Evening, August 12
Go To Morning Reading
“The bow shall be seen in the cloud.”
Genesis 9:14
The rainbow, the symbol of the covenant with Noah, is typical of our
Lord Jesus, who is the Lord’s witness to the people. When may we expect to see the token of the covenant ? The rainbow is only to be seen painted upon a cloud . When the sinner’s conscience is dark with clouds, when he remembers his past sin,
and mourneth and lamenteth before God, Jesus Christ is revealed to
him as the covenant Rainbow, displaying all the glorious hues of the
divine character and betokening peace. To the believer, when his trials
and temptations surround him, it is sweet to behold the person of
our Lord Jesus Christ—to see him bleeding, living, rising, and pleading for us. God’s rainbow is hung over the cloud of our sins, our sorrows, and our
woes, to prophesy deliverance. Nor does a cloud alone give a rainbow, there must be the crystal drops to reflect the light of the sun. So, our sorrows must not only threaten,
but they must really fall upon us. There had been no Christ for us
if the vengeance of God had been merely a threatening cloud: punishment
must fall in terrible drops upon the Surety. Until there is a real anguish in the sinner’s conscience, there is no Christ for him; until the chastisement which
he feels becomes grievous, he cannot see Jesus. But there must also
be a sun; for clouds and drops of rain make not rainbows unless the
sun shineth. Beloved, our God, who is as the sun to us, always shines,
but we do not always see him—clouds hide his face; but no matter what drops may be falling, or
what clouds may be threatening, if he does but shine there will be a rainbow at once. It is said that when
we see the rainbow the shower is over. Certain it is, that when Christ
comes, our troubles remove; when we behold Jesus, our sins vanish,
and our doubts and fears subside. When Jesus walks the waters of the
sea, how profound the calm!