Why does the rainbow exist? The following account of the astonishing world-consuming event which ends with a sign, the rainbow, is recounted in Genesis 6:9.
The event told, in which God destroys creation but saves Noah and his family along with animals of every kind to start a new creation. The world-encompassing event would lead to the one true redeemer. The lasting effects of Noah’s decision to put his faith in Christ are still seen today, thousands of years later.
In the beginning of creation in the garden, Eve and Adam took of the tree of good and evil. Now they were sinful, thus through their bloodline all men and women would also be sinful.
David Noel Freedman asserted:
When the Lord observes pervasive human wickedness, he regrets having made humanity and decides to destroy all living things. Noah, however, finds favor with the Lord. Noah is righteous, blameless, and walks with God, but the earth becomes ruined, filled with lawlessness. God tells Noah of his decision to build an ark and promises a covenant that, in the ark, Noah and his family will survive, along with two of every animal. Noah does as God commands (Gen. 6:5-22). After seven days will come 40 days of rain that will destroy everything on earth.
God’s heart grieves because human fondness toward evil spoiled what was a “very good” creation.
The wickedness of the people was so depraved that God was sad that he had made such a people and was going to destroy them all but one “Noah” found much favor because he loved Christ and had obeyed him. Man had no desire to obey or love Christ. Their only desire was to please themselves and experience pleasure because pleasure felt good to the people.
Freedman goes on to explain, “In the renewed creation, God elects a new response, characterized blessing and covenant. God assigns to humans accountability for all life, animal, and human. As images of God with God’s authority, Noah and his descendants are to preserve life, keeping bloodshed and vengeance in check, so that lawlessness will never again spoil creation. This new order begins to be played out in the following story, where Noah at last speaks. Noah thus will lead his family into a new world and teach others of Christ.
Freedman stated, “The rain fell for 40 days and nights, and the water rose over the mountains to a depth of 15 cubits. Every living thing that had the breath of life died except for those on the ark but God remembered Noah (8:1), made a wind pass over the earth and the water abated. On the first day of the first month of Noah’s 601st year, the earth was dry, and Noah removed the covering of the ark. On the 27th of the second month the Lord ordered Noah out of the ark with the living creatures. After leaving the ark Noah praised God, therefore, God promised to never flood the earth again.
When Noah and his family departed from the ark, a new year began and God gave them some new guidelines. Commonly referred to as Noah’s covenant, these guidelines included the following: man, to spread out over the earth; man could now eat meat; man had the right to execute murderers; and man would now be instinctively feared by animals (9:1-7). Sin did in fact enter into the world from the beginning of creation, but God had a plan to save all who would come
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