by the waters of a flood (Genesis 9:8). When we see a rainbow, we can remember that God protected Noah and his family and promised to protect us too.

Questions to Consider:

1. Why did God choose to flood the whole earth?
2. How did Noah show his faithfulness to God?
3. Why did God put the rainbow in the sky?
4. How can you show faithfulness to God?