Noah: A Covenant With HumanitySample

A Bow in the Sky

When it came time to seal the covenant made with Noah, God chose a rainbow to be the sign and symbol of the eternal agreement. Everyone agrees that rainbows are beautiful. However, Judaism has a conflicted relationship with the rainbow. On one hand, we embrace it. But on the other hand, we distance ourselves from it and count a generation who has never seen a rainbow as fortunate.

The rainbow is the sign that God will not destroy the earth again. But isn’t it also a sign that humanity is deserving of destruction? As strange as this may sound to those not familiar with this perspective, the Jewish custom is to look at a rainbow, but not to gaze at it too long as it represents the degenerate state of our society. Because of this, some Jews refrain from telling others that there is a rainbow in the sky.

In Hebrew, the word for “rainbow” is keshet. Keshet is also the same word for a “bow,” as in a “bow and arrow.” It’s not by accident that in English and in Hebrew the word for the colorful arc God created as a sign of His covenant is the same as the primary weapon of Noah’s time. When God placed His bow “in the clouds,” He was saying that He was putting His weapon away. It would be kept “in the clouds,” away from the earth. The sages noted that when one sees a rainbow, the bow is facing away from the earth, its arrows are no longer aimed toward humankind.

The rainbow is also a manifestation of God’s glory. That’s why rainbows can take our breath away and leave us feeling in awe of God and His creation. In Ezekiel 1:28 the prophet described God’s glory in heaven like this: “Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell face down, and I heard the voice of one speaking.” This is another reason why Jews have the custom not to gaze at a rainbow too long, as it is gazing at the holy glory of God.

In the Christian Bible, when John recorded his vision of heaven and God sitting on His throne in the Book of Revelation, he similarly described it: “before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne” (Revelation 4:2-3).

However we choose to look at it, the rainbow is a powerful symbol that reminds us God has not forgotten His promise to us. As Christian author and theologian Aaron Chalmers wrote in his article, “The Importance of the Noahic Covenant to Biblical Theology”: “The sign of the covenant [the rainbow], which effectively guarantees God’s faithfulness and willingness to act on his covenantal promises, is another feature that points to God’s ongoing commitment to the world he has created.”

The rainbow is a sign of human weakness, but more so a sign that, despite our failings, God still believes in us. It is a symbol of how far we have fallen, but also a symbol of hope for how great we are yet to become. With its seven colors, it is also a reminder of the seven directives given to all humankind so that we can create the just and moral society that God intended for our world.