Rainbow Bible Journal Freebie

covenant freebie hope

Download the freebie at the bottom of this post. It includes 30 Bible Verses on Pride and 16 rainbow elements. Watch the video above!

June is gay pride month. In 1989, over thirty five years ago, I wrote about the gay agenda in the public school in a homeschool newsletter. The books Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy Has a Roommate became required reading in the second grade. The seeds planted by the gay agenda have deeply infiltrated America, and today we see the troubling results. Beyond debates over pronouns, we witness the disturbing trend of surgeries altering the bodies of preteens. We need to pray for the victims!

When you see rainbow flags and signs in June, let it be a prayer prompt. Ask God to fill your heart with love and mercy for those in the LGBTQ+ community, remembering they are His children. God calls us to love everyone, and those who are deceived especially need our compassion. Let us be instruments of His love and truth.

As Christians, when we see the rainbow stolen by LGBTQ activism, it can understandably cause upset. After all, the rainbow carries profound Biblical significance as God's sign to Noah of His everlasting covenant with all life on earth and gays promote a lifestyle of sin. But we must remember it is God's rainbow and we are all sinners.

Instead of anger, view this situation as an opportunity to point people to the rainbow's true meaning and beauty as described in Genesis 9. It's a time to remember to wait on God just as Noah waited (see video above). To hope for all of us walking outside of God's will, will open eyes and follow God's ways.

Biblical Hope

As explained in the Bible Project video above, there are two main Hebrew words translated as hope. The first is yakhal, which means simply "to wait for." In the story of Noah and the ark, as the floodwaters recede, Noah had to yakhal for 40 days.

God resolves to wash away corruption while preserving Noah and his family. The rain pours down, and for months, Noah sways back and forth in an ark. He needs to yakhal (wait) in the middle of animal waste and landless seas.

Biblical hope is a choice to wait for God to bring about a future as surprising as a crucified man rising from the dead. Christian hope looks back to the risen Jesus to look forward, and so we wait. This is the essence of biblical hope.

God's Colorful Promise

After the destructive flood waters subsided, God gave Noah and his family a beautiful sign in the sky - the rainbow (Genesis 9:12-17). But this colorful arc wasn't merely for decoration. In ancient Hebrew culture, the rainbow carried profound spiritual meaning as a symbol of God's covenant with all life on earth.

God's Everlasting Covenant

Scripture:
"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." -Genesis 9:16

As we read these words spoken by God to Noah and his sons after the flood, we are reminded of the profound covenant He established - not just with them, but with all living creatures. This covenant, symbolized by the majestic rainbow in the sky, assures us that never again will a flood destroy all flesh on the earth. It is an everlasting covenant for all generations, a testament to God's mercy and a reminder of His abiding presence.

The Noahic Covenant: A Living Promise

The Noahic Covenant stands as a timeless pattern for understanding all biblical covenants. Known in Hebrew as 'berith-olam,' this everlasting covenant is often marked by divine signs, the most famous being the rainbow. This covenant between God and Noah signifies humanity's shared ancestry from both Adam and Noah, setting a precedent for God's relationship with mankind.

The covenant unfolds in several key promises:

The earth's repopulation continued God's command from Eden.
Man's dominion over animals was reinforced by instilling fear of humans in creatures.
The expansion of man's diet to include all animals, with the restriction of not consuming blood.
The prohibition of consuming blood symbolizes the sanctity of life.
The introduction of capital punishment underscores the gravity of taking a life.
The assurance that humanity will never again face destruction by a global flood.
The rainbow as the covenant's sign, a divine promise visible in nature's beauty.

The Rainbow: A Symbol of God's Peace

In Jewish tradition, the rainbow is seen as a sign of God's peace, a celestial warrior's bow turned downwards in a gesture of reconciliation. Isaiah referred to it as the "covenant of peace," a beautiful imagery of God's promise to humanity. The colors of the rainbow (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) are like witnessing God's autograph in the sky.

Embracing God's Covenants

God's covenants are His way of drawing us into a deep, intimate relationship with Him. The rainbow covenant, along with covenants like the nation of Israel, the lineage of Abraham, David's throne through Christ, and the new covenant sealed by Jesus' sacrifice, are affirmations of God's unwavering faithfulness and boundless grace.

This theme of an intimate relationship with God invites us to reflect on our spiritual lives. It challenges us to explore our faith, understand our purpose, and engage in a meaningful relationship with the divine. By embracing these lessons, we find direction, purpose, and a deeper understanding of our role in the world.