WHAT I LEARNED WHEN I READ THE BIBLE
In Genesis 9:9-11 we see God create a covenant with Noah. “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that was with you…Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
God goes a step further and gives us a visible reminder of His promise. “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. I 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.” (Genesis 9:12-16 NIV).
The Noahic covenant was the first of five main covenants dealing with the story of the Bible and God’s redemptive plan for man. There are four covenants in the Old Testament (Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic) and one in the New Testament called the New Covenant, which is the promise God made to man for eternal life with Him through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.
Interesting side note: When viewed from space we learn the rainbow is not an arch, it is a circle. Biblical marriage is a covenant that a bride and groom make with God. To symbolize this covenant, the wedding band (a circle) has become the physical reminder of their promise.