10 Bible Verses About Rainbows

Stretching across the sky from end to end in all of its bright, multicolored glory, a rainbow is one of the most majestic things on the earth, and it points to the far greater majesty of its Creator in the heavens above.

I love the topic of rainbows! God’s Word tells us that the rainbow was put into the sky as a reminder of God’s promise to Noah and the rest of mankind that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood. Rainbows are a shining symbol of hope, a blazing beacon of peace, and a gleaming glimmer of God’s unwavering promises to His people.

Rainbows have and shall forever stand for the hope, peace, and promise of our Almighty God!

Noah’s Ark: The Real Story

The first place that we see rainbows mentioned in the Bible is found in the book of Genesis, chapter 9, which tells us of the covenant God made with Noah and God’s promise to all of mankind.

If you didn’t grow up in church, then you may not be familiar with the truth behind the story of Noah’s Ark. Perhaps you have only heard bits and pieces of the story in passing, but the true story of Noah’s Ark holds vital information that is still relevant for our time today.

The Ark

God gave Noah plans on how to build a massive ship called the Ark, which would stand as a refuge for Noah and his family and two animals of every kind during the great flood which God was to bring upon the face of the earth.

Noah and His sons built the Ark according to the instructions God gave them. The ship was about 510 feet long, more than 50 feet tall, and 85 feet wide, perhaps the largest wooden vessel in history. According to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky, USA, the Ark would have had room for more than 120,000 sheep.

After Noah and his family built the ark, the Lord sent the animals into the ark. God told Noah to take two of every kind of animal and 7 pairs of clean animals and birds. It is estimated that Noah had around 7,000 animals with him on the ark.

But why did God want to bring such a great flood over the whole earth; why did God want to destroy all of His creation?

The Days of Noah

The Bible tells us that in Noah’s time, there was great wickedness on the earth and that almost everyone upon the earth continually thought evil in their hearts.

• “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Genesis 6: 5

The hearts of almost all people on the earth during this time were desperately wicked and this grieved God’s Heart. God felt sorry that He had made man and chose to destroy the creatures of the earth as punishment for their sinful ways.

• “So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.'” Genesis 6: 7

This rampant sin and depravity of mankind is the reason that God sent the great flood; the flood brought judgment for sin upon the people of the earth. It is vital for us all to understand just how serious sin is to God, and that when we sin against God, we sadden His heart.

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord”, and he and his family were spared from the wrath of God.

God’s Promise to Noah and All Mankind

After the flood, all of the people and all of the creatures of the earth were destroyed except for those on the ark.

When the waters had receded, Noah and His family went out of the ark, and they immediately built an altar to God, offering the clean animals as burnt offerings to God.

God was well pleased with Noah and blessed his family to be fruitful in the earth. God made a covenant with Noah and his descendants forever, promising never again to destroy the earth with a flood.

God said that whenever He sees the rainbow hanging in the clouds, it will be a reminder of the everlasting covenant between Himself and every living creature on the earth.

The rainbow was hope materialized, peace came to the earth at last, and a promise was signed in the heavens with the touch of the master’s hand.

This is the truth behind the story of Noah’s Ark and this is the true meaning of rainbows!

10 Bible Verses About Rainbows

Some of these verses are from the story of Noah’s ark, and some portray the rainbow as a symbol of God’s righteous power and glory.

There are only six verses in the Bible that specifically mention the word RAINBOW, two verses that directly reference the rainbow itself, one verse that directly references the promise that God gave to Noah and all mankind, and one verse that directly references the faith of Noah when he built the ark.

• Genesis 9: 12 “And God said: ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations.'” We are reminded that the promise given to Noah was not just for Him, but for every generation to come!
• Genesis 9: 13 “I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.” The rainbow is a sign of the covenant between God and mankind.
• Genesis 9: 14-15 “It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.”
• Genesis 9: 16 “The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
• Genesis 9: 17 “And God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.'”
• Isaiah 54: 9 “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn that I would now be angry with you nor rebuke you.” In this portion of the Word of the Lord to the prophet Isaiah, God directly references the promise He gave to Noah when He set the rainbow in the sky for the first time.
• Ezekiel 1: 28 “Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.” Here, the rainbow is used to symbolize the majesty and bright radiance of the glory of the LORD.
• Hebrews 11: 7 “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with Godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of His household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” Hebrews makes mention of the great faith with which Noah built the ark.
• Revelation 4: 3 “And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.”
• Revelation 10: 1 “I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.” Again, we see the rainbow as a symbol of glory and radiance.

Takeaway

The rainbow, in all of its glorious splendor, shall forever stand as a reminder of the hope and peace that we can only find in God, and God’s unfailing, never-ending, everlasting promises to His people.

This is the unequivocal truth about the rainbow, and I thank God for His promises in our lives.

God Bless You

May the God of all creation bring peace into your life as you devote time to Him and to His Holy Word. Time spent in the Word of God is never wasted time!

I pray that you are encouraged and uplifted by this reminder today that God keeps His promises for all time!