The first week of Lent
THE RAINBOW COVENANT
Genesis 9:8-17
As I beginning I just remind of a poem of William Wordsworth, “The Rainbow”. I read.
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
The poet here tells us to return to the pure heart whenever we see a rainbow in the sky. If he didn’t have any inspiration before a rainbow then he better to die. We hardly can see a rainbow in this urban life. However, we used to see a rainbow in our hometown after rainy. I hope you may have some inspiration when you see a rainbow. Long years ago, the ancient Israel people also had a deep inspiration when they saw a rainbow after a great flood.
From this week Lent begins. As we know Lent is the period of 40 days before Easter. During this period many Christians observe fast, reading the Bible, a special prayer etc. by remembering Jesus’ suffering for the sin of the world, especially me and you. The forty days reminds of us forty days and forty night of judgment period in Noah’s flood. The content we read today contains the Noahic covenant. It is the covenant that God made with Noah after he left the ark, sealed with a rainbow, that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood. We also call it as Rainbow Covenant.
A covenant is a solemn, mutually binding pact or contract, confirmed and symbolized by pledges. There are two kinds of covenant in the Bible. The covenant based on deed is the one and the covenant based on God’s divine grace is the other. For example, in Adam’s case, God gave Adam a duty to take care of the creatures. God gave it to him not by force but respecting his personality. If Adam would keep this contract then he would have been lived at the Garden of Eden with eternal freedom. It was a covenant based on Adam’s deed. But he broke it and lost the entire blessing. Then God proclaimed his salvation one-sidedly by clothing him with animal skin made garment. We call it the covenant based on God’s divine grace.
The author of Bible the similar covenant based on Noah’s deed in Genesis 6:18, “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark--you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.” When Noah did everything just as God commanded him, (6:22) God protected his family’s life from the great flood. After the great Flood depicted in the Bible, God took the rainbow, a pre-existing phenomenon, and made it His pledge. As the today’s content says, He turned it into the symbol of His universal covenant - His covenant with all humankind, and with all the earth. Because of this great covenant we know that Earth shall abide. God Himself declares that day and night and springtime and harvest-time will never be cut off by any further such disaster as the Flood. The future lies before us! We can count on the future coming! We have God's promise!
Then how about others? They all were wiped away from the earth. The people in Noah’s times didn’t anticipate the flood at all till the day Noah entered into the ark and washed away by the flood as getting intoxicated by daily life. Though they heard about the Flood would come they could accept it. Why did they listen to Noah’s word in an absent sort of way? There are many smart people among them. A little different from today there might be a weather expert. There might be many philosophers and physicists. In their professional knowledge’ point of view the Flood wasn’t’ able to happen. Though they had a flood they were able to protect by repairing the banks and the roofs. However, the Flood completely upset their anticipation. They were completely destroyed by meeting flood that they never have experienced before.
The reason that the people in Noah’s times didn’t anticipate the Flood at all was they were bound by their daily life only. Till the end they were drinking, eating and marry. If we change it in modern terms, they invested stock, prepared an election and working. All these things are our precious daily life. I don’t mean these daily life is meaningless. Foolishness indulging in daily life is problem. The problem is that such daily life only accepted as the most realistic one. For example, when children play in the village with their peers the playing activities itself only becomes a real. They should go back to their home when their mother calls them but completely forget it when they were playing.
We often experience the same things as Mother’s calling at home in our real life. Any incident can happened without pre-notice. We don’t know when the death visits us. I don’t intention to say to make you get fear for your daily life. I also don’t have any intention to say to give up your daily life because of its meaningless. If we are bound to our daily life despite its preciousness we are nothing different from the people in Noah’s times. It means we have to consider the day and the hour of completing our life. Saying in a little in detail, we have to remember the fact our daily life will not be continued. Youth and all he plans based on the youth don’t last forever. Our happy family relationship also doesn’t endure forever. Someday we all have to enter into a tomb alone apart from all these things. The day and the hour is approaching when you cut yourself off from the things in the world that you have hold as thinking happy.
The thing that happens at the hour and on the day is drastic. It is really merciless. When you die we are completely separated from everything not half. The judgment by the Flood was too drastic and Noah’s family was terrified by the result. They didn’t have any power to even stand. Then God visited Noah and promised their life with rainbow. Ancient Hebrew people who were terrified by a great flood and nature’s disaster identified themselves with Noah’s family here. In a great fear they saw a rainbow. When they saw it they were greatly inspired. They regarded it as God’s covenant. They were helpless before the power of nature. Nowhere could they find out their source of living. Anytime they would be destroyed. It was a real world they had to face in day to day life. At that time the rainbow gave them a great inspiration. It was God’s covenant. As the meaning of covenant is a solemn, mutually binding pact or contract, confirmed and symbolized by pledges they believed it was the certain sign of God. It was God’s confirmed promise. The rainbow brought them life.
We who are living in this world can fully understand their inspiration before rainbow. All of us have our own agony though we don’t speak out. Though we really work hard we don’t have any certainty for our future. We are almost tired of our routine daily life. We don’t like to waste all my precious time n the office, in our studying and in taking care of children. We just want to be freed from all these bondage and anxiety for our future. However, again and again we have to face the reality of our world. Pain and suffering illness, anxiety for future, sorrow from death of closed people and bitterness from sense of betray crushes us into dung of fear. In order to escape from these things we indulge in playing sport, internet suffering, chat with friend, watching movie, date with girl or boy friend and reading books etc. as the means of solution for this. However, soon after we feel tiredness for this cannot be a source of life. We become an old man who doesn’t have any inspiration even he sees a rainbow in the sky. At this point we are nothing different from the people who faced a great natural disaster in ancient days.
Fortunately, God has given us a new covenant through his one and only son Jesus Christ. Through his death on the cross and resurrection Jesus became our rainbow. We are the people whose heart is reaping with a great hope and expectation by seeing this. We can find out the source of our life in it. Whenever we remember Jesus our heart is reaping again despite we are surrounded by our enemy of life as Paul confessed, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Cor. 4:8, 9) If you don’t have any inspiration before Jesus’ incident, sorry for saying this, you are better to die as a poet said.
From today we are to observe Lent. In this period we can meditate all the sufferings of Jesus, his death and resurrection, which can be the covenant of our rainbow. The rainbow Jesus will protect our soul and guide us into the kingdom of heaven. Praise Jesus who is our rainbow.
THE RAINBOW COVENANT
Genesis 9:8-17
As I beginning I just remind of a poem of William Wordsworth, “The Rainbow”. I read.
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
The poet here tells us to return to the pure heart whenever we see a rainbow in the sky. If he didn’t have any inspiration before a rainbow then he better to die. We hardly can see a rainbow in this urban life. However, we used to see a rainbow in our hometown after rainy. I hope you may have some inspiration when you see a rainbow. Long years ago, the ancient Israel people also had a deep inspiration when they saw a rainbow after a great flood.
From this week Lent begins. As we know Lent is the period of 40 days before Easter. During this period many Christians observe fast, reading the Bible, a special prayer etc. by remembering Jesus’ suffering for the sin of the world, especially me and you. The forty days reminds of us forty days and forty night of judgment period in Noah’s flood. The content we read today contains the Noahic covenant. It is the covenant that God made with Noah after he left the ark, sealed with a rainbow, that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood. We also call it as Rainbow Covenant.
A covenant is a solemn, mutually binding pact or contract, confirmed and symbolized by pledges. There are two kinds of covenant in the Bible. The covenant based on deed is the one and the covenant based on God’s divine grace is the other. For example, in Adam’s case, God gave Adam a duty to take care of the creatures. God gave it to him not by force but respecting his personality. If Adam would keep this contract then he would have been lived at the Garden of Eden with eternal freedom. It was a covenant based on Adam’s deed. But he broke it and lost the entire blessing. Then God proclaimed his salvation one-sidedly by clothing him with animal skin made garment. We call it the covenant based on God’s divine grace.
The author of Bible the similar covenant based on Noah’s deed in Genesis 6:18, “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark--you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.” When Noah did everything just as God commanded him, (6:22) God protected his family’s life from the great flood. After the great Flood depicted in the Bible, God took the rainbow, a pre-existing phenomenon, and made it His pledge. As the today’s content says, He turned it into the symbol of His universal covenant - His covenant with all humankind, and with all the earth. Because of this great covenant we know that Earth shall abide. God Himself declares that day and night and springtime and harvest-time will never be cut off by any further such disaster as the Flood. The future lies before us! We can count on the future coming! We have God's promise!
Then how about others? They all were wiped away from the earth. The people in Noah’s times didn’t anticipate the flood at all till the day Noah entered into the ark and washed away by the flood as getting intoxicated by daily life. Though they heard about the Flood would come they could accept it. Why did they listen to Noah’s word in an absent sort of way? There are many smart people among them. A little different from today there might be a weather expert. There might be many philosophers and physicists. In their professional knowledge’ point of view the Flood wasn’t’ able to happen. Though they had a flood they were able to protect by repairing the banks and the roofs. However, the Flood completely upset their anticipation. They were completely destroyed by meeting flood that they never have experienced before.
The reason that the people in Noah’s times didn’t anticipate the Flood at all was they were bound by their daily life only. Till the end they were drinking, eating and marry. If we change it in modern terms, they invested stock, prepared an election and working. All these things are our precious daily life. I don’t mean these daily life is meaningless. Foolishness indulging in daily life is problem. The problem is that such daily life only accepted as the most realistic one. For example, when children play in the village with their peers the playing activities itself only becomes a real. They should go back to their home when their mother calls them but completely forget it when they were playing.
We often experience the same things as Mother’s calling at home in our real life. Any incident can happened without pre-notice. We don’t know when the death visits us. I don’t intention to say to make you get fear for your daily life. I also don’t have any intention to say to give up your daily life because of its meaningless. If we are bound to our daily life despite its preciousness we are nothing different from the people in Noah’s times. It means we have to consider the day and the hour of completing our life. Saying in a little in detail, we have to remember the fact our daily life will not be continued. Youth and all he plans based on the youth don’t last forever. Our happy family relationship also doesn’t endure forever. Someday we all have to enter into a tomb alone apart from all these things. The day and the hour is approaching when you cut yourself off from the things in the world that you have hold as thinking happy.
The thing that happens at the hour and on the day is drastic. It is really merciless. When you die we are completely separated from everything not half. The judgment by the Flood was too drastic and Noah’s family was terrified by the result. They didn’t have any power to even stand. Then God visited Noah and promised their life with rainbow. Ancient Hebrew people who were terrified by a great flood and nature’s disaster identified themselves with Noah’s family here. In a great fear they saw a rainbow. When they saw it they were greatly inspired. They regarded it as God’s covenant. They were helpless before the power of nature. Nowhere could they find out their source of living. Anytime they would be destroyed. It was a real world they had to face in day to day life. At that time the rainbow gave them a great inspiration. It was God’s covenant. As the meaning of covenant is a solemn, mutually binding pact or contract, confirmed and symbolized by pledges they believed it was the certain sign of God. It was God’s confirmed promise. The rainbow brought them life.
We who are living in this world can fully understand their inspiration before rainbow. All of us have our own agony though we don’t speak out. Though we really work hard we don’t have any certainty for our future. We are almost tired of our routine daily life. We don’t like to waste all my precious time n the office, in our studying and in taking care of children. We just want to be freed from all these bondage and anxiety for our future. However, again and again we have to face the reality of our world. Pain and suffering illness, anxiety for future, sorrow from death of closed people and bitterness from sense of betray crushes us into dung of fear. In order to escape from these things we indulge in playing sport, internet suffering, chat with friend, watching movie, date with girl or boy friend and reading books etc. as the means of solution for this. However, soon after we feel tiredness for this cannot be a source of life. We become an old man who doesn’t have any inspiration even he sees a rainbow in the sky. At this point we are nothing different from the people who faced a great natural disaster in ancient days.
Fortunately, God has given us a new covenant through his one and only son Jesus Christ. Through his death on the cross and resurrection Jesus became our rainbow. We are the people whose heart is reaping with a great hope and expectation by seeing this. We can find out the source of our life in it. Whenever we remember Jesus our heart is reaping again despite we are surrounded by our enemy of life as Paul confessed, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Cor. 4:8, 9) If you don’t have any inspiration before Jesus’ incident, sorry for saying this, you are better to die as a poet said.
From today we are to observe Lent. In this period we can meditate all the sufferings of Jesus, his death and resurrection, which can be the covenant of our rainbow. The rainbow Jesus will protect our soul and guide us into the kingdom of heaven. Praise Jesus who is our rainbow.
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