Season: 10 Episode: 150
Listen to episode 146 in Spanish:
Summary:
How do you recognize God’s promises in your life? Unlike many Old Testament covenants, the Noahic Covenant wasn’t conditional—it was an unbreakable promise from God, sealed with the sign of the rainbow. That symbol wasn’t just a pretty after-storm moment; it was—and still is—a reminder that what God promises, He will fulfill.
In this episode, we break down how to identify God’s promises in Scripture and your everyday life. We also tackle the history of the rainbow, its connection to the LGBT+ movement, and why reclaiming its original, God-given meaning is more important than ever. Let’s talk about standing firm on God’s promises in a world trying to stake a claim to His creation.
Intro
Hey guys! Welcome back to another episode of the Her Faith Inspires podcast where we address cultural issues through the lens of Scripture. I’m excited to talk with you today about the promises of God and reclaiming the rainbow. This is my first solo episode in a couple of weeks. I wanted to make sure I squeezed in some of my amazing guests who are promoting their books right now. Since they are so kind to come on my show, I want to work with them. I want to get the word out about their amazing new books. If you haven’t listened to those episodes yet, please go back and listen. I have more guests with great content coming up in the next few months. And I can’t wait to give you all the resources.
I want to do something new and start my solo episodes with a fun segment called “Between The Lines.” The things you won’t get with my regular content on apologetics and worldview, but stuff you might be interested in. There are some things I go through as a mom that I want to talk about on my podcast. But they’re not really worth making into a full on episode. There are also new adventures I’m starting this spring and I want to take you with me on this journey. So for my first ever segment called “Between The Lines” I’m going to share a mom thing and I’m going to share a new adventure we’re getting ready for that’s, IMO, kind of dangerous.
Mom Thing
So, as some of you know, my boys are 21, 19, and 15. No one is moving out yet and everyone is still at home for now. But I find myself getting really sad that they’re getting older. I legit cry about it out of the blue. My middle son has a girlfriend, his first one, and she’s a gem. I can’t ask for a better girl for my boy. But I also know he loves her and this is the one for him. That means he’s going to move out shortly.
My youngest is a freshman and will graduate in three years but he’ll be driving next year. This stuff is hard for me. I am so used to taking care of them, talking to them, and having them here whenever I want that to think of it being different is sooooo hard! I don’t like change and I never have.
A couple of weeks ago, I posted this in my Her Faith Inspires FB Group.
“Two nights ago, the reality of my boys growing up hit me hard. I wasn’t expecting tears, but they flowed and I couldn’t stop them. Something happened that day that made me realize I only have a short period of time before change comes once again. And to be honest, it’s a change I’ve dread since I held my first boy in my arms.
If you haven’t noticed, I hate change.
That night I went to Ecclesiastes 3 and reminded myself that life is a series of cycles. Nothing lasts forever: we get old, our kids grow up, and the cycle of life continues. That’s just the way it is. That goes for motherhood, marriage, and friendships, careers, seasons. Life is in a constant state of motion and change even when we’re not paying attention.
I don’t know that there is a comfit in that so much as there must be an acceptance of it. Are the changing seasons God’s way of reminding us to make the most of this life He’s given to us?Are we to think about how to leave a lasting mark long after we’re gone rather than long for nothing to ever change? For the mamas out there who see the season of change in the faces of their six year olds losing teeth and replacing them with bigger ones, or the teenagers with squeaky voices going through puberty, I feel you pain. Here’s a reminder that change will come, but God is the one who set the clock. He knows how much we long hold onto some of these seasons, but he also knows what awaits in the next. He is already there!”
Moms Can Say Two Things
I say this because I have a hard time finding moms who have been through this to say two things:
- I get it because I was there.
2. It’s going to be better than you think.
I think you can do both. Most ladies tell me it’s fine and I’m not thinking about my boys growing up or the next stage of life correctly. I agree, however, I do think there are lots of moms who grieve this process and it should be acknowledge.
On the other hand, I have a friend who lost her son when he was 19 in a tragic accident and she told me not to mourn the good things in life. I remind myself of her words all the time because as Ecclesiastes says, this is the way of life. Kids get older. They grow up. They get married and they give you grandchildren. So there’s a balance to this grieving process. And I hate being irrational. I can tell when I’m being emotional rather than reasonable and I hate it. So I think we can acknowledge the sadness of a part of life coming to an end, but we can also be logical and say that’s the way it should be. It would be weird if I was still spoon-feeding my 15 year old, right? So we have to let our kids grow up.
The Adventure
For those of you who follow me on IG, you know I like lattes and I make them with one tablespoon of honey. Well … since I use so much honey I had this bright idea that I would become a beekeeper. So your girl took a class and enlisted backup – my oldest son, Wyatt, wanted to take the beekeeping class with me and we’re going to keep bees together. We are prepping our yard and a space for the bees. We have to put an electric fence around the bees because the bears will come and knock them over and kill them. So we’re working on that. That’s why I said this is both adventurous and slightly dangerous because besides the bears I can also get stung, which I’m really not looking forward to. So we’re going to try this and I’ll keep you all posted.
Next to the hives we’re planting fruit trees like apples, plums, peaches, nectarines. And we are also planting blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. I’ll keep you posted as to how all of this goes. We won’t be able to harvest any honey until next year because it takes that long for the bees to get their hives ready, but that’s the big adventure. Stay tuned for that and an update on bee stings.
The promises of God and reclaiming the rainbow
Alright, so let’s get to today’s topic. We are going to talk about the promises of God and and reclaiming the rainbow. These are the things we’re going to address:
- What are the promises of God?
- What is the significance of Noah And The Ark?
- Why do we need to think of reclaiming the rainbow and how do we do that today?
What are the promises of God?
Promise: Oxford defines promise as, “a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen.” When I was thinking on this today I was also thinking that a promise can be a negative as well. For example, when God said not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or you will die, that was a promise.
We often think of God’s promises in the positive, or at least I do. But that’s not always the case. There are many promises from God in the Bible. When God makes a promise He, “pledges that something will (or will not) be done or given or come to pass.” Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?” When God says it, it’s as good as done.
From what I see, sometimes the promises of God are contingent upon our action. If you do this, God will do this. Or, if you do this, God will not do this. As in the case of Adam.
God’s promises go all the way back to the OT. We see God’s promise to Abraham in the Abrahamic Covenant. God said, “Through you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.”
We have the Mosaic covenant.
God told Moses that IF His people obey Him, there would be life and prosperity. If they disobeyed Him there would be death. The word IF is a conditional clause, meaning it’s dependent on the event. God’s promises go both ways – there is a blessing of following the Lord and a separation, or consequence, of disobeying Him.
What I want to talk about today is the Noahic Covenant. In our core class we are talking about the faith giants of Hebrews 11. Noah was the one we talked about last week. As I said before, the other covenants like the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant are conditional. Both parties have to hold up to their end of the covenant in order for the promise to be experienced. The Noahic Covenant is unconditional. God will not flood the earth no matter what. He will never destroy the earth by flood again.
Let’s recap the narrative of Noah’s ark before we get into the details of the rainbow.
Genesis 6:1-8 says, “6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not abide in[a] man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” 4 The Nephilim[b] were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”
Here are a few points made in these chapters leading up to the Noahic Covenant:
- Man’s wickedness grieved God and the only one on the earth that was righteous and blameless was Noah. Noah had a wife and three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japeth. Each son had a wife.
Chapter 6:11-14 goes on to say, “11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh,[c] for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.” God gives Noah all of the details and Noah believes God and builds the ark.
Here’s what we must consider:
2. As far as we know, it hadn’t rained on the earth before, so to the rest of the world, Noah probably looked like a big nut job. Even if there was a large body of water nearby, he wouldn’t need an ark the size of a football field and a half. This thing was three stories tall.
3. Noah obeyed God without question, that we can see. He just did it. His family got on the ark with him, which also required a level of faith. This is encouraging to me because Noah’s sons followed his lead and they were saved.
Chapter 7 starts with God telling Noah and his family to go into the ark because he will flood the earth in 7 days. They spent 7 days in the ark with the door open. Think about that. The other people in the nearby area had 7 days to consider going inside. And verse 5 shows the contrast between Noah and the rest of the world: “And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.”
Verses 15-16 says, “15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.”
A few things to note here:
4. Noah did not shut the door, God did. This is very similar to the language Jesus uses in John 10:9-10 when He says, 9 “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
5. I don’t know that logistically Noah would have been able to close the door from the inside anyway, but besides that, God didn’t give Noah that job. That shows the beginning of judgment for those who rejected the call to enter. I think that’s very symbolic with the free gift of salvation and the time we are given to make the decision to, as Jesus said, enter through the door. He is our way to salvation now.
Now, we get to chapter 8 and the rain stopped, the water receded, and the arc has landed on Mount Ararat. In verses 20-22 we read this, “20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse[a] the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.”
Chapter 9
In chapter 9:8-17, it says, “8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 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.
16 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 on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”
This is where we get the rainbow. To this day it is the symbol of God’s promise to never again destroy the earth. It is not only a promise to humans but to every living creature of all flesh. The rainbow was created for this reason. We’re talking about a reminder to both us and God that the earth will never again be destroyed by a worldwide flood. That is what it’s there for.
Reclaiming the Rainbow
What is the rainbow? It is a sign of God’s covenant – promise – with all flesh to never flood the earth again. These words were spoken thousands of years ago but the sign of the rainbow is seen throughout all the earth whenever there are rain clouds to remind us of that promise. You might wonder if it’s still a sign of God’s promise even if people don’t believe that’s what the rainbow is for. A lack of belief doesn’t make something untrue. On the other hand, just because someone believes something doesn’t mean it’s true. It’s either true or not. The rainbow is either a sign of God’s promise or it isn’t, regardless of what you, me, or anyone believes.
In 1978, the rainbow became a symbol of gay pride. That isn’t that long ago. Never before was a the rainbow seen as a symbol for homosexuality before this. Gilbert Baker designed the flag for the homosexual community in San Francisco. According to GotQuestions.com, each color meant something: “hot pink (sexuality), red (life), orange (healing), yellow (the sun), green (nature), turquoise (art), indigo (harmony), and violet (spirit). Subsequent designs sported seven and then six colors. Rainbow flags and banners, as used by the LGBTQ+ community, represent diversity, hope, and social action.”
There are other rainbow flags that have nothing to do with homosexuality, but no matter if you want to equate it to a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, the LGBTQ community, or print it on a cute backpack, the rainbow is God’s creation. He owns it. Some will shrug off the rainbow as purely scientific and say that, “A rainbow is formed when sunlight interacts with water droplets through a process called refraction.” (Royal Meteorological Society). Yes, and rain occurs when rain clouds form. Lightning is seen before thunder is heard because the speed of light travels faster than the speed of sound. That doesn’t mean God did not create those things and the process through which we experience them.
Teach Your Kids About The Rainbow
I’ll be honest, I have felt myself become less fond of the rainbow over the years because of the pride flags and the bombardment of the LGBTQ ideology in June. When I see someone with a rainbow bracelet or backpack I wonder if they’re into the literal rainbow or if they’re sending some other message. But I would encourage Christians to reclaim the rainbow. Teach your kids about the Noahic Covenant and the difference between a conditional covenant and an unconditional covenant like the Nohaic covenant so they understand the rainbow represents the goodness and faithfulness of God, regardless of sinful man. Isn’t it ironic that God destroyed all flesh because of wickedness and the rainbow He used to show us His promise is being used to represent wickedness? That’s the way the devil works – he always takes the good things God creates and perverts them.
The reason we must reclaim the rainbow and teach our kids about what it really represents is because every generation from mine on down has seen it represent something opposed to God and His commands. If we give up the rainbow and stop telling the kids about it today, we are surrendering it to a wicked generation. It’s our job to remember God’s promises and hold onto them and teach them diligently to the generations after us.
Close:
I know things like the rainbow might seem simple and insignificant in the grand scheme of cultural topics. There’s a lot going on out there. But, I think it’s good to talk about these things and remind ourselves of God’s creation, His promises, and our responsibility in communicating that message to our children and those in our sphere of influence. When you think about it, the rainbow isn’t insignificant. It reflects the character and nature of God and that is reason enough to hold on tight and make sure we reclaim the rainbow.
If you enjoy this podcast, please leave five star rating and review as that helps get the podcast into the earbuds of others. Next month I’ll be in the SW Georgia area at the Go Girls weekend speaking to moms and leaders on the importance of training our girls up under a biblical worldview through the process of discipleship.
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