Austin Bible Church
The color spectrum of the rainbow is caused by refraction of light on drops of rain or water mist whereby parts of the spectrum become visible to the human eye. The bow always forms when the rain lessens or stops. The significance of the rainbow is found in Genesis 9:12-16.
“God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. "It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. "When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."” (Genesis 9:12-16, NASB)
No one ever saw a rainbow before the Flood because of antediluvian weather conditions. No rain, therefore no rainbow. A rainbow says, in effect, that God keeps His Word. The first rainbow was a sign or promise from God before the Word of God existed that God never again would destroy the earth by water and that the creatures would be perpetuated.
Since the rainbow is formed by the refraction of light from the sun’s rays, it becomes a token, a visible principle of God’s promise. Every time God makes a promise it is backed by His perfect character.
In Revelation 4:3, the color that is dominant in the rainbow is a translucent green or emerald. This speaks of God's eternal life. In 1 John 5:11-12, “this life is in His Son” refers to our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore His promises are permanent. 1 Peter 1:23.
“And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.” (Revelation 4:3, NASB)
“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” (1 John 5:11-12, NASB)
“for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23, NASB)
Just as the rainbow is a joint production of a rainstorm and sunshine, so eternal life to the believer is a joint production of storm and sunshine. In this analogy, the rainstorm is the old sin nature and the sunshine is salvation in Jesus Christ.
The sins of the world were poured out on the Lord Jesus Christ. Our salvation was provided for us through our Lord’s substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross. The Lord Jesus Christ was judged in our place. The rainbow, therefore in every aspect, is a token of the grace of God. When was the last time you saw a rainbow in the sky and noted its significance?