Reclaiming God’s Beautiful Rainbow
Sometime ago, I received a bag as an event souvenir, and the fabric cover had zigzag lines in the rainbow colours as the motif. My mind immediately went to the gay pride, and it bothered me because I know full well the origin of the rainbow, and this blog is a result of my introspection.
We’re living in an age where words are fast losing their original meanings. The older folk like to act like the things happening are strange just because they’re just different from our own time, but we have to admit it’s nothing new. Each generation had its own fashion and language trends, as well as its peculiar form of youthful rebellion. However, with each succeeding generation, the trends are denounced by the previous one.
Let’s look at black hairstyles, for instance. The Afro went from being a radical political symbol in the early 1960’s to a mainstream fashion trend in the early 1970’s. We had the Jheri curls in the early 1980’s, and the high-top fade in the late 1980s and early 1990s (my late brother had this hairstyle for a season). The trends shift and change, one after another.
But back to the changes in language, or more specifically, the definitions of words. There was a time when the verb ‘chill’ meant ‘to become cold but not freeze, or to make something cold without freezing it’. At some point, another definition became ‘to relax by doing very little; to remain or become calm and not allow something to make you upset or angry’. Both these definitions are from the Cambridge Dictionary.
This second definition originated in the 1970’s and was formally recognised in the early 1980’s, and here it is in the dictionary today. There are many more such new definitions of already existing words, both as slang (I keep learning new ones from my young adult children) and officially recognised.
However, it’s not just fashion trends and language that keep changing, as the meanings of symbols also change. Case in point, the pink ribbon.
According to Wikipedia, “pink ribbons for girls (and blue for boys) were used from the mid-19th century on christening gowns in Paris, and to a limited extent in the United States. In St. Petersburg (Russia) ribbons of the same color scheme were used on white funeral shrouds for children.” In 1991, Estée Lauder and SELF Magazine were looking to create a breast cancer awareness campaign and, based on Charlotte Haley’s peach ribbon, created a ribbon in another colour: pink. Thus, pink ribbons became the international symbol of breast cancer awareness.
There is, however, one symbol whose original purpose and meaning I want to highlight, and it is the rainbow.
For those who don’t know the origin of the rainbow, I will take you to the scriptures. This is a story from way back when humanity as we know it had only existed for about fifteen centuries (if my calculations are right) and begins in the sixth chapter of what is referred to commonly as ‘the book of beginnings’.
Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!
In God’s assessment, “Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.” (verse 9). So, while the entire earth – all living things – were destroyed by a flood that covered the earth for months on end, Noah and his family were spared in an ark built to God’s specifications, along with pairs of animals that would repopulate the earth again.
When the ground was finally dry again, and all creatures had exited the ark,
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and there he sacrificed as burnt offerings the animals and birds that had been approved for that purpose. And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things.
God wasn’t satisfied with just coming to that decision. He went a step further to enter into a covenant with Noah, which would affect all living creatures, present and future.
Then God told Noah and his sons, “I hereby confirm my covenant with you and your descendants, and with all the animals that were on the boat with you—the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals—every living creature on earth. Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.”
God created the rainbow as a symbol of His covenant, and for me, it will always remain a beautiful reminder of His faithfulness and goodness. This is what I want to think about when I see the colours of the rainbow represented anywhere. I choose to be a ‘righteous rebel’ and to question the trends (whether in the secular or the religious world) and to see life from God’s perspective.
How about you?