Who Owns the Rainbow?

Did you ever stop and notice what happened to the Christian view of the rainbow? When you walk down the street or ride in a car and see a sign or symbol with the rainbow insignia on it do you immediately think of – God or Gay? Most likely the latter. When did the universal symbol of the story of Noah and the flood get replaced with gay rights? How did this happen? Why did this happen? The answer is rather simplistic in the narrative but much more pernicious in its intent than you may realize. Evil always subverts religious apathy.

Throughout the last fifty years in America, the Christian community has been victim to one of the biggest screw-jobs know to cultural anthropology. This makes what happened to Bret Hart looks generous (we are well aware that only a small portion of you will understand that reference). Without much push-back, one of Christianity’s greatest symbols of God’s sovereignty and grace was co-opted by social radicals to stand for gay rights and ipso facto against the very meaning of its original intent.

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The rainbow appears early in the historical narrative of the Bible. It has a very powerful meaning and could be argued as the first symbolic token Jehovah (God [personal name] of the Old Testament)  had with humanity. Before the establishment of the nation of Israel, with the prophet Abraham, God established the Noahic covenant:

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”  And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 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.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth (Genesis 9:8-17 ESV).

Alfred Joy writes; “The interpretation of the significance of the bow in the sky is given at the close of the story of the flood, where it is called ‘the token of the covenant’ of Jehovah with Noah that there should be no more flood…This addition to the story of the flood is not found in other mythical accounts.”^[1] This has great significance and history to Jewish, and later Christian, theology. The “bow” or rainbow, as it were, was much more than refractive light in the sky. It was a reminder to the followers of Jehovah that His sovereignty, judgment, and mercy would rule the earth over every living creature and no such destruction would be executed on mankind again. It was a divine promise from the creator to the creature, that mercy abounds.

Moreover, what most Christians fail to realize is that this “bow in the clouds” shows up again and again throughout the biblical text:

The rainbow and its beauty became a symbol of the majesty and beauty of God. While having a vision, Ezekiel compared the brightness of the glory of God with the colors of the rainbow (1:28). Habakkuk also used the bow to describe the scene of God’s final deliverance of His people (3:9). The book of Revelation records John’s vision of the throne of Christ as surrounded by “a rainbow that looked like an emerald” (4:3 HCSB). Later Revelation 10:1 pictures a descending angel with the rainbow shining upon his head and having a face as the sun.^[2]

While most people, including many Christians, remember the rainbow as merely a side note to the flood account in Genesis taught to children during Sunday school; it is, theologically, an integral part of the Christian faith reminding all followers of Christ that His judgment, wrath, and mercy are vital attributes to the realities of sin, the need for repentance, and the gift of salvation.

To every follower of Jesus Christ, the rainbow should have an immediate resonance of God’s divine judgment and mercy poured out onto humanity. However, this is not the case and has not been for some time now. In modern times, the rainbow has political and radical emotional reverberations throughout society. A stark contrast to that of yesteryear. One could make the argument that hell had hijacked the light.

In 1978, Gilbert Baker designed the gay rights rainbow flag at the behest of congressman Harvey Milk. The flag was heralded at the Gay Freedom Pride Parade in San Francisco of that year. It has since been augmented to six colors over the years.[3] The following original color scheme had these corresponding themes:

1. Pink — Sex
2. Red — Life
3. Orange — Healing
4. Yellow — Sunlight
5. Green — Nature
6. Turquoise — Magic
7. Blue — Peace
8. Violet — Spirit[4]

What was once a Holy symbol of God’s judgment and grace was now a gay emblem that signified sex, life, healing, sunlight, nature, magic, peace, and spirit. Talk about the proverbial middle finger to faith-based communities throughout the world. The radical left commandeered a biblical symbol held up by Church communities for more than two-thousand years and repackaged it to society as a symbol to signify the very thing God sent the flood in the first place: unabashed sin, decadence, and disobedience.

To fully appreciate the gravity of this cultural coup, read the very words of God: “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, ‘I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth’” (Genesis 6:11-13 ESV). God passed judgment on all humanity for its pervasive corruption that led to ubiquitous violence.

This passage of the Bible has eerie parallels with certain regions in American society that have been bastions of LGBTQ pride for the past several decades. Look at the cities today that have unhealthy levels of violence and deny objective truth where radical groups, looking to overthrow the government, dwell. These same City governments have growingly aggressive equity policies that tend to advocate LGBTQ rights and critical race theology over all else, and appear to be breeding grounds for violent rioting; i.e. Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, etc. The great paradox is that the now-Gay Rights Rainbow flag which purports to advocate peace and harmony within society is slowly developing into a symbol for anarchy and the violent overthrow of government authority under the guise of human rights.

What was once a sign of divine judgment is now a totem of judgment abolition; moral judgment is bad and anything goes, as long as it makes you happy.

What God intended for good was again stolen by evil principalities for the deception of mankind. The divine accuser is splitting society and pitting good Christians against the Holiness of God with misappropriated themes of pride and love. Even clergy and mainstream denominations have supported such travesties by subverting the scriptures and catering to the LGBTQ community with rainbow flags festooned on their websites and church buildings. What a complete miscarriage of theology.

Once again, we call on the global Christian community to stand up to the renegade social justice warriors and reclaim the rainbow on biblical grounds. No one social group or movement owns the light; and if anyone did, it certainly would be members of the Christian faith: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16 ESV). The rainbow does not belong to the LGBTQ community and Church leadership should stop conceding the high ground by side-stepping the issue. It is time to fight the good fight of faith. Proclaim the gospel, defend the faith, and glorify God by standing for His commandments, His truth, and His rainbow.

Footnotes:

^[1] Alfred H. Joy, “Rainbow,” ed. James Orr et al., The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia (Chicago: The Howard-Severance Company, 1915), 2527.

^[2] Chad Brand et al., eds., “Rainbow,” Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 1362.

[3] https://www.insider.com/why-rainbow-lgbt-gay-pride-2017-6

[4] https://www.insider.com/why-rainbow-lgbt-gay-pride-2017-6

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