DAILY READING
REFLECTION
Rainbows and Butterflies
by David Thompson
If you are anything like me, you remember the covenant with Abraham where God said he would make Abraham "a great nation." It is considered the first covenant between God and man and showed the beginnings of what we see later as Grace. Then in our quick thinking, we fast forward to Moses and the beginnings of the Mosaic Law which brought many regulations to the Israelites, but it also brought us the 10 Commandments. Then we might move to Christ and what He did for us on the cross (The New Covenant). However, a careful reading of Genesis chapter 9 would show us that the first covenant after the fall of Adam and Eve was with Noah and his family. We see a covenant that many overlook or at least looked at it only for the "never going to bring complete destruction to the humans again" part.
A careful look at chapter 9:5 and 6a shows a promise that we most likely would think about as a Leviticus verse (all judgement and no mercy). It says, "And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed." Oh, my, God demands an accounting.
However, on the softer side, to backup His earlier claim not to destroy the whole earth again, He creates a rainbow in the sky that will show every time there is a rain. He states, "Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
I am touched by the seeming "justice at all costs" mentality of the Old Testament and Old Covenant. I am so grateful to be living in the New Testament and New Covenant world where Grace reigns supreme. Thanks to Jesus, we are freed from the Old Covenant. Ephesians 2:8-9 states, "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith -- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast."
PRAYER
Dear God, thank you for the history lesson of the testaments. A lot can be learned by either one. However, we are so grateful for your "New Covenant" that positionally has us saved through our belief in your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
David, thank you for this. It brought back some memories of days long gone by, when God used rainbows 🌈 to brighten my day and to promise me a better life to come. Words of truth always speak loud.