The Rainbow

I saw the most beautiful rainbow today outside my window. It arched across the sky from the river inlet right below Millenia Tower all the way across the Nicoll Highway and ended in the forest at the golf course nearby.

Apart from its breathtaking beauty and myth-like qualities, rainbows are special because they represent the goodness and the promise of God. In the Bible, after the Great Flood, God made a commitment with Man through Noah: “Never again, Noah. Never again”. And he sealed this covenant with a rainbow.

Genesis 9:12-16: And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

You know, this reminds me of the goodness of God. Not goodness because He created something beautiful and fluffy and cute (although a rainbow would probably belong in that category). Goodness because of the unsurpassable standard of God that he had to smite his creation because he was unable to tolerate any hint of sin. And this sin can range from your impure thoughts, your homosexual tendencies, your dishonouring of your parents. This does not exclude your kleptomania, or your habit of lying, or your hurtful speech. Yes, this means you, you, you, and you. And me.

But he considers all this, and the God of Wonder reaches down to us. He stands up from his throne, removes his mantle of light, clothes himself in humanity and deigns to enter the womb of a mortal woman. All this for the love of you. Whenever we come to a point when we disregard God; when we think He’s an old man who is too weak, or too busy, or too impotent, or even too important to care, remember that God loves you, and this love is all but encapsulated in these few words: “Never again, my child. Never again.”