Genesis | Filling The Earth

Genesis 10: 1 Thru 32

Most Recently:

We Learned About God’s Grace As He Renewed Creation.

We Learned About Blessing And Curse Of Sons Of Noah.

Noah And Ham Both Fell Into Sin.

The Hope After The Flood Quickly Faded.

God Promised To Be With Noah And His Family.

Two Of Three Sons Were Respectful To Noah.

Those Two Sons Will Be Blessed By God.

Today: Filling The Earth. Key Takeaway: Evidence Of God's Guardianship Over His Chosen People.

The Last Two Lessons In The Next Two Weeks:

Apostasy Interrupted.

Lineage Of Life.

Now, Why Spend Time With A Passage Like This?

Verse 32 Sums It Up:

This Is The List Of The Families From Noah’s Sons.

They Are Arranged According To Their Nations.

From This Family Came All The People Of The Earth.

IT IS:

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD.

HELPFUL TO REALIZE AND ACCEPT THESE FACTS.

We Study Facts Concerning The Word Of God.

We Study Facts Concerning The Truth About Life.

INTRODUCTION:

A. All People Groups Came From The Three Sons Of Noah.

Chapter 10: Panoramic View Of The Beginning Of Nations.

Biblical And Secular Archaeologists Agree:

The Middle East Is Rightly Called THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION.

B. The Nation Israel Was Elected As The Instrument Of Redemptive Blessing To The World.

So, The Nation Needed To Know Where They Originated.

Israel Might Know How To Act Toward Them Other Nations.

This Is The Primary Reason For Giving The Table Of Nations.

NOTE:

Incomplete Facts Cause Difficulty Tracing Nations Beginning.

But Enough Evidence To Make SOME Conclusions.

History Has Confirmed This Distribution Of Mankind.

It Is Exactly As The Bible Says.

THE TABLE OF NATIONS AFTER THE FLOOD:

NATIONS GROW AND SPREAD:

Noah Has Died And So Moses, By Inspiration Of The Holy Spirit, Begins A New Section In History.

THE REVELATION OF GOD’S WILL AND GOD’S WORD:

LIMITED AND FOCUSED ON THE DESCENDANTS OF SHEM.

DESCENDANTS OF SHEM WOULD BECOME THE HEBREW PEOPLE.

There Are Thousands Of People Groups Now Days,

ALL GROUPS ORIGINATED FROM NOAH AND HIS SONS.

I. THE GENEOLOGY OF JAPHETH (10:2-5):

Japheth Was Given Intellectual Favor.

The People Of Japheth: Gifted In Philosophy And Intellect.

The Widest Geographical Distribution Of The Three Families.

Most Americans Are From This Line.

A. Generally Speaking These People Went Into Europe And Asia:

One Group Settled In India And The Other In Europe.

Together They Form What Is Known As The Indo-European Family Of Nations.

B. Japheth Has Seven Sons:

Magog: Founded The Northern Barbarian Hordes Now Russia.

Madai: Easily Identified As The Medes And Persian Empire.

Tubal: Migrated Into Modern-Day Turkey.

Meschech: Also Migrated Into Modern-Day Turkey.

Tiras: Probably The Ancestor Of The Aegean People.

Gomer: Settled In The Balkan Area Migrated To Germany.

From Gomer, Came The Word Gaul.

From The Gauls: The Early Families Of Western Europe.

Consequently Most Of The Americas Until Recently Were Ancestors Of Gomer (Who Was The Son Of Japheth).

Javan: Unquestionably The Ancestor Of The Greeks Who Settled Around The Black Sea.

II. THE GENEOLOGY OF HAM (10:6-20):

Ham Was Given The Art Of Technical Proficiency.

The People Of HAM: The Technicians Of Mankind.

Showing An Amazing Adaptability In Our World.

A. Generally Speaking These Peoples Moved Into Egypt, Africa And Canaan:

Perhaps The Darker Skinned People.

Particularly Gifted With Technical Proficiency.

Great Adaptability To Primitive Conditions.

All The Great Early Civilizations Were Thru Ham.

Egyptians, Babylonians, Mayans, Aztecs, Sumerians.

B. Ham Had Four Sons:

Mizraim: A Clear Reference To Egypt.

Phut: Associated With West Egypt And North Africa.

Cush: Associated With Southern Arabia And Ethiopia.

Cush Had A Son Named NIMROD:

Nimrod Was A Descendant Of Ham Thru Cush.

So, Nimrod Would Have Been A Grandson Of Ham.

So, Nimrod Would Have Been A Great Grandson Of Noah.

Nimrod: Means: Let Us Rebel.

He Was A Mighty Hunter To His People.

Nimrod Was A Mighty One On The Earth.

Nimrod Had A Great Influence On Mankind.

Nimrod Was A Kingdom Builder.

People Followed Him.

He Build And Founded At Least Two Great Cities:

The City Of Babel And The City Of Nineveh.

Nimrod WAS NOT A Godly Man.

He Was In Rebellion Against God.

He Was Leading People Astray.

He Was Also Very Influential.

He Was Very Wealthy And Powerful.

He Was The Arch-Apostate Of The World After The Flood.

NOTE:

Nimrod Founded A Religion:

A Religion That Was Anti-God.

A RELIGION BASED UPON HUMAN WORKS AND HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT.

Canaan: His Descendants Are Associated With Area Around Palestine.

The Sons Of Canaan Are Also Identified.

These Tribes Occupied The General Area Of Palestine.

III. THE GENEOLOGY OF SHEM (10:21-31):

Shem Was Given The Religious Primacy Of Mankind.

The Semitic Peoples Develop The Spiritual Life Of Mankind.

The Semitic Peoples Have Come The 3 Major Religions:

JUDAISM, ISLAM, CHRISTIANITY.

A. Generally These Peoples Settled In The Middle East:

B. Shem Is Said To Be The Father Of The Children Of Eber:

From Eber Comes The Word Hebrew.

Abraham Was Six Generations After Eber.

So, Eber Is The Forefather Of Abram.

So, Abram Was An Eberite Or Hebrew.

His Sons Settled In Southern Mesopotamia, Assyria, Nineveh, Asia Minor and Syria.

THE EMPHASIS IN GENESIS FROM THIS POINT:

ON SHEM'S LINE. THIS IS THE LINE OF MESSIAH.

NOTE:

God's Word Begins To Focus On A Portion Of Humanity: To One Family: The Family Of Shem.

In Genesis 11:10, The Bible Begins To Narrow The Focus Even Further : One Man, Abraham.

Then, After Abraham, God's Word Begins To Broaden Out: To All His Descendants Of Abraham.

The Rest Of The Bible Is All About The Children Of Abraham, Both Physically And Spiritually.

SO, NOT ONLY:

THE HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF NOAH'S SONS.

THE EXPLANATION HOW THE NATIONS BEGAN.

It Is The Very Word Of God.

It Shows Us That We Can Trust Him.

It Shows He Has A Plan,

It Shows We Have A Place In That Plan.

God Cares About All Peoples.

God Cares Even Those Who Are Far Away From Us.

How Focused Are We On The Mission Of The Church?

Are We Prompted To Share The Gospel To Every Nation?

A BIG MISTAKE THAT SO MANY MAKE:

FAILING TO UNDERSTAND DIFFERENCES WHICH EXIST IN MANKIND.

PEOPLE ARE DIFFERENT BUT THAT IS NO SIGN OF SUPERIORITY.

MISUNDERSTANDING SUPPOSED SUPERIORITY OF MANKIND.

THIS IS BASIC TO UNDERSTANDING THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH.

Goodness Is Better Than Greatness.

Grace Is Better Than Gold.

Eternal Pleasure Is Better Than Earthly Pleasure.

Your Walk With The Lord Is Worth It.

Genesis | Curse Or Blessing

 Genesis 9:18-29

Fall Study: Genesis 1 Through Genesis 11:

Most Recently:

Judgment By Water.

Preserving Life And Creation.

Today: Curse Or Blessing.

Takeaway: To walk with God daily, we are to renew our minds and be committed to doing His will.

Some Of The Topics In The Next Few Weeks:

Filling The Earth.

Apostasy Interrupted.

Last Lesson For Series: Lineage Of Life.

NOAH'S DESCENDANTS:

THREE FAMILIES OF MANKIND.

THE CURSE ON CANAAN.

I. Noah’s Sons (9:18-19).

II. Noah’s Drunken Mistake (9:20-23).

a. Noah Drinks His Wine (9:20-21).

b. Ham Sees Noah (9:22).

c. Shem And Japheth Cover Noah (9:23).

III. Curse and Blessing (9:24-29).

a. Curse of Ham (9:24-25).

b. Blessings of Shem and Japheth (9:26-27).

c. Noah Lived and Died (9:28-29).

In Our Last Lesson, We Witnessed God’s Grace As He Renewed Creation.

God Didn’t Just Renew The Physical World;

He Went So Far As To Covenant With Noah.

This New Covenant Is A Promise That Noah And His Offspring Will Be God’s People In The Renewed World.

INTRODUCTION:

This Table Of Nations Is Crafted To:

-Be The Most Important Nations In The Ancient Near East.

-Preserve The Knowledge Of The Line Of Families That Show How God Brings Forth A Savior.

-Record Of Mankind’s Depravity.

A. A Whole New World Before Noah And His Family,

Noah Falls Into Sin.

PROOF: Mankind Are Sinners Even Saved People !!

To walk with God daily, we are to renew our minds and be committed to doing His will.

MANKIND MUST WALK CLOSE TO GOD

IF THERE IS TO BE PROGRESSIVE VICTORY OVER SIN.

Romans: Therefore, By The Mercies Of God,

In View Of What God Has Done For You:

Dying For Your Sins,

Being Resurrected,

Providing This Salvation,

I Urge You To Present Your Bodies As A Living Sacrifice For This Is Your Spiritual Worship.

He's Not Asking Us To Die, Because Jesus Died For Our Sins.

He's Asking Us To Live And That's Rather Reasonable.

This Is Your Reasonable Spiritual Worship.

B. A Record Of The Various Families Of The Earth.

There Is Just One Human Race And Various Family Groupings Within That Race.

I. THREE FAMILIES 9:18-19.

Noah’s Sons.

A. And The Sons Of Noah, That Went Forth From The Ark: Shem, And Ham, And Japheth:

From Noah’s Three Sons Came The Various Major Family Groupings Of The Human Race.

The Descendants Of Shem Are Essentially The Semitic People (Jews And The Arabs).

The Descendants Of Ham Are The Southern Nations (Middle East, Egypt, South Arabia, Parts Of Africa, Etc.).

The Descendants Of Japheth Are The Indo-Europeans.

B. These Are Three Of The Sons Of Noah:

Most Descendants Of Mankind From 1 Of These 3 Sons.

Again, Mostly These Three Families Populated The Whole Earth Even Though Noah Had More Than 3 Sons.

II. NOAH BEGAN TO BE A FARMER.

He Planted A Vineyard.

Note: How Long To Produce Fermented Grapes? 3 years.

1. Noah Drank Of The Wine Produced And Became Drunk.

Noah’s Drunken Mistake.

Noah Gets Drunk And The Bible Teaches That Is Sinful.

2. Noah Was Uncovered Within His Tent.

Noah Drinks His Wine.

Noah’s Drunkenness Led To Forgoing His Modesty.

He Took His Clothes Off And Fell Asleep.

Ham, The Father Of Canaan:

Ham Sees Noah.

Ham Saw The Nakedness Of His Father.

Ham Told His Two Brothers.

Ham Seems To Have Expressed Disrespect For His Father.

The Text Says:

Ham Saw His Father In The Buff.

He Did Not Cover His Nakedness.

Noah Acted Shamefully.

But Ham, Instead Of Covering His Father's Shame,

Left Him Naked

And Gossiped About It With His Brothers.

His Brothers Who Did Not Share His Amusement.

Ham Sin Was That He Dishonored His Father.

It Is Very Serious:

The Lord Said Honor Your Father And Your Mother.

So That You May Live Long In The Land That God Is Giving You.

Canaan's Descendants, The Canaanites, Would Have Their Land Taken From Them And Given To Shem's Descendants, The Israelites.

From The Line Of Shem Would Also Come A Savior Jesus Christ Who Covers Our Shame.

B. And Shem And Japheth Took A Garment:

Shem And Japheth Cover Noah.

They Laid It Upon Both Of The Shoulders Of Noah.

They Went Backward, They Covered Noah's Nakedness.

Their Faces Were Backward,

They DID NOT LOOK At Their Father’s Nakedness.

The Other Two Brothers Had Nothing To Do With This Sin.

They Refused To Look Upon Their Father’s Nakedness.

III. THE CURSE ON CANAAN 9:24-27.

Curse and Blessing.

A. Noah Awoke From His Inebriation:

How Did Noah Discovered What HAM Had Done To Him?

Was There A Full Disclosure From The Brothers?

B. Noah Said: CURSED Be Canaan; A Servant Of Servants Shall He Be Unto His Brethren:

The Curse of Ham.

This Curse Was Specifically On Ham's Descendant.

(Gen. 10:15-19).

This Curse Was Pronounced On Canaan.

Canaan: Youngest Son Of Ham | Grandson Of Noah.

Canaan Would Be Placed Under The Greatest Possible Servitude And Would Be A Slave To Shem And Japheth.

This Is A Prophetic Curse And Has Its Fulfillment In History.

1. Did God Curse Canaan?

It Was Ham Who Sinned And Not Canaan.

Why then does God curse Canaan?

GUIDED BY DIVINE PROVIDENCE: Noah Curses Canaan.

2. How Was This Curse Fulfilled in History?

Genesis 10:15-19: The Canaanites Settled In The Area Which Is Now Palestine.

These Canaanite Tribes Were All Conquered When Israel Entered The Land, Bringing Fulfillment Of The Curse.

C. Noah Said: BLESSED Be The Lord God Of Shem; And Canaan Shall Be Shem's Servant:

Blessings of Shem and Japheth.

Noah Pronounces Special Spiritual Blessings For The Shemites.

The Spiritual Shemites Are The Jews !!

The Instrument That God Uses For Thousands Of Years.

The Race Of People To Be God's Message To The World.

The Messiah Came Through The Family Of Shem.

NOTE:

The Shemites, Whether Jews Or Arabs, Are Very Religious People.

It Is Interesting To Note That The Three Great Religions Of The World Are From The Semitic Family: Judaism, Islam And Christianity.

D. God Shall Enlarge Japheth, And He Shall Dwell In The Tents Of Shem; And Canaan Shall Be His Servant:

Japheth Was Promised Enlargement.

This Line Of People Are Primarily Those Of The Indo-European.

The Entire Western World Has Been Settled By This Line.

The Asian And Indo-Asian People Are From This Line.

IV. THE DEATH OF NOAH (9:28-29).

Noah Lived and Died.

And He Died: Tells Us That Even The Great Men Of God Have To Die.

But God Will Raise Up Others To Follow.

Yet, Death For The Saint Means That He Goes To Be With His Lord.

Genesis | Perserving Life And Creation

Genesis 9:1-17

Fall Study: Genesis 1 Through Genesis 11:

Most Recently: Unbridled Wickedness Gen 6:1-8

Judgment by Water Gen 6:9 thru 8:22

In Genesis 9….Today: Perserving Life and Creation.

Some Of The Topics In The Next Few Weeks:

Filling the Earth

Lineage of Life

A Summary Of Genesis:  It Establishes Fundamental Truths About God.

Among These Are:

Jim Has Recently Shared about :

• His Role as The Creator,

• His Holiness,

• His Hatred of Sin,

• His Love For Mankind,

• His Willingness to Provide For Our Redemption.

Today We Will Learn About:

• His willingness to apply Consequences for disobedience

About Consequences….Deuteronomy 28:15-20 

[ Curses on Disobedience ] “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”...

• His Absolute Covenant with Mankind.

• His Grand purpose of Redemption to give humanity a chance to start again.

  • HE is a GOD of 2^nd chances!

What makes a promise truly powerful is the identity of the one making the promise and whether that person is a promise keeper. The Bible speaks of some of the promises of God as covenants. God covenants to care for His people and in our passage today He makes a powerful promise to Noah and gives a sign to remind His people of His promise.

About The Flood and the Rainbow – Accordingly to “Bible Hub”

“The flood and the rainbow were sent for a moral purpose: to punish sinners; to preserve the righteous; to teach Noah and his children after him a moral lesson concerning righteousness and sin concerning the wrath of God against sin — concerning God, that He governs the world and all in it, and does not leave the world or mankind to go on of themselves and by themselves.”

An Outline of today’s study in Genesis 9 would include:

“Living Under the Rainbow”: Judgment First, Then Mercy

• I. A New Beginning 1-3.

• II. A New Command 4-7.

• III. A New Promise 8-17.

1^st: A NEW BEGINNING 1-3

Vs 1

“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”

God is faithful to those who obey him!

5 times in the 1^st 9 chapters of Genesis God says “Be fruitful and multiply”

A fruitful person is one who is merged with Jesus – he or she grows, overgrows, thrives and reproduces many fruits. Fruitfulness is the goal for every believer…. for every Christian.

Colossians 1:10

“that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

Vs 2

“And the fear and dread of you shall be on every….”

Beast, bird, everything that moves, and the fish of the sea!

God established man as the center of the earth. What a GIFT!!!

Vs 3

“Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs.”

God did not hold anything back….HE said “All things”

Before the flood, God gave man the Green Earth, the plant life to eat. Now He tells Noah that he is able to eat animal life.

Apparently, man had not been a meat eater prior to the flood.

Remember that the animals came to Noah when the flood was             impending; they….the animals, seemed to have no fear of Noah at all.

About being a vegetarian…..Dr. J Vernon McGee said: while speaking with a devout vegetarian who made that practice a big part of her religion….

McGee said……“I wouldn’t make too much of it if I were you because you must remember that it was a bunch of vegetarians who were destroyed in the flood. If diet had in any way improved them at that time, they would not have been destroyed.”

2^nd: A NEW COMMAND 4-7

Vs 4

 ^“But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.”

The blood should be drained out. The blood speaks of life.

Before the flood, God gave man the green earth, the plant life for food. So Now He tells Noah he is able to eat animal life…..but NOT THE BLOOD!

About the Blood in Leviticus 17:13-14 NKJV

¹³ “Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with dust; ¹⁴ for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.’

Jesus blood keeps the body of Christ healthy and alive. Another of the main functions of the blood in the human body is to facilitate cleansing of the system. This is also one of the main purposes the blood of Jesus does for us.

Jesus Blood cleanses us!

Vs 5

“Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.”

God will require a reckoning or….an accounting for his or her actions. A penalty must be paid. Justice will be served.

This is one of the first moments in Scripture where blood, specifically, is tied to life. Later, through moments such as the first Passover (Exodus 12:1–7), and the sacrifices in the temple (Exodus 29:19–21; Leviticus 4:1–21), this reverence for blood will be magnified. The ultimate meaning of this symbol will be fulfilled in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross (John 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:7).

Matthew 26:28  (NKJV)

²⁸ For this is My blood of the ^[a]new covenant, which is shed for many for the ^[b]remission of sins.

Vs 6-7

““Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.
⁷ And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.”

Here God lays down the principal for government and the protection of man.

He gives the government the right for capital punishment.

About this verse…..Dr. J Vernon McGee said:

“The government has the right to take a human life when that individual has taken someone else’s life. Why? Well I think it is obvious that God has ruled it so in order to protect human life.”

Commentary from © Keep Believing Ministries:

“Those who kill their fellow human beings will have to answer to God for their deeds, for men and women are made in the image of God. To attack a human being is to attack God, and the Lord will bring judgment on the offender. All life is the gift of God, and to take away life means to take the place of God. The Lord gives life and He alone has the right to authorize taking it away (Job 1:21).”

Job 1:20-21  (NKJV)

²⁰ Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. ²¹ And he said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

3^rd: A NEW PROMISE 8-17

Vs 8-10

⁸ Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: ⁹ “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your ^[a]descendants after you, ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth.” 

God made this Covenant with Noah and with all of His creatures until the time His Kingdom comes on earth.

It is for….as in Vs 9 & 10…. Noah’s “descendants after you, ¹⁰ and with every living creature that is with you”.

Vs 11

¹¹ Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

That is God’s promise….That He will never again destroy the earth by a flood!!!

HOW ABOUT FIRE?

2 Peter 3:3-8 (NKJV)

God’s Promise Is Not Slack

“³ knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, ⁶ by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. ⁷ But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and ^[b]perdition of ungodly men.

⁸ But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward ^[c]us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

It is our REPENTANCE and obedience that God desires. He desires a personal relationship with each of us.

God has made a solemn promise to us….and He has kept His word. It is up to each individual to seek Him through obedience to His WORD. His Word directs us to Him through Jesus Christ ….as we have learned in John 14:6.

John 14:6  (NKJV)

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS….. before we talk about Rainbows:

• Can you think of any silly or dumb promises you have made in your life?

• What about important promises—what types of important promises have you made?

• What does it take to keep a promise over a long period?

In these last 5 versus of today’s study, God makes 15 references to Himself….Making it crystal clear…. His Promise and Covenant with mankind are absolute!

Vs 12-17

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: ¹³ I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. ¹⁴ It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; ¹⁵ 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. 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.” 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.”

God has never….and will never lie or mislead us.

About Rainbows:

I do not think I have ever witnessed the appearance of a rainbow where someone did not point up to the sky and say, “Look, a rainbow!” And typically, the brighter and more colorful the rainbow is, the louder people, including myself…….cheer over it. It’s really exciting to see!!!

“The World's View of the Rainbow”..By Robert Hampshire of Christianity.com

“As beautiful and unique as a rainbow is, there is a simple, non-miraculous explanation for this phenomenon. Scientists have known for a long time that rainbows appear when raindrops act as “tiny prisms.

White light from the sun shines on one side of a water droplet, gets reflected off the other side of the droplet, and then exits out to the other side of the sky as a circular bow or arc of color that is refracted or broken up into the color spectrum.

Rainbows contain a continuum of around 1 million colors that are indistinguishable with the human eye. Instead, we can only really see seven color hues: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

Ancient Japanese believed that rainbows allowed their deceased ancestors to come back to earth, and the Navajo believed that it was the path for holy spirits. Even today, there is an old Irish legend commonly told (often jokingly) that there is a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow guarded by a tricky leprechaun.

Because the devil is the “father of lies” (John 8:44), all of the myths about rainbows are mistruths that distract us from discovering the true symbolic meaning behind it.

As a matter of fact, one of the farthest-reaching (yet subtle) distractions in our contemporary culture happened in 1978 when an artist hijacked the rainbow to design a flag to represent the LGBT community and celebrate a lifestyle that is sinful, unnatural, and even destructive.”

So, considering this passage, in verses 12-17, God attached HIS special meaning to the rainbow so that every time we see it, we may be reminded of God’s covenant to never destroy everyone and everything on the earth again with a flood. Let’s not confuse what God teaches us with what the world says.

Promises are not kept by apathy; they must be kept with a resolve to do what we have said we will do. The best promises are carefully nurtured and kept for the good of everyone involved.

IN CONCLUSION

Notice…..once more…. that humans and animals have done nothing to earn or deserve God's gift of mercy in never wiping out life with a flood again. God established the covenant. God will keep the agreement. God provided a sign of the promise. As those who live after the terrible, catastrophic destruction of the flood, God's righteous judgment for the sinfulness and violence on the earth, we are left to simply receive and enjoy God's promise.

Think about this…..When you get up in the morning….you put clothes on….AND those clothes go everywhere you go!

In the same way….each morning we must put Christ on…. and HE will go with us everywhere we go…. throughout the day!

Invite Jesus to walk with you the first thing every day!!!

Romans 13:11-14 NKJV

Put on Christ

¹¹ And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. ¹² The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. ¹³ Let us walk ^[a]properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Finally…..In….1 John 5:4-5

NKJV

^“4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—^[a]our faith. ⁵ Who is he who overcomes the world,….. but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”