I am still thinking about my New Year’s resolutions and when things get tough, I always wonder why I bother making them. According to Kathy, I can get grumpy. As I read Genesis 9 I realized that it’s the story of God’s resolution. It Records the Covenant God made with man after the horrific flood which destroyed all life upon the earth. He promised that he would never again destroy all life by a flood. The sign of this promise would be the rainbow which regularly appears in the sky after storms. Rainbows always make us smile! Genesis 9:13 is one of the all time favorite Bible verses from the book of Genesis. I think of the mark God gave Cain that assured his protection from those who would take vengeance on him. In this passage however God gives us all a “mark” or a sign in the sky that He will never again destroy the earth like he did in the days of Noah. God says, “I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.” Several commentators noticed that the Hebrew word for “bow” refers to the “battle bow” of an archer. This suggests that God put aside his weapon of death and signed a peace treaty with mankind and the earth as a whole.
When God thinks of His resolutions, I don’t think he gets grumpy, do you? I couldn’t help but think of the hundreds of thousands of people in Indonesia who lost their lives in the Tsunami (flood?) some time back. I heard that just before the Tsunami hit the oceans receded hundreds of feet leaving fish and shell fish, clams, etc on dry land. Many residents didn’t realize that the huge recession of the waters from the beaches was an ominous sign of something brewing out to sea. They excitedly collected all the seafood they could carry. Many were still gathering it when the wave struck! There was another tsunami this past week (Mid January 2022) near Tonga. The last I heard was “A massive underwater volcanic eruption sent a plume of ash into the atmosphere and triggered a tsunami warning across the Pacific over the weekend. The scope of the damage on the island of Tonga is still unclear.”
Not being in Management, I don’t know why God allowed such a catastrophe. We can but entrust into his hands those who lost their lives. For the rest let’s pray that they, Like Noah and his sons, will indeed see God’s rainbow in some astounding way. And for us, Jesus told us that there would be a judgment day that would come like it did in the days of Noah. I hope I’m not found picking up fish, clams and shellfish when it comes.