"And it sliall come to pass, when I briny a cloud over tlte mrth, that the bcn.o shall, be seen in tlte cloud." ' II. Goo's REVELATION SE'r BEFORE OUR FAITH. 1. It is waiting to be recognised. 'When we place ourselves in right relation to the revefations and promises of Jehovah we can always see the bow on the cloud of sense, on events-bright com- paesio_n on the ~ar~est provid~nce. _2. There is an interdepend~nce between the objective and sitbJective. The rambow 1s the natural result of an adjustment between the sun, the earth, tho cloud falling in rain, and man, the beholder. Take the earth to represent the abiding laws of man's nature and God's righteousness, the falling cloud to represent the condemnation and p_unishment of human sin, the sun the revealed love and mercy of God sending forth its beams in the midst of the dis- pensation of judgment; then let there be faith in man to look up and rejoice in that which is set before him, and he will behold the rainbow of the covenant even on the very background of the condemnation. III. TRANSFIOURED RI0HTEOUSNESS IN REDEMPTION. The cross at once condemna- tion and life. The same righteousness which once destroyed the earth is manifested in Christ Jesus-"righteousness unto all and upon all them that believe." IV. UNION OJI' Goo AND MAN. God himself is said to look upon the sign of the covenant that he may remember. So man looking and God looking to the same pledge of salvation. "God was in Christ reconciled," &c. Their reconciliation is complete and estubliehed.-R. Ver. 13. -The bow in the cloud. With deep joy and yet with awe must Noah have looked around him on leaving the ark. On every aide digns of the mighty destruction; the earth scarcely dried, and the busy throng of men (Luke xvii. 27) all gone. Yet signs of new life; the earth putting forth verdure, as though preparing for a new and happier chapter of history. His first recorded act was sacrifice-an acknowledgment that his preserved life was God's gift, a new profession of faith in him. Then God gave the promise that no such destruction should again befall the earth, and so ordered the sign that the rain-clolld which might excite the fear should bring with it the rainbow, the pledge of the covenant. But as eh. vi. 18 foreshadowed the Christian covenant (1 Pet. iii. 21) in its aspect of deliverance from destruction, the text points to the same in its bearing on daily life and service. The Godward life and renewal of the will which the law could not produce (Rom. viii. 3) is made sure to believers throllgh the constraining power of the love of Christ (cf. 1 John iii. 3; Rev. xii. 11). .And if clouds should cause fear, and God's face be hidden, and the energy of dedication grow languid, we are reminded (Rom. vi. 14; Gal. v. 24). And in the vision of the glorified Church (Rev. iv. 3) the rainbow again appears, pointing back to the early sign, connecting them as parts of one scheme, and visibly setting forth the glory of God in his mercy and grace (cf. Exod. xxxiii. 19; xxxiv. 6; John i. 14). [ THE 'JOVENANT WAS MADE WITH NOAH AND HIS SEED AS CHILDREN 01" JJ'AITH. They had believed in God's revealed way of salvation and entered the ark (cf. Num. xxi. 8). The root of a Christian life is belief in u finished redemption (2 Cor. v. 14; 1 John v. 11); not belief that the doctrine is trne, but tmst in the fact as the one ground of hope. Hast thou acted on God's call; entered the ark; trusted Christ; none else, nothing else? Wai test thou for something in thyself? Noah did not think of fitness when told to enter. God calleth thee as unfit ( cf. 1 Tim. i. 15). Try to believe; make a real effort (cf. Matt. xv. 28; Mark i.x. 23). II. TrrE POWER OF A CHRISTIAN LIFE j FAITH AS A HAIJIT OF THE MIND. Look to the bow. "Looking unto Jesus." The world is the field on which God's grace is shown; we are the actors by whom his work is done. How shall we do this? Beset by hindrances-love of the world, love of self, love of ease. \Vo cannot of ourselves (cf. Luke xxii. 33, 34; Rom. xi. 20). We are strong only in trusting to the power of the Lord ( cf. 2 Cor. xii. 10 ; Phil. iv. 13). III. IN THIS THE HOLY SrmIT IS OUR HELPER, His offic1J is to reveal Christ to the soul. His help is promised if sought for.-M.
L2 148 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. (err, IX, 18-29,