“I have set my bow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth...never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.” Most likely, the Hebrew was mistranslated and what we read as “rainbow” was actually meant to mean “bow” (and arrow). This is huge. Why?
This would mean that God set his bow and arrow down in the clouds, never to pick it up against humanity again. God’s promise is much grander and more all-encompassing than we could ever imagine. God is not against us. In fact, he cannot be against us, otherwise he would not be God.
His arrow is not pointed at you. He is not attacking you or causing harm to your life.
God’s covenant with his people means that even if we are living lives of rebellion against God, just as every human in Noah’s time, God will not be against us. His wrath against evil would not be fulfilled against humans, but against his own Son.
Oh the grace of God to spare me and set his bow against his Son in my place! This arrow now points to Jesus as our salvation because he is the one who stood, and still stands to take every arrow in our place. God is so for us that he set his bow down in the clouds as a promise of our life (and future life with him) at the cost of his own Son.
If you feel surrounded as if arrows are pointed at you from all sides, remember who the enemy is, and who the enemy is not. As followers of Jesus, we are targets of the enemy. But Jesus stands and takes every arrow in our place. Let him.
Rest there. Though waters rise and look like a flood, though an army surrounds on all sides, rest. The promise of God to Noah is still true for you.